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0.02894 | <urn:uuid:bdeb40b9-6408-40f7-af24-dfcb46c2606a> | en | 0.735737 | Lyrics Depot is your source of lyrics to The Earth Dies Screaming by UB40. Please check back for more UB40 lyrics.
The Earth Dies Screaming Lyrics
Artist: UB40
Album: Signing Off
A warm dry wind is all that breaks the silence,
The highways quiet scars across the land.
People lie, eyes closed, no longer dreaming,
The earth dies screaming.
Like scattered pebbles, cars lie silent waiting,
Oilless engines seized by dirt and sand.
Bodies hanging limp, no longer bleeding,
The earth dies screaming.
The earth dies screaming
The earth dies screaming
Your country needs you, lets strike up the band.
The earth dies screaming
The earth dies screaming
Despite all odds we must defend our land.
Half eaten meals lie rotting on the tables,
Money clutched within a boney hand.
Shutters down, the banks are not receiving,
The earth dies screaming.
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UB40 Lyrics
UB40 Signing Off Lyrics
More UB40 Music Lyrics:
UB40 - Fight Fe Come In Lyrics
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UB40 - Never Let You Go Lyrics
UB40 - Riddle Me Lyrics
UB40 - Signing off Lyrics
UB40 - Sing Our Own Song Lyrics
UB40 - Sweet Sensation Lyrics | http://www.lyricsdepot.com/ub40/the-earth-dies-screaming.html | dclm-gs1-109610000 |
0.044503 | <urn:uuid:87a7ed86-3dfd-46cd-b7d9-25b0df8fb681> | en | 0.945207 | H 58° L 55°
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The Critical Thinker
Militia Arrives at Bundy Ranch in Nevada, BLM Brings In Special Ops
china, harry reid nevada rancher, blackwater, militia, Special Ops
Kristan T. Harris | The Rundown Live
If reports are true, armed militia have arrived in support of Cliven Bundy in Bunkerville, Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have called in rangers from out-of-state and what is apparently being described as “Blackwater Special Ops” who are threatening escalation of the situation if local citizens do not back down. Local militia are calling for more citizens and militia to congregate in support of the Bundy family.
CellTowersCell towers in the area have been turned off to slow down communication and to prevent uploading of videos.
Earlier this week we reported that armed rangers and several federal agencies surrounded a 600,000-acre section of public land and stole over 300 cattle from rancher Cliven Bundy. Cliven Bundy was violated for allowing his cattle to graze illegally on his own property for the past 20 years. Regulations protecting endangered tortoises that inhabit his property prohibit his cattle from grazing in the area. The bizarre twist to this story is the BLM has so many of these tortoises that they are killing them. Local citizens who share Bundy’s frustration with the BLM’s intrusion have now rallied around him in hopes to maintain freedom and property rights.
So why does the BLM really want this land?
It has come out Senator Harry Reid is behind the muscle trying to steal Bundy’s property. The BLM has no jurisdiction in the state of Nevada and are illegally taking Bundy’s property. Evidence supports that the BLM is actually in the business of raking in millions of dollars by leasing Nevada lands to energy companies that engage in fracking operations.
2012 Republican National Convention: Day 2Gov. Brian Sandoval released the following statement on Tuesday in regards to the controversial cattle roundup near Bunkerville, Nevada.
“Due to the roundup by the BLM, my office has received numerous complaints of BLM conduct, road closures and other disturbances. I have recently met with state legislators, county officials and concerned citizens to listen to their concerns.
I have expressed those concerns directly to the BLM. Most disturbing to me is the BLM’s establishment of a ‘First Amendment Area’ that tramples upon Nevadans’ fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution.
Page Tools | http://www.myhalescornersnow.com/blogs/communityblogs/254984091.html | dclm-gs1-109780000 |
0.048122 | <urn:uuid:cd58d132-0712-4aaa-8327-5f9503607b3f> | en | 0.937348 | When disaster strikes the head of the Emergency Heroes, Captain Walters, is forced to call on young Zach Harper for help. Zach is a former cadet with a natural talent for driving but he never finished the training. Now, guided by the Captain and his assistant Kelly, Zach must save San Alto before it's too late!
Emergency Heroes offers players a variety of missions and more than 45 vehicles including police cars, fire engines and rescue vehicles, as well as a navigation map and a spectacular Hero mode.
• Drive the next-generation of rescue vehicles. Pilot and command 45 hi-tech rescue vehicles designed specifically for ultra high-risk, high-speed navigation. Choose between police, fire and EMT vehicles.
• Explore and protect free-roaming San Alto city. As an emergency hero, your mission is to protect the peaceful island-city of San Alto. Drive trough stunning free-roaming open environments, and keep the city safe at every turn.
• Fast-action gameplay: Take advantage of Hero Mode and play like you mean it; the faster you drive, the faster you rise and gain access to invincible powers.
• Clear to understand, players never get lost. Arrows on the road provides guidance to the player but always let the player movement's freedom.
• Two players Co-Op. Challenge friends or combine forces to form the ultimate rescue hero team to protect your city.
Official URL
Official Site
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0 want | 1 own
3.3 / 10 | http://www.neoseeker.com/Games/Products/Wii/emergency_heroes/ | dclm-gs1-109850000 |
0.113509 | <urn:uuid:1aca30ad-88ac-4905-8662-994023d93c0a> | en | 0.952346 | Hough: Creating a culture that values education could be a bargain
7:57 AM, Feb. 26, 2014 | Comments
• Filed Under
Funding for public education has been a hotly debated issue since the enterprise was established by Puritans in 1635.
Without a doubt, early childhood programs, elementary schools, high schools and higher education systems can provide more programs and services for students as they receive the funds to do so. Putting a price tag on learning is more difficult.
In general, the relationship between per pupil expenditures and student achievement is positive. However, the relationship between per-pupil expenditures and just about every student and teacher demographic you choose is also positive.
Because local tax bases make up the lion's share of a system's ability to collect revenues to fund its schools, rich geographic areas spend more on public schools than poor ones. The only way to level this field is to reallocate funds.
"Reallocation" is a euphemism for taking money from one place and giving it to another.
This creates a paradox for those who consider themselves both socially liberal and fiscally conservative. In education circles, mental dilemmas such as this are known to produce "cognitive dissonance." That is, how does one bring competing yet related views to some type of rational conclusion?
Let's complicate it further. Teachers and other educators deserve to be paid more. However, if they are already working at 100 percent, more money cannot increase that percentage. Therefore, efforts to raise salaries should not be misconstrued to mean better outcomes will automatically follow. It's just the right thing to do.
Why then the positive relationship between per-pupil expenditures and achievement? Case studies of low-income yet high-performing schools may hold the key. In those situations, children have a support system that values education. Creating a culture that views education as a ticket to a better life can trump all of the rest. Maybe we should spend our money on that.
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3. Restaurant Inspections - How clean is your favorite eatery? | http://www.news-leader.com/article/20140226/NEWS01/302260071/ | dclm-gs1-109880000 |
0.638739 | <urn:uuid:f97e4061-aa9f-4060-80de-9eecff155d76> | en | 0.783255 | Search the Catalog
CGI Programming on the World Wide Web
CGI Programming on the World Wide Web
By Shishir Gundavaram
1st Edition March 1996
Previous Chapter 11
Advanced and Creative CGI Applications
11.4 Calendar Manager
As the final example for this book, we will look at a very complicated program that uses a combination of CGI techniques: database manipulation, recursive program invocation, and virtual imagemaps.
What are virtual imagemaps? As we explained in the previous section, most people who provide images for users to click on have to store information about the imagemap in a file. The program I'm about to show you, however, determines the region in which the user clicked, and performs the appropriate action on the fly--without using any auxiliary files or scripts. Let's discuss the implementation of these techniques more thoroughly.
If a graphic browser is used to access this Calendar program, an imagemap of the current calendar is displayed listing all appointments. When an area on the image is clicked, the program calculates the date that corresponds to that region, and displays all the appointments for that date. Another important thing to note about the program is the way in which the imagemap is created--the script is actually executed twice (more on this later). Figure 11.4 shows a typical image of the calendar.
If the user accesses this program with a text browser, a text version of the calendar is displayed. You have seen this kind of dual use in a lot of programs in this book; you should design programs so that users with both types of browsers can access and use a CGI program. The text output is shown in Figure 11.5.
Since the same program handles many types of queries and offers a lot of forms and displays, it can be invoked in several different ways. Most users will start by clicking on a simple link without a query string, which causes an imagemap (or text equivalent, for non-graphics browsers) of the current month to be displayed:
If the user then selects the "Full Year Calendar" option, the following query is passed:
When the user clicks an area on the image (or selects a link on the text calendar), the following query is sent:
The program will then display all the appointments for that date. The month field stores the selected month and year. Calendar Manager allows the user to set up appointments for any month, so it is always necessary to store the month and year information.
To be useful, of course, this program has to do more than offer a view of the calendar. It must allow changes and searches as well. Four actions are offered:
Each method uses a different query to invoke the program. For instance, a search passes a URL and query information like this:
This will display a form where the user can enter a search string. The type field indicates the type of action to perform. The reason we use both action and type fields is that each action involves two steps, and the type field reflects these steps.
For instance, suppose the user asks to add an appointment. The program is invoked with type=form, causing it to display a form in which the user can enter all the information about the appointment. When the user submits the form, the program is invoked with the field type=execute. This causes the program to issue an SQL command that inserts the appointment into the database. Both steps invoke the program with the action=add field, but they can be distinguished by the type field.
When the user fills out and submits this form, the query information passed to this program is:
The string "?action=search&type=execute&month=11/1995" is stored in QUERY_STRING, while the information in the form is sent as a POST stream. We will look at the method of passing information in more detail later on. In this case, the type is equal to execute, which instructs the program to execute the search request.
Let's discuss for a minute the way in which the database is interfaced with this program. All appointments are stored in a text-delimited file, so that an administrator/user can add and modify appointment information by using a text editor. The CGI program uses Sprite to manipulate the information in this file. So this program uses two modules that were introduced in earlier chapters: gd, which was covered in Chapter 6, Hypermedia Documents, and Sprite, which appeared in Chapter 9, Gateways, Databases, and Search/Index Utilities.
Main Program
Enough discussion--let's look at the program:
use GD;
use Sprite;
$cal = "/usr/bin/cal";
The UNIX cal utility displays a text version of the calendar. See the draw_text_calendar subroutine to see what the output of this command looks like.
$database = "/home/shishir/calendar.db";
$delimiter = "::";
The database uses the "::" string as a delimiter and contains six fields for each calendar event: ID, Month, Day, Year, Keywords, and Description. The ID field uniquely identifies an appointment based on the time of creation. The Month (numerical), Day, and Year are self-explanatory. One thing to note here is that the Year is stored as a four-digit number (i.e., 1995, not 95).
The Keywords field is a short description of the appointment. This is what is displayed on the graphic calendar. And finally, the Description field should contain a more lengthy explanation regarding the appointment. Here is the format for a typical appointment file:
796421318::11::02::1995::See Professor::It is important that I see the professor
806421529::11::03::1995::ABC Enterprises::Meet Drs. Bird and McHale about job!!
805762393::11::03::1995::Luncheon Meeting::Travel associates
Now to create and manipulate the data:
($current_month, $current_year) = (localtime(time))[4,5];
$current_month += 1;
$current_year += 1900;
These three statements determine the current month and year. Remember, the month number, as returned by localtime, is zero-based (0-11, instead of 1-12). And the year is returned as a two-digit number (95, instead of 1995).
$action_types = '^(add|delete|modify|search)$';
$delete_password = "CGI Super Source";
The $action_types variable consists of four options that the user can select from the Calendar Manager. The user is asked for a password when the delete option is chosen. Replace this with a password of your choice.
&check_database ();
&parse_query_and_form_data (*CALENDAR);
The check_database subroutine checks for the existence of the calendar database. The database is created if it does not already exist. The parse_query_and_form_data subroutine is called to parse all information from the Calendar Manager, handling both POST and GET queries. As in so many other examples, an associative array proves useful, so that's what CALENDAR is.
$action = $CALENDAR{'action'};
$month = $CALENDAR{'month'};
($temp_month, $temp_year) = split ("/", $month, 2);
The action and month fields are stored in variables. The month and year are split from the month field. As you saw near the beginning of this section, the month field has a format like 11/1995.
if ( ($temp_month =~ /^\d{1,2}$/) && ($temp_year =~ /^\d{4}$/) ) {
if ( ($temp_month >= 1) && ($temp_month <= 12) ) {
$current_month = $temp_month;
$current_year = $temp_year;
If the month and year values as specified in the query string are valid numbers, they are stored in $current_month and $current_year. Otherwise, these variables will reflect the current month and year (as defined above). One feature of this program is that it remembers the month that the user most recently clicked or entered in a search form. The month chosen by the user is stored in $current_month so that it becomes the default for future searches.
$weekday_names = "Sun,Mon,Tue,Wed,Thu,Fri,Sat";
$current_month_name = $month_names[$current_month - 1];
$current_month_year = join ("/", $current_month, $current_year);
The $current_month_name variable contains the full name of the specified month. $current_month_year is a string containing the month and year (e.g.,"11/1995").
This completes the initialization. Remember that the program is called afresh each time the user submits a form or clicks on a date, so it runs through this initialization again and potentially changes the current month. But now it is time to handle the action that the user passed in the query.
if ($action eq "full") {
&display_year_calendar ();
If the user passed the full field, display_year_calendar is called to display the full year calendar.
} elsif ($action eq "view") {
$date = $CALENDAR{'date'};
&display_all_appointments ($date);
If the user selects to view the appointments for a certain date, the display_all_appointments routine displays all of the appointments for that date.
} elsif ($action =~ /$action_types/) {
$type = $CALENDAR{'type'};
if ($type eq "form") {
$dynamic_sub = "display_${action}_form";
&$dynamic_sub ();
} elsif ($type eq "execute") {
$dynamic_sub = "${action}_appointment";
&$dynamic_sub ();
} else {
&return_error (500, "Calendar Manager", "An invalid query was passed!");
If the action field contains one of the four actions defined near the beginning of the program, the appropriate subroutine is executed. This is an example of a dynamic subroutine call. For example, if the action is "add" and the type is "form," the $dynamic_sub variable will call the display_add_form subroutine. This is much more compact than to conditionally compare all possible values.
} else {
&display_month_calendar ();
exit (0);
If no query is passed (or the query does not match the ones above), the display_month_calendar subroutine is called to output the current calendar in the appropriate format, either as a graphic imagemap or as plain text.
The Database
In the rest of this chapter I'm going to explain the various subroutines that set and retrieve data, create a display, and parse input. We'll start with some database functions. You'll also find incidental routines here, which I've written as conveniences because their functions appear so often.
The following subroutine checks to see if the calendar database exists. If not, we create one. This job is simple, since we're using a flat file with Sprite as an interface: we just open a file with the desired name and write a one-line header.
sub check_database
local ($exclusive_lock, $unlock, $header);
$exclusive_lock = 2;
$unlock = 8;
if (! (-e $database) ) {
if ( open (DATABASE, ">" . $database) ) {
flock (DATABASE, $exclusive_lock);
$header = join ($delimiter, "ID", "Month", "Day",
"Year", "Keywords", "Description");
print DATABASE $header, "\n";
flock (DATABASE, $unlock);
close (DATABASE);
} else {
&return_error (500, "Calendar Manager",
"Cannot create new calendar database.");
If the database does not exist, a header line is output:
The following subroutine just returns an error; it is defined for convenience and used in open_database.
sub Sprite_error
&return_error (500, "Calendar Manager",
"Sprite Database Error. Check the server log file.");
The open_database subroutine passes an SQL statement to the Sprite database.
sub open_database
local (*INFO, $command, $rdb_query) = @_;
local ($rdb, $status, $no_matches);
This subroutine accepts three arguments: a reference to an array, the SQL command name, and the actual query to execute. A typical call to the subroutine looks like:
&open_database (undef, "insert", <<End_of_Insert);
insert into $database
(ID, Day, Month, Year, Keywords, Description)
($time, $date, $current_month, $current_year, '$keywords', '$description')
The third argument looks strange because it's telling the subroutine to read the query on the following lines. In other words, the SQL query lies between the call to open_database and the text on the closing line, End_of_Insert. The effect is to insert a new appointment containing information passed by the user. Remember, we would also have to escape single and double quotes in the field values.
$rdb = new Sprite ();
$rdb->set_delimiter ("Read", $delimiter);
$rdb->set_delimiter ("Write", $delimiter);
This creates a new Sprite database object, and sets the read and write delimiters to the value stored in $delimiter (in this case, "::").
if ($command eq "select") {
@INFO = $rdb->sql ($rdb_query);
$status = shift (@INFO);
$no_matches = scalar (@INFO);
$rdb->close ();
If the user passed a select command, the query is executed with the sql method (in object-oriented programming, "method" is a glorified term for a subroutine). We treat the select commands separately from other commands because it doesn't change the database, but just returns data. All other commands modify the database.
The INFO array contains the status of the request (success or failure) in its first element, followed by other elements containing the records that matched the specified criteria. The status and the number of matches are stored.
if (!$status) {
&Sprite_error ();
} else {
return ($no_matches);
If the status is zero, the Sprite_error subroutine is called to output an error. Otherwise, the number of matches is returned.
} else {
$rdb->sql ($rdb_query) || &Sprite_error ();
$rdb->close ($database);
If the user passes a command other than select (in other words, a command that modifies the database), the program executes it and saves the resulting database.
Now, we will look at three very simple subroutines that output the header, the footer, and the "Location:" HTTP header, respectively.
sub print_header
local ($title, $header) = @_;
print "<HTML>", "\n";
print "<HEAD><TITLE>", $title, "</TITLE></HEAD>", "\n";
print "<BODY>", "\n";
$header = $title unless ($header);
print "<H1>", $header, "</H1>", "\n";
print "<HR>", "\n";
The print_header subroutine accepts two arguments: the title and the header. If no header is specified, the title of the document is used as the header.
The next subroutine outputs a plain footer. It is used at the end of forms and displays.
sub print_footer
print "<HR>", "\n";
print "<ADDRESS>", $webmaster, "</ADDRESS>", "\n";
Finally, the Location: header, which we described in Chapter 3, is output by the print_location subroutine after an add, delete, or modify request. By passing a URL in the Location: header, we make the server re-execute the program so that the user sees an initial Calendar page again.
sub print_location
local ($location_URL);
$location_URL = join ("", $ENV{'SCRIPT_NAME'}, "?",
"browser=", $ENV{'HTTP_USER_AGENT'}, "&",
"month=", $current_month_year);
print "Location: ", $location_URL, "\n\n";
This is a very important subroutine, though it may look very simple. The subroutine outputs the Location: HTTP header with a query string that contains the browser name and the specified month and year. The reason we need to supply the browser name is that the HTTP_USER_AGENT environment variable does not get set when there is a URL redirection. When the server gets this script and executes it, it does not set the HTTP_USER_AGENT variable. So this program will not know the user's browser type unless we include the information.
Forms and Displays
In this section you'll find subroutines that figure out what the user has asked for and display the proper output. All searches, additions, and so forth take place here. Usually, a database operation takes place in two steps: one subroutine displays a form, while another accepts input from the form and accesses the database.
Let's start out with display_year_calendar, which displays the full year calendar.
sub display_year_calendar
local (@full_year);
@full_year = `$cal $current_year`;
If the cal command is specified without a month number, a full year is displayed. The `backtics` execute the command and store the output in the specified variable. Since the variable $current_year can be based on the month field in the query string, it is important to check to see that it does not contain any shell metacharacters. What if some user passed the following query to this program?
It can be quite dangerous! You might be wondering where we are checking for shell metacharacters. Look back at the beginning of this program, where we made sure that the month and year are decimal numbers.
The output from cal is stored in the @full_year array, one line per element. Now we trim the output.
@full_year = @full_year[5..$#full_year-3];
The first four and last three lines from the output are discarded, as they contain extra newline characters. The array will contain information in the following format:
Jan Feb Mar
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
29 30 31 26 27 28 26 27 28 29 30 31
Let's move on.
grep (s|(\w{3})|<B>$1</B>|g, @full_year);
This might look like some deep magic. But it is actually quite a simple construct. The grep iterates through each line of the array, and adds the <B>..</B> tags to strings that are three characters long. In this case, the strings correspond to the month names. This one line statement is equivalent to the following:
foreach (@full_year) {
Now, here is the rest of this subroutine, which simply outputs the calendar.
&print_header ("Calendar for $current_year");
print "<PRE>", @full_year, "</PRE>", "\n";
&print_footer ();
The following subroutine displays the search form. It is pretty straightforward. The only dynamic information in this form is the query string.
sub display_search_form
local ($search_URL);
$search_URL = join ("", $ENV{'SCRIPT_NAME'}, "?",
"action=search", "&",
"type=execute", "&",
"month=", $current_month_year);
The query string sets the type field to execute, which means that this program will call the search_appointment subroutine to search the database when this form is submitted. The month and year are also set; this information is passed back and forth between all the forms, so that the user can safely view and modify the calendars for months other than the current month.
&print_header ("Calendar Search");
print <<End_of_Search_Form;
This form allows you to search the calendar database for certain information. The Keywords and Description fields are searched for the string you enter.
<FORM ACTION="$search_URL" METHOD="POST"> Enter the string you would like to search for: <P>
<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="search_string" SIZE=40 MAXLENGTH=40> <P>
Please enter the <B>numerical</B> month and the year in which to search. Leaving these fields empty will default to the current month and year: <P>
Month: <INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="search_month" SIZE=4 MAXLENGTH=4><BR> Year: <INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="search_year" SIZE=4 MAXLENGTH=4> </PRE>
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Search the Calendar!"> <INPUT TYPE="reset" VALUE="Clear the form"> </FORM>
&print_footer ();
Here is the subroutine that actually performs the search:
sub search_appointment
local ($search_string, $search_month, $search_year, @RESULTS,
$matches, $loop, $day, $month, $year, $keywords,
$description, $search_URL, $month_name);
$search_string = $CALENDAR{'search_string'};
$search_month = $CALENDAR{'search_month'};
$search_year = $CALENDAR{'search_year'};
Three variables are declared to hold the form information. We could have used the information from the CALENDAR associative array directly, without declaring these variables. This is done purely for a visual effect; the code looks much neater.
if ( ($search_month < 1) || ($search_month > 12) ) {
$CALENDAR{'search_month'} = $search_month = $current_month;
If no month number was specified, or if the month is not in the valid range, it is set to the value stored in $current_month. This value may or may not be the actual month in which the user is running the program. The user changes $current_month by specifying a search for a different month.
if ($search_year !~ /^\d{2,4}$/) {
$CALENDAR{'search_year'} = $search_year = $current_year;
} elsif (length ($search_year) < 4) {
$CALENDAR{'search_year'} = $search_year += 1900;
If the year is not specified, or if it does not contain at least two digits, it is set to $current_year. And if the length of the year field is less than 4, 1900 is added.
$search_string =~ s/(\W)/\\$1/g;
$matches = &open_database (*RESULTS, "select", <<End_of_Select);
select Day, Month, Year, Keywords, Description from $database
where ( (Keywords =~ /$search_string/i) or
(Description =~ /$search_string/i) ) and
(Month = $search_month) and
(Year = $search_year)
The open_database subroutine is called to search the database for any records that match the specified criteria. The RESULTS array will contain the Day, Month, Year, Keywords, and Description fields for the matched records.
unless ($matches) {
&return_error (500, "Calendar Manager",
"No appointments containing $search_string are found.");
If there are no records that match the search information specified by the user, an error message is output.
&print_header ("Search Results for: $search_string");
for ($loop=0; $loop < $matches; $loop++) {
$RESULTS[$loop] =~ s/([^\w\s\0])/sprintf ("&#%d;", ord ($1))/ge;
($day, $month, $year, $keywords, $description) =
split (/\0/, $RESULTS[$loop], 5);
"action=view", "&",
"date=", $day, "&",
"month=", $month, "/", $year);
$keywords = "No Keywords Specified!" unless ($keywords);
$description = "-- No Description --" unless ($description);
$description =~ s/<BR>/<BR>/g;
$month_name = $month_name[$month - 1];
print <<End_of_Appointment;
<A HREF="$search_URL">$current_month_name $day, $year</A><BR> <B>$keywords</B><BR>
The for loop iterates through the RESULTS array, and creates a hypertext link with a query string for each appointment. This will allow the user to just click the appointment to get a list of all the appointments for that date. (You may remember that, at the very beginning of this section, we showed how to retrieve appointments for a particular day by passing an action field along with date and month fields).
print "<HR>" if ($loop < $matches - 1);
&print_footer ();
A horizontal rule is output after each record, except after the last one. This is because the print_footer subroutine outputs a horizontal rule as well.
Now, let's look at the form that is displayed when the "Add New Appointment!" link is selected.
sub display_add_form
local ($add_URL, $date, $message);
$date = $CALENDAR{'date'};
$message = join ("", "Adding Appointment for ",
$current_month_name, " ", $date, ", ", $current_year);
$add_URL = join ("", $ENV{'SCRIPT_NAME'}, "?",
"action=add", "&",
"type=execute", "&",
"month=", $current_month_year, "&",
"date=", $date);
When the add option is selected by the user, the following query is passed to this program (see the display_all_appointments subroutine):
Before this subroutine is called, the main program sets the variables $current_month_name and so on.
This information is used to build another query string that will be passed to this program when the form is submitted.
&print_header ("Add Appointment", $message);
print <<End_of_Add_Form;
This form allows you to enter an appointment to be stored in the calendar database.
To make it easier for you to search for specific appointments later on, please use descriptive words to describe an appointment. <P>
<FORM ACTION="$add_URL" METHOD="POST"> Enter a brief message (keywords) describing the appointment: <P>
<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="add_keywords" SIZE=40 MAXLENGTH=40> <P>
Enter some comments about the appointment: <TEXTAREA ROWS=4 COLS=60 NAME="add_description"></TEXTAREA><P> <P>
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Add Appointment!"> <INPUT TYPE="reset" VALUE="Clear Form"> </FORM>
The add_appointment subroutine adds a record to the calendar database:
sub add_appointment
local ($time, $date, $keywords, $description);
$time = time;
The $time variable contains the current time, as the number of seconds since 1970. This is used as a unique identification for the record.
$date = $CALENDAR{'date'};
($keywords = $CALENDAR{'add_keywords'}) =~ s/(['"])/\\$1/g;
($description = $CALENDAR{'add_description'}) =~ s/\n/<BR>/g;
$description =~ s/(['"])/\\$1/g;
All newline characters in the description field are converted to <BR>. This is because of the way the Sprite database stores records. Remember, the database is text-delimited, where each field is delimited by a certain string, and each record is terminated by a newline character.
insert into $database
The open_database subroutine is called to insert the record into the database. Notice the quotes around the variables $keywords and $description. These are absolutely necessary since the two variables contain string information.
&print_location ();
The display_delete_form subroutine displays a form that asks for a password before an appointment can be deleted. The delete and modify options are available for each appointment. As a result, when you select one of these options, the identification of that appointment is passed to this script, so that the appropriate information can be retrieved quickly and efficiently.
sub display_delete_form
local ($delete_URL, $id);
$id = $CALENDAR{'id'};
$delete_URL = join ("", $ENV{'SCRIPT_NAME'}, "?",
"action=delete", "&",
"type=execute", "&",
"id=", $id, "&",
"month=", $current_month_year);
When the user selects the delete option in the calendar, the following query is passed to this script:
http://some.machine/cgi-bin/ 1995&id=806421529
This query information is used to construct another query that will be passed to this program when the form is submitted.
&print_header ("Deleting appointment");
print <<End_of_Delete_Form;
In order to delete calendar entries, you need to enter a valid identification code (or password):
<INPUT TYPE="password" NAME="code" SIZE=40> <P>
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Delete Entry!">
&print_footer ();
The following subroutine checks the password that is entered by the user. If the password is valid, the appointment is deleted, and a server redirect is performed, so that the calendar is displayed.
sub delete_appointment
local ($password, $id);
$password = $CALENDAR{'code'};
$id = $CALENDAR{'id'};
if ($password ne $delete_password) {
&return_error (500, "Calendar Manager",
"The password you entered is not valid!");
} else {
&open_database (undef, "delete", <<End_of_Delete);
delete from $database
where (ID = $id)
&print_location ();
If the password is valid, the record identified by the unique time is deleted from the database. Otherwise, an error message is output.
The display_modify_form subroutine outputs a form that contains the information about the record to be modified. This information is retrieved from the database with the help of the query information that is passed to this script:
Here is the subroutine:
sub display_modify_form
local ($id, $matches, @RESULTS, $keywords, $description, $modify_URL);
$id = $CALENDAR{'id'};
select Keywords, Description from $database
where (ID = $id)
unless ($matches) {
&return_error (500, "Calendar Manager",
"Oops! The appointment that you selected no longer exists!");
The identification number is used to retrieve the Keywords and Description fields from the database. If there are no matches, an error message is output. This will happen only if the Calendar Manager is being used by multiple users, and one of them deletes the record pointed to by the identification number.
($keywords, $description) = split (/\0/, shift (@RESULTS), 2);
$keywords = &escape_html ($keywords);
$description =~ s/<BR>/\n/g;
The appointment keywords and description are obtained from the results. We call the escape_html subroutine to escape certain characters that have a special significance to the browser, and we also convert the <BR> tags in the description back to newlines, so that the user can modify the description.
$modify_URL = join ("", $ENV{'SCRIPT_NAME'}, "?",
"action=modify", "&",
"type=execute", "&",
"id=", $id, "&",
"month=", $current_month_year);
&print_header ("Modify Form");
print <<End_of_Modify_Form;
This form allows you to modify the <B>description</B> field for an existing appointment in the calendar database. <P>
<FORM ACTION="$modify_URL" METHOD="POST"> Enter a brief message (keywords) describing the appointment: <P>
<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="modify_keywords" SIZE=40 VALUE="$keywords" MAXLENGTH=40>
Enter some comments about the appointment: <TEXTAREA ROWS=4 COLS=60 NAME="modify_description"> $description
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Modify Appointment!"> <INPUT TYPE="reset" VALUE="Clear Form"> </FORM>
&print_footer ();
The form containing the values of the selected appointment is displayed. Only the keywords and description fields can be modified by the user. The escape_html subroutine escapes characters in a specified string to prevent the browser from interpreting them.
sub escape_html
local ($string) = @_;
local (%html_chars, $html_string);
%html_chars = ('&', '&',
'>', '>',
'<', '<',
'"', '"');
$html_string = join ("", keys %html_chars);
$string =~ s/([$html_string])/$html_chars{$1}/go;
return ($string);
The modify_appointment subroutine modifies the information in the database.
sub modify_appointment
local ($modify_description, $id);
($modify_description = $CALENDAR{'modify_description'}) =~ s/(['"])/\\$1/g;
$id = $CALENDAR{'id'};
&open_database (undef, "update", <<End_of_Update);
update $database
set Description = ('$modify_description') where (ID = $id)
&print_location ();
The update SQL command modifies the description for the record in the calendar database. Then a server redirect is performed.
The imagemap display
Now let's change gears and discuss some of the more complicated subroutines, the first one being display_month_calendar. This subroutine either draws a calendar, or interprets the coordinates clicked by the user. Because we're trying to do a lot with this subroutine (and run it in several different situations), don't be surprised to find it rather complicated. There are three things the subroutine can do:
• In the simplest case, this subroutine is called when no coordinate information has been passed to the program. It then creates a calendar covering a one-month display. The output_HTML routine is called to do this (assuming that the user has a graphics browser).
• If coordinate information is passed, the subroutine figures out which date the user clicked and displays the appointments for that date, using the display_all_appointments subroutine.
• Finally, if the user has a non-graphics browser, draw_text_calendar is called to create the one-month display. This display contains hypertext links to simulate the functions that an imagemap performs in the graphics version.
But more subtleties lie in the interaction between the subroutines. In order to generate a calendar for a particular month requested by the user, I have the program invoke itself in a somewhat complex way.
Let me start with our task here: to create an image dynamically. Most CGI programmers create a GIF image, store it in a file, and then create an imagemap based on that temporary file. This is inefficient and involves storing information in temporary files. What I do instead is shown in Figure 11.6.
The program is invoked for the first time, and calls output_HTML. This routine sends the browser some HTML that looks like this:
<A HREF="/cgi-bin/">
<IMG SRC="/cgi-bin/" ISMAP></A>
Embedding an <IMG> tag in an <A> tag is a very common practice--an image with a hypertext link. But in most <IMG> tags, the SRC attribute points to a .gif file. Here, instead, it points back to our program.
So what happens when the browser displays the HTML? It sends a request back to the server for the image, and the server runs this program all over again. (As I said before, the program invokes itself.) This time, an image of a calendar is returned, and the browser happily completes the display.
You may feel that I'm playing games with HTML here, but it's all very legitimate and compatible with the way a web client and server work. And there's no need for temporary files with the resulting delays and cleanup.
Let me explain one more detail before we launch into the code. The decision about whether to display a calendar is determined by a field in the <IMG> tag you saw, the draw_imagemap field. When this field is passed, the program creates an image of a calendar. When the field is not passed, output_HTML is called. So we have to run the program once without draw_imagemap, let it call output_HTML, and have that subroutine run the program again with draw_imagemap set.
Once you understand the basic logic of the program, the display_month_calendar subroutine should be fairly easy to follow.
sub display_month_calendar
local ($nongraphic_browsers, $client_browser, $clicked_point,
$draw_imagemap, $image_date);
$nongraphic_browsers = 'Lynx|CERN-LineMode';
$client_browser = $ENV{'HTTP_USER_AGENT'} || $CALENDAR{'browser'};
We need to know whether the client is using a browser that displays graphics. Normally the name of the browser is passed in the HTTP_USER_AGENT environment variable, but it is not set if a program is executed as a result of server redirection. In that case, we can find out the browser through the query information, where we thoughtfully set a browser field earlier in the program. The line setting $client_browser is equivalent to:
$client_browser = $ENV{'HTTP_USER_AGENT'};
} else {
$client_browser = $CALENDAR{'browser'};
The following code checks to see if a graphic browser is being used, and displays output in the appropriate format.
if ($client_browser =~ /$nongraphic_browsers/) {
&draw_text_calendar ();
For text browsers, the draw_text_calendar subroutine formats the information from the cal command and displays it.
} else {
$clicked_point = $CALENDAR{'clicked_point'};
$draw_imagemap = $CALENDAR{'draw_imagemap'};
When the program is executed initially, the clicked_point and the draw_imagemap fields are null. As we'll see in a moment, this causes us to execute the output_HTML subroutine.
if ($clicked_point) {
$image_date = &get_imagemap_date ();
&display_all_appointments ($image_date);
If the user clicks on the image, this program stores the coordinates in the variable $CALENDAR{`clicked_point'}. The get_imagemap_date subroutine returns the date corresponding to the clicked region. Finally, the display_all_appointments subroutine displays all the appointments for the selected date.
} elsif ($draw_imagemap) {
&draw_graphic_calendar ();
When draw_imagemap is set (because of the complicated sequence of events I explained earlier), the draw_graphic_calendar subroutine is executed and outputs the image of the calendar.
} else {
&output_HTML ();
In this else block, we know that we are running a graphics browser but that neither $clicked_point nor $draw_imagemap were set. That means we are processing the initial request, and have to call output_HTML to create the first image.
When displaying the current calendar, this program provides two hypertext links (back to this program) that allow the user to view the calendar for a month ahead or for the past month. The next subroutine returns these links.
sub get_next_and_previous
local ($next_month, $next_year, $previous_month, $previous_year,
$arrow_URL, $next_month_year, $previous_month_year);
$next_month = $current_month + 1;
$previous_month = $current_month - 1;
if ($next_month > 12) {
$next_month = 1;
$next_year = $current_year + 1;
} else {
$next_year = $current_year;
if ($previous_month < 1) {
$previous_month = 12;
$previous_year = $current_year - 1;
} else {
$previous_year = $current_year;
If the month number is either at the low or the high limit, the year is incremented or decremented accordingly.
$arrow_URL = join ("", $ENV{'SCRIPT_NAME'}, "?",
"action=change", "&",
$next_month_year = join ("", $arrow_URL, $next_month, "/", $next_year);
$previous_month_year = join ("", $arrow_URL,
$previous_month, "/", $previous_year);
return ($next_month_year, $previous_month_year);
The two URLs returned by this subroutine are in the following format (assuming 12/1995 is the selected month):
Now, let's look at the subroutine that is executed initially, which displays the title and header for the document as well as an <IMG> tag that refers back to this script to create a graphic calendar.
sub output_HTML
local ($script, $arrow_URL, $next, $previous, $left, $right);
$script = $ENV{'SCRIPT_NAME'};
($next, $previous) = &get_next_and_previous ();
$left = qq|<A HREF="$previous"><IMG SRC="/icons/left.gif"></A>|;
$right = qq|<A HREF="$next"><IMG SRC="/icons/right.gif"></A>|;
("Calendar for $current_month_name $current_year",
"$left Calendar for $current_month_name $current_year $right");
The two links for the next and previous calendars are embedded in the document's header.
print <<End_of_HTML;
<A HREF="$script/$current_month_year">
<IMG SRC="$script?month=$current_month_year&draw_imagemap" ISMAP></A>
I described this construct earlier; it creates an imagemap with a hypertext link that runs this script. There are interesting subtleties in both the HREF attribute and the SRC attribute.
The HREF attribute includes the selected month and year (e.g., "11/1995") as path information. That's because we need some way to get this information back to the program when the user clicks on the calendar. The imagemap uses the GET method (so we cannot use the input stream) and passes only the x and y coordinates of the mouse as query information. So the only other option left open to us is to include the month and year as path information.
The SRC attribute, as we said before, causes the whole program to run again. Thanks to the draw_imagemap field, a calendar is drawn.
<A HREF="$script?action=full&year=$current_year">Full Year Calendar</A> <BR>
<A HREF="$script?action=search&type=form&month=$current_month_year">Search</A>
&print_footer ();
The main calendar screen contains two links: one to display the full year calendar, and another one to search the database.
Let's look at the subroutine that draws a text calendar. I have no chance to indulge in fancy image manipulation here. Instead, I format the days of the month in rows and provide a hypertext link for each day.
sub draw_text_calendar
local (@calendar, $big_line, $matches, @RESULTS, $header, $first_line,
$no_spaces, $spaces, $loop, $date, @status, $script, $date_URL,
$next, $previous);
@calendar = `$cal $current_month $current_year`;
shift (@calendar);
$big_line = join ("", @calendar);
The calendar for the selected month is stored in an array. Here is what the output of the cal command looks like:
November 1995
S M Tu W Th F S
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
The first line of the output is removed, as we do not need it. Then the whole array is joined together to create one large string. This makes it easier to manipulate the information, rather than trying to modify different elements of the array.
select Day from $database
where (Month = $current_month) and
(Year = $current_year)
The RESULTS array consists of the Day field for all the appointments in the selected month. This array is used to highlight the appropriate dates on the calendar.
&print_header ("Calendar for $current_month_name $current_year");
$big_line =~ s/\b(\w{1,2})\b/$1 /g;
$big_line =~ s/\n/\n\n/g;
These two statements expand the space between strings that are either one or two characters, and add an extra newline character. The regular expression is illustrated below.
[Graphic: Figure from the text]
Here is the what the output looks like after these two statements:
S M Tu W Th F S
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
Because of the leading spaces before the "1," the alignment is off. This can be corrected by taking the difference in length between the line that contains the day names and the first line (without the leading spaces), and adding that number of spaces to align it properly. We do this in the somewhat inelegant code below.
($header) = $big_line =~ /( S.*)/;
$big_line =~ s/ *(1.*)/$1/;
($first_line) = $big_line =~ //;
$no_spaces = length ($header) - length ($first_line);
$spaces = " " x $no_spaces;
$big_line =~ s/\b1\b/${spaces}1/;
While the technique I've used here is not a critical part of the program, I'll explain it because it provides an interesting instance of text manipulation. Remember that $big_line contains several lines. Through regular expressions we are extracting two lines: one with names of days of the week in $header, and another with the first line of dates in $first_line. We then compare the lengths of these two lines to make them flush right.
The regular expression /( S.*)/ picks out the cal output's header, which is a line containing a space followed by an S for Sun. This whole line is stored in $header.
In the next two lines of code, we strip all the spaces from the beginning of the first week of the calendar and store the rest of the week in $first_line. The regular expression contains a space followed by an asterisk in order to remove all spaces. The (1.*) and $1 select the date 1 and all the other dates up to the end of the same line. In the next code statement, the // construct means "whatever was matched last in a regular expression." Since the last match was $1, $first_line contains a line of dates starting with 1.
Then, using length commands, we determine how many spaces we need to make the first week flush right with the header. The x command creates the number of spaces we need. Finally we put that number of spaces before the 1 on the first line.
$date = $RESULTS[$loop];
unless ($status[$date]) {
$big_line =~ s|\b$date\b {0,1}|$date\*|;
$status[$date] = 1;
This loop iterates through the RESULTS array, which we loaded through an SQL select command earlier in this subroutine. Each element of RESULTS is a date on which an appointment has been scheduled. For each of these dates, we search the cal output and add an asterisk ("*").
The substitute command deserves a little examination:
Essentially, we want to replace the space that follows the date with an asterisk (\*). But the date may not be followed by a space. If it's at the end of the line (that is, if it falls on a Saturday) there will be no following space, and we want to just append the asterisk.
[Graphic: Figure from the text]
The {0,1} construct handles both cases. It means that $date must be followed by zero or one spaces. If there is a space, it's treated as part of the string and stripped off. If there is no space, that's fine too, because $date is still found and the asterisk is appended.
Here is what the output will look like (assuming there are appointments on the 5th, 8th, and 10th):
S M Tu W Th F S
1 2 3 4
5* 6 7 8* 9 10* 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
And that is what the calendar will look like in a text browser. But we still want to provide the same access that a graphic calendar does. The user must be able to select a date and view, add, or modify appointments. So now we turn each date in the calendar into a hypertext link.
$script = $ENV{'SCRIPT_NAME'};
$date_URL = join ("", $script, "?",
"action=view", "&",
"month=", $current_month_year);
$big_line =~ s|\b(\d{1,2})\b|<A HREF="$date_URL&date=$1">$1</A>|g;
Below is the regular expression that we're searching for in the last line of the preceding code. It defines a date as one or two digits surrounded by word boundaries. (Spaces are recognized as word boundaries, and so are the beginnings and ends of lines.) We add <A> and </A> tags around the date. The URL in each A tag includes the name of this script, an action=view tag, the current month, and the particular date chosen.
[Graphic: Figure from the text]
Let's continue with the subroutine:
print <<End_of_Output;
<LI><A HREF="$previous">Previous Month!</A></LI> <LI><A HREF="$next">Next Month!</A></LI> </UL>
&print_footer ();
Four final links are displayed: two to allow the user to view the last or next month calendar, one to display the full year calendar, and one to search the database for information contained within appointments.
The display_all_appointments subroutine displays all of the appointments for a given date. It is invoked by clicking a region of the graphic calendar or by following a link on the text calendar.
sub display_all_appointments
local ($date) = @_;
local ($script, $matches, @RESULTS, $loop, $id, $keywords,
$description, $display_URL);
select ID, Keywords, Description from $database
where (Month = $current_month) and
(Year = $current_year) and
(Day = $date)
The SQL statement retrieves the ID, Keywords, and Description for each appointment that falls on the specified date.
&print_header ("Appointments",
"Appointments for $current_month_name $date, $current_year");
$display_URL = join ("", $ENV{'SCRIPT_NAME'}, "?",
"type=form", "&",
"month=", $current_month_year);
if ($matches) {
($id, $keywords, $description) = split (/\0/, $RESULTS[$loop], 3);
print <<End_of_Each_Appointment;
Keywords: <B>$keywords</B>
<A HREF="$display_URL&action=modify&id=$id">Modify!</A> <A HREF="$display_URL&action=delete&id=$id">Delete!</A>
print "<HR>", "\n" if ($loop < $matches - 1);
If there are appointments scheduled for the given date, they are displayed. Each one has two links: one to modify the appointment description, and the other to delete it from the database.
} else {
print "There are no appointments scheduled!", "\n";
print <<End_of_Footer;
<A HREF="$display_URL&action=add&date=$date">Add New Appointment!</A>
&print_footer ();
If no appointments are scheduled for the date, a simple error message is displayed. Finally, a link allows the user to add appointments for the specified day.
Up to this point, we have not discussed how the graphic calendar is created, or how the coordinates are interpreted on the fly. The next three subroutines are responsible for performing those tasks. The first one we will look at is a valuable subroutine that calculates various aspects of the graphic calendar.
sub graphics_calculations
local (*GIF) = @_;
This subroutine expects a symbolic reference to an associative array as an argument. The purpose of the subroutine is to populate this array with numerous values that aid in implementing a graphic calendar.
$GIF{'first_day'} = &get_first_day ($current_month, $current_year);
The get_first_day subroutine returns the day number for the first day of the specified month, where Sunday is 0 and Saturday is 6. For example, the routine will return the value 3 for November 1995, which indicates a Wednesday.
$GIF{'last_day'} = &get_last_day ($current_month, $current_year);
The get_last_day subroutine returns the number of days in a specified month. It takes leap years into effect.
$GIF{'no_rows'} = ($GIF{'first_day'} + $GIF{'last_day'}) / 7;
if ($GIF{'no_rows'} != int ($GIF{'no_rows'})) {
$GIF{'no_rows'} = int ($GIF{'no_rows'} + 1);
This calculates the number of rows that the calendar will occupy. We simply divide the number of days in this month by the number of days in a week, and round up if part of a week is left.
Now we are going to define some coordinates.
$GIF{'box_length'} = $GIF{'box_height'} = 100;
$GIF{'x_offset'} = $GIF{'y_offset'} = 10;
The box length and height define the rectangular portion for each day in the calendar. You can modify this to a size that suits you. Nearly all calculations are based on this, so a modification in these values will result in a proportionate calendar. The x and y offsets define the offset of the calendar from the left and top edges of the image, respectively.
$GIF{'large_font_length'} = 8;
$GIF{'large_font_height'} = 16;
$GIF{'small_font_length'} = 6;
$GIF{'small_font_height'} = 12;
These sizes are based on the gdLarge and gdSmall fonts in the gd library.
$GIF{'x'} = ($GIF{'box_length'} * 7) +
($GIF{'x_offset'} * 2) +
The length of the image is based primarily on the size of each box length multiplied by the number of days in a week. The offset and the length of the large font size are added to this so the calendar fits nicely within the image.
$GIF{'y'} = ($GIF{'large_font_height'} * 2) +
($GIF{'no_rows'} * $GIF{'box_height'}) +
($GIF{'no_rows'} + 1) +
($GIF{'y_offset'} * 2) +
The height of the image is based on the number of rows multiplied by the box height. Other offsets are added to this because there must be room at the top of the image for the month name and the weekday names.
$GIF{'start_calendar'} = $GIF{'y_offset'} +
(3 * $GIF{'large_font_height'});
This variable refers to the actual y coordinate where the calendar starts. If you were to subtract this value from the height of the image, the difference would equal the area at the top of the image where the titles (i.e., month name and weekday names) are placed.
$GIF{'date_x_offset'} = int ($GIF{'box_length'} * 0.80);
$GIF{'date_y_offset'} = int ($GIF{'box_height'} * 0.05);
These offsets specify the number of pixels from the upper right corner of a box to the day number.
$GIF{'appt_x_offset'} = $GIF{'appt_y_offset'} = 10;
The appointment x offset refers to the number of pixels from the left edge of the box to the point where the appointment keywords are displayed. And the y offset is the number of pixels from the day number to a point where the appointment keywords are started.
$GIF{'no_chars'} = int (($GIF{'box_length'} -
$GIF{'appt_x_offset'}) /
$GIF{'small_font_length'}) - 1;
This contains the number of 6x12 font characters that will fit horizontally in each box, and is used to truncate appointment keywords.
$GIF{'no_appts'} = int (($GIF{'box_height'} -
$GIF{'large_font_height'} -
$GIF{'date_y_offset'} -
$GIF{'appt_y_offset'}) /
Finally, this variable specifies the number of appointment keywords that will fit vertically. Then next subroutine, get_imagemap_date, uses some of these constants to determine the exact region (and date) where the user click originated.
sub get_imagemap_date
local (%DATA, $x_click, $y_click, $error_offset, $error,
$start_y, $end_y, $start_x, $end_x, $horizontal, $vertical,
$box_number, $clicked_date);
&graphics_calculations (*DATA);
($x_click, $y_click) = split(/,/, $CALENDAR{'clicked_point'}, 2);
We start by calling the subroutine just discussed, graphics_calculations, to initialize coordinates and other important information about the calendar. The variable $CALENDAR{`clicked_point'} is a string containing the x and y coordinates of the click, as transmitted by the browser. The parse_query_and_form_data subroutine at the end of this chapter sets the value for this variable.
$error_offset = 2;
$error = $error_offset / 2;
$start_y = $DATA{'start_calendar'} + $error_offset;
$end_y = $DATA{'y'} - $DATA{'y_offset'} + $error_offset;
$start_x = $DATA{'x_offset'} + $error_offset;
$end_x = $DATA{'x'} - $DATA{'x_offset'} + $error_offset;
The error offset is defined as two pixels. This is introduced to make the clickable area the region just inside the actual calendar.
The $DATA{`start_calendar'} and $DATA{`x_offset'} elements of the array define the x and y coordinates where the actual calendar starts, as I discussed when listing the previous subroutine. We draw lines to create boxes starting at that point. Therefore, the y coordinate does not include the titles and headers at the top of the image.
if ( ($x_click >= $start_x) && ($x_click <= $end_x) &&
($y_click >= $start_y) && ($y_click <= $end_y) ) {
This conditional ensures that a click is inside the calendar. If it is not, we send a status of 204 No Response to the browser.
If the browser can handle this status code, it will produce no response. Otherwise, an error message is displayed.
$horizontal = int (($x_click - $start_x) /
($DATA{'box_length'} + $error));
$vertical = int (($y_click - $start_y) /
($DATA{'box_height'} + $error));
The horizontal box number (starting from the left edge) of the user click is determined by the following algorithm:
[Graphic: Figure from the text]
The vertical box number (starting from the top) that corresponds to the user click can be calculated by the following algorithm:
[Graphic: Figure from the text]
To continue with the subroutine:
$box_number = ($vertical * 7) + $horizontal;
The vertical box number is multiplied by seven--since there are seven boxes (i.e., seven days) per row--and added to the horizontal box number to get the raw box number. For instance, the first box in the second row would be considered raw box number 8. However, this will equal the date only if the first day of the month starts on a Sunday. Since we know this will not be true all the time, we have to take into effect what is really the first day of the month.
$clicked_date = ($box_number - $DATA{'first_day'}) + 1;
The difference between the raw box number and the first day of the month is incremented by one (since the first day of the month returned by the get_first_date subroutine is zero based) to determine the date. We are still not out of trouble, because the calculated date can still be either less than zero, or greater than the last day of the month. How, you may ask? Say that a month has 31 days and the first day falls on Friday. There will be 7 rows, and a total of 42 boxes. If the user clicks in box number 42 (the last box of the last row), the $clicked_date variable above will equal 37, which is invalid. That is the reason for the conditional below:
if (($clicked_date <= 0) ||
($clicked_date > $DATA{'last_day'})) {
&return_error (204, "No Response", "Browser doesn't support 204");
} else {
return ($clicked_date);
} else {
If the user clicked in a valid region, the date corresponding to that region is returned.
Now we can look at perhaps the most significant subroutine in this program. It invokes the gd graphics extension to draw the graphic calendar with the appointment keywords in the boxes.
sub draw_graphic_calendar
local (%DATA, $image, $black, $cadet_blue, $red, $yellow,
$month_title, $month_point, $day_point, $loop, $temp_day,
$temp_x, $temp_y, $inner, $counter, $matches, %APPTS,
&graphics_calculations (*DATA);
$image = new GD::Image ($DATA{'x'}, $DATA{'y'});
A new image object is created, based on the dimensions returned by the graphics_calculations subroutine.
$cadet_blue = $image->colorAllocate (95, 158, 160);
$yellow = $image->colorAllocate (255, 255, 0);
Various colors are defined. The background color is black, and the lines between boxes are yellow. All text is drawn in red, except for the dates, which are cadet blue.
$month_title = join (" ", $current_month_name, $current_year);
$month_point = ($DATA{'x'} -
(length ($month_title) *
$DATA{'large_font_length'})) / 2;
$image->string (gdLargeFont, $month_point, $DATA{'y_offset'},
$month_title, $red);
The month title (e.g., "November 1995") is centered in red, with the $month_point variable giving the right amount of space on the left.
$day_point = (($DATA{'box_length'} + 2) -
($DATA{'large_font_length'} * 3)) / 2;
The $day_point variable centers the weekday string (e.g., "Sun") with respect to a single box.
for ($loop=0; $loop < 7; $loop++) {
$temp_day = (split(/,/, $weekday_names))[$loop];
$temp_x = ($loop * $DATA{'box_length'}) +
$DATA{'x_offset'} +
$day_point + $loop;
$image->string ( gdLargeFont,
$DATA{'y_offset'} +
$DATA{'large_font_height'} + 10,
$red );
The for loop draws the seven weekday names (as stored in the $weekday_names global variable) above the first row of boxes.
for ($loop=0; $loop <= $DATA{'no_rows'}; $loop++) {
$temp_y = $DATA{'start_calendar'} +
($loop * $DATA{'box_height'}) + $loop;
$image->line ( $DATA{'x_offset'},
$DATA{'x'} - $DATA{'x_offset'} - 1,
$yellow );
This loop draws the horizontal yellow lines, in effect separating each box.
for ($loop=0; $loop <= 7; $loop++) {
$temp_x = $DATA{'x_offset'} + ($loop * $DATA{'box_length'}) + $loop;
$image->line ( $temp_x,
$DATA{'y'} - $DATA{'y_offset'} - 1,
$yellow );
The for loop draws yellow vertical lines, creating boundaries between the weekdays. We have finished the outline for the calendar; now we have to fill in the blanks with the particular dates and appointments.
$inner = $DATA{'first_day'};
$counter = 1;
$matches = &appointments_for_graphic (*APPTS);
The appointments_for_graphic subroutine returns an associative array of appointment keywords for the selected month (keyed by the date). For example, here is what an array might look like:
$APPTS{'02'} = "See Professor";
$APPTS{'03'} = "ABC Enterprises\0Luncheon Meeting";
This example shows one appointment on the 2nd of this month, and two appointments (separated by a \0 character) on the 3rd.
In several nested loops--one for the rows, one for the days in each row, and one for the appointments on each day--we draw the date for each box and list the appointment keywords in the appropriate boxes.
for ($outer=0; $outer <= $DATA{'no_rows'}; $outer++) {
$temp_y = $DATA{'start_calendar'} + $outer +
($outer * $DATA{'box_height'}) +
This outermost loop iterates through the rows, based on $DATA{`no_rows'}. The $temp_y variable contains the y coordinate where the date should be drawn for a particular row.
while (($inner < 7) && ($counter <= $DATA{'last_day'})) {
$temp_x = $DATA{'x_offset'} +
($inner * $DATA{'box_length'}) +
$inner + $DATA{'date_x_offset'};
$image->string (gdLargeFont, $temp_x, $temp_y,
sprintf ("%2d", $counter),
This inner loop draws the dates across a row. A while loop was used instead of a for loop because the number of dates across a row may not be seven (in cases when the month does not start on Sunday or does not end on Saturday). The variable $counter keeps track of the actual date that is being output.
if ($APPTS{$counter}) {
@appt_list = split (/\0/, $APPTS{$counter});
last if ($loop >= $DATA{'no_appts'});
If appointments exist for the date, a for loop is used to iterate through the list. The number of appointments that can fit in a box is governed by $DATA{`no_appts'}; others are ignored. But the user can click on the individual date to see all of them.
$image->string (gdSmallFont,
$DATA{'x_offset'} +
($inner * $DATA{'box_length'} +
$inner +
$temp_y +
($loop * $DATA{'small_font_height'}) +
pack ("A$DATA{'no_chars'}",
The keywords for an appointment are displayed in the box. The pack operator truncates the string to fit in the box.
$inner = 0;
$| = 1;
print "Pragma: no-cache", "\n\n";
print $image->gif;
Finally, the program turns output buffering off and sends the image to the client for display.
The following subroutine returns an associative array containing the keywords for all the appointments for the selected month.
sub appointments_for_graphic
local (*DATES) = @_;
local ($matches, @RESULTS, $loop, $day, $keywords);
select Day, Keywords from $database where
(Month = $current_month) and
(Year = $current_year)
RESULTS now contains the number of elements indicated by $matches. Each element contains the date for an appointment followed by the keyword list for that appointment, as requested by our select statement. We need to put all the appointments for a given day into one element of our associative array DATES, which we will return to the caller.
($day, $keywords) = split (/\0/, $RESULTS[$loop], 2);
if ($DATES{$day}) {
$DATES{$day} = join ("\0", $DATES{$day}, $keywords);
} else {
$DATES{$day} = $keywords;
When a day in DATES already lists an appointment, we concatenate the next appointment to it with the null string (\0) as separator. When we find an empty day, we do not need to add the null string.
return ($matches);
Finally, a count of the total number of appointments for the month are returned.
The last major subroutine we will discuss parses the form data. It is very similar to the parse_form_data subroutines used up to this point.
sub parse_query_and_form_data
local (*FORM_DATA) = @_;
local ($request_method, $query_string, $path_info,
$request_method = $ENV{'REQUEST_METHOD'};
$path_info = $ENV{'PATH_INFO'};
if ($request_method eq "GET") {
$query_string = $ENV{'QUERY_STRING'};
} elsif ($request_method eq "POST") {
read (STDIN, $query_string, $ENV{'CONTENT_LENGTH'});
if ($ENV{'QUERY_STRING'}) {
$query_string = join ("&", $query_string, $ENV{'QUERY_STRING'});
If the request method is POST, the information from the input stream and the data in QUERY_STRING are appended to $query_string. We have to do this because our program accepts information in an unusually complex way; some user queries pass both query strings and input streams.
} else {
&return_error ("500", "Server Error",
"Server uses unsupported method");
if ($query_string =~ /^\d+,\d+$/) {
$FORM_DATA{'clicked_point'} = $query_string;
if ($path_info =~ m|^/(\d+/\d+)$|) {
$FORM_DATA{'month'} = $1;
If the user clicks on the imagemap, the client sends a query string in the form of two integers ("x,y") to the CGI program. Here, we store the string right into $FORM_DATA{`clicked_point'}, where the get_imagemap_date routine can retrieve it. Previously, we set up our hypertext link so that the month name gets passed as extra path information (see the output_HTML subroutine), and here we store it in $FORM_DATA{`month'}. This value is checked for validity at the top of the program, just to make sure that there are no shell metacharacters.
} else {
if ($query_string =~ /draw_imagemap/) {
$FORM_DATA{'draw_imagemap'} = 1;
The $FORM_DATA{`draw_imagemap'} variable is set if the query contains the string "draw_imagemap". The rest of the code below is common, and we have seen it many times.
@key_value_pairs = split (/&/, $query_string);
foreach $key_value (@key_value_pairs) {
$value =~ tr/+/ /;
} else {
$FORM_DATA{$key} = $value;
The following subroutine returns the number of days in the specified month. It takes leap years into effect.
sub get_last_day
local ($month, $year) = @_;
local ($last, @no_of_days);
if ($month == 2) {
if ( !($year % 4) && ( ($year % 100) || !($year % 400) ) ) {
$last = 29;
} else {
$last = 28;
} else {
$last = $no_of_days[$month - 1];
return ($last);
The get_first_day subroutine (algorithm by Malcolm Beattie <>) returns the day number for the first day of the specified month. For example, if Friday is the first day of the month, this subroutine will return 5. (The value is zero-based, starting with Sunday).
sub get_first_day
local ($month, $year) = @_;
local ($day, $first, @day_constants);
$day = 1;
@day_constants = (0, 3, 2, 5, 0, 3, 5, 1, 4, 6, 2, 4);
if ($month < 3) {
$first = ($year + int ($year / 4) - int ($year / 100) +
int ($year/400) + $day_constants [$month - 1] + $day) % 7;
return ($first);
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0.066142 | <urn:uuid:8a7ec2a0-0a3c-4022-980b-16f0aaac30fd> | en | 0.96343 | Mar 282014
The History of Safety Apparel
Since there were workers and clothing, there has been some form of work safe apparel. However, once machine-created clothing and equipment really caught on, safety apparel became more modernized and could better protect workers. For instance, according to, fire fighters in the United States first had access to a fire helmet in the 1730’s.
Different Types of Safety Workwear
There are as many types of safety gear available as there are jobs. Doctors wear masks that protect them from germs, construction workers need protective footwear, those who work outdoors may need high boots and thick pants to protect against snake or insect bites and those who are working on the road need reflective garments that allow oncoming motorist to easily spot them–even after dark. The most important thing is that the gear is specifically chosen for the job at hand.
Today, many workers aren’t left to their own devices when it comes to choosing the right safety apparel. There are different codes in place that regulate certain equipment be worn by workers in certain industries. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) dictates this in certain cases. Additionally, many employers have a commitment to safety, so these firms may have even stricter requirements for those who work there.
No matter what industry or what job you have, it is important that you follow safety apparel guidelines. Not only does it protect you from danger–it may be required by law!
CornerStone – ANSI 107 Class 2 Safety Vest.
Feb 262014
Casual Fridays, or Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays, are a weekly favorite, but what if as a business you could provide your employees with the option to take part in ‘casual’ workdays every day? Companies and businesses can with the introduction of imprinted apparel as a part of their employee uniform.
Casual Employee Uniforms Create a Sense of Professionalism
A casual employee uniform is more than just providing a sense of comfort to employees; it is about creating a sense of professionalism. Businesses need to present a uniform, professional image to customers in order to gain trust and a casual uniform achieves that goal.
Casual uniforms can be made out of crisp, high quality materials that make them appear almost as if they are as professional as a business suit or dress shirt, but without the stiff, uncomfortable feel. Materials, such as silk fibers or microfiber, provide businesses with the option to choose apparel that looks clean, crisp and professional.
Options Available for Casual Employee Uniforms
There is a considerable number of shirt styles available for businesses to choose from in an effort to create a casual employee uniform. Short and long sleeved t-shirts, polo shirts, and button down shirts are available. For the colder months, sweaters, zippered jackets, and hoodies can also be incorporated into a business’s casual uniform dress code.
In addition to having the ability to choose the style of shirts, businesses can also have control over the color of the clothing. Casual apparel comes in a variety of colors ranging from bright, vibrant shades to subtle, earth tones. Businesses can make their company recognizable to customers by trying to pick a color theme that represents their business.
Ability to Imprint Logos, Business Names, and Pictures on Apparel
The real key to creating a casual business uniform that looks professional is having some sort of logo or emblem that identifies the employees as representatives of a business. Casual employee uniforms can have this done by imprinting the company name or logo onto the shirt.
Businesses can purchase blank, solid colored t-shirts, sweatshirts, or polo shirts and then opt to have a logo, business name, or other picture imprinted on the apparel. The logo can be printed on the shirt sleeve, back, or pocket.
Boost employee morale by making every day casual Friday by incorporating a casual employee uniform into the dress code.
Be comfortable and casual everyday.L502_K502_Model_GA13
Feb 262014
The term preshrunk actually describes an entire process that the fabric has gone through before being made into the t-shirt that you are wearing. The following is a closer look at what exactly ‘preshrunk’ means and the process the fabric goes through before being used to create a shirt.
Fabrics Naturally Want to Shrink
All natural and synthetic fabrics have a natural tendency to want to shrink when they are washed. This is because the fibers of the fabric will want to tighten up and bunch together. This tightening action results in entire fabric shrinking, which results in a change in the overall shape and size of the article of clothing.
The Preshrinking Process
Seeing the term ‘preshrunk’ may automatically bring up images of having the t-shirt washed and dried before it is sold, but it actually implies the use of a process that is known as preshrinking.
The preshrinking process involves placing the fabric that is used to create the t-shirt through a processing machine. The processing machine will force the fibers of the fabric to group together and tighten. When the fibers of the fabric are grouped together, it will eliminate the possibility of the shirt shrinking when it is washed.
Do the Preshrunk Shirts Never Shrink When Washed?
There is a common belief that preshrunk shirts will never shrink in the wash. This, unfortunately, is not true. Preshrunk shirts can, and sometimes will, shrink in the wash.
The preshrinking process will eliminate the possibility of a t-shirt shrinking in the wash, but it will not completely prevent any shrinkage. The t-shirt could shrink in the future, but the shrinkage will be very minimal. It is believed that the shrinkage is only about 3-7% of the size of the t-shirt, which would barely impact the fit of the shirt.
Why Many T-Shirts are Preshrunk Before Being Sold?
T-shirts are often preshrunk because it eliminates any type of guess work out of choosing a t-shirt size. If a t-shirt is a large, it most likely will not shrink in the wash to a medium or small. This makes it easier for people to choose a shirt that will fit them without fear that the clothing will shrink and not be able to be worn in the future.
Next time you are looking at a t-shirt label and notice the term ‘preshrunk’, you will be able to understand exactly what it means and how it impacts the t-shirt you are purchasing.
Feb 062014
Full-printed garments, especially t-shirts, are made possible with a printing process known as dye sublimation printing. Dye sublimation printing, or dye sublimation for short, allows full photographic images to be printed or transferred to a t-shirt or other garment. Some in the shirt printing industry call this process ‘all around printing.’
The following is a look at the process that is used during dye sublimation printing and why it is becoming a popular choice for t-shirts.
What is Dye Sublimation Printing?
Dye sublimation printing is a complex printing process that essentially takes a photographic image and transfers it to the entire shirt. The image often takes up the whole shirt, as opposed to a smaller logo or design located above the shirt pocket.
The process for dye sublimation printing is fairly time consuming. The desired photo, image, or artwork must first be taken and printed onto specialty paper. This is done using a special printer that will print the image onto large sheets of paper.
Once the images or artwork have been transferred to the specialty paper, they will then be transferred to the t-shirts. Transferring the images and artwork to the t-shirt requires the use of a special pressure machine called a heat transfer press. These presses reach the extremely high temperatures that are required to help transfer the images onto the t-shirts. This is typically 375-380 degrees Fahrenheit.
This is a heat press:
sublimation printing
How is an Image Transferred from Paper to the T-Shirt?
Images are transferred with a heat press as seen above. The extremely high temperatures these machines reach that will convert the dye on the paper into a gas. Once the dye is converted to a gas, it can be transferred to the t-shirt. The shirt will be placed on the botton with the sublimation printed transfer paper on top. The gas will instantly ‘bond’ with the fibers of the fabric resulting in the transferred image. At this point the design will very likely last as long as the shirt itself.
Why is Dye Sublimation Printing Becoming So Popular?
Dye sublimation printing has been around for a number of years, but it wasn’t until recently that it started to become popular. There are a number of reasons why it has increased in popularity.
Some of the reasons for dye sublimation printing’s popularity include:
• No two images are alike, each t-shirt is considered unique as the process is never the same
• Garments are soft, as the dye is absorbed by the fabric and does not sit on top of it
• Bright, vibrant colors and images can be transferred to t-shirts
• Details will not be lost during transfer of the images to the shirts
Understanding what dye sublimation printing is and why it is popular can help you determine if it is the right choice for your t-shirt printing needs. Check out our Sublimate Tees for him and her made especially this type of printing.
Sep 262013
Sep 192013
Sep 132013
Jun 172013
Brief History
The first known evidence of hats appears in drawings from Ancient Greece. Most of the early hats were worn by the higher society individuals or the wealthy. These people would have their very own hat makers known as a “milliner” – named after Milan Italy – where the best hats were made in the 18th century. Most milliners from that era were women. Early hats were an indicator of Military rank or occupation as can still be seen all over the world today. Among the most famous hat makers in the United States is John B. Stetson of the Stetson hat company. They are responsible for creating what most of us recognize as the Cowboy hat. In some cases hats are required attire at many horse races and formal events. These are among the last places where you will find very high end and extravagant hats. Hats have a deep history and have changed a lot over the generations. It used to be in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s people would never leave the house without a hat. The men would don a dress hat similar to a fedora and the women would wear something more extravagant that was often decorated with lace or flowers or combinations of similar accessories. As we entered into the 1960’s the custom of wearing hats every time you left the house faded. Now a days you will most commonly grab a baseball cap if you are leaving the house with a hat.
Have a look at a Stetson hat being made:
Baseball cap
Features of the hat:
What are the differences in Baseball Caps?
• Structured vs. unstructured:
• Profile – low to high:
• Type of Closure:
snapback hat
• Color combinations:
• Panels:
Here is a man wearing a Fedora hat.
man wearing fedora
May 072013
The textile industry is one of the oldest yet fastest-growing industries in the world; after all, clothing is one of the primary commodities that every person on Earth needs to own. Textile manufacturers do a very good job today producing high quality materials from both synthetic and natural fibers that are offered to the general public. Textile producers, however, did not have an easy trail to follow leading to their success.
Its history
While a lot of struggling people were immigrating to America to start a new life, a small group of these people stood at the forefront and led America through its Industrial Revolution. This group of textile entrepreneurs invented power-driven machinery and developed business enterprises to produce products that had previously been made in low volume in homes and small shops, leading to a factory boom.
The industrialization of textile manufacturing began in the late 1700s in Great Britain when Richard Arkwright invented the “spinning frame” that could turn raw cotton into a mass produced yarn.
spinning wheel
An early Spinning Frame
However, it wasn’t until 1790 that the industry began to spread widely to the United States. This movement can largely be credited to an English-born businessman named Samuel Slater. At the age of 21, Slater had worked in a textile factory for six years and had learned the mechanical details of Arkwright’s machine. He carried this knowledge with him as he ventured out of his country and onto the American shores, confident that he could reinvent the spinning frame and make a fortune for himself.
When he arrived in Providence, Rhode Island, he formed a partnership with the textile-manufacturing firm of Almy & Brown. Slater built the spinning frame based on the Arkwright model just from the details he had memorized. Its first use was on December 20, 1790 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where the waters of the Blackstone River turned the wheels of the mill. The success of Slater’s mill revolutionized the textile industry in America, which up to that point was dependent on cottage workers to produce yarn and thread.
slater mill
Slater Mill Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Because of this innovation, factories in the US began to multiply rapidly, earning Slater the title of “The Father of the American Factory System” as well as “The Father of the American Industrial Revolution.” By 1815, there were already 165 cotton mills operating in New England. These early mills were not large-scale, so New England merchants continued to utilize home workers to weave some of the yarn into cloth for some time after Slater’s innovation.
This video shows an early spinning frame in action at the Slater Mill.
The spawning of other products
The beginning of the 18th century marked the production of textiles made with wool from sheep farms across the midlands in Britain. More than a quarter of the British exports during that time were from the export trade in woolen goods, doubling between 1701 and 1770. Another textile industry that invested in cotton centered in Lancashire showed remarkable growth during that time, although it did not equal the huge value of the woolen trade. Before the start of the 17th century, only individual workers manufactured a somewhat limited number of goods, which were distributed around the country.
In the early 18th century, artisans started to find alternative materials to produce products. They were using silk, wool, fustian, and linen, but all were eventually overcome by cotton, which became the most important textile of the time.
Cotton was first imported into northern Europe in the late medieval period. At the time people did not have any knowledge of where it came from. They associated the material with wool, noting their similarities, they conceptualized that plant-borne sheep must produce it. It was later called “tree wool.” Even Christopher Columbus in his explorations of the Bahamas and Cuba in the late 1400’s, found natives wearing cotton garments. During the late 16th century, cotton became more and more popular as it was cultivated in the warmer regions of Asia and America.
The production of cloth involves not only the growing and harvesting of the fiber or raw material, but the product must then be prepared and spun into thread or yarn, and finally weaving the yarn into cloth. Thereafter, the cloth will be taken to the garment manufacturer. Preparation of fiber will depend on the fiber used, but it can involve retting and dressing. Wool needs to be carded and washed. Spinning and weaving can be similarly done to fibers, as well. Spinning is done by twisting the fibers by hand using a drop spindle or a spinning wheel.
The industry’s forerunners
Eli Whitney invented the modern mechanical cotton gin, which quickly separates the cotton fibers from their seeds, in 1793.
cotton gin
Cotton Gin on Display the Eli Whitney Museum
Here is a brief video history of Eli Whitney and his impact on the textile world:
It was in 1813 that the New England factory systems started to take off when Frances Cabot Lowell, Nathan Appleton, and Patrick Johnson established the Boston Manufacturing Company and opened their first factory, wherein workers operated spinning and weaving machinery. This enabled the home-based workers to shift their jobs from their homes to the factories. Fifteen years later, the company started adding branches throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire. By 1840, the Boston Manufacturing Company had gained a great deal of popularity, as others tried to copy their corporate model.
boston manufacturing
Boston Manufacturing Company on the Charles River, Waltham, Massachusetts
Lowell and his team hoped to change the ways of the British industry. Building their facilities in Massachusetts, he hired young and unwed women from the farms of New England. Known as the “mill girls”, they were strictly chaperoned by matrons who established curfews and a stringent moral code for the girls to follow. The mill girls worked 12 hours per day, 6 days per week. Although it was a tedious job, most of the girls enjoyed the independence the mill gave them, in contrast to how they had lived on the farm. Moreover, the wages rose to triple the rate for a domestic servant at the time.
It was also during this time when leaders such as William Gregg of South Carolina established a home-based textile industry, which was resisted by the northern mills. After the Civil War, the south slowly replaced the use of slaves with regular workers. Edwin Michael Holt and his family in North Carolina built a number of mills all over the south at the end of the 19th century, including Glencoe Cotton Mill and mill village, which are still preserved to this day.
Later on, merchants such as the Marshall Fields of Chicago acquired and built mills of their own (Cone Mills and Fieldcrest Mills) so as to better control and regulate the supply.
As World War I took place, several new companies emerged to satisfy the war demand. After the war, imported machinery from Germany and Switzerland started to replace domestic supply.
During the late 19th century, the Made in the USA began to be replaced by a new world order. Because many textile manufacturers aimed to buy from the producers with the lowest cost, most textile companies considered importing from other countries.
Today’s industry
As the 20th century approached, major changes came to the textile industry as innovations allowed textile machinery to create synthetic fiber such as rayon and nylon, which is used in products ranging from pantyhose to toothbrushes.
Acetate was invented in the 1920s. A decade later, polyester and acrylic were introduced. Polyester became more popular in the Unites States than cotton for some time during that century.
By the early 20th century, globalization also led to the outsourcing of textile manufacturing to overseas markets. This created a trend of focusing on white-collar industries for fashion design and retail.
An apparel distributor, Outlet Shirts, specializes itself in the screen-printing and embroidery industry as well as blank apparel. It provides well over 1500 products from brands such as Port Authority Apparel, Port and Company, Eddie Bauer, Nike Golf, Sport-Tek and more. Offering a large selection of wholesale t-shirts, polo shirts, woven, outerwear, ladies styles and many more. Its products are available either blank or embellished with your company or group logo. Its low prices and generous discounts, also includes free shipping starting at $125, will make it easy for any customer to save more without sacrificing quality or service.
The textile industry has come a long way from just old-fashioned machines and factories. It has developed greatly over time, paving the way for companies who produce quality products for their customers. Today, it has become a very essential industry the world could not live without.
May 012013
Now we would now like to take a look at the Button. Not the kind that you push to get to your floor in an elevator nor the kind that you tap to turn off your phone. Here we are talking about the ancient and still every day item used in everything from clothing to home decoration. You can obviously find buttons in shirts, pants, as well as furniture and other home décor like drapery. Buttons come in a wide range of colors, sizes, shapes and materials. They have a rich and surprising history around the world. There are even museum displays dedicated entirely to buttons just as there are for clothing. One such famous place is the button exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution. The button is both a tool and a fashion statement. The button’s various uses, low cost and longevity probably means it will be with us forever.
General Description
The button is a type of fastener used mainly in clothing and most often in shirts and pants. But as mentioned previously you can also find them in furniture and in that case are mainly fabric buttons used as decoration and do not serve much purpose beyond that. The same can be said for large fabric buttons found on drapery. Most buttons are made of a from of plastic these days but you can still find many variations of this useful item.
Buttons have been unearthed by Archeologists that date back to 2,800 BC in both Middle and Eastern Asia. They were primarily used as a decoration first and then later it was found that they could serve as a useful item beyond just for looks. In some cases buttons are used for both aesthetics and function. Early buttons were an item that only high society would own until cheaper versions came along made of wood and bone and eventually were made of plastic as most are today. Some of these early buttons were actually art pieces that became collectibles for the wealthy. These early collectible buttons would have ornate carvings etched or inlaid into them and were not made for any clothing application but as an art piece. These were almost always bone or ivory and some even had precious stones added to them. Buttons that were used to hold clothing or fabric together first appeared in Germany in the 13th Century and were widely used in Europe within about 100 years. These types of buttons are the most common in the world. During World War I and II the military made locket buttons that contained miniature compasses. Buttons have proven to be such an important item that Charles Dickens even wrote about the process to make them in 1852.
Buttons have also shown up in political campaigns that date back to George Washington’s first campaign. The more modern style of campaign button is metal usually with a picture or slogan on the front. These are known as badge or pin-back buttons.
Before continuing on watch this short video on the manufacturing process of plastic buttons:
Button types and materials used
Buttons can be made from a variety of things. The earliest buttons were made of seashell or bone and even some were made of ivory. Eventually button making made its way to wood and then plastic and metal. Button that are still made of shell or bone tend to be reserved for collections as they are often one of a kind pieces made by an artist. Metal buttons are most common on jeans while plastic buttons are more common for shirts. The most common type of button is the flat or sew-thru button. These buttons have 2, 3 or 4 holes in them and are sewn onto the clothing item with thread. This type of button, after it is sewn to the clothing item, slides through a cut in the cloth known as a buttonhole or a loop of fabric. Flat buttons mostly come in metal or plastic and among these there are a few types. You have Dyed-to-match, which are colored to match the clothing item they are going on, there are Horn-tone buttons, which are plastic made with a brown and ivory coloring that somewhat resemble the antlers of an animal. Then the plain old metal button which is usually made of aluminum. Another type of button is the Shank button. These are much less common and involve a round button with a loop made of the same material attached to the back of it called a shank. You would sew the thread through the shank to attach it to your clothing item. This type of button would be mostly found in nice dress jackets and dresses. The last of the common buttons is a Stud button. These are metal pieces that are riveted onto the clothing item. These are much more durable which is why they are most commonly found on denim jackets and pants. These are fastened to the clothing in the same way that Flat buttons are.
Here some examples of clothing with various button types; Port Authority Silk Touch Shirt with Dyed-to-match buttons, Port Authority Long Sleeve Twill Shirt with Horn-tone buttons and Port Authority Authentic Denim Jacket with metal stud buttons.
As you can see buttons have a long and interesting history. They have changed a lot over time in both their uses as well as the materials used and who would own them. They have found there way into most clothing items we use and are very affordable which part of the reason they are so common. Last we leave you with a helpful video. Have you ever lost a button on your shirt or pants? Watch this video tutorial to learn how to sewn a button back onto a shirt. The same process works for pants and well.
Sewing 4-hole button onto a shirt | http://www.outletshirts.com/blog/category/outlet-shirts-general/ | dclm-gs1-110090000 |
0.023119 | <urn:uuid:7ac15627-0d85-4b06-8133-dca23b822513> | en | 0.92973 | Lime (Calcium Hydroxide) for use in pH Neutralization Systems
pH Neutralization Systems by Digital Analysis Corp.
Neutralization Chemicals
Calcium Hydroxide -Lime-
Calcium Hydroxide Ca(OH)2
Calcium Hydroxide [Ca(OH)2]. Also commonly referred to as slaked lime or hydrated lime; calcium hydroxide is formed as a result of hydrating lime (calcium oxide, CaO). Lime is by far the most economically favorable alkaline reagent to use for acid neutralization. Lime is significantly cheaper than caustic (NaOH), but is much more difficult to handle.
As with magnesium hydroxide, Lime is not very soluble in water. Although the reaction times of lime are substantially less than magnesium hydroxide, lime is difficult to handle because it is handled as a slurry.
Ca(OH)2 is divalent, yielding two moles of (OH)2 for every one mole of Ca(OH)2. When compared to caustic (NaOH), which is monovalent, twice the neutralizing power is available for a given molar volume of lime, thus contributing to the economy of lime. As with magnesium hydroxide, lime is normally delivered in dry crystalline form. This must then be mixed with water to form a slurry to be delivered to the process. The ease with which caustic (sodium hydroxide) can be handled makes it far more favorable than lime, at least for low volume applications.
Lime is a slurry that will rapidly separate from solution. The storage tank must be constantly agitated and chemical delivery lines must be kept in motion. Typically recirculation loops are employed with a metering valve, inline, for chemical delivery. Static lines are not acceptable because the slurry will separate, and lines will plug, over time.
Lime offers very significant advantages when the precipitation of metals or fluorides is the goal. Calcium salts are normally quite insoluble, and due to the fact that lime is divalent, sludge densities are normally much higher than those formed with caustic (NaOH).
Lime is an excellent choice for acid neutralization. If volumes are relatively low, and precipitation of metal or fluoride ions is not paramount, then caustic (NaOH) may be the better choice because it is easier to handle.
Back to Neutralization Chemicals....
©2012 Copyright Digital Analysis Corporation. All rights reserved. | http://www.phadjustment.com/TArticles/Lime.html | dclm-gs1-110200000 |
0.018917 | <urn:uuid:ee00d1dc-ba20-4ab1-ba16-f10167c22eda> | en | 0.958573 | Filed under Politicking
Rule of thumb
If you follow a link to a blog you haven\’t heard of before, and the top post begins with:
There\’s an important post from Melanie Phillips
it\’s fair to assume that the rest of the blog is crazyarsedloonery and best avoided. Christian Hate? is no exception: it hates the charity Christian Aid because Christian Aid sometimes has a go at Israel without adding \”but the Palestinians kill Israeli babies for fun\” to each criticism it makes. This makes Christian Aid objectively antisemitic, obviously.
The linked Mel piece is, admittedly, one of her best – she has a full-on mentalist rant at pretty much all British Christians for sometimes having a go at Israel without adding \”but the Palestinians kill Israeli babies for fun\” to each criticism they make. This makes all British Christians objectively antisemitic, obviously.
It must be true, because *I* think it\’s obvious
If you were trying to identify a person unlikely to be a cunt, then probably the phrase \”formerly Chief of Staff to David Cameron\” would encourage you to look elsewhere. Reading Alex Deane\’s work would tend to confirm your original prejudices.
According to Mr Deane:
[the death of Alexander Litvinenko] has also prompted some of the worst, most irritating dinner party chat I\’ve ever been subjected to – and I say that after normally being the lone pro-Bush, pro-Iraq war voice at the table for the last three years.
It\’s like the moon landing conspiracy – no matter how stupid, its proponents keep obstinately at it, until you\’re at the dinner table bleeding from the eyeballs, wanting to run out into the streets, screaming the obvious and absolute truth – \”The Russians did it! The Russians did it! The Russians did it!\”
Either Mr Deane has access to some top-secret government files confirming what the fuck happened, or he\’s an absolute dickhead. There are any number of plausible non-the-Russians-doing-it explanations that might be true and don\’t include anything outrageously implausible (most obviously, the murder being done by a corrupt oligarch to make the Russians look bad and encourage Britain to not extradite him).
If I had to guess at this stage, I\’d say that it seems most probably that the Russians did do it. But it\’s not a case like the moon landings, where the evidence in favour is so overwhelming that only a drooling dope-addled clown could possibly doubt that they happened. Rather, it\’s a case where we\’re conducting a detailed investigation to find out what happened…
As it happens, I\’ve managed to find a quote from Alex Deane\’s great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, writing in 1692:
No matter how stupid, the trials\’ opponents keep obstinately at it, until you\’re at the dinner table bleeding from the eyeballs, wanting to run out into the streets, screaming the obvious and absolute truth – \”They\’re witches! All of them! And anyone who disagrees is a witch too!\”.
On complicated Saudi business
If you don\’t read Alex Harrowell, you\’re a fool:
The TYR research staff recently did a simulation of Saudi Arabia
lynched by a screaming mob.
Abolish the Post Office; viva the EU!
Why do we tolerate this situation? Apparently, because of our fetish for post offices. Which is weird, because post offices are entirely unnecessary. Benefits can be paid by electronic transfer and stamps purchased from newsagents – the only reason for anyone sane to go to a post office now is because they need to send a parcel that\’s not quite big or valuable enough to send by courier.
Now, if you\’re an economic illiterate and a socialist (not necessarily the same thing), you\’ll probably start bleating about the rural poor. Fair enough, it sucks to be poor, especially if you live in the theme park for rich retirees and richer commuters that is the English countryside. But poor ruralites need transport too – and we don\’t deal with that need by running a taxi monopoly that charges the same price for all taxi journeys irrespective of length.
In other words, if we\’re worried about the rural poor, we shouldn\’t let that concern stop us from breaking the postal monopoly – rather, we should have a free market in mail and, separately, give subsidies to rural households that need them. This has the added advantage of not providing a pointless subsidy to wealthy ruralites.
Update: the EU hasn\’t actually told the government to reduce the pointless subsidy. It\’s an amazing and rare case of Labour doing something good and unpopular without external prompting…
Why the fuck have we regressed to the level of six-year-olds?
When a child complains excessively about some injustice, a good parent\’s response will generally include the maxim that \”life isn\’t fair\”. Because it isn\’t: through the sheer workings of bad luck, bad things happen to people who don\’t deserve them.
And even if the relevant bad thing could have been averted if someone else had acted differently, this doesn\’t move the relevant act from being a horrible accident to the second person being morally responsible for the bad thing.
Unfortunately, although anyone with an age and/or IQ over ten is aware of these maxims, The Authorities increasingly aren\’t. One obvious recent example is the utterly appalling decision to impose prison sentences for causing death by careless driving. This does not mean getting blind drunk and then driving at 150mph, or even driving while eating a sandwich. It means driving like most drivers do most of the time, but being unlucky enough to have been caught up in a fatal accident that would not have happened if you\’d driven better than most drivers do most of the time.
Another is the sad-but-really-really-fucking-obviously-accidental death of Vietnamese student Vu Quang Hoang Tu. Some teenage boys were messing around on a Tube platform, chasing each other around; one fell over as a train entered the station; the boy fell into Mr Tu (or possibly Mr Vu – sorry, I can\’t remember which way round Vietnamese names go); both went under the train. Mr Tu died; the boy survived with serious injuries.
In saner times, this would have been viewed as a tragic accident (and possibly as the basis for a gory Public Information Film). Since we live in a society with no concept of bad luck, the boys are currently out on police bail on suspicion of murder. For fuck\’s sake…
The Italians should apologise for enslaving Britain
…except the Scots, obviously. Quality piece. You could have a slogan, too: \”give England back to the Welsh\”.
In praise of Oliver Kamm
I don\’t like Oliver Kamm very much. I think he\’s a smug bore, that he\’s approximately 10% as clever as he believes himself to be, and that he promotes a particularly noxious variety of Decent-ism.
However, even allowing for the proposition that Oliver Kamm is a cunt, then Neil Clark is a grotesque Frankenstein-esque creation sewn together from the rotting, diseased organs of dead AIDS-ridden prostitutes. He\’s a fan of the late, lamented Slobodan Milosovic, and indeed of Greater Serbia in general, which would tend to raise alarm bells but doesn\’t make him inherently evil.
No, Mr Clark is inherently evil because he tried to sue Oliver Kamm for libel, after Mr Kamm suggested that one of Mr Clark\’s book reviews was so badly written and point-missing that it was debatable whether he\’d even read the book. Rather than, say, calling Mr Kamm a cunt, he started to fire off writs, bringing the first reported UK libel action against a blogger.
This would not have been a good precedent for free speech. Luckily, being rich, well-connected and stubborn, Mr Kamm was able to hire and brief sufficiently competent lawyers that Mr Clark was scared enough to drop the case and flee, hopefully deterring others from following suit. I also approve of Mr Kamm\’s conjecture that \”I consider it wrong in principle and self-defeating … to threaten legal action against a blogger\”.
In blog-libel-related news, it has now been established in the High Court that NuLab party hack and tedious blogger Phil Dilks did not kick a teenage girl in the arse for mocking him on the campaign trail. The case has also definitively established that Mr Dilks is a litigious scumbag, as with anyone else ever to have brought a libel case rather than merely telling their critics to fuck off – but presumably he feels it\’s better to be a proven litigious scumbag than a wrongly accused girl-kicker. And he\’s certainly not as bad as Neil Clark.
This is true-ish, although I think the Russian connection makes the perception a little different – the public \’know\’ that Russia assassinates people helter-skelter, whereas the public \’know\’ that our elected leaders would never do such a thing. Equally, Ajay in the comments mentions a powerful reason why – unlike most conspiracy theories – this one could be quite easy to maintain the cover-up:
Fundamentally morally unsane
According to James Lewis at the American Thinker, the reason that civilised people don\’t think Saddam should be executed is because we lurve him and think that genocide is way groovy. \”Every mass-murdering ideology in the last two centuries had its origins and supporters in Europe\”, he adds. Top quality insaniac rant. | http://www.pigdogfucker.com/category/politicking/page/14/ | dclm-gs1-110230000 |
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0.383253 | <urn:uuid:0789c116-6d1a-492a-9a80-dfb39eba54ba> | en | 0.973886 | Changing financial realities for some people
Editor of the Reformer:
Having just read the quote in the Reformer from Rep. Eric Cantor in a congressional debate regarding food stamp usage, "While (SNAP) is an important part of our safety net, our overriding goal should be to help our citizens with the education and skills they need to get back on their feet so that they can provide for themselves and their families," (May 22), I feel compelled to respond.
Rep. Cantor, I think many of those citizens to whom you refer are on their feet. They are waiting on you at McDonald’s, they are greeting and assisting you at Walmart, they are running after your children in daycare, they are cleaning your bathrooms, they are providing assistance to our elders and people with disabilities. They are pounding the pavement looking for jobs that pay living wages. They are jumping through humiliating hoops and dancing carefully through intricate bureaucracies to qualify for meager safety net programs.
I, too, would dearly love to see people able to provide for themselves and their families. We agree on that. No working person should have to depend on government for basic needs. Where we diverge is in what needs to be done to achieve that. Truly living wages, tax structures that allow for full basic expenses in the personal exemptions and standard deductions, respecting and valuing all work, monetary policies that do not abuse everyday people, are good places to start.
Education and skill development are certainly important, but there is ample evidence that those alone will not change the financial realities of many people. A shift in the business practices of companies who depend on welfare to supplement their employee wages, and of financial institutions that are designed to make money off of low and middle income people would help a lot more.
Andrea McAuslan,
Marlboro, May 22
Consider being a vegetarian
Editor of the Reformer:
As a concerned citizen, I think everyone should be a vegetarian. I believe that it is important to consider vegetarianism for many reasons. I want to bring to your attention to why everyone should either stop eating meat or only eat meat that has been ethically raised. According to People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals, "One of the top 10 reasons for being a vegetarian is that it’s the best way to help the environment." This means that it’s very good for the environment because you are killing less animals. When I thought about it, I realized that I wanted to convince other people to be vegetarians like me.
What is in a hamburger, and what does it take to make it? Well, that’s a very interesting question. According to National Public Radio, "For a quarter pound of meat you need 6.7 pounds of grain, 52.8 gallons of water, 74.5 square feet for grazing, and 1,036 Btus of fossil fuel energy." You need a lot of resources to make a hamburger to feed one person while the same resources can be used to feed about five people. According to PETA, "Producing one hamburger uses enough fossil fuel to drive a car 20 miles." That means that if we didn’t eat meat, we could move around a lot more because we would have more gas. Also according to PETA, "cows must consume 16 pounds of grain to convert them into one pound of meat." This simply means there would be a lot of grain if we didn’t eat meat. Not only would there be more grain and other natural resources if we chose not to eat meat animals would live better lives as well.
The way animals are treated in meat industries is very unfair. According to Michigan By Review, "In today’s factory farms, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy windowless sheds." This means that there are a lot of animals suffering for us to have meat. This also means there are too many animals in small spaces without a lot of room to move. According to PETA, "In some industries they test products on the animals that don’t really matter." This means animals are being tested, hurt and even killed for things like new nail polish colors. This represents how we treat animals. Also according to PETA, if the animals are sick they kill them in a cruel, and inhumane way instead of making them better.
According to PETA, "One of the top 10 reasons to be vegetarian is that it is the best way to save the earth." Another one is: "Slim down and get energized." Another reason to be vegetarian is," To be a healthier, happier you."
People who think about their dietary life should take into consideration the advantages of vegetarianism. One of the advantages to being vegetarian is that it makes you stronger. "A winning formula for athletes from Olympic arenas to NFL stadiums, vegetarian athletes are dominating their meat eating competitors." This means that vegetarian athletes are better in sports.
I have read a lot about this, so I know that the counter argument would be that if we did not eat meat, the animals will overpopulate the earth. This argument is based on the idea that the delicate balance of the ecosystem ensures the survival of us all, but I disagree because predators help maintain this balance by killing off the sickest and weakest. So, as you can see, everything would be fine if everyone was vegetarian.
Now there are some simple solutions to this issue. This includes things like eating less meat or launching a protest to shut down meat industries. Also, eating meat only from farms that raise animals ethically could really help the environment. Animals that are outside and with other animals are healthier and happier.
I hope you consider what I said and become a vegetarian.Being vegetarian can help the earth. It can also help you!
Ernie Brunton,
Academy School, April 21 | http://www.reformer.com/letterstotheeditor/ci_25839918/letter-box?source=rss | dclm-gs1-110450000 |
0.019145 | <urn:uuid:d7048c98-088b-476c-9b7b-02e56d8612a1> | en | 0.963638 |
[[Vol. 1, Page xvii]]
"Gently to hear, kindly to judge."
SINCE the appearance of Theosophical literature in England, it has become customary to call its teachings "Esoteric Buddhism." And, having become a habit -- as an old proverb based on daily experience has it -- "Error runs down an inclined plane, while Truth has to laboriously climb its way up hill."
"Esoteric Buddhism" was an excellent work with a very unfortunate
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xviii INTRODUCTORY.
title, though it meant no more than does the title of this work, the "SECRET DOCTRINE." It proved unfortunate, because people are always in the habit of judging things by their appearance, rather than their meaning; and because the error has now become so universal, that even most of the Fellows of the Theosophical Society have fallen victims to the same misconception. From the first, however, protests were raised by Brahmins and others against the title; and, in justice to myself, I must add that "Esoteric Buddhism" was presented to me as a completed volume, and that I was entirely unaware of the manner in which the author intended to spell the word "Budh-ism."
This has to be laid directly at the door of those who, having been the first to bring the subject under public notice, neglected to point out the difference between "Buddhism" -- the religious system of ethics preached by the Lord Gautama, and named after his title of Buddha, "the Enlightened" -- and Budha, "Wisdom," or knowledge (Vidya), the faculty of cognizing, from the Sanskrit root "Budh," to know. We theosophists of India are ourselves the real culprits, although, at the time, we did our best to correct the mistake. (See Theosophist, June, 1883.) To avoid this deplorable misnomer was easy; the spelling of the word had only to be altered, and by common consent both pronounced and written "Budhism," instead of "Buddhism." Nor is the latter term correctly spelt and pronounced, as it ought to be called, in English, Buddhaism, and its votaries "Buddhaists."
This explanation is absolutely necessary at the beginning of a work like this one. The "Wisdom Religion" is the inheritance of all the nations, the world over, though the statement was made in "Esoteric Buddhism" (Preface to the original Edition) that "two years ago (i.e. 1883), neither I nor any other European living, knew the alphabet of the Science, here for the first time put into a scientific shape," etc. This error must have crept in through inadvertence. For the present writer knew all that which is "divulged" in "Esoteric Buddhism" -- and much more -- many years before it became her duty (in 1880) to impart a small portion of the Secret Doctrine to two European gentlemen, one of whom was the author of "Esoteric Buddhism"; and surely the present writer has the undoubted, though to her, rather equivocal, privilege of being a European, by birth and education. Moreover, a considerable part of the philosophy
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xix INTRODUCTORY.
In etymology Adi, and Adhi Budha, the one (or the First) and "Supreme Wisdom" is a term used by Aryasanga in his Secret treatises, and now by all the mystic Northern Buddhists. It is a Sanskrit term, and an appellation given by the earliest Aryans to the Unknown deity; the word "Brahma" not being found in the Vedas and the early works. It means the absolute Wisdom, and "Adi-bhuta" is translated "the primeval uncreated cause of all" by Fitzedward Hall. AEons of untold duration must have elapsed, before the epithet of Buddha was so humanized, so to speak, as to allow of the term being applied to mortals and finally appropriated to one whose unparalleled virtues and knowledge caused him to receive the title of the "Buddha of Wisdom unmoved." Bodha means the innate possession of divine intellect or "understanding"; "Buddha," the acquirement of it by personal efforts and merit; while Buddhi is the faculty of cognizing the channel through which divine knowledge reaches the "Ego," the discernment of good and evil, "divine conscience" also; and "Spiritual Soul," which is the vehicle of Atma. "When Buddhi absorbs our EGOtism (destroys it) with all its Vikaras, Avalokiteshvara becomes manifested to us, and Nirvana, or Mukti, is reached," "Mukti" being the same as Nirvana, i.e., freedom from the trammels of "Maya" or illusion. "Bodhi" is likewise the name of a particular state of trance condition, called Samadhi, during which the subject reaches the culmination of spiritual knowledge.
Unwise are those who, in their blind and, in our age, untimely hatred of Buddhism, and, by re-action, of "Budhism," deny its esoteric teachings (which are those also of the Brahmins), simply because the name
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xx INTRODUCTORY.
* Dan, now become in modern Chinese and Tibetan phonetics ch'an, is the general term for the esoteric schools, and their literature. In the old books, the word Janna is defined as "to reform one's self by meditation and knowledge," a second inner birth. Hence Dzan, Djan phonetically, the "Book of Dzyan."
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxi INTRODUCTORY.
Thus the reader is asked to bear in mind the very important difference between orthodox Buddhism -- i.e., the public teachings of Gautama the Buddha, and his esoteric Budhism. His Secret Doctrine, however, differed in no wise from that of the initiated Brahmins of his day. The Buddha was a child of the Aryan soil; a born Hindu, a Kshatrya and a disciple of the "twice born" (the initiated Brahmins) or Dwijas. His teachings, therefore, could not be different from their doctrines, for the whole Buddhist reform merely consisted in giving out a portion of that which had been kept secret from every man outside of the "enchanted" circle of Temple-Initiates and ascetics. Unable to teach all that had been imparted to him -- owing to his pledges -- though he taught a philosophy built upon the ground-work of the true esoteric knowledge, the Buddha gave to the world only its outward material body and kept its soul for his Elect. (See also Volume II.) Many Chinese scholars among Orientalists have heard of the "Soul Doctrine." None seem to have understood its real meaning and importance.
That doctrine was preserved secretly -- too secretly, perhaps -- within the sanctuary. The mystery that shrouded its chief dogma and aspirations -- Nirvana -- has so tried and irritated the curiosity of those scholars who have studied it, that, unable to solve it logically and satisfactorily by untying the Gordian knot, they cut it through, by declaring that Nirvana meant absolute annihilation.
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxii INTRODUCTORY.
This is the true reason, perhaps, why the outline of a few fundamental truths from the Secret Doctrine of the Archaic ages is now permitted to see the light, after long millenniums of the most profound silence and secrecy. I say "a few truths," advisedly, because that which must remain unsaid could not be contained in a hundred such volumes, nor could it be imparted to the present generation of Sadducees. But, even the little that is now given is better than complete silence upon those vital truths. The world of to-day, in its mad career towards the unknown -- which it is too ready to confound with the unknowable, whenever the problem eludes the grasp of the physicist -- is rapidly progressing on the reverse, material plane of spirituality. It has now become a vast arena -- a true valley of discord and of eternal strife -- a necropolis, wherein lie buried the highest and the most holy aspirations of our Spirit-Soul. That soul becomes with every new generation more paralyzed and atrophied. The "amiable infidels and accomplished profligates" of Society, spoken of by Greeley, care little for the revival of the dead sciences of the past; but there is a fair minority of earnest students who are entitled to learn the few truths that may be given to them now; and now much more than ten years ago, when "Isis Unveiled," or even the later attempts to explain the mysteries of esoteric science, were published.
One of the greatest, and, withal, the most serious objection to the correctness and reliability of the whole work will be the preliminary STANZAS: "How can the statements contained in them be verified?" True, if a great portion of the Sanskrit, Chinese, and Mongolian works quoted in the present volumes are known to some Orientalists, the chief work -- that one from which the Stanzas are given -- is not in the possession of European Libraries. The Book of Dzyan (or "Dzan") is utterly unknown to our Philologists, or at any rate was never heard of by them under its present name. This is, of course, a great drawback
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxiii INTRODUCTORY.
However it may be, and whatsoever is in store for the writer through malevolent criticism, one fact is quite certain. The members of several esoteric schools -- the seat of which is beyond the Himalayas, and whose ramifications may be found in China, Japan, India, Tibet, and even in Syria, besides South America -- claim to have in their possession the sum total of sacred and philosophical works in MSS. and type: all the works, in fact, that have ever been written, in whatever language or characters, since the art of writing began; from the ideographic hieroglyphs down to the alphabet of Cadmus and the Devanagari.
* Prof. Max Muller shows that no bribes or threats of Akbar could extort from the Brahmans the original text of the Veda; and boasts that European Orientalists have it (Lecture on the "Science of Religion," p. 23). Whether Europe has the complete text is very doubtful, and the future may have very disagreeable surprises in store for the Orientalists.
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxiv INTRODUCTORY.
direct references to the ancient mysteries, after having been carefully copied in cryptographic characters, such as to defy the art of the best and cleverest palaeographer, was also destroyed to the last copy. During Akbar's reign, some fanatical courtiers, displeased at the Emperor's sinful prying into the religions of the infidels, themselves helped the Brahmans to conceal their MSS. Such was Badaoni, who had an undisguised horror for Akbar's mania for idolatrous religions.*
* Badaoni wrote in his Muntakhab at Tawarikh: "His Majesty relished inquiries into the sects of these infidels (who cannot be counted, so numerous they are, and who have no end of revealed books) . . . As they (the Sramana and Brahmins) surpass other learned men in their treatises on morals, on physical and religious sciences, and reach a high degree in their knowledge of the future, in spiritual power, and human perfection, they brought proofs based on reason and testimony, and inculcated their doctrines so firmly that no man could now raise a doubt in his Majesty even if mountains were to crumble to dust, or the heavens were to tear asunder." This work "was kept secret, and was not published till the reign of Jahangir." (Ain i Akbari, translated by Dr. Blochmann, p. 104, note.)
** Karakorum mountains, Western Tibet.
*** According to the same tradition the now desolate regions of the waterless land of Tarim -- a true wilderness in the heart of Turkestan -- were in the days of old covered with flourishing and wealthy cities. At present, hardly a few verdant oases relieve its dead solitude. One such, sprung on the sepulchre of a vast city swallowed by and buried under the sandy soil of the desert, belongs to no one, but is often visited by Mongolians and Buddhists. The same tradition speaks of immense subterranean abodes, of large corridors filled with tiles and cylinders. It may be an idle rumour, and it may be an actual fact.
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He is said to have written 930 books on Ethics and religions, and seventy on magic, one thousand in all. His great work, however, the heart of his doctrine, the "Tao-te-King," or the sacred scriptures of the Taosse, has in it, as Stanislas Julien shows, only "about 5,000 words" (Tao-te-King, p. xxvii.), hardly a dozen of pages, yet Professor Max Muller finds that "the text is unintelligible without commentaries, so that Mr. Julien had to consult more than sixty commentators for the purpose of his translation," the earliest going back as far as the year 163 B.C., not earlier, as we see. During the four centuries and a half that preceded this earliest of the commentators there was ample time to veil the true Lao-tse doctrine from all but his initiated priests. The Japanese, among whom are now to be found the most learned of the priests and followers of Lao-tse, simply laugh at the blunders and hypotheses of the European Chinese scholars; and tradition affirms that the commentaries to which our Western Sinologues have access are not the real occult records, but intentional veils, and that the true commentaries, as well as almost all the texts, have long since disappeared from the eyes of the profane.
* "If we turn to China, we find that the religion of Confucius is founded on the Five King and the Four Shu-books, in themselves of considerable extent and surrounded by voluminous Commentaries, without which even the most learned scholars would not venture to fathom the depth of their sacred canon." (Lectures on the "Science of Religion," p. 185. Max Muller.) But they have not fathomed it -- and this is the complaint of the Confucianists, as a very learned member of that body, in Paris, complained in 1881.
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxvi INTRODUCTORY.
These, however, are almost valueless, even as a clue to the character of what has disappeared. For they passed through the hands of his Reverence the Bishop of Caesarea -- that self-constituted censor and editor of the sacred records of other men's religions -- and they doubtless bear to this day the mark of his eminently veracious and trustworthy hand. For what is the history of this treatise on the once grand religion of Babylon?
Written in Greek by Berosus, a priest of the temple of Belus, for Alexander the Great, from the astronomical and chronological records preserved by the priests of that temple, and covering a period of 200,000 years, it is now lost. In the first century B.C. Alexander Polyhistor made a series of extracts from it -- also lost. Eusebius used these extracts in writing his Chronicon (270-340 A.D.). The points of resemblance -- almost of identity -- between the Jewish and the Chaldean Scriptures,* made the latter most dangerous to Eusebius, in his role of defender and champion of the new faith which had adopted the Jewish Scriptures, and with them an absurd chronology. It is pretty certain that Eusebius did not spare the Egyptian Synchronistic tables of Manetho -- so much so that Bunsen** charges him with mutilating history most unscrupulously. And Socrates, a historian of the fifth century, and Syncellus, vice-patriarch of Constantinople (eighth century), both denounce him as the most daring and desperate forger.
* Found out and proven only now, through the discoveries made by George Smith (vide his "Chaldean account of Genesis"), and which, thanks to this Armenian forger, have misled all the civilized nations for over 1,500 years into accepting Jewish derivations for direct Divine Revelation!
** Bunsen's "Egypt's Place in History," vol. i. p. 200
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxvii INTRODUCTORY.
Turning now to the oldest Aryan literature, the Rig-Veda, the student will find, following strictly in this the data furnished by the said Orientalists themselves, that, although the Rig-Veda contains only "about 10,580 verses, or 1,028 hymns," in spite of the Brahmanas and the mass of glosses and commentaries, it is not understood correctly to this day. Why is this so? Evidently because the Brahmanas, "the scholastic and oldest treatises on the primitive hymns," themselves require a key, which the Orientalists have failed to secure.
What do the scholars say of Buddhist literature? Have they got it in its completeness? Assuredly not. Notwithstanding the 325 volumes of the Kanjur and the Tanjur of the Northern Buddhists, each volume we are told, "weighing from four to five pounds," nothing, in truth, is known of Lamaism. Yet, the sacred canon of the Southern Church is said to contain 29,368,000 letters in the Saddharma alankara,* or, exclusive of treatises and commentaries, "five or six times the amount of the matter contained in the Bible," the latter, in the words of Professor Max Muller, rejoicing only in 3,567,180 letters. Notwithstanding, then, these "325 volumes" (in reality there are 333, Kanjur comprising 108, and Tanjur 225 volumes), "the translators, instead of supplying us with correct versions, have interwoven them with their own commentaries, for the purpose of justifying the dogmas of their several schools."** Moreover, "according to a tradition preserved by the Buddhist schools, both of the South and of the North, the sacred Buddhist Canon comprised originally 80,000 or 84,000 tracts, but most of them were lost, so that there remained but 6,000," the professor tells his audiences. "Lost" as usual for Europeans. But who can be quite sure that they are likewise lost for Buddhists and Brahmins?
Considering the sacredness for the Buddhists of every line written
* Spence Hardy, "The Legends and Theories of the Buddhists," p. 66.
** "Buddhism in Tibet," p. 78.
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxviii INTRODUCTORY.
upon Buddha or his "Good Law," the loss of nearly 76,000 tracts does seem miraculous. Had it been vice versa, every one acquainted with the natural course of events would subscribe to the statement that, of these 76,000, five or six thousand treatises might have been destroyed during the persecutions in, and emigrations from, India. But as it is well ascertained that Buddhist Arhats began their religious exodus, for the purpose of propagating the new faith beyond Kashmir and the Himalayas, as early as the year 300 before our era,* and reached China in the year 61 A.D.** when Kashyapa, at the invitation of the Emperor Ming-ti, went there to acquaint the "Son of Heaven" with the tenets of Buddhism, it does seem strange to hear the Orientalists speaking of such a loss as though it were really possible. They do not seem to allow for one moment the possibility that the texts may be lost only for West and for themselves; or, that the Asiatic people should have the unparalleled boldness to keep their most sacred records out of the reach of foreigners, thus refusing to deliver them to the profanation and misuse of races even so "vastly superior" to themselves.
* Lassen, ("Ind. Althersumkunde" Vol. II, p. 1,072) shows a Buddhist monastery erected in the Kailas range in 137 B.C.; and General Cunningham, earlier than that.
** Reverend T. Edkins, "Chinese Buddhism."
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxix INTRODUCTORY.
covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions, and with the strange pictures of gods and goddesses. . . . . . . . On rolls of papyrus, which seem to defy the ravages of time, we have even fragments of what may be called the sacred books of the Egyptians; yet, though much has been deciphered in the ancient records of that mysterious race, the mainspring of the religion of Egypt and the original intention of its ceremonial worship are far from being fully disclosed to us."* Here again the mysterious hieroglyphic documents remain, but the keys by which alone they become intelligible have disappeared.
Nevertheless, having found that "there is a natural connection between language and religion"; and, secondly, that there was a common Aryan religion before the separation of the Aryan race; a common Semitic religion before the separation of the Semitic race; and a common Turanian religion before the separation of the Chinese and the other tribes belonging to the Turanian class; having, in fact, only discovered "three ancient centres of religion" and "three centres of language," and though as entirely ignorant of those primitive religions and languages, as of their origin, the professor does not hesitate to declare "that a truly historical basis for a scientific treatment of those principal religions of the world has been gained!"
A "scientific treatment" of a subject is no guarantee for its "historical basis"; and with such scarcity of data on hand, no philologist, even among the most eminent, is justified in giving out his own conclusions for historical facts. No doubt, the eminent Orientalist has proved thoroughly to the world's satisfaction, that according to Grimm's law of phonetic rules, Odin and Buddha are two different personages, quite distinct from each other, and he has shown it scientifically. When, however, he takes the opportunity of saying in the same breath that Odin "was worshipped as the supreme deity during a period long anterior to the age of the Veda and of Homer" (Compar. Theol., p. 318), he has not the slightest "historical basis" for it. He makes history and fact subservient to his
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own conclusions, which may be very "scientific," in the sight of Oriental scholars, but yet very wide of the mark of actual truth. The conflicting views on the subject of chronology, in the case of the Vedas, of the various eminent philologists and Orientalists, from Martin Haug down to Mr. Max Muller himself, are an evident proof that the statement has no historical basis to stand upon, "internal evidence" being very often a jack-o'lantern, instead of a safe beacon to follow. Nor has the Science of modern Comparative Mythology any better proof to show, that those learned writers, who have insisted for the last century or so that there must have been "fragments of a primeval revelation, granted to the ancestors of the whole race of mankind . . . . preserved in the temples of Greece and Italy," were entirely wrong. For this is what all the Eastern Initiates and Pundits have been proclaiming to the world from time to time. While a prominent Cinghalese priest assured the writer that it was well known that the most important Buddhist tracts belonging to the sacred canon were stored away in countries and places inaccessible to the European pundits, the late Swami Dayanand Sarasvati, the greatest Sanskritist of his day in India, assured some members of the Theosophical Society of the same fact with regard to ancient Brahmanical works. When told that Professor Max Muller had declared to the audiences of his "Lectures" that the theory . . . . "that there was a primeval preternatural revelation granted to the fathers of the human race, finds but few supporters at present," -- the holy and learned man laughed. His answer was suggestive. "If Mr. Moksh Mooller, as he pronounced the name, were a Brahmin, and came with me, I might take him to a gupta cave (a secret crypt) near Okhee Math, in the Himalayas, where he would soon find out that what crossed the Kalapani (the black waters of the ocean) from India to Europe were only the bits of rejected copies of some passages from our sacred books. There was a "primeval revelation," and it still exists; nor will it ever be lost to the world, but will reappear; though the Mlechchhas will of course have to wait."
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the gods of many nations. Thus, though the Mother of Mercury (Budha, Thot-Hermes, etc.), was Maia, the mother of Buddha (Gautama), also Maya, and the mother of Jesus, likewise Maya (illusion, for Mary is Mare, the Sea, the great illusion symbolically) -- yet these three characters have no connection, nor can they have any, since Bopp, has "laid down his code of phonetic laws."
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxxiii INTRODUCTORY.
"Not a pool, not a bush, not a house is seen,
And the mountain-range forms a rugged screen
Round the parch'd flats of the dry, dry desert. . . . ."
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The traces of such civilization, and these and like traditions, give us the right to credit other legendary lore warranted by well educated and learned natives of India and Mongolia, when they speak of immense libraries reclaimed from the sand, together with various reliques of ancient MAGIC lore, which have all been safely stowed away.
The Occultists assert that all these exist, safe from Western spoliating hands, to re-appear in some more enlightened age, for which in the words of the late Swami Dayanand Sarasvati, "the Mlechchhas (outcasts, savages, those beyond the pale of Aryan civilization) will have to wait."
For it is not the fault of the initiates that these documents are now "lost" to the profane; nor was their policy dictated by selfishness, or
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The documents were concealed, it is true, but the knowledge itself and its actual existence had never been made a secret of by the Hierophants of the Temple, wherein MYSTERIES have ever been made a discipline and stimulus to virtue. This is very old news, and was repeatedly made known by the great adepts, from Pythagoras and Plato down to the Neoplatonists. It was the new religion of the Nazarenes that wrought a change for the worse -- in the policy of centuries.
Moreover, there is a well-known fact, a very curious one, corroborated to the writer by a reverend gentleman attached for years to a Russian Embassy -- namely, that there are several documents in the St. Peters-
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxxvi INTRODUCTORY.
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legislator in historical chronology, though a very modern Sage in the World's History, shown by Dr. Legge* -- who calls him "emphatically a transmitter, not a maker" -- as saying: "I only hand on: I cannot create new things. I believe in the ancients and therefore I love them."** (Quoted in "Science of Religions" by Max Muller.)
* Lun Yu (§ I a) Schott. "Chinesische Literatur," p. 7.
** "Life of Confucius," p. 96.
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xxxviii INTRODUCTORY.
called "a modern forgery" even so recently as fifty years ago? Was not Sanskrit proclaimed at one time the progeny of, and a dialect derived from, the Greek, according to Lempriere and other scholars? About 1820, Prof. Max Muller tells us, the sacred books of the Brahmans, of the Magians, and of the Buddhists, "were all but unknown, their very existence was doubted, and there was not a single scholar who could have translated a line of the Veda . . . of the Zend Avesta, or . . . of the Buddhist Tripitaka, and now the Vedas are proved to be the work of the highest antiquity whose 'preservation amounts almost to a marvel' (Lecture on the Vedas).
The same will be said of the Secret Archaic Doctrine, when proofs are given of its undeniable existence and records. But it will take centuries before much more is given from it. Speaking of the keys to the Zodiacal mysteries as being almost lost to the world, it was remarked by the writer in "Isis Unveiled" some ten years ago that: "The said key must be turned seven times before the whole system is divulged. We will give it but one turn, and thereby allow the profane one glimpse into the mystery. Happy he, who understands the whole!"
Such a work as this has to be introduced with no simple Preface, but with a volume rather; one that would give facts, not mere disquisitions, since the SECRET DOCTRINE is not a treatise, or a series of vague theories, but contains all that can be given out to the world in this century.
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However great and zealous the fanatical efforts, during those early centuries, to obliterate every trace of the mental and intellectual labour of the Pagans, it was a failure; but the same spirit of the dark demon of bigotry and intolerance has perverted systematically and ever since, every bright page written in the pre-Christian periods. Even in her uncertain records, history has preserved enough of that which has survived to throw an impartial light upon the whole. Let, then, the reader tarry a little while with the writer, on the spot of observation selected. He is asked to give all his attention to that millennium which divided the pre-Christian and the post-Christian periods, by the year ONE of the Nativity. This event -- whether historically correct or not -- has nevertheless been made to serve as a first signal for the erection of manifold bulwarks against any possible return of, or even a glimpse into, the hated religions of the Past; hated and dreaded -- because throwing such a vivid light on the new and intentionally veiled interpretation of what is now known as the "New Dispensation."
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xli INTRODUCTORY.
"-------------- the sun like blood, the earth a tomb,
Both creeds have won their proselytes at the point of the sword; both have built their churches on heaven-kissing hecatombs of human victims. Over the gateway of Century I. of our era, the ominous words "the KARMA OF ISRAEL," fatally glowed. Over the portals of our own, the future seer may discern other words, that will point to the Karma for cunningly made-up HISTORY, for events purposely perverted, and for great characters slandered by posterity, mangled out of recognition, between the two cars of Jagannatha -- Bigotry and Materialism; one accepting too much, the other denying all. Wise is he who holds to the golden mid-point, who believes in the eternal justice of things. Says Faigi Diwan, the "witness to the wonderful speeches of a free-thinker who belongs to a thousand sects": "In the assembly of the day of resurrection, when past things shall be forgiven, the sins of the Ka'bah will be forgiven for the sake of the dust of Christian churches." To this, Professor Max Muller replies: "The sins of Islam are as worthless as the dust of Christianity. On the day of resurrection both Muhammadans and Christians will see the vanity of their religious doctrines. Men fight about religion on earth -- in heaven they shall find out that there is only one true religion -- the worship of God's SPIRIT."*
In other words -- "THERE IS NO RELIGION (OR LAW) HIGHER THAN TRUTH" -- "SATYAT NASTI PARO DHARMAH" -- the motto of the Maharajah of Benares, adopted by the Theosophical Society.
As already said in the Preface, the Secret Doctrine is not a version of "Isis Unveiled" -- as originally intended. It is a volume explanatory of
* "Lectures on the Science of Religion," by F. Max Muller, p. 257.
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xlii INTRODUCTORY.
Volume I. of "Isis" begins with a reference to "an old book" --
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xliii INTRODUCTORY.
* Rabbi Jehoshua Ben Chananea, who died about A.D. 72, openly declared that he had performed "miracles" by means of the Book of Sepher Jezireh, and challenged every sceptic. Franck, quoting from the Babylonian Talmud, names two other thaumaturgists, Rabbis Chanina and Oshoi. (See "Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin," c. 7, etc.; and "Franck," pp. 55, 56.) Many of the Mediaeval Occultists, Alchemists, and Kabalists claimed the same; and even the late modern Magus, Eliphas Levi, publicly asserts it in print in his books on Magic.
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To my judges, past and future, therefore -- whether they are serious literary critics, or those howling dervishes in literature who judge a book according to the popularity or unpopularity of the author's name, who, hardly glancing at its contents, fasten like lethal bacilli on the weakest points of the body -- I have nothing to say. Nor shall I condescend to notice those crack-brained slanderers -- fortunately very few in number -- who, hoping to attract public attention by throwing discredit on every writer whose name is better known than their own, foam and bark at their very shadows. These, having first maintained for years that the doctrines taught in the Theosophist, and which culminated in "Esoteric Buddhism," had been all invented by the present writer, have finally turned round, and denounced "Isis Unveiled" and the rest as a plagiarism from Eliphas Levi (!), Paracelsus (!!), and, mirabile
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dictu, Buddhism and Brahmanism (!!!) As well charge Renan with having stolen his Vie de Jesus from the Gospels, and Max Muller his "Sacred Books of the East" or his "Chips" from the philosophies of the Brahmins and Gautama, the Buddha. But to the public in general and the readers of the "Secret Doctrine" I may repeat what I have stated all along, and which I now clothe in the words of Montaigne: Gentlemen, "I HAVE HERE MADE ONLY A NOSEGAY OF CULLED FLOWERS, AND HAVE BROUGHT NOTHING OF MY OWN BUT THE STRING THAT TIES THEM."
Pull the "string" to pieces and cut it up in shreds, if you will. As for the nosegay of FACTS -- you will never be able to make away with these. You can only ignore them, and no more.
Thus, the Past shall help to realise the PRESENT, and the latter to better appreciate the PAST. The errors of the day must be explained and swept away, yet it is more than probable -- and in the present case it amounts to certitude -- that once more the testimony of long ages and of history will fail to impress anyone but the very intuitional -- which is equal to saying the very few. But in this as in all like cases, the true and the faithful may console themselves by presenting the sceptical modern Sadducee with the mathematical proof and memorial of his obdurate obstinacy and bigotry. There still exists somewhere in the archives of the French Academy, the famous law of probabilities worked out by an algebraical process for the benefit of sceptics by certain mathematicians. It runs thus: If two persons give their evidence to
[[Vol. 1, Page]] xlvii INTRODUCTORY.
Next Section | http://www.sacred-texts.com/the/sd/sd1-0-in.htm | dclm-gs1-110530000 |
0.024351 | <urn:uuid:a43ddcf3-2be3-43d0-954a-9e849fb266bd> | en | 0.984791 | These days, everything that's new and cool and compact has a similar brand name -- iPod, iPhone, iTouch -- and that includes the Washington men's basketball team's latest product line.
The Huskies, who hold their first practice Friday behind closed doors at Saint Martin's University in Lacey, will pull the wraps off "I.T.," as in Isaiah Thomas, someone counted on to fill up the basket and the seats, if not restore the buzz that's been missing around Lorenzo Romar's team the past two seasons.
For entertainment purposes, Thomas is Nate Robinson without biceps.
He's a slender, 5-foot-8 freshman guard from Tacoma by way of a Connecticut prep school with a thing for strawberry Pop-Tarts.
He has big plans for the Huskies, and even bigger plans for himself.
"I can't wait until the season starts to show people who I am," Thomas said. "People know me around here. I want to be a national name."
Until inadequate grades sent him on a two-year detour to prep school, Thomas was on track to surpass former O'Dea guard Clint Richardson as the highest-scoring high school player in state history. Thomas averaged 26.2 per game as a Curtis High School sophomore and 31.2 as a junior, and then 40-plus in the 2006 state tournament.
Thomas' offensive responsibility at Washington will be more restrained, with Romar envisioning him filling the dual role of imaginative playmaker and instant scorer.
"I think he's more of a point guard than people think," Romar said. "(But) I think there will be times when he takes games over. He has that ability and mentality."
Either way, the presence of the 5-8 dynamo (unlike Robinson, he doesn't fudge on his height) has created newfound interest in a program that had grown stale the past two seasons, falling out of the Pac-10 upper division and failing to reach the NCAA Tournament.
While the attention overwhelmed him at times at Curtis, Thomas embraces the high expectations heaped on him now. He has an unbeatable support system regularly counseling him, headed up by Brandon Roy, the former UW All-American and now an elite pro with the Portland Trail Blazers, and Jamal Crawford, a former Rainier Beach High School star who plays for the New York Knicks. These guys communicate almost daily.
Asked if he hasn't been unfairly characterized as a Huskies savior before playing in his first game, Thomas pulled out his cell phone, punched up a screen and shared a recent text message sent to him by Roy that offered the following wisdom:
"The only pressure you have in life is the pressure you hold over your own head. Pressure shouldn't be used in your head at any time. There is no pressure."
Pressure actually is having your father, James Thomas, christen you at birth after one of the game's greatest point guards, former Indiana and NBA star Isiah Thomas. Dad said he lost a bet while watching the other Thomas and the Detroit Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers, his favorite team, in the 1989 NBA Finals, and it influenced the naming of his son.
"A friend of mine laid down a little money, my team lost and Isiah was the show," said James Thomas, a Boeing final-assembly inspector. "It was either that or repeat my name, and his mom didn't want that."
Tina Baldrip, who is divorced from Thomas' father, suggested that religious rather than basketball reasons were behind her son's name, hence the slightly different spelling.
"I named him because of Isaiah in the Bible; I didn't really know about the other Isiah Thomas," said Baldrip, a retirement home employee. "In the Bible, Isaiah waited on God to show him everything. That's why it's Isaiah. Whatever God has for him, it will come."
Early on, the kid nicknamed I.T. was a football player, a breakaway running back. He picked up a basketball for the first time as a fourth-grader at Spanaway's Naches Trail Elementary School and discovered he had natural talent. He played both sports through Curtis Junior High before choosing to concentrate on one, and do so in a bold manner. As a ninth-grader, he petitioned the school district to let him play basketball for the Curtis High varsity and was denied, solely because of age restrictions.
Once allowed to wear a Curtis uniform, Thomas became an overnight sensation. He scored at will, 57 points in one outing. He was super competitive, fiery on the floor, something that not everyone readily understood or admired, especially after he was ejected from a couple of games.
"I feel when I step on the court, no one can stop me," he said. "My swagger, my mentality that I bring to the court, is my strongest asset.
"People have got their opinions on that. They say negative things, that I have an attitude. But that's how I play. I've always brought a chip on my shoulder to the court. That's just me."
Indiana, figuring it couldn't go wrong with another guard named Thomas, was the first to offer a scholarship. Isaiah Thomas was a junior and wanted to commit right away. His parents said no. It made sense later when Hoosiers coach Mike Davis was fired at the end of the season and resurfaced at Alabama-Birmingham, where he continued to recruit Thomas without success.
Thomas committed to Washington, but his grades nosedived. To become college eligible, his only alternative was a lengthy prep school stay. He enrolled at South Kent School in Connecticut, attending for two years, replacing what would have been his senior year at Curtis and freshman season with the Huskies.
"It was hard to focus being me, being known as a high school celebrity," he said of his academic woes.
South Kent was isolated. The school gave him structure. It was classes and basketball without distractions. He averaged 31.6 points per game last season and earned a qualifying ACT score, his ticket to return to the Northwest.
"There were so many people back home who said I couldn't do it and didn't want to do it, that I just wanted to shut them up," he said. "Now I've grown up and it's a good thing. I know I need school."
Thomas was a recruiting free agent and tempted by overtures from Connecticut, Louisville and Kentucky but stayed true to the Huskies.
"People want to leave, but I've already been gone for two years, so I know how that feels," he said. "Why would I want to go somewhere else when I can do it right at home, and have my family and friends watch?"
Said Romar, who in recent months lost homegrown recruits to Arizona, Louisville and Texas: "What you're hearing is someone who is proud of where he's from."
Said Thomas' mother: "I don't think he could handle being somewhere really far away from me."
Huskies guards have been so one-dimensional in recent seasons that opponents were able to overplay 3-point shooter Ryan Appleby or stack defenders inside against Justin Dentmon and fellow penetrators, greatly disrupting the offense. Thomas, with his offensive versatility, should be the solution to that problem. He is as adept at driving to the basket with a variety of determined moves as he is at pulling up and launching soft left-handed jumpers or throwing a no-look pass.
While Oregon fans likely will pull out those Gary Coleman cutouts and insults they waved and shouted at the equally diminutive though more muscular Robinson, Thomas carries himself differently than his predecessor. Thomas is more of a finesse player and even-keeled in temperament, but no less effective in bouncing up and down the floor and dictating a frenzied pace.
"People should be excited," Huskies senior forward Jon Brockman said. "He's a special player who can do special things. He's going to be fun for the fans to watch and fun for us to play with. He's going to be good for Washington as long as he's here."
"I'm looking to stay four years," Thomas said, though reserving his right to reconsider should he become a potential NBA draft lottery pick.
He should stick around long enough for UW fans to learn that the kid with the biblical name prays before every game, eats strawberry Pop-Tarts nonstop and scores at a breakneck pace.
If this I.T. is the latest in college basketball technology, only the Huskies have one. | http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Freshman-phenom-Isaiah-Thomas-counted-on-to-1288232.php | dclm-gs1-110600000 |
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Analyze price changes and identify trends in order to help you detect investment opportunities on the financial markets, with this complex application
editor's review
Knowledge and information are the two main factors standing behind profitable investments on the financial markets. The two are combined by AmiBroker, an application that addresses both beginner and more experienced investors, aiming to provide a complete set of tools for carrying out technical analysis for various stocks.
Real-time charts for monitoring price trends
AmiBroker enables you to view price evolutions on the financial markets (NYSE, Nasdaq and so on) and calculate indicators that can ultimately help you take inspired investment decisions. Providing real-time data within intelligible charts, it helps you keep an eye on symbols that interest you, view trend interpretations or write down your own.
The application can extract data for intra-day prices or values recorded at the closing of the trading session, displaying color-coded candlestick, line or bar charts that are easy to read. Alternatively, you can set it to generate the graph based on a custom number of ticks or trading volume.
Technical analysis and investment evaluation
Its rich tool set enables you to create general trend lines or use geometrical figures and text boxes to switch focus to important areas on the graph. Investors can determine potential areas of support or resistance using Fibonacci's charting techniques (retracement, fan, arc, time zones, extension), which helps them figure out when it's time to sell or buy. You can use it to place an order to your broker, specifying the stock quantity, the limit and the stop prices and other parameters.
A comprehensive set of tools for investors
AmiBroker can generate reports on a company's returns and compare the stock price with the earnings it might bring you, in the attempt to evaluate the profitability of the transaction. You can instruct it to notify you via e-mail for changes in the analysis or the indicator values, so that you don't miss out on any future investment opportunity.
AmiBroker was reviewed by Mihaela Teodorovici
Last updated on August 17th, 2015
AmiBroker - The main window of AmiBroker displays stock market information about a selected companyAmiBroker - From the context menu, you can configure the display preferences of the stock market graphAmiBroker - The File menu enables you to create a new database, open or save the current one, as well as configure its settingsAmiBroker - screenshot #4AmiBroker - screenshot #5AmiBroker - screenshot #6AmiBroker - screenshot #7AmiBroker - screenshot #8AmiBroker - screenshot #9AmiBroker - screenshot #10AmiBroker - screenshot #11AmiBroker - screenshot #12AmiBroker - screenshot #13AmiBroker - screenshot #14AmiBroker - screenshot #15AmiBroker - screenshot #16AmiBroker - screenshot #17AmiBroker - screenshot #18AmiBroker - screenshot #19AmiBroker - screenshot #20AmiBroker - screenshot #21
0 User reviews so far. | http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Finances-Business/AmiBroker.shtml | dclm-gs1-110770000 |
0.019506 | <urn:uuid:c050bf35-ab1f-4a15-b410-9f8b53961c2d> | en | 0.960971 | Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Print Email Comment | View 12 Comments Most Popular Save Post Retweet
Atlanta logs dramatic turnaround in homelessness
By Jamie Henry-White
Associated Press
LAST UPDATED: 7:51 a.m. HST, Sep 29, 2013
Those like Mainor are eager to find the help.
"I just got sick and tired of living a life of drugs and alcohol," Mainor said. "I saw my friend get shot and lay in the streets and die. That's not how I want to leave this world."
"Atlanta is a really turnaround story in the last year," said Jake Maguire, communications director for the 100,000 Homes Campaign, a national group working to find permanent homes for 100,000 of the nation's most vulnerable homeless. "They have been able to make tremendous change in a short amount of time."
"Atlanta in some ways is kind of the poster child," Maguire said. "Dramatic change is actually possible in a short period of time."
Atlanta's efforts in addressing homelessness align with a federal strategy, called "Opening Doors," to end veteran and chronic homelessness by 2015. Though only a small portion of the homeless population, research shows the chronically homeless consume a disproportionate amount of public resources, including homeless shelters, hospitals, emergency rooms, jails and prisons. Chronically homeless individuals also are the most vulnerable, with nearly four to nine times higher mortally rates than the general population, according to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.
"This is not the guy who could get a job who just didn't want it -- that's not the population," Maguire said. "They are folks who really, truly will not be able to sustain themselves and will need to be taken care of by their fellow community members."
The VA nationally is increasingly viewing homelessness as a permanent problem -- not a temporary one.
"The change now is that we want people to get housing first, and then we surround them with services and that helps their process of recovery," said Protip Biswas, Vice President of Homelessness and Community Outreach for United Way of Greater Atlanta.
Recent analysis from Atlanta's local housing authority found that veterans permanently housed through the HUD-VASH voucher program had an average retention rate of 95 percent. It is too early to calculate the retention rate for the city's recent chronic homelessness challenge.
Many of the individuals housed through the city's recent initiatives were identified through a volunteer-driven homeless registry created in January. The registry, based on a vulnerability index that screens for critical health and social conditions, serves to identify and prioritize the city's most vulnerable citizens for housing.
As for Mainor, he has been able to overcome his alcohol and drug addictions, afford permanent housing, receive medical and psychological attention and obtain pension benefits. Building off his skills as a cook in the military, Mainor recently graduated from Atlanta Technical College's culinary arts program, where he also met his fianc?e. The two are now making plans to open a bakery and catering business.
"Instead of me trying to find some drugs and alcohol when I wake up in the morning-time, now when I wake up in the morning-time, I can think about the positive things in life," Mainor said. "It tells me that Larry is somebody now. It tells me that the last four years of trying to live a normal life is paying off."
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Latest News/Updates | http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/20130929_Atlanta_logs_dramatic_turnaround_in_homelessness.html | dclm-gs1-110860000 |
0.999755 | <urn:uuid:089cf54b-0c11-4b1e-aeee-afe9c5a2b36d> | en | 0.919282 |
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Ancient Rome
What continent is ancient Rome located? Europe
What two hemispheres is Rome located? Northern and Eastern
What large body of water is Ancient Rome located near? Mediterranean Sea
What is the name of the river that Ancient Rome was located near? Tiber River
What word means "a trait"? characteristics
What are the physical characteristics of Ancient Rome? city on hills, limited rich soil, located near the Tiber river and the Mediterranean Sea
How did Ancient Rome adapt to their environment? farming on hillsides, building roads, and trading on the Mediterranean Sea.
What is the act of giving or doing something? contribution
What style of architecture did the ancient Romans use in the construction of their buildings? arches
What is the name of a famous Roman building that still stands today? Coliseum
What were some examples of art the people in ancient Rome displayed? paintings, scultpures, mosaics,
What kind of government do people elect representatives to make their rules and laws? Respresentative Democracy
What kind of government did they practice in ancient Rome? Representative Democracy
What brought water into the city of Rome? aqueducts
Created by: elliotttwin1
| http://www.studystack.com/flashcard-163555 | dclm-gs1-110920000 |
0.815501 | <urn:uuid:c8a6a6bb-b3fd-404c-b9d0-db03635f41ef> | en | 0.956964 | 7 reasons why Apple should make a netbook
And 5 reasons why it probably won't
MacBook Air
The economy's tanking, everybody's broke and even high-end brands are feeling the pinch. Apple, we're told, is the BMW of tech - but even BMW is finding it hard to sell its stuff.
In computing, netbooks are a rare spot of good news in an otherwise bleak market. So should Apple make one? After all, even BMW has the Mini.
Here are seven good reasons why Apple should think small and release an Apple netbook - and a few good reasons why it shouldn't.
1. Apple has got the little bits
The MacBook Air shows that Apple can do thin and light, helped by its mini DisplayPort, which is much smaller than the VGA plugs that make all netbooks a tad bulky. We wouldn't expect the slimmed-down Core 2 Duo to be carried across from the Air, though: it's too expensive. Netbooks don't need the stellar performance of the Air, so an Intel Atom or Nvidia Ion would do the job just fine.
2. Apple has got the OS
Apple has two options here. It has Snow Leopard for the full Mac experience, or it could tweak the iPhone OS X and create something completely different from any other netbook. The latter would be fascinating and very Apple: a netbook that makes every other machine look like a dull business computer.
3. There's a gap in the laptop range
The MacBook Air is a brilliant portable computer, but the only person on an EasyJet flight with room to use one or the cash to buy one is the pilot. Even a MacBook's a bit big for cattle class.
4. Apple has the cloud computing system
Netbooks are all about cloud computing, and Apple has just the thing in the form of MobileMe. That offers something PC-based notebooks don't: a system that shares files and syncs data not just between computers, but between netbook, desktop and iPhone.
5. It would have a halo effect
As we all know, once you get somebody on the Mac they don't go back. A netbook would be exactly the same as the iPod or iPhone: a gateway drug to get people hooked on all things Apple.
6. Apple netbooks would sell squillions
Netbooks' low price is one reason for their current popularity, but people also buy them for their portability or just to show off. Apple could flog netbooks to people who can't afford Macs right now, or to people who already have Macs and want a new toy to play with. We've got a perfectly good MacBook Pro sitting in front of us and it's years away from replacement. We'd still buy an Apple netbook the second it was announced.
7. It'd really annoy Microsoft
Microsoft has managed to crush Linux on netbooks in a very short space of time, and it clearly expects to make some serious money from flogging Windows 7 on the teeny-weeny machines. How funny would it be if Apple did to Microsoft what Microsoft just did to Linux?
Convinced yet? We were - but then we thought of a few reasons we won't see an Apple netbook any time soon...
1. Insanely great isn't cheap
The MacBook Air is expensive for one very good reason: insanely great isn't cheap. Apple has already described sub-$500 PCs as "pieces of junk". Could Apple really make something brilliant that cost the same as a normal netbook? Especially when...
2. There's no money in it
Apple makes expensive stuff with hefty profit margins. Netbook margins are probably measured in pennies. If Apple isn't convinced that netbooks would deliver the same halo effect the iPod Mini did, why bother?
3. Apple already has a netbook
It doesn't look like a netbook and it could do with some document editing software - not to mention, yes! Cut and paste! - but the iPhone does all the internet, email and multimedia stuff, and the App Store makes it a clever portable computer too. If you could only travel with one device, what would you leave at home: your iPhone, or your netbook?
4. An HD Touch would be more compelling
Take one iPod Touch, make it twice the size, give it some desktop-style apps and you've got something that no other computer firm can deliver (or, we suspect, even imagine). You'd have all the things you expect from an iPhone, plus decent e-book reading and document editing. How great would that be? Bluetooth support for an external keyboard, 3G modem as an option, best computer ever.
5. Apple isn't hurting
Yes, Mac sales are down a bit - but unlike most firms, Apple has so much money sitting in the bank that its accountants have to invent new words to describe the numbers. Apple can afford to ride out the recession while spending stacks of cash on R&D for the next generation of iPhones, iPods and Macs. PC firms are making netbooks because they have to. Apple doesn't have to do anything it doesn't want to do.
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Follow TechRadar on Twitter | http://www.techradar.com/au/news/computing/apple/7-reasons-why-apple-should-make-a-netbook-561082 | dclm-gs1-110980000 |
0.022654 | <urn:uuid:4c42c04c-b3f2-4bbd-aac0-75aaf8d7d4ff> | en | 0.917048 | If I had the time ...
Things to do with your family this week
It's the year of the pig
Over the years, I've discovered that children, crowds and fire-crackers don't necessarily mix but even if, like us, you opt out of the big city-centre Chinese New Year celebrations that are happening around the UK this weekend there are still plenty of places where families can welcome the year of the pig.
At the V&A in London today and tomorrow, children can make Chinese masks and head-dresses, and watch lion dancing and kung-fu demonstrations. Tomorrow and next Sunday, London's Museum in Docklands (0870 4443857) marks the occasion with storytelling, workshops and films.
In Bath, at the Museum of East Asian Art (01225 464640) it is free to get in all weekend and there's a Welcome to China exhibition plus a Pig Out! treasure hunt. Manchester, though, gets the best of both worlds. If you find the Chinatown celebrations a bit overwhelming, you can just pop into Manchester Art Gallery (0161-235 8888) where family activities include face-painting and drawing plus Chinese dancing and opera.
Nikki Spencer
Other city celebrations include:
Liverpool www.visitliverpool.com
Newcastle www.newcastle.gov.uk
and Southampton www.southampton.gov.uk
Go to the Wall
If your children are anything like mine, the obsession with the Romans usually begins at about the age of seven when the subject is introduced at school. From then on, they will astound you with the knowledge and facts their young minds soak up. Then the pestering begins in their quest to find out more.
For the truly Roman-obsessed, nothing beats Hadrian's Wall. Next week (half term for some), at Arbeia Roman Fort in South Shields you can become archaeologists at the Time Quest dig. You can excavate real Roman artefacts on the reconstructed excavation site. There's also the opportunity to build a Roman-style working catapult. Over the river, at Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend, you can also meet Jefficus the Roman soldier and hear of his life on Hadrian's Wall.
Natalie Trainor
www.hadrians-wall.org 01434 322002 | http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/feb/17/familyandrelationships.family7 | dclm-gs1-111160000 |
0.024998 | <urn:uuid:c89af7c4-9573-472c-88bd-aad6430c422f> | en | 0.970344 | Republican Chairman thinks it’s funny to break the law
On Tuesday during the OC GOP fundraiser dinner that was disguised as a celebration for Flag Day, OC Republican Chairman Scott Baugh called Joel Bishop onto stage and had him switch his party registration from Democrat to Republican in front of the 1,000 people in attendance.
Then Baugh made a joke that all OC Dems switching parties should do so in front of 1,000 people. He was referring to the fact that when Republicans aren’t being watched by 1,000 people, they’ll resort to illegal tactics to get Dems to switch parties.
Someone needs to tell Scott that breaking the law isn’t funny.
[Story via Total Buzz]
1 comment for “Republican Chairman thinks it’s funny to break the law
1. June 16, 2006 at 1:44 pm
Someone should really have Joel Bishop talk with Mark Leyes about the benefits of climbing into the big tent with the Republicans. Joel the first chance they get, the righties will impune your character for once being a Democrat, or not being Republican enough. Van Tran sucessfully used that tactic against Leyes when they each ran for the Assembly in 2004.
Good luck Joel, sorry to see ya go. I hope this works out for you better than it did for Leyes.
As far as Baugh’s promise to have 1,000 witnesses for every registration switch from Democrat to Republican… I’ll put it in the same place that I put his promise to stop using the fraud ridden bounty program.
Comments are closed. | http://www.theliberaloc.com/2006/06/16/republican-chairman-thinks-it%E2%80%99s-funny-to-break-the-law/ | dclm-gs1-111200000 |
0.080271 | <urn:uuid:e76ed8b9-9fd7-43c1-a414-197ebe96fe35> | en | 0.828477 | This has been an incredible year for JFrog and Artifactory that is wrapped-up with winning the DUKE at JavaOne and this new release.
What's New in this Release:
This major release of Artifactory introduces the following new features and changes:
1. YUM Repositories and RPM Provisioning - Artifactory can now act as a fully-featured YUM repository, including auto-updating repo metadata and RPM detailed view directly from the Artifactory UI.
2. P2 Repositories - Artifactory can be your single access point for all Eclipse® updates. Eclipse plugins proxying and hosting take advantage of Artifactory's exiting advanced caching and security controls.
3. Major Performance Improvements - in storage management, CPU and memory utilization and search speeds
4. Security is Fully Manageable via REST API
5. User Regexp Tokens in Repository Layouts - You can now add your own custom regexp-based tokens to repository layout definitions for better module identification.
6. New additions to the Artifactory Public API for User Plugins (move, copy, search, not downloaded since, etc.)
7. Usability improvements and many bug fixes
Read more about Artifactory 2.4 release at JFrog's wiki - release announcement
Enjoy Your Build, Enjoy Artifactory! | http://www.theserverside.com/discussions/thread.tss?thread_id=63234 | dclm-gs1-111270000 |
0.294257 | <urn:uuid:535bce14-92df-4a90-a866-408c8415d229> | en | 0.964499 | Political commentator Monica Crowley is enduring some social media criticism Thursday for a decidedly uncreative joke she made about Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law Student who withstood Rush Limbaugh's similarly unpleasant attacks earlier this year.
Crowley, who's on The McLaughlin Group and contributes to Fox News, tweeted out the headline "Sandra Fluke Announces Engagement" and added her punchline: "to a man?" The joke, of course, being that perhaps Sandra Fluke—being an outspoken advocate for women's rights—might be a lesbian. (She's not, but a lot of the Congressional testimony she gave about birth control centered on some of her friends who are.) Several folks in our Twitter feed quickly noted that a joke with the simple implied punchline of "Lesbians, gosh aren't they funny?" isn't actually all that funny, and in fact, playing up an offensive and long-standing way to tear down liberal feminists. Crowley tweeted that she was "'Insinuating' nothing. Straightforward question. No answer yet." (The answer is yes, she's engaged to a man.) Then Crowley quickly followed up with this:
But that's not quite fair. A lot of the "Left' has in fact expressed their displeasure with the joke using their own brand of humor. Like this one:
A pretty creative way of pointing out what he finds offensive about this joke (and why the punchline doesn't quite land.) You can search the #CrowleyJokes hashtag yourself for more variations on this theme. (Update: Though it was quickly ovetaken by ad-promoting spam bots.) This seems to us like the best way for those who find the joke offensive to point it out, lest they appear disproportionately outraged about a tweet from a lesser-known pundit. Indeed some people's attacks on Crowley don't reflect very well on them, and she's retweeted many of those to point out that ... some people on the Left are just as rude as she is? We're not sure. Anyway, Best to fight bad attempts at humor with better attempts at it. | http://www.thewire.com/politics/2012/04/did-you-hear-one-about-pundit-who-thought-lesbians-are-funny/51618/ | dclm-gs1-111320000 |
0.130741 | <urn:uuid:078e312b-eac1-4720-a5b2-6e16d76ac66d> | en | 0.956754 | Genoa president Enrico Preziosi expects no new signings this month.
Whilst Alberto Gilardino has since tied up a switch from Fiorentina, Preziosi has so far been unsuccessful in securing a midfielder.
"The market is essentially closed, but if there was another bad performance like the one against Cagliari then we would be ready to intervene through the market," said Preziosi. | http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/genoa-president-preziosi-says-market-now-shut-2617341 | dclm-gs1-111460000 |
0.033275 | <urn:uuid:fed532ad-7b73-43de-8636-1fc8dff86def> | en | 0.945318 | Are your “Pearls of Wisdom” littered with dung?
December 1, 2001
An experienced writer knows just how much dung to toss and how much to keep on his shovel or buried. Throw too much and you lose your reader. Too little and your characters suffer.
There is a very fine line when using swear words in your writing between good taste and smut. So how, as a new writer, do you recognize when you’ve exceeded the bounds? You ask yourself, “would my characters really say this or am I putting words in their mouth merely for shock value?”
If the answer is the latter, leave it out. But if your characters would rant, rave and swear, use acronyms. For instance, “that SOB better not get in my face again or the Mother dies.” You’ve made your point and your reader will appreciate your good taste. The same holds true when you are describing love scenes in your book. Most people absolutely love the thirty and forties movies which fade to black before they get to the actual love making. Why? Because their imaginations fill in the blanks.
Seeing two people go at it on the big screen is a waste of film and the viewers time. The same holds true in books. Allowing readers to fill in the blanks is perhaps the hardest thing for new writers to overcome. In their exuberance, new writers leave nothing to the imagination. They merrily write down every little detail thinking they are doing the reader a disservice if they don’t.
News flash – readers are smart and truly do appreciate an author who tosses just enough dung to land at their feet rather than smack them in the face.
So the next time you’re tempted to litter your pearls of wisdom with dung, remember to toss just enough to avoid splattering your reader and then bury the rest.
| http://www.webpronews.com/are-your-pearls-of-wisdom-littered-with-dung-2001-12/ | dclm-gs1-111620000 |
0.024301 | <urn:uuid:c10e5359-cec9-40d0-a539-a812520983e8> | en | 0.920976 | Accelerometer Toy
Accelerometer Toy
Along with the Readings page you have the Bounce page. As with the Readings page, the Bounce page is a simple demonstration on the accelerometer where a green ball moves about the screen as you tilt and move your Windows Phone. As with the Readings page, if you want to stop the ball from bouncing about you can hit the stop button. There's not much to this page but many will find themselves bouncing the ball about for minutes on end.
Accelerometer Toy isn't going to appeal to everyone but it's a simple, clean looking app that demonstrates your Windows Phone accelerometer nicely. It would be nice to change the color of the ball or maybe add multiple balls to bounce about though.
Accelerometer Toy is a free app for your Windows Phone 8 device and you can snatch it up here at the Windows Phone Store.
QR: Accelerometer Toy | http://www.windowscentral.com/comment/259337 | dclm-gs1-111650000 |
0.807437 | <urn:uuid:ae9c7289-9177-42ae-987f-c59c2ff83d20> | en | 0.806485 | Skip to definition.
Noun: Cleveland kleev-lund
1. 22nd and 24th President of the United States (1837-1908)
- Grover Cleveland, Stephen Grover Cleveland, President Cleveland
2. The largest city in Ohio; located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie; a major Great Lakes port
Type of: Chief Executive, city, metropolis, President, President of the United States, United States President, urban center [US], urban centre [Brit, Cdn]
Part of: Buckeye State, OH, Ohio
Encyclopedia: Cleveland, Quebec | http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/CLEVELAND | dclm-gs1-111700000 |
0.997734 | <urn:uuid:162ca836-1015-453b-9f12-0838d279aa1b> | en | 0.970959 | Has there been anything you've been researching (new graphical techniques, architectures, etc) that you are really interested in lately and hope to apply to future games?
If you could take any feature from a language other than C++ (C#, F#, Lua, VB, etc) and put it into C++, what would it be and why? Smiley | https://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/545067-Interview-with-Corrinne-Yu-Principal-Engine-Architect-at-Halo-Team-Microsoft/3212227bd2ee4ef6a86c9deb00e07b84 | dclm-gs1-111870000 |
0.033271 | <urn:uuid:083061a5-fd7a-442c-9964-a51fefb2aadf> | en | 0.960653 | 2002 Tampa airplane crash
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from 2002 Tampa plane crash)
Jump to: navigation, search
2002 Tampa plane crash
Tampa plane crash.jpg
Occurrence summary
Date January 5, 2002 (2002-01-05)
Summary Stolen plane crashed into office building, pilot suicide
Site Tampa, Florida
Passengers 0
Crew 1
Survivors 0
Aircraft type Cessna 172
Operator Privately owned
Registration N2371N
The 2002 Tampa plane crash was an incident that occurred on Saturday, January 5, 2002. The incident occurred when Charlie J. Bishop, a high-school student of East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs, Florida, stole a Cessna 172 and crashed it into the side of the Bank of America Tower in downtown Tampa, Florida. Bishop had been inspired by the September 11 attacks. The impact killed the teenager and damaged an office room. There were no other injuries.
Bishop had left a suicide note crediting Osama bin Laden for the September 11 attacks and praising it as a justified response to actions against the Palestinians and Iraqis, and said he (Bishop) was acting on behalf of Al Qaeda, from whom he'd turned down help. As officials could find no evidence of any connections, terrorism as a motive was ruled out, and they suggested that the crash was an apparent suicide. Bishop's mother filed, then dropped, a lawsuit claiming that an acne medicine Bishop took, isotretinoin, had side effects such as depression and suicidal actions, and caused the incident.
At 5:00 pm EST, 15-year-old Charlie J. Bishop's instructor left him at the plane to perform a preflight inspection. Once he was left alone in the plane, he started the engine and took off without permission.[1] As soon as the plane took off, the air traffic controllers alerted the United States Coast Guard and the MacDill Air Force Base. Despite repeated warnings from a helicopter dispatched by the Coast Guard, the small plane continued on until it collided with an office building. The plane crashed between the 28th and 29th floors of the 42-story building.[1][2]
Bishop was a 15-year-old high-school student from Tarpon Springs, Florida. At the time of the incident, he was a student pilot and only authorized to fly with a Certificated Flight Instructor.
Investigation and aftermath[edit]
In April 2002, transcripts obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration revealed new details about the incident, which included how close the small plane came to a Southwest Airlines flight.[3]
See also[edit]
1. ^ a b "Police: Tampa pilot voiced support for bin Laden", "CNN", 2002-01-07. URL Accessed: November 15, 2014.
4. ^ Unknown Plane Crash Aftermath URL Accessed: July 28, 2006
8. ^ [1] EAA News
External links[edit] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Tampa_plane_crash | dclm-gs1-111930000 |
0.021867 | <urn:uuid:ab56291d-f2cf-4596-a669-87fc4d48230a> | en | 0.961107 | Page protected with pending changes level 1
William Henry Harrison
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from William H. Harrison)
Jump to: navigation, search
For other people named William Henry Harrison, see William Henry Harrison (disambiguation).
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison daguerreotype edit.jpg
A daguerreotype of Harrison
9th President of the United States
In office
March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841
Vice President John Tyler
Preceded by Martin Van Buren
Succeeded by John Tyler
United States Minister to Colombia
In office
May 24, 1828 – September 26, 1829
Nominated by John Quincy Adams
Preceded by Beaufort Taylor Watt
Succeeded by Thomas Patrick Moore
United States Senator
from Ohio
In office
March 4, 1825 – May 20, 1828
Preceded by Ethan Allen Brown
Succeeded by Jacob Burnet
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 1st district
In office
October 8, 1816 – March 3, 1819
Preceded by John McLean
Succeeded by Thomas Ross
Governor of the Indiana Territory
In office
January 10, 1801 – December 28, 1812
Appointed by John Adams
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Thomas Posey
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the Northwest Territory's At-large district
In office
March 4, 1799 – May 14, 1800
Preceded by Constituency established
Succeeded by Paul Fearing
Secretary of the Northwest Territory
In office
June 28, 1798 – October 1, 1799
Preceded by Winthrop Sargent
Succeeded by Charles Byrd
Personal details
Born (1773-02-09)February 9, 1773
Charles City, Virginia Colony, British America
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place Harrison Tomb State Memorial
North Bend, Ohio
Political party Whig
Spouse(s) Anna Symmes (m. 1795; his death 1841)
Children 10, including John Scott Harrison
Alma mater Hampden–Sydney College
University of Pennsylvania
Profession Military officer
Religion Episcopalian
Signature Cursive signature in ink
Military service
Allegiance United States
Years of service
• 1791–1798
• 1811
• 1812–1814
Rank Major general
Unit Legion of the United States
Commands Army of the Northwest
William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773 – April 4, 1841) was the ninth President of the United States (1841), an American military officer and politician, and the last President born as a British subject. He was also the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when inaugurated, the oldest president to take office until Ronald Reagan in 1981. Harrison died on his 32nd day in office[a] of complications from pneumonia, serving the shortest tenure in United States presidential history. His death sparked a brief constitutional crisis, but its resolution left unsettled many questions following the presidential line of succession in regards to constitution up until the passage of the 25th Amendment in 1967. He was the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, who was the 23rd President from 1889 to 1893.
Before election as president, Harrison served as the first territorial congressional delegate from the Northwest Territory, governor of the Indiana Territory, and later as a U.S. representative and senator from Ohio. He originally gained national fame for leading U.S. forces against American Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811,[1] where he earned the nickname "Tippecanoe" (or "Old Tippecanoe"). As a general in the subsequent War of 1812, his most notable action was in the Battle of the Thames in 1813, which brought an end to hostilities in his region. This battle resulted in the death of Tecumseh and the dissolution of the Indian coalition which he led.[2]
After the war, Harrison moved to Ohio, where he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. In 1824, the state legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate. He served a truncated term after being appointed as Minister Plenipotentiary to Colombia in May 1828. In Colombia, he spoke with Simón Bolívar, urging his nation to adopt American-style democracy.
Returning to his farm in Ohio, Harrison lived in relative retirement until he was nominated for the presidency in 1836. Defeated, he retired again to his farm. He was elected president in 1840, and died of pneumonia in April 1841, a month after taking office.
Early life[edit]
Early life and education[edit]
William Henry Harrison was born February 9, 1773, the youngest of Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth Bassett's seven children. They were a prominent political family who lived on Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County, Virginia, where he was born.[3] He was the last president born as a British subject before American Independence. His father was a planter and a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774–1777), who signed the Declaration of Independence. The senior Harrison was governor of Virginia between 1781 and 1784, during and after the American Revolutionary War.[4] William's older brother, Carter Bassett Harrison, was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Virginia.[3]
In 1787, at the age of 14, Harrison entered the Presbyterian Hampden–Sydney College.[5] He attended the school until 1790, becoming well-versed in Latin and basic French. He was removed by his Episcopalian father, possibly because of a religious revival occurring at the school. He briefly attended a boys' academy in Southampton County. He allegedly was influenced by antislavery Quakers and Methodists at the school.
Angered, his proslavery father had him transfer to Philadelphia for medical training, where Harrison boarded with Robert Morris. The young Harrison entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1790, where he studied medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush.[6] As Harrison later told his biographer, he did not enjoy the subject. Shortly after Harrison started these studies, his father died in 1791, leaving him without funds for further schooling. Eighteen years old, Harrison was left in the guardianship of Morris.[7]
Early military career[edit]
Governor Henry Lee of Virginia, a friend of Harrison's father, learned of Harrison's situation after his father's death and persuaded him to join the army. Within 24 hours of meeting Lee, Harrison was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Army, 1st Infantry Regiment at the age of 18. He was first assigned to Cincinnati in the Northwest Territory, where the army was engaged in the ongoing Northwest Indian War.[8]
General "Mad Anthony" Wayne took command of the western army in 1792 following a disastrous defeat under its previous commander, Arthur St. Clair. Harrison was promoted to lieutenant that summer because of his strict attention to discipline, and the following year, he was promoted to serve as aide-de-camp. From Wayne, Harrison learned how to successfully command an army on the American frontier. Harrison participated in Wayne's decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, which brought the Northwest Indian War to a successful close for the United States.[9] After the war, Lieutenant Harrison was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which forced cession of lands by Native Americans and opened much of present-day Ohio to settlement by European Americans.[3][10][11]
Marriage and family[edit]
In 1795 at the age of 22, Harrison met Anna Tuthill Symmes, of North Bend, Ohio. She was a daughter of Anna Tuthill and Judge John Cleves Symmes, a prominent figure in the state and former representative to the Congress of the Confederation.[3] When Harrison asked the judge for permission to marry Anna, he was refused. The pair waited until Symmes left on business, then they eloped and married on November 25, 1795.[13] They married at the North Bend home of Dr. Stephen Wood, Treasurer of the Northwest Territory. The couple honeymooned at Fort Washington, as Harrison was still on duty. Two weeks later, at a farewell dinner for General Wayne, Symmes confronted his new son-in-law for the first time since the wedding, sternly demanding to know how Harrison intended to support a family. Harrison responded, "by my sword, and my own right arm, sir."[14] Afterward, still concerned about Harrison's ability to provide for Anna, Symmes sold the young couple 160 acres (65 ha) of land in North Bend.[15] Symmes did not come to accept Harrison until he had achieved fame on the battlefield .
Together, the Harrisons had 10 children. Nine lived into adulthood and one died in infancy. Anna was frequently in poor health during the marriage, primarily due to her many pregnancies. She nonetheless outlived William by 23 years, dying at age 88 on February 25, 1864.[16]
In a biography of Walter Francis White, the noted African American civil rights leader and president of the NAACP in the mid-20th century, historian Kenneth Robert Janken notes that White's mother Madeline Harrison traced some of her mixed-race white ancestry to Harrison in Virginia. Her family holds that Dilsia, a female slave belonging to William Henry Harrison, had six children by him, born into slavery. Four were said to be sold to a planter in La Grange, Georgia, including a daughter, Marie Harrison. Marie was Madeline's mother.[17]
Political career[edit]
Harrison resigned from the army in 1798 [18] and began campaigning among his friends and family for a post in the Northwest Territorial government. With the aid of his close friend, Secretary of State Timothy Pickering, he was recommended to replace the outgoing Secretary of the Territory. Harrison was appointed to the position, and frequently acted as governor during the absences of Governor Arthur St. Clair.[3][10][19][20]
As Member of Congress[edit]
Harrison had many friends in the elite eastern social circles, and quickly gained a reputation among them as a frontier leader.[19] He ran a successful horse-breeding enterprise that won him acclaim throughout the Northwest Territory.[21] He championed for lower land prices, a primary concern of settlers in the Territory at the time. The U.S. Congress had legislated a territorial land policy that led to high land costs, a policy disliked by many of the territory's residents. When Harrison ran for Congress, he campaigned to work to alter the situation to encourage migration to the territory.[22]
In 1799, at age 26, Harrison defeated the son of Arthur St. Clair and was elected as the first delegate representing the Northwest Territory in the Sixth United States Congress. He served from March 4, 1799, to May 14, 1800.[3][23] As a delegate from a territory, not a state, he had no authority to vote on bills, but was permitted to serve on a committee, submit legislation, and debate.[24]
Without informing Harrison, President John Adams nominated him to become governor of the new territory, based on his ties to "the west" and seemingly neutral political stances. Harrison was confirmed by the Senate the following day.[27] Caught unaware, Harrison accepted the position only after receiving assurances from the Jeffersonians that he would not be removed from office after they gained power in the upcoming elections.[28] He then resigned from Congress.[29] The Indiana Territory consisted of the future states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the eastern portion of Minnesota.[30]
As Governor[edit]
Harrison moved to Vincennes, the capital of the newly established Indiana Territory, on January 10, 1801.[29] While in Vincennes, Harrison built a plantation-style home he named Grouseland for its many birds. It was one of the first brick structures in the territory. The home, which has been restored and has become a popular modern tourist attraction, served as the center of social and political life in the territory.[16] He also built a second home near Corydon, the second capital, at Harrison Valley.[31]
As governor, Harrison had wide-ranging powers in the new territory, including the authority to appoint all territorial officials, and the territorial legislature, and to control the division of the territory into political districts. A primary responsibility was to obtain title to Indian lands. This would allow European-American settlement to expand and increase U.S. population to enable the region to gain statehood.[3] Harrison was eager to expand the territory for personal reasons as well, as his political fortunes were tied to Indiana's rise to statehood. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson granted Harrison authority to negotiate and conclude treaties with the Indians.
Harrison supervised the development of 13 treaties, through which the territory bought more than 60,000,000 acres (240,000 km2) of land from Indian leaders, including much of present-day southern Indiana. The 1804 Treaty of St. Louis with Quashquame led to the surrender by the Sauk and Meskwaki of much of western Illinois and parts of Missouri. This treaty and loss of lands were greatly resented by many of the Sauk, especially Black Hawk. It was the primary reason the Sauk sided with the United Kingdom during the War of 1812. Harrison thought the Treaty of Grouseland in 1805 appeased some of the issues for Indians, but tensions remained high on the frontier.
The 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne raised new tensions. Harrison purchased from the Miami tribe, who claimed ownership of the land, more than 2,500,000 acres (10,000 km²) of land inhabited by Shawnee, Kickapoo, Wea, and Piankeshaw peoples. Harrison rushed the process by offering large subsidies to the tribes and their leaders so that he could have the treaty in place before President Jefferson left office and the administration changed.[31][32] The tribes living on the lands were furious and sought to have the treaty overturned, but were unsuccessful.
In 1803, Harrison lobbied Congress to repeal Article 6 of the Northwest Ordinance, to permit slavery in the Indiana Territory. He claimed it was necessary to make the region more appealing to settlers and would make the territory economically viable.[33] Congress suspended the article for 10 years, during which time the territories covered by the ordinance were granted the right to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery. That year, Harrison had the appointed territorial legislature authorize indenturing.[34] He attempted to have slavery legalized outright, in both 1805 and 1807. This caused a significant stir in the territory. When in 1809 the legislature was popularly elected for the first time, Harrison found himself at odds with them as the abolitionist party came to power. They immediately blocked his plans for slavery and repealed the indenturing laws he had passed in 1803.[35][36]
President Jefferson, the primary author of the Northwest Ordinance, had made a secret compact with James Lemen to defeat the proslavery movement led by Harrison. Although a slaveholder, he did not want slavery to expand into the Northwest Territory, as he believed the institution should end. Under the "Jefferson-Lemen compact", Jefferson donated money to Lemen to found churches in Illinois and Indiana to stop the proslavery movement. In Indiana, the founding of an antislavery church led to citizens' signing a petition and organizing politically to defeat Harrison's efforts to legalize slavery. Jefferson and Lemen were both instrumental in defeating Harrison's attempts in 1805 and 1807 to secure approval of slavery in the territory.[37]
Army general[edit]
Tecumseh and Tippecanoe[edit]
Tecumseh launched an "impassioned rebuttal", but Harrison was unable to understand his language.[40] A Shawnee friendly to Harrison cocked his pistol from the sidelines to alert Harrison that Tecumseh's speech was leading to trouble. Some witnesses reported that Tecumseh was encouraging the warriors to kill Harrison. Many of the warriors began to pull their weapons, representing a substantial threat to Harrison and the town, which held a population of only 1,000. Harrison pulled his sword. Tecumseh's warriors backed down after the officers had pulled their firearms in defense of Harrison.[40] Chief Winnemac, who was friendly to Harrison, countered Tecumseh's arguments and told the warriors that since they had come in peace, they should return home in peace. Before leaving, Tecumseh informed Harrison that unless the treaty were nullified, he would seek an alliance with the British.[41] After the meeting, Tecumseh journeyed to meet with many of the tribes in the region, hoping to create a confederation to battle the United States.[42]
A depiction of Tecumseh in 1848
The press did not cover the battle at first, and one Ohio paper misinterpreted Harrison's dispatch to Eustis to mean he was defeated.[45] By December, as most major American papers carried stories on the battle, public outrage over the Shawnee attack grew. At a time of high tensions with the United Kingdom, many Americans blamed the British for inciting the tribes to violence and supplying them with firearms. In response, Congress passed resolutions condemning the British for interfering in American domestic affairs. A few months later, the U.S. declared war against UK.[46]
War of 1812[edit]
After receiving reinforcements in 1813, Harrison took the offensive. He led the army north to battle the Shawnee and their new British allies. He won victories in Indiana and Ohio, and recaptured Detroit, before invading Canada. He defeated the British at the Battle of the Thames, in which Tecumseh was killed.[47] The Battle of the Thames was considered one of the great American victories in the war, second only to the Battle of New Orleans.[47][48]
Postwar life[edit]
Public office[edit]
Harrison returned to North Bend after he was replaced as Governor of Indiana Territory, and he returned his farm to cultivation and enlarged the log cabin farmhouse.[49] In 1814, he was appointed by President Madison to serve as a commissioner to negotiate two treaties with the Indian tribes in the Northwest. Both treaties were advantageous to the United States, as the tribes ceded a large tract of land in the west. It provided more land for American purchase and settlement.[23]
Harrison was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to finish the term of John McLean of Ohio, serving from October 8, 1816, to March 4, 1819. He was elected to and served in the Ohio State Senate from 1819 to 1821, having lost the election for Ohio governor in 1820. In 1822, he ran for the U.S. House, but lost by only 500 votes to James W. Gazlay. In 1824, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until May 20, 1828. Fellow westerners in Congress called Harrison a "Buckeye", a term of affection related to the native Ohio buckeye tree.[23] He was an Ohio presidential elector in 1820 for James Monroe.[50] and an Ohio presidential elector in 1824 for Henry Clay.[51] In 1817, Harrison declined to serve as Secretary of War under President Monroe.
Appointed as minister plenipotentiary to Gran Colombia, Harrison resigned from Congress and served in his new post until March 8, 1829.[23] He arrived in Bogotá on December 22, 1828. He found the condition of Colombia saddening. Harrison reported to the Secretary of State that the country was on the edge of anarchy and he thought Simón Bolívar was about to become a military dictator. While minister in Colombia, Harrison wrote a rebuke to Bolívar, stating "... the strongest of all governments is that which is most free". He called on Bolívar to encourage the development of a democracy. In response, Bolívar wrote, "The United States ... seem destined by Providence to plague America with torments in the name of freedom", a sentiment that achieved fame in Latin America.[52] When the new administration of President Andrew Jackson took office in March 1829, Harrison was recalled so the new president could make his own appointment to the position. He returned to the United States in June.[53]
Private citizen[edit]
In these early years, Harrison also earned money from his contributions to a biography written by James Hall, entitled A Memoir of the Public Services of William Henry Harrison, published in 1836. That year, he made an unsuccessful run for the presidency as a Whig candidate.[54] Between 1836 and 1840, Harrison served as Clerk of Courts for Hamilton County. This was his job when he was elected president in 1840.[55] By 1840, when Harrison campaigned for president a second time, more than 12 books had been published on his life. He was hailed by many as a national hero.[56]
1836 presidential campaign[edit]
Chromolithograph campaign poster for William Henry Harrison
Harrison was the Northern Whig candidate for president in 1836, one of only two times in American history when a major political party intentionally ran more than one presidential candidate (the Democrats ran two candidates in 1860). Vice President Martin Van Buren, the Democratic candidate, was popular and deemed likely to win the election against an individual Whig candidate. The Whig plan was to elect popular Whigs regionally, deny Van Buren the 148 electoral votes needed for election, and force the House of Representatives to decide the election. They hoped the Whigs would control the House after the general elections. (This strategy would have failed, as the Democrats retained a majority in the House following the election.)[57][58]
Harrison ran in all the free states except Massachusetts, and the slave states of Delaware, Maryland, and Kentucky. Hugh L. White ran in the remaining slave states except for South Carolina. Daniel Webster ran in Massachusetts, and Willie P. Mangum in South Carolina.[59] The plan narrowly failed, as Van Buren won the election with 170 electoral votes. A swing of just over 4,000 votes in Pennsylvania would have given that state's 30 electoral votes to Harrison, and the election would have been decided in the House of Representatives.[57][58][60]
1840 presidential campaign[edit]
Poster of Harrison's accomplishments
The Democrats ridiculed Harrison by calling him "Granny Harrison, the petticoat general", because he resigned from the army before the War of 1812 ended. When asking voters whether Harrison should be elected, they asked them what his name backwards was, which happens to be "No Sirrah". Democrats cast Harrison as a provincial, out-of-touch old man who would rather "sit in his log cabin drinking hard cider" than attend to the administration of the country. This strategy backfired when Harrison and his vice presidential running mate, John Tyler, adopted the log cabin and hard cider as campaign symbols. They used the images in banners and posters, and created bottles of hard cider that were shaped like log cabins, all to connect to the "common man".[62]
People singing the chant would spit tobacco juice while singing "wirt-wirt".[64]
The Whigs boasted of Harrison's military record and reputation as the hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe. Their campaign slogan, "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too", became among the most famous in American politics.[64] On election day, Harrison won a landslide electoral college victory, though the popular vote was much closer, at 53% to 47%.[64]
Presidency (1841)[edit]
Shortest presidency[edit]
William Henry Harrison (Bass Otis, 1841)
When Harrison came to Washington, he wanted to show both that he was still the steadfast hero of Tippecanoe, and that he was a more learned and thoughtful man than the backwoods caricature ascribed to him in the campaign. He took the oath of office on March 4, 1841, a cold and wet day.[65] He wore neither an overcoat nor hat, rode on horseback to the ceremony rather than in the closed carriage that had been offered him, and delivered the longest inaugural address in American history.[65] At 8,445 words, it took him nearly two hours to read, although his friend and fellow Whig Daniel Webster had edited it for length. Harrison then rode through the streets in the inaugural parade,[66] and that evening attended three inaugural balls,[67] including one at Carusi's Saloon entitled the "Tippecanoe" ball, which at a price of US$10 per person (equal to $229 today) attracted 1000 guests.
As leader of the Whigs and a powerful legislator (as well as a frustrated presidential candidate in his own right), Clay expected to have substantial influence in the Harrison administration. He ignored his own platform plank of overturning the "spoils" system. Clay attempted to influence Harrison's actions before and during his brief presidency, especially in putting forth his own preferences for Cabinet offices and other presidential appointments. Harrison rebuffed his aggression, saying "Mr. Clay, you forget that I am the President."[70] The dispute intensified when Harrison named Daniel Webster, Clay's arch-rival, for control of the Whig Party, as his Secretary of State, and appeared to give Webster's supporters some highly coveted patronage positions. Harrison's sole concession to Clay was to name his protégé John J. Crittenden to the post of Attorney General. Despite this, the dispute continued until the President's death.
BEP engraved portrait of Harrison as President.
BEP engraved portrait of Harrison as President.
Harrison's only official act of consequence was to call Congress into a special session. Henry Clay and he had disagreed over the necessity of such a session, and when on March 11 Harrison's cabinet proved evenly divided, the president vetoed the idea. When Clay pressed Harrison on the special session on March 13, the president rebuffed his counsel and told him not to visit the White House again, but to address him only in writing.[75] A few days later, however, Treasury Secretary Thomas Ewing reported to Harrison that federal funds were in such trouble that the government could not continue to operate until Congress' regularly scheduled session in December; Harrison thus relented, and on March 17 proclaimed the special session in the interests of "the condition of the revenue and finance of the country". The session was scheduled to begin on May 31.[76][77]
Administration and cabinet[edit]
Death and funeral[edit]
Death of Harrison, April 4, 1841
On March 26, Harrison became ill with a cold. According to the prevailing medical misconception of that time, his illness was believed to be directly caused by the bad weather at his inauguration; however, Harrison's illness did not arise until more than three weeks after the event.[78]
The cold worsened, rapidly turning to pneumonia and pleurisy.[78] He sought to rest in the White House, but could not find a quiet room because of the steady crowd of office seekers. His extremely busy social schedule made any rest time scarce.[66]
Harrison's doctors tried cures, applying opium, castor oil, leeches, and Virginia snakeweed, but the treatments only made Harrison worse, and he became delirious. He died nine days after becoming ill,[79] at 12:30 am on April 4, 1841. Harrison's doctor, Thomas Miller, diagnosed Harrison's cause of death as "pneumonia of the lower lobe of the right lung", but a 2014 medical analysis concluded that he instead died of enteric fever. The authors base their findings on the president's symptoms and the close proximity of the White House to a dumping ground for sewage and human waste.[80][81]
Harrison's funeral took place in the Wesley Chapel in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 7, 1841.[84] His original interment was in the public vault of the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. He was later buried in North Bend, Ohio. The William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial was erected in his honor.[85]
Impact of death[edit]
Statue of Harrison on horseback in Cincinnati, Ohio
The William Henry Harrison Memorial in North Bend, Ohio
Harrison's death was a disappointment to Whigs, who hoped to pass a revenue tariff and enact measures to support Henry Clay's American system. John Tyler, Harrison's successor and a former Democrat, abandoned the Whig agenda, effectively cutting himself off from the party.[86]
Due to the death of Harrison, three Presidents served within a single calendar year (Martin Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler). This has happened on only one other occasion, 40 years later in 1881, when Rutherford B. Hayes was succeeded by James A. Garfield, who was assassinated later in that year. With the death of Garfield, Chester A. Arthur stepped into the presidency.[87]
Harrison's death revealed the flaws in the constitution's clauses on presidential succession.[88] Article II of the Constitution states, "In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President ... and [the Vice President] shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected". Scholars at the time disagreed whether the vice president would become president or merely acting President. The Constitution did not stipulate whether the Vice President could serve the remainder of the President's term, until the next election, or if emergency elections should be held.
Harrison's cabinet insisted that Tyler was "Vice President acting as President". After the cabinet consulted with the Chief Justice Roger Taney, they decided that if Tyler took the presidential Oath of Office, he would assume the office of President. Tyler obliged and was sworn in on April 6. In May, Congress convened. After a short period of debate in both houses, it passed a resolution that confirmed Tyler in the presidency for the remainder of Harrison's term. Once established, this precedent of presidential succession remained in effect until the Twenty-fifth Amendment was ratified in 1967.[86][89] Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the succession of Lyndon B. Johnson to the presidency in 1963, the Twenty-fifth Amendment dealt with the finer points of succession. It defined in what situations the Vice President was acting President, and in what situation the Vice President could become President.
As the shortest-serving President, Harrison was the only one not to appoint a single federal judge at any level.[90] No states were admitted to the union during his term.[91]
Harrison was the first sitting President to have his photograph taken, on Inauguration Day in 1841. Photographs exist of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Martin van Buren, but those images were all taken after these men had ceased to be President. The Harrison image was also the first of these photographs to be taken. The original daguerreotype, made in Washington on his Inauguration Day, has been lost—although at least one early photographic copy exists in the archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[92]
Harrison's chief presidential legacy lies in his campaigning methods, which laid the foundation for the modern presidential campaign tactics.[93] Harrison died nearly penniless. Congress voted to give his wife a Presidential widow's pension, a payment of $25,000,[94] one year of Harrison's salary. This is equivalent to $571,532 today. She also received the right to mail letters free of charge.[95]
Harrison's son John Scott Harrison served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio between 1853 and 1857.[96] Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison of Indiana, was the 23rd president, from 1889 to 1893, making them the only grandparent–grandchild pair of Presidents.[97]
Numerous places were named after Harrison:
Three schools were named William Henry Harrison High School (in Evansville and West Lafayette, Indiana and Harrison, Ohio) in his honor.[98][99][100]
During the American Civil War, the Union Army named a post near Cincinnati Camp Harrison.,[101] and a military fort in Montana was named for him.[102] Because of his short service, no military vessel was named after him as President.
A statue of Harrison was erected on Monument Circle in Indianapolis. Additionally, Harrison is shown (on the left, facing the building) in a pediment on the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, Lafayette, Indiana, 1882.
See also[edit]
Explanatory notes[edit]
1. ^ Buescher, John. "Tippecanoe and Walking Canes Too". Retrieved 8 October 2011.
2. ^ Langguth, A. J. (2006). Union 1812:The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence, New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-2618-6. p. 206
3. ^ a b c d e f g "William Henry Harrison Biography". About The White House: Presidents. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
4. ^ Owens 2007, p. 3.
5. ^ Freehling, William. "William Henry Harrison: Life Before the Presidency". American President: An Online Reference Resource. University of Virginia. Retrieved December 10, 2010. The boy enjoyed a solid education—tutored at home, then three years at Hampden-Sydney College in Hanover County, Virginia.
6. ^ Owens 2007, p. 14.
7. ^ Langguth 2007, p. 16.
8. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 14, 22.
9. ^ Owens 2007, p. 27.
10. ^ a b Langguth 2007, p. 160.
12. ^ Owens 2007, p. 39.
13. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 38–39.
14. ^ Bob Dole, Great Presidential Wit, 2001, page 222
15. ^ Owens 2007, p. 40.
16. ^ a b Owens 2007, p. 56.
18. ^ "Historical register and dictionary of the United States Army : from its organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903".
19. ^ a b Owens 2007, p. 41.
20. ^ Green 2007, p. 9.
21. ^ Owens 2007, p. 43.
22. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 44–45.
24. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 45–46.
25. ^ Langguth 2007, p. 161.
26. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 47–48.
27. ^ Owens 2007, p. 50.
28. ^ Owens 2007, p. 51.
29. ^ a b Owens 2007, p. 53.
30. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 49, 50, 54.
31. ^ a b Funk 1969, p. 167.
33. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 68–69.
34. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 69–72.
35. ^ Gresham 1919, p. 21.
36. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 179–180.
38. ^ Langguth 2007, pp. 158–160.
39. ^ Langguth 2007, p. 164.
40. ^ a b c Langguth 2007, p. 165.
41. ^ Langguth 2007, p. 166.
42. ^ Langguth 2007, pp. 164–169.
43. ^ Langguth 2007, pp. 167–169.
44. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 219–220.
45. ^ Owens 2007, p. 220.
46. ^ Owens 2007, pp. 221, 223.
47. ^ a b Langguth 2007, pp. 268–270.
48. ^ a b Langguth 2007, pp. 291–292.
49. ^ Milligan, Fred (2003). Ohio's Founding Fathers. iUniverse, Inc. pp. 107–108.
50. ^ Taylor & Taylor 1899, p. 102.
51. ^ Taylor & Taylor 1899, p. 145.
52. ^ Bolívar 1951, p. 732.
53. ^ Hall 1836, pp. 301–309.
54. ^ a b Burr 1840, p. 258.
55. ^ "Patricia M. Clancy – Clerk of Courts: History of the Clerk of Courts Office". Retrieved 2011-12-06.
56. ^ Burr 1840, p. 257.
61. ^ Carnes & Mieczkowski 2001, p. 39.
62. ^ Carnes & Mieczkowski 2001, pp. 39–40.
63. ^ Carnes & Mieczkowski 2001, p. 40.
64. ^ a b c Carnes & Mieczkowski 2001, p. 41.
65. ^ a b "Harrison's Inauguration". American Treasures of the Library of Congress. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
67. ^ United States Senate (June 10, 2013). "Inaugural Ball".
68. ^ "William Henry Harrison Inaugural Address". Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States. 1989. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
70. ^ Borneman 2005, p. 56.
71. ^ Letter from Harrison to R. Buchanan, Esq., March 10, 1841
72. ^
77. ^ "Harrison's Proclamation for Special Session of Congress" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-24. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
78. ^ a b Cleaves 1939, p. 152.
79. ^ Cleaves 1939, p. 160.
80. ^ Jane McHugh, Philip A. Mackowiak (March 31, 2014). "What Really Killed William Henry Harrison?". The New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
81. ^ Jane McHugh, Philip A. Mackowiak (June 23, 2014). "Death in the White House: President William Henry Harrison's Atypical Pneumonia". Clinical Infectious Diseases 59 (7): 990–5. doi:10.1093/cid/ciu470. PMID 24962997.
84. ^ ""Presidential Funerals" - White House History".
86. ^ a b "John Tyler, Tenth Vice President (1841)". Retrieved June 18, 2008.
87. ^ Kelly, Martin. "Tecumseh's Curse and the US Presidents: Coincidence or Something More?". Retrieved June 9, 2008.
90. ^ Abraham 1999, p. 35.
91. ^ "Admission of States to Union". U.S. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
93. ^ Green 2007, p. 100.
97. ^ Calhoun 2005, pp. 43–49.
Further reading[edit]
External links[edit] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Harrison | dclm-gs1-111990000 |
0.052147 | <urn:uuid:be63b55b-8ae4-490c-a79c-e180ca985d4f> | en | 0.95596 | twice as less
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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twice + as + less.
twice as less (not comparable)
1. (nonstandard, proscribed) Half as much.
• 1987, Eleanor Wilson Orr, Twice as Less[1], W. W. Norton & Co.:
• 2015 July 27, Yaroslav Vlasov, “Electioneering games in Siberia”, Open Democracy:
The governing party receives twice as less votes here than it does on average across Russia.
• 2002, Claude R. Phipps, editor, High-power Laser Ablation III, SPIE, page 415:
But this[sic] two oncoming waves move with velocity approximately twice as less as previous component: [] .
• 2011, Cai Jinfa, Eric J. Knuth, editors, Early Algebraization: A Global Dialogue from Multiple Perspectives, Springer, page 83:
The children also are able to construct a table to assist them in determining how many runs must be made by a truck and a trailer in order to transport 1080 tons of coal, if the truck can haul 30 tons per load and the trailer can carry twice as less coal per load.
Usage notes[edit]
In order for the term to make proper sense, the subject should have a quantity that is multiplicative (or at least additive). It is preferable, however, to use a positive expression for the quantity, such as in half as much or half as many.
It may be seen used colloquially when the quantity is not multiplicative, as a form of emphatic. For example: He is twice as less intelligent than his father. The 'positive' expression (in this case, half as) is still preferred. | https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/twice_as_less | dclm-gs1-112010000 |
0.023406 | <urn:uuid:d90b4f60-f904-4910-aac4-e0e0e8e84b0c> | en | 0.931581 | Tags » Epilespy
Epileptic Fit!!
So I’m supposed to be a daily blogger but sometimes I don’t even know what to write.
Well I’m writing this while sitting in the bath trying to stay awake while my husband is currently snoring in the room next door. 295 more words
They Say Motherhood Isnt for the Weak- I Think They are Right!
We started home schooling about a month ago. Can I just say I am so glad that we decided to home school? The first day was a total disaster. 947 more words
Personal Musings
Endings and Beginnings
Yesterday I finished my last ever university exam.
I have never been so relieved for something to end.
For many people university is the best time of their lives, a chance to create a new identity, become more confident, make new friends. 379 more words
"Just" Epilepsy
Children with Epilepsy– Families Tell Their Stories
Here we have a playlist of 4 videos highlighting 3 young children and 1 young lady in her 20s living life with epilepsy. 601 more words
"Oh I just feel really diabetes today"
Recently I had to forgo an important part of my degree because of my epilepsy and depression. I was given medical concession.
This got me thinking about, something which isn’t anything new to the mental health community, about the stigmatisation of mental illnesses. 376 more words
Introducing EDD
The most logical first post seems to me to be to introduce EDD; my ‘friend’. He’s not really a friend, more like a frenemy, someone you don’t actually like but have to put up with because you have all the same friends. 1,008 more words | https://en.wordpress.com/tag/epilespy/ | dclm-gs1-112020000 |
0.037586 | <urn:uuid:82557c57-6a11-43f6-a3cd-b483382734df> | en | 0.971636 | Bible: Esther 4:5-17
4:5 So Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed at her service, 1 and instructed him to find out the cause and reason for Mordecai’s behavior. 2 4:6 So Hathach went to Mordecai at the plaza of the city in front of the king’s gate. 4:7 Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed. 4:8 He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated 3 in Susa for their destruction so that he could show it to Esther and talk to her about it. He also gave instructions that she should go to the king to implore him and petition him on behalf of her people. 4:9 So Hathach returned and related Mordecai’s instructions 4 to Esther.
4:10 Then Esther replied to Hathach with instructions for Mordecai: 4:11 All the servants of the king and the people of the king’s provinces know that there is only one law applicable 5 to any man or woman who comes uninvited to the king in the inner court – that person will be put to death, unless the king extends to him the gold scepter, permitting him to be spared. 6 Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days!
4:12 When Esther’s reply 7 was conveyed to Mordecai, 4:13 he 8 said to take back this answer to Esther: 4:14 Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew 9 who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear 10 from another source, 11 while you and your father’s household perish. It may very well be 12 that you have achieved royal status 13 for such a time as this!
4:15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 4:16 Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I 14 will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. 15 If I perish, I perish!
NET Bible Study Environment | https://net.bible.org/?_escaped_fragment_=bible/Esther%2B4%253A5-17 | dclm-gs1-112130000 |
0.037121 | <urn:uuid:cfec2ae7-d38a-4af8-8fde-831f9245a298> | en | 0.957643 | (mostly) daily photoblog
Posts tagged “water
Pura Batu Bolong
lombok batu bolong
Happy Canada Day!
To my Canadian friends and family…Happy Canada Day!
Sunset on the weekend
lombok sunset
This is the other Lombok sunset photo I managed to take.
Oh yeah…that island one the horizon? Bali.
Holiday feet
lombok feet
I spent last week in Lombok with my family. There were a few moments of total relaxation and calm, and all of them were directly associated with being in the ocean. Well, the Lombok Strait in the Bali Sea, which is an extension of the Indian Ocean. I love the feeling of standing in wet sand while the waves attempt to bury me.
Tanah Lot Water Temple
tanah lot
As you can see, there is no temple in this photo. The people standing knee-deep in water are carrying offerings from the mainland of Bali (Bali is an island…does it have a “mainland”?) to the Tanah Lot temple, which is located on a small, but considerable, rock just slightly offshore.
Their numbers are due in large part to the full moon that was occurring that night…and being a religious people who put great stock in the lunar cycle, there were many, many people all around Bali bringing offerings to their temples at this time.
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0.01849 | <urn:uuid:91129456-25a1-4cf5-82b4-3f9fca3b84d2> | en | 0.945128 | Bali investigators begin retrieving jet wreckage
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Bali investigators begin retrieving jet wreckage
by AFP Videos 0:42 mins
SHOTLIST: DENPASAR, INDONESIA, APRIL 15, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV -Half-submerged plane in the water near the Ngurah Rai International Airport runway -Debris retrieved and placed on shore -Divers getting into the water to cut the tail and retrieve the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) /// -------------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: Indonesia-accident-air,update-WRAP Bali investigators begin retrieving jet wreckage by Gde Putra Wicaksana DENPASAR, Indonesia, April 15, 2013 (AFP) - Indonesian investigators Monday began retrieving the wreck of a Lion Air plane that crashed at Bali's airport, as accounts emerged of a freak storm that could have caused the accident. The Boeing 737-800 missed the runway as it came in to land on Saturday, slamming into the sea and splitting in two. Dozens of the 108 people on board were injured, but there were no fatalities. After the plane hit the water, terrified passengers swam to shore as police came to their aid in rubber dinghies. Government officials and the airline said at the time of the crash that the weather had been fine. But on Monday, transport ministry official Herry Bakti said the plane had been travelling through dense cloud at the time of the incident and one passenger told how the aircraft became engulfed in torrential rain. French businessman Jean Grandy, 49, one of four foreigners on the plane, said that the flight from the city of Bandung in West Java had appeared to be landing smoothly. "The final approach was fine," he told AFP. "Then suddenly, a cloud enveloped us. Torrents of water were pouring on us, it was an enormous downpour. It only lasted two, three minutes. "It was almost as if it was night, even though the sun had been shining just before," said Grandy. The Frenchman, who owns a shoe factory in Indonesia and lives in Bali, said it was an "extraordinary phenomenon" that could have happened to any plane -- and that he planned to fly on Lion Air again on Wednesday. His testimony supported the views of some analysts who said that as the plane was new, a freak weather incident may have caused the crash of the Boeing 737-800, which was delivered to Lion Air only last month. Tom Ballantyne, chief correspondent of Orient Aviation magazine, said the accident could have been caused by a change in wind direction and speed between different altitudes, or a strong downdraft from storm clouds. "If that hit the aircraft when it was on final approach, there is the likelihood the pilots would not have had time to recover," he told AFP. The Indonesian pilot, Mahlup Gozali, who had more than 10,000 flying hours, and the Indian co-pilot, Chiraq Carla, tested negative for drugs and alcohol in preliminary tests, a transport ministry spokesman said. Divers on Monday retrieved the cockpit voice recorder, which had become wedged between the body and wing of the wrecked plane, and pulled other small debris out of the water. Salvage teams will be lifting the body of the plane in three parts, said Bali airport general manager Purwanto. The tail will be lifted using a crane on Monday evening, and the whole operation should take two to three days to complete, said Purwanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. Transport ministry official Bakti said Monday that an interim report should be complete in around a month, but could not say when a final report would be completed. An official in Bali from the national transportation safety committee, which is conducting the investigation, refused to comment on the probe. A little-known carrier launched 13 years ago with just one plane, Lion Air has struck two of the world's largest aircraft orders in a staggering $46 billion bet on Indonesia's air transport boom. France announced last month that the airline had agreed to buy 234 medium-haul A320 jets worth $23.8 billion (18.4 billion euros) from European aerospace giant Airbus. Lion Air also astounded the industry with a $22.4 billion agreement for 230 Boeing 737 airliners, inked in 2011. Saturday's crash has heightened fears the plans are overambitious for an airline that already has a poor reputation, has suffered a string of accidents, and is banned from EU and American skies over safety fears. Indonesia, which relies heavily on air transport to connect its sprawling archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, has one of Asia's worst aviation safety records. The Bali crash was the nation's fourth accident since the start of 2012. In May last year, a Sukhoi jet, post-Soviet Russia's first passenger plane, slammed into a volcano on the outskirts of Jakarta during a demonstration flight for prospective buyers, killing all 45 on board. END
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Other Space Episode 6: Powerless | https://screen.yahoo.com/bali-investigators-begin-retrieving-jet-114741248.html | dclm-gs1-112170000 |
0.46869 | <urn:uuid:4f1eb70d-45c1-40ec-930e-55ff5f7b56bd> | en | 0.965076 | Please email me with info. if you have 2 available. Willing to pay cash and come to you or make other arrangements to get them - whatever works for you! This was supposed to be a treat for someone special, so I'll be so grateful if anyone can help to make that possible.
Thank you!!! | https://www.coachella.com/forum/showthread.php?1695-(2)-Saturday-Tickets-for-Sale&goto=nextnewest | dclm-gs1-112210000 |
0.256384 | <urn:uuid:8e297d0a-4cfa-40a3-89ee-f98ee8ea7c43> | en | 0.986764 | Must Have Done Something Right, a Glee fiction
I do not own Glee or Relient K. Leave reviews and prompts!
All my life I've been searching for you. How did I survive in this world before you? (The Best Thing)
Wes and David are trying not to fall asleep as their girlfriends go on about spa treatments. Finn passes by their booth, headed towards the bathroom. They excuse themselves from the table. In the bathroom they corner Finn.
"So you're Kurt's brother. I'm Wes, and this here is David." He leans against the wall between two urinals.
Finn shifts to finish his business. As he's zipping his fly he turns to them. "Yeah, I've heard of you. He really likes Dalton Academy."
"Or a certain somebody at Dalton." Wes follows him to the sinks so he can wash his hands. Finn raises an eyebrow in confusion.
"We ship Klaine." David clarifies. He smacks the button on the hand dryer for him.
"Is that expensive? Cause one time I bought a video game online with my mom's credit card and it was pretty expensive." He rubs his hands on his pants and heads out the door.
Wes and David share a look. David looks to Finn incredulously. "Klaine is a porte manteau for Kurt and Blaine."
At this point they are passing by the table that seats the both of them reading over a menu together. Finn, not noticing his brother behind the menu comments. "I bet Kurt and Blaine aren't light to ship."
Kurt slams the menu down on the table. "Did you just call me fat?"
Finn stops in his tracks. He stumbles over his words, the other two Warblers at the table looking on amused.
"No. Everybody knows that you don't pack light. You're like a girl." Kurt's eyes narrow. Blaine rests an comforting hand over his. "Oh, no I mean you pack a lot of clothes and skin care products and – I'm going to go see if my meal came yet."
He walks away at an awkwardly fast pace. Rachel's eyes follow him as he sits back down with Quinn. Wes and David stay still, not sure whether it's best to explain or hurry back to conversations about fake nails and under eye circles. Kurt's eyes remain locked on them. His look reads that he isn't pleased.
Wes and David spend the rest of Valentine's day discussing seaweed wraps.
I strive towards infinity though sometimes I don't know what to do. (Balloon Ride)
Blaine sits against the edge of the ivory keys, inhibiting Brad's hand from reaching the high note of the song. He looks at him pointedly, stopping the song. Rachel had given it to him this morning with expectations to have it ready by practice. He had witnessed her angry before. It wasn't something he wanted to get involved with. He wasn't one to raise his voice. He didn't use his voice much at all actually. He just took the sheet from the diva of the moment and played. Opinions were kept locked inside his head. It didn't matter if he thought that Santana's voice would sound better with the lead than Rachel's or if he thought Mercedes should go back out with Sam, because he was there to play. To play and sit and smile. And now there's a boy sitting next to him on the bench and he wants to elbow him off and finish playing the piece because he desperately needs to go to the bathroom but hates to leave things unfinished.
If only he could get him to move an inch to the right. Blaine bends forward to find something in his bag and Brad seizes the opportunity to strike the high note and resume playing.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to block the keys." He pulls a small box from his bag.
Brad nods acceptance to his apology. The last note is played, and he wants to get up, but it seems rude to leave the kid sitting there alone. He scoots to the left. Blaine takes it as an invitation to move closer. "I need advice. I figured you wouldn't tell anybody so it'd be safe to ask you."
He waits for some sort of response. Brad nods, so he finds it safe to continue.
"I got Kurt a present for Christmas." He lifts the lid of the box to reveal a candy wrapper ring. A promise ring. "Do you think it's too much? I mean, we've both told each we love each other, but I don't want him to freak out or anything."
He thinks about it. He's seen a lot of couples in this room. But none of them are quite like these two. Secretly he roots for them from behind his piano. Last night Perfect came on the radio and his eyes started to water at the memories of the recent performance. He remembers how Santana made fun of their bow ties. How he wanted badly to dig around in his box of high school mementos and find his old bow tie. The one that he wore to senior prom when he proposed to his pregnant girlfriend. The one where she turned him down and ran off with the student teacher she had been dating behind his back. The one that got her pregnant in the first place. He was willing to fish out the bow tie and reintroduce all those old feelings into his life for them.
He shakes his head. No, it's not too much. In his mind it's more perfect than what he did. He blew it. He bought a diamond ring for a seventeen year old girl. One that wasn't in love with him. It wasn't a candy wrapper ring from one boy in love to another.
It wasn't fate.
"It's perfect."
Blaine leaps up suddenly, enveloping Brad in his arms. He realizes that he had said that out loud. Probably the most words he's said in this room. He clears his throat. Blaine lets go and leaves to find Kurt.
Later that afternoon Brad finds a candy cane resting on his bench. To Brad, from Blaine.
I am going to wear a pink tux to the prom. Live without a care, what could possibly go wrong? (In Love with the 80s)
"Are you completely out of your mind?" Kurt steps into the changing room of the tux rental shop. Blaine turns away from the mirror.
"I've been thinking. You wore a kilt to last year's prom. Maybe this year I should go bold and I'll end up as the next prom queen." He tugs the legs of his pants up over his shoes.
Kurt undoes the first button of the jacket. "Even I had enough sense not to wear a bright pink tux to the prom. You look like a walking bottle of Pepto Bismol."
Blaine lets Kurt finish undoing the buttons on his jacket, solely for the pleasure of his fingers running down his back as he peels it off.
"I feel a sudden detachment from this outfit. To think, it would have gone so well with my pink sunglasses." He hangs the jacket back on it's hanger. Kurt shuts the door for privacy and hopes nobody comes back to find two sets of legs in one stall. People in Lima always assume the worst.
"You're afraid that something bad is going to happen again, aren't you?"
Blaine wobbles with one leg out of his pants. "Last year they tried to make a fool of you. Who's to say they aren't going to do it again?"
"That doesn't explain the pink suit." A hand lands on his shoulder as the rest of the body steadies itself to get the pants off.
"If they make fun of me, they don't have the time to make fun of you. It's your senior prom. It should be magical." The pants fall to the floor. He reaches for the pants he came in. Kurt puts out a hand to stop him.
He figures that this conversation will be easier with Blaine wearing pants and moves to let him put them on. When he's done he answers. "As long as I'm with you, it will be magical. Now let's find you a suit that doesn't look like a solution for indigestion."
Blaine ends up buying a black suit to match Kurt. His tie is hot pink.
I know that it's so cliché to tell you that every day I spend with you is the new best day of my life. Everyone watching us just turns away with disgust. It's jealousy, they can see that we've got it going on. (Must Have Done Something Right)
Kurt strolls into glee club with a smile on his face. He scans the room for Blaine. He locates him and takes a seat next to him. The word Dalton is emblazoned across his chest.
"Is that my sweatshirt?" Blaine flips the hood up and over Kurt's head.
He flips the hood back down. "I found it at my house yesterday. I was going to give it back to you, but they cranked the air conditioning up today and I got cold."
Upon careful inspection he notices the sweatshirt smells like Kurt's laundry detergent. The hood smells like his shampoo and hairspray. Blaine smiles in satisfaction.
Santana is the first to say anything. "What was his sweatshirt doing at your house? Left over from one of your late night escapades?" Kurt blushes, feeling like the air conditioning could get cranked up another ten degrees. It's a tempting idea to remove the sweatshirt. But Blaine seems very content with him wearing his clothes. His mind flashes back to the red pants he loaned him a while back and how nobody had mentioned them. Now he's wearing a sweatshirt and it's the most obvious thing in the world. Does nobody appreciate a good pair of skinny jeans anymore?
Besides his boyfriend that is.
Is it really that obvious that they've done it? That now that they are no longer virgin that everyone assumes that they do it every night until the great hours of the morning? Kurt keeps close tabs on his appearance. There's no under eye circles or other tell tale signs of lost sleep. He wonders if he stands differently than before. Taller, with more confidence. Shorter, with the objective of looking Blaine right in the eye with a look that makes plans for after school.
Mr. Schue comes in and Kurt snaps back to attention. Blaine curls one of the strings of his sweatshirt around his finger. He tugs, bringing Kurt close enough to whisper.
"Are you coming over this afternoon? I saw that shirt you were wearing earlier and I'd love to wear it Monday."
Kurt lets a squeak escape his lips. His boyfriend grins.
And sometimes I'm so thankful for your loyalty. Your love, regardless of the mistakes I make will spoil me. My confidence is, in a sense a gift you've given me and I'm satisfied to realize you're all I ever need. (I am Understood)
It's six in the morning. A Saturday morning on which Kurt has absolutely nothing to do but sleep in and pick out what he's going to wear under his graduation gown. The doorbell rings, even though nobody should be up at the ungodly hour. He wedges his head between the pillow and the bed. Through the pillow he can hear the door opening. Minutes later there is a knock at his door.
"Kurt, get up. You have company." Burt pokes his head in to make sure that his son is up. Kurt scrambles to get out of bed. He attempts to fix his hair in the mirror.
"Who is it?" A stray hair refuses to settle down. He catches his father's eye in the mirror. He's worried.
Burt doesn't answer the question. "Let's just say he doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Kurt stops fiddling with his hair. He makes his way into the kitchen after his father. There's a man sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. He sits across from him. It occurs to him as the man looks up who he is. He'd recognize that face anywhere.
It's Blaine's dad.
"Mr. Anderson. How are you?" Kurt folds his hands in front of himself. He wishes he had his own cup of coffee to wrap them around. He wants to ask, but with Mr. Anderson it's all business, and he's not sure what to do. It's a constant hassle to show respect for his boundaries and love for his son. If he had it his way Kurt would have long blonde hair and ruby red nails. Both of which he could have, but there is one thing that he doesn't have. One thing he doesn't plan to have, one thing that Blaine doesn't want.
He's not a girl.
"Confused. Perhaps you could explain to me why I found this in my son's room last night." He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a folded sheet of paper.
Kurt, I am so proud of you for finally graduating. I'm sorry that you didn't get into NYADA...
"It looks like a graduation card. One that I probably wasn't supposed to see until graduation." Burt sets a cup of coffee in front of him. He immediately reaches out to it.
Mr. Anderson takes back the paper and skims it for a minute. "One day, when we're old and gray I want our story to be the kind we tell our grandkids." He looks down his nose at Kurt.
"I can assure you Mr. Anderson when I'm old I will not be gray." Mr. Anderson does not look amused and Kurt hurries to take a sip of his coffee.
"It is just a phase. You don't actually think you're going to get married with kids do you?" He drinks the last of his coffee.
Kurt leans in so far the table is pressing into his stomach. "It is not a phase. Why is it so hard to accept that your only son is gay and happy? We're in love. Don't you remember what it was like to find love? Or have your stubborn pigheaded ways made you forget?"
He backs away. Not because the look Mr. Anderson is giving him. His stomach hurts, more likely from the pressing table than the words themselves. He stands tall. He desperately wants to reach for his coffee, the yelling leaving him parched. Mr. Anderson picks up his cup and realizes it's empty. He looks to Burt.
Burt stands with his arms crossed. It doesn't matter that Carole and Finn are still asleep. If Kurt hadn't said something he probably would shoved him out the door. Mr. Anderson stands, brushing his arm across his shirt.
There's a look in his eyes. It's not anger. It's not sadness either. It looks a whole lot like confusion.
Nobody says anything and Burt finds himself being the one to speak up. "There's something you should see."
He leads them into the living room and inserts a DVD into the player. It's labeled Regionals. He plays through the performance. He pauses at the end, a row of couples embracing.
"What do you see here?" Burt points the remote at Finn and Rachel.
"A happy couple." Burt moves the remote to Tina and Mike. "Another happy couple." He points to Kurt and Blaine. They're right next to Brittany and Santana. The one request Mr. Schue had honored. It wasn't boys and girls. It was teenagers in love, living on the stage. Where they belonged.
Mr. Anderson's mouth stays clamped shut. Burt speaks for him. "Another happy couple."
He takes in the glowing eyes, staring directly at each other. The arms secured around his waist promising to never let go. The smile on his son's face. The moment he wasn't there.
"I've never seen him that happy." His lips are dry, and he licks them. "I have to go."
The door shuts behind him.
Loneliness and solitude are two things not to get confused, cause I spend my solitude with you. (Therapy)
It's five at night and Blaine's reheating the meatloaf from last night's dinner. He's standing in front of the microwave, watching the plate go round, when a hand grabs his shoulder.
"Son, we need to talk." The next thirteen seconds are quiet, the buzzing of the microwave being the only filler. He removes the plate.
He sets it on the table. "About?"
"I paid a visit to Kurt and Burt Hummel this morning." The fork clatters as it collides with the ground. Neither of them move to pick it up.
Blaine trembles, but tries not to show it. Kurt hadn't texted or called all day. He had told him he was going to help the girls pick out their graduation outfits. Now he was starting to wonder if there was another reason. A piece of paper slides across the table.
"My graduation letter to Kurt. Why do you have it?" He doesn't need to unfold it to see the purple ink echoing his thoughts back to him.
"You plan to marry Kurt?" He breaks eye contact. He never breaks eye contact. Master of the house, never wrong, strong and able Mr. Anderson broke eye contact.
A surge of confidence races through Blaine.
"Well, we're a bit young now. But one day, yes, I do plan to marry him. And I don't care if you approve or not because we're in love and you can't take that away from me." His father regains eye contact and Blaine shrinks back.
"I know." Blaine can't do anything but stare. His father knows he's in love and still insists that it'll never work out. He thinks back to when he was eight, people watching on the bench outside of the mall. They were waiting for his mother and he pointed out a couple holding hands. 'One day that'll be you Blaine. You'll be a ladies man, and all the girls will be chasing after you.' Then he had patted him on the back in a half hug. The memory haunted Blaine.
"I'm giving you my blessing." He reaches his hand out, as if to touch him comfortingly. It makes no contact.
"I don't understand." Blaine pushes the cold meatloaf out of the way. He bends down to pick up the fork. He refuses to let his father see the look of hope on his face. The look that could swiped away in a moment when his father tells him he's misheard.
Mr. Anderson bends to meet Blaine's eyes. "Let's just say those Hummels make quite the argument. You're lucky, having found someone who loves you as much as Kurt."
Not that boy. Not your gay friend. Kurt. He called him his name. And he accepts him. He won't have to grow old alone.
Blaine drops the fork again.
As I exhale I hear your voice and I answer you, though I hardly make a noise. (When I Go Down)
"It's odd, seeing your father all smiley around me." Kurt throws a smile back over his shoulder and resumes helping Blaine filling the tent.
"You made him see the light. And you agreed to go camping with him, making you the first person in ten years to not stay home with a sudden illness." He unrolls each of the sleeping bags.
Kurt admires the view for a minute. Then, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you just signed us up for an afternoon of watching him attempt to catch fish, followed by a hike around the area to see if we can find berries, and then finally stories around the campfire that are no scarier than the fit he throws after not catching any fish." He pauses for a minute, still in the crouched position. "Now would you stop admiring my butt and help me hide the bag of chips I brought to get us through the night?"
Kurt gets down on his hands and knees to look for a good place to hide them. He catches Blaine leering. "If I can't stare at your butt, then you can't stare at mine."
The chips end up in a pillow case. They crawl out at Mr. Anderson's beckoning. He holds two poles in his hands. He hands one to Blaine.
"Let's try and catch us some dinner boys. I'll watch this part of the river and you two can take that part." He sends them on their way. They sit on the bank of the river and Blaine mans the pole. Kurt takes off his shoes and sticks his feet in the water.
Down the way Mr. Anderson sends occasional glances towards them. Nothing seems to be biting on his end. He decides to show off and acts like a big fish is on his end. He tugs violently. Their interest is caught and they watch him struggle with the imaginary fish. Defeated, or at least what he hopes looks convincingly enough like it, the fish swims away.
"Nice try Mr. Anderson!" Kurt cups his hand around his mouth as he calls to him. It feels awkward being so genial with him. It'll pass with time.
He feels a mouth on his toe. He doesn't recognize it as Blaine's. He spots a fish attached to his foot. Blaine grabs at it and pulls it out of the water. "Looks like you caught us dinner Kurt."
Mr. Anderson sees the fish held triumphantly in the air. He's jealous. That he'll admit. But it's not just of the fish. It's of Kurt, and the relationship he has with his son. It's the kind he wishes he had. Blaine waves him over.
"Try your pole over here. Maybe there'll be more fish." He sticks his pole in the water. Together they catch two more fish.
The scary stories aren't scary, like Blaine predicted, but he cuddles his head into Blaine's chest and enjoys the sound of Mr. Anderson not yelling at him. He quits after the third story. They sit and talk until the stars come out. Kurt has to stifle a yawn. A yawn of tiredness rather than boredom.
They return to the tents and Blaine lays his head down on the pillow. The chips crunch under the weight of his head. He exhales, frustrated that he's forgotten and Kurt wishes him good dreams. He removes the chips and kisses him goodnight.
Kurt's already asleep.
Ohio has the flavor of a water chestnut. It's not too crazy. (Hoopes I Did it Again)
The man at the desk asks if he can help them. He studies the two up and down. Blaine holding a suitcase in each hand, Kurt in front of the desk.
"We have a room reserved under the name Kurt Hummel." Behind him Blaine sets the cases on the ground.
There's typing at the keyboard. "Ah yes. Single bed, no smoking?" He has a look on his face. And it's not questioning the smoking preference.
"That's us." Kurt glares at him, daring him to challenge him. So two boys are sharing a bed in a hotel. If they had rented the room for a quick shag they wouldn't have brought suitcases full of clothes. What'd the guy think was in them? Sex toys? Sure, it was a cheap motel in the middle of nowhere, but that didn't mean they were there to sleep together. Well, they would be sleeping together in the sense that they were sharing a bed. But there was a long day ahead of them tomorrow and Kurt planned on putting it to good use. Good sleeping use, with eyes closed, and hands not wandering anywhere but around his stomach.
When they finally got their room key they headed upstairs. The room was dark and smelled like floral air freshener. Blaine set the suitcases down. They opened the curtains to the sight of the deserted road.
"You know, when you suggested taking a road trip to New Jersey I was so excited for shopping on the boardwalk, that the overnight stay in a rundown motel completely escaped me." Kurt tugs the curtains closed again.
"It's only one night. We might as well enjoy the quiet and complimentary breakfast bar." Blaine unlocks the suitcase (truth be told, he himself was worried about leaving his stuff around in a place like this) and takes out some papers to look over.
Kurt sits down on the bed. It squeaked beneath him. "So much for having secret lover adventures tonight. The guy at the front desk will be so disappointed." He fell backward, exuding a giant squeak once again.
Blaine chuckles. "There's still the floor."
In the morning, when they come down for breakfast and checkout, Kurt's top button to his shirt is undone and his hair is ruffled.
Nothing happened, but the look the manager was wearing totally made his morning.
Just scream what you believe, out in a crowd. (Wit's All Been Done Before)
On their way to their next destination that night, Niagara Falls, they stop at Burger King. It's the only option on the route, other than going five miles out of the way for doughnuts. And the only promise to doughnuts is coffee. So Kurt agrees to pull into Burger King, where they stand in line for a good six and a half minutes. It's deliriously hot outside, and the coolness of the room sends goose bumps up their arms.
They both order kids meals. Blaine opens his toy before his apples. It's cheap and plastic, but he pretends to be amused with it. Kurt watches him. He gives in to Blaine's pleas and opens his own toy so they can play together. He comes to the conclusion that the heat has gone to his boyfriend's head. It takes him a few minutes to understand what is so fun about it all, but then he finds himself disagreeing with his previous opinion. It is fun. If Blaine has gone nuts, then so has he.
He keeps the crown, wearing it on the ride to the hotel. He ignores the questioning brow of the man at the front desk. The hotel is clean this time, being one of the newer options on the street. They drop their bags in their room. Together they drive to the Falls. At the rushing water Blaine takes hold of Kurt's hand.
"I love you Kurt." It's loud, and some of the adults around them avert their kids eyes.
"I don't think they heard you in Canada Blaine." He rolls his eyes.
Blaine takes the hint. Except he doesn't take it in the way Kurt intends, and next thing he knows, Blaine is taking in a chest full of air. "I love Kurt Hummel!"
Some of the people on the Maid of the Mist seem to turn their head at the noise. Kurt is entirely embarrassed and somehow flattered. He takes off his crown and places it on Blaine's head.
"Let's go see if that mattress squeaks."
You smile and laugh, and I feel the love you have for me. (Pressing On)
They've got the house to themselves. Kurt leans over Blaine in a leotard, his bunny tail poised in the air. Blaine grabs at the tail, missing and catching air. The doorbell rings.
"We should probably get that." Blaine sits up, causing him to tumble off. His bunny tail hits the floor. He rubs the pain away.
"You're in your boxers. And I'm dressed like a freaking bunny. Can't we pretend that we aren't home?" Kurt gets up off the ground. The doorbell rings again. It's followed by the ringing of Kurt's phone.
He opens the text. It's from Santana, telling him to open the door, because she's not stupid and she knows he's there. He shows it to Blaine.
Blaine pulls on his jeans, doing them up as he makes his way out of the room. He pulls the nearest shirt he can find over his head. He runs down the hallway to get the door because Santana has rung a third time now. Kurt finds a robe and puts it on.
"Santana, how's it going?" He lets her in. She smiles as Kurt enters, wrapping the robe tighter around his body.
"Had I known I was interrupting I would have brought a camera." She flashes a mischievous smile.
Kurt puts his hands on his hips. It causes the front of the robe to come open, exposing the leotard. "I was asking Blaine's opinion on my costume for the winter musical. We're doing a modern Alice in Wonderland."
"You're theater club sure sounds kinky." She snatches the robe off his body. "Not to get off the subject of Kurt's outfit, or lack of one, but I did have a reason for coming here."
Blaine takes the robe from her and hands it to Kurt. "And what would that be?"
"Christmas break doesn't start for another week for Brit, and I'm terribly lonely now that I'm away from my pesky roommates."
Santana ends up staying the rest of the afternoon. Kurt changes into his normal clothes and they watch Clueless.
When she gets up to leave, she stops at the door. "By the way Kurt, I want front row tickets for the show."
Kurt makes a mental note to request to do the show at the next theater meeting.
Now I'm searching for the confidence I lost so willingly. (For the Moments I Feel Faint)
Blaine's passing the rolls to Finn at the dinner table when it drops in his lap. It being a note that tells him to meet Kurt outside after they're done eating. He nods.
"Boys, this is family Friday. No notes at that table." Burt orders, but his tone is calm. He doesn't seem bothered by the incident at all.
"Sorry Dad." Kurt puts a forkful of peas to his mouth. One falls off and rolls to the ground.
Blaine wonders all through dinner what Kurt wants to talk about. He hopes it isn't bad. Another college bill arrived at the house this morning before work. But that was normal. Two years of college didn't pay for themselves. He had left enough coffee in the pot for him before leaving for the guitar shop. Everything was fine when they met for their lunch break. Kurt had told him about an important deal he had been successful with. No reason to fret. Yet the sweat accumulating on his palms was not from the August heat.
He reaches into his pocket and makes sure it's still there. If there isn't anything wrong, he's going to do it. He's going to ask for Kurt's hand in marriage. Then they can stop playing games over which house they're staying at for the night. They can buy an apartment and have a place to call home.
Kurt leads him outside when his dishes are in the sink. He snatches the ring box out of Blaine's pocket and gets down on one knee.
"Since you obviously are too scared to do this on your own, Blaine Anderson, will you be my forever love? And then marry me when Ohio finally legalizes gay marriage or we have enough money to move to New York City like we've wanted to?" His other knee hits the ground and his hands cup each other in a pleading stance.
"Up. Get up." Kurt obeys, a bit confused. Blaine takes the ring box from him and gets down on his knee.
He closes his eyes to take a deep breath. It shouldn't be this hard. He knows he wants it. So badly. And that's probably what makes it so hard. It needs to be perfect for his perfect love.
He opens his mouth, and words don't come out the way he prepared in front of the mirror. His tongue is tied, but Kurt waits patiently. "Kurt, will you be my one and only?"
"What happened to making our teenage dream into an adult dream and all that other cheesiness you were preparing in front of the mirror?" He grins at the ring sliding onto his finger.
Blaine blinks back at him. "You make me nervous." He thinks for a minute."How'd you know the ring was in my pocket?"
"You were toying with it all during our lunch today. It was a bit obvious m'dear." He runs his hand down Blaine's cheek and he can feel the metal of the ring.
It's a new feeling, and he likes it.
If home is where the heart is, then my home is where you are. (I'm Taking You With Me)
It's eleven in the morning, and Kurt's stomach is growling. Blaine drops another box on the floor.
"That's the last of them. We're officially home." He kicks the door shut with his foot.
"Do we really have to unpack all of those now?" Kurt looks at the pile that has accumulated. Half of it is clothes, ones that will have to be ironed to get the wrinkles out. Somewhere in the other half is food. He wishes he had labeled the boxes.
Blaine opens up the first box he can find. It's full of DVDs and books. "We can do some now and some later. There's what, twenty boxes?"
"Yes, but the clothes are in Space Bags. So when we decompress them it'll be like forty boxes." He walks over to Blaine and starts unloading the books onto the bookshelf.
They find that it takes half the time with music on, and plug the iPod dock into the wall socket. The music plays, not too loudly as to not make enemies with the new neighbors. But by noon Kurt is starving, and they have yet to discover the food box.
Kurt starts opening all the boxes and tossing all the Space Bags aside. He can deal with them later. Upon opening the fifth box he comes across a can of tomato soup. Never in his life had he been so excited to see a can of soup.
Now if only he could located the can opener.
He's happy to find it in the next box he opens, along with bowls and spoons. They break for lunch.
"So what do you think of it so far?" Blaine asks over the clinking of their spoons. Most of knick knacks are put up already, and the bed was made. All that's left is kitchen supplies and of course, the giant pile of clothes.
"It'll take some getting used to. I'm used to home being with Dad and Carole." He dabs at his face with a napkin.
Blaine blows on his spoon. "I think home is wherever you are." Kurt sighs, because they are both such hopeless romantics.
"Once we're done putting everything away, how about we see if the mattress squeaks?"
Kurt and Blaine are pleased to find their new mattress doesn't squeak.
With every passing second comes a second chance. (Fallen Man)
His finger is sticking in the cage. A paw attacks it. "Oh look Kurt, he has extra toes! It's a polydactyl kitten."
Kurt can't resist the urge to see for himself. Sure enough, there's an extra toe on each of the front paws. He stares in amazement.
"Matilda really likes company. Most people pass him by for his extra toes though." The sales clerk points to the kitten's paws.
"He? Matilda is a he?" Kurt tries to get a look at the cat. He isn't sure what he's looking for, not being an expert on the anatomy of a kitten.
She pulls a key out of her pocket and opens the cage. She takes the cat out. Blaine looks to her, as if to ask permission to hold him. She helps him cradle the cat in his arms.
"Never let small children name animals." She shrugs and closes the cage door. "Are you two interested in him?"
Blaine nods enthusiastically, and scratches the cat under the chin. "Take me home Kurt!" he says in a cute little voice. Kurt can't resist.
He thanks his lucky stars when he learns the kitten is litter trained.
Carole finds out at the next Friday dinner that the boys have a kitten and spoils him silly with belly rubs and toys. The kitten soaks it up, not used to the extra love. She offers to cat sit, and by the end of the night she has a copy of the key to their apartment. Blaine goes home and hides some things in the cupboards. The world does not need to know all the kinky secrets of Kurt and Blaine.
Matilda claims his spot at the end of the bed, between their feet. It's harder to cuddle this way. It takes a few days, and a little coaxing of Matilda to get in a position they can all sleep in. Kurt cuddles extra close and Matilda gets a full quarter of the bed to himself.
No one seems to mind.
I'm giving up on doing this alone now, cause I've failed and I'm ready to be shown how. (Be My Escape)
Santana shows up at their door, tears streaming down her face. Blaine lets her in without a question. She takes a seat on the couch next to Matilda, the now fully grown cat that needs to go on a diet. She runs a hand along his furry back and chokes back a sob.
"I'm pregnant."
Kurt stops, a slice of bread in midair. He sets it down on top of his sandwich and moves to sit down next to her. "Brittany got you pregnant? Isn't that impossible?"
"It wasn't Brittany." Tears stream down her face and Blaine offers her a tissue.
"What do you mean it wasn't Brittany? I thought you to were still happily together." She takes the tissue from him and dabs her eyes. Her mascara has run down her face.
She nods. "I am. I went to this party, and I got drunk and laid some guy that I don't even know the name of. I cheated on her, and she'll never forgive me."
Kurt rubbed circles on her back. He hadn't seen her since the Christmas party last year, and here she was, crying on his couch. It was a bit weird.
"Are you sure you're pregnant?" he asked. She shot him a look. He stopped rubbing.
"No Hummel. I just took a pregnancy test after missing my cycle and got positive results because I'm not pregnant." He smiled. That was more like the Santana he knew.
Blaine took her hand. "You should tell her. It was an honest mistake and she loves you. She'll understand." He looked to Kurt. "We'll be right there with you."
"What am I going to do with the baby? I can't take care of a child." She ran her hand through her hair.
Eight months later Kurt held a baby in his arms. Santana beamed at him from the hospital bed, Brittany right at her side.
"Are you sure about this?" She glanced to Blaine, who was playing with the child's toes.
"We've always wanted grandkids. This is the first step. And you're settled into your new apartment down the hall, so it's not like you can't come visit her." The child cries out as Blaine takes her from Kurt.
Santana tenses, then watches as he calms her down, singing nonsense lullabies to her.
This could work.
I heard the reverberating footsteps, syncing up to the beating of my heart. (Who I am Hates Who I've Been)
The tree brushes the top of the doorway, and Kurt wonders if it was a bad idea to let Brittany pick the tree. He gives it another shove and it passes through the door. Now to get it to go in the corner.
Matilda wakes from his nap on the couch. He watches as the tree is pushed to the window. Kurt catches his eye. "Don't even think about it."
The cat lowers his head, saddened by the fact that Kurt thinks he would climb into the tree. He had been planning on it, but he thought that his owners thought better of him. Had he not been a good big brother when Ella came home? He kept her company when they napped and didn't complain when she grabbed at his ears. He was a very good big brother in his opinion.
"You're back." Blaine greets him with a cup of hot chocolate.
Brittany comes in with a box of decorations and closes the door. "We have ornaments."
"I see that." He gets another mug filled and takes the box from her. Santana takes a sip of her drink from behind the counter.
"Please say you brought the one's that don't break. I don't want Ella around anything breakable." She digs in the box, relieved to find the glass ornaments to be missing.
Brittany shakes her head, making her ponytail swing around. "I figured if Matilda is anything like Lord Tubbington he'd knock them right off. The cat frowned at the mention of his neighbor. That cat made him look bad.
They're decorating the tree and Blaine reaches for the tinsel. That's when he hears it. The pitter patter of tiny footsteps. Ella is tottering towards him, trying not to fall on her face.
"Santana?" he asks, trying not to frighten the kid.
She looks down from her position on the step ladder, where she was mounting the star atop the tree.
"Her first steps!" Kurt races to get the camera. He snaps a picture as Santana descends the ladder.
Matilda perks up to see what all the commotion is about. Suddenly there's a hand at his tail and it yanks down. Ella smiles at him. The parents swivel around, confused at what happened. She hadn't run to her dads or her moms.
She ran to the cat.
Matilda wasn't sure if he wanted to be flattered or pissed off. He showed it to the two of them and he decided he looked good.
The things he did for this kid.
I know what you've been through but there's only so much one can do. (The Rest is Up To You)
They're watching cartoons with Ella when the commercial comes on. Kurt is in the kitchen, grabbing a pitcher of ice cold lemonade. He comes in, right at the precise moment that the name flashes across the screen.
Sebastian Smythe.
"Look who's got a role in a movie." Blaine takes the empty glasses from Kurt and sets them on the table.
"Who?" Ella asks. She's in that phase when she loves to ask questions. Kurt wishes she wasn't.
He lets Blaine answer the question. "An old friend of ours. He always said he was going to be famous, and now he's going to be in a movie."
"He also said he was going to end up with you. Looks like the genie didn't grant all his wishes." Kurt pours lemonade into the glasses.
"What's a genie?" Ella asks. Her tongue pokes through the hole in between her teeth. It's her confused face. At least until her new tooth grows in. Then her tongue will have to relocate to another hole. It's fine for now, seeing as how she's losing all her baby teeth, but once her adult teeth are in, nobody knows where her tongue will go.
"Kurt, get Aladdin out." Blaine moves the cup away from Matilda, who has jumped onto the table and is trying to stick his nose in it. The cat huffs angrily. He jumps off onto Ella's lap.
The DVD is popped into the player, the cartoon forgotten about. During the previews, which can't be skipped until someone finds new batteries for the DVD remote, Kurt leans over to Blaine.
"You could have had it all. You could have been with him, smiling on the red carpet while I mooned over your picture in magazines, pretending to be in love with some guy I've accidentally eloped in Vegas with." He takes a moment to check on Ella, who isn't paying them any attention. She's rapt in the surround sound of the television.
"I do have it all," Blaine starts, placing his hand on Kurt's knee. "A daughter, a pudgy gray cat, and a gorgeous man who doesn't need millions of fans to tell him he's fabulous. And even if he did, I'd be there by his side, making it very clear that he is taken."
Matilda cracks an eye open at the comment about his weight. He picks his bottom off of her and makes a point of taking the long way to the litter box. He stretches his limbs, showing what a limber and lean cat he is. His belly touches the crystals of the litter. He takes care of business, wiping his paws on the mat his owners have so generously provided and takes the long way back to the couch again. He takes a detour to the window for a minute, flaunting what he considers to be his very shapely hindquarters.
He jumps back in her lap. That's when he sees Kurt's head tucked under Blaine's chin. That grand execution, all for nothing. A hand scratches him behind the ears, and he forgets why he was angry in the first place. He purrs in satisfaction.
He still wouldn't mind his own glass of lemonade though.
I made you a place, a place within my heart. With you I'm so much stronger. (When You're Around)
In the end, they take Ella to see the movie. It's rated PG, and Kurt has to cover her ears when he senses certain words are going to be said. She lifts his hand at one point and says in a voice low enough to disturb the audience, "I've heard a lot worse from Mommy. You don't have to cover my ears."
He takes his hands away. He knows that Santana is Mommy. Sebastian says something on screen and he throws a kernel at it. It hits someone in the back of the head. He ducks down farther into his seat.
In the end, they all agree the movie sucks. It's not the acting, Sebastian being spot on to play the villain. The lead girl was pretty, and managed to not look like she was reading her lines off of cues cards. The plot was recycled, and some of the lines were cheesy. He couldn't expect much from a teen movie. It had just felt like he had seen it all before.
They exit the theater once the crowd has thinned. At the front of the room sits a man in a baseball cap and sunglasses. It's dark in the room, but they are hiding his eyes. From what is unknown.
He rises out of his seat and gets in line behind them. His hand lands on their shoulders. Kurt wants to swing around and kick the stranger where it hurts, thinking they are being robbed. He's with Ella though, and he keeps facing forward.
"I knew you two would come to see me on the big screen. I think I looked pretty good huh?" He lowers his sunglasses and adjusts his hat long enough for them to recognize his face.
"That's what they call movie magic." Kurt flashes a fake grin at him. The crack doesn't affect Sebastian in the least.
He steps closer to Kurt, now that they're out in the light and points to his face. "Is that a wrinkle I see?"
The words are smooth and float off his tongue as if he had not greatly insulted him. As if it was as common as to point at the sky and ask if that glowing bulb of yellow was indeed the sun. Ella motions for him to bend down to her level. Sebastian, thinking she must want to sing his praises, obeys.
"It's cause he smiles a lot. Papa has 'em too. He blames them on Daddy, saying that he makes him smile too much. But I can tell they're really happy." She herself smiles, becoming one step closer to forming a wrinkle.
He straightens his hat. Then he takes her pigtails and playfully tugs on them. She giggles. To her, he's a celebrity. Not some teenage boy that tried to separate her dads back in high school.
"So, what are you doing back in town? Shouldn't you be off getting photographed or something?" Kurt avoids walking to his car. He doesn't want Sebastian seeing the crayons still spilled on the floor from the car ride there, or that the outside doesn't shine because he hasn't gotten around to washing it. His car is probably the newest model, free of any dirt. It was that way in high school.
Sebastian stops at a red car. Kurt notices the back end has a small dent in it. It's not noticeable unless you look for it. "Wanted to come back to where it all began. Seeing your face was just a bonus. Though I did plan on visiting you at the apartment and see the daughter I've heard so much about."
"You've heard about me?" Ella asks.
At the same time Blaine is asking, "You know where we live?"
Sebastian shrugs it off. "I have people. Wanted to see what the hottest guy in all of Ohio was up to. They tracked you down in a couple of hours."
Kurt is creeped out, but Ella looks a little flattered. A star came to meet her. Sebastian presses a button on his key ring to unlock his car.
"We were going to go get some dinner if you'd like to join us." Blaine takes hold of Kurt's hand and squeezes. He's being polite. His daughter is excited, and he want's to make a moment for her. Even if it means sitting through dinner with him.
"I'd love to." He gets behind the wheel of his car. "Where to?"
Blaine gives him directions to the restaurant and they head for their own car. Kurt reaches into the backseat and gathers all the crayons. There's no time to wash the outside of the car. Short of a sudden rainfall, Sebastian's going to know.
Driving down the road, Blaine keeps his hands on the wheel and eyes straight ahead. "Just remember. I love you."
"Thank you Papa." She peeks out the window to see how much farther there is to go.
Kurt smiles. The words may not have been meant for her, but they mean them all the same. He catches Blaine's eye, which has ventured his way and mouths four words back at him.
I love you too. | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7686127/1/Must-Have-Done-Something-Right | dclm-gs1-112290000 |
0.053046 | <urn:uuid:3daae1a6-6867-414b-84c5-07e9fdf7d90a> | en | 0.980842 | The White Stripes (1997-2011)
by Break-ups
After more than a decade together and the past few years on hiatus, The White Stripes have announced that they are splitting up. Both Meg and Jack White produced a joint statement explaining the decision:
It is for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve What is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way. Both Meg and Jack hope this decision isn't met with sorrow by their fans but that it is seen as a positive move done out of respect for the art and music that the band has created. It is also done with the utmost respect to those fans who've shared in those creations, with their feelings considered greatly.
The band last released Icky Thump on 2007. Later that year, they went on an indefinite hiatus due to acute anxiety suffered by Meg White. | https://www.punknews.org/article/41470/breakups-the-white-stripes-1997-2011 | dclm-gs1-112460000 |
0.019479 | <urn:uuid:4412ad0e-53ad-4466-b15a-ca32a1eda740> | en | 0.876871 | Purely Poultry | Baby Chicks and Poultry Books
Bantam Chickens
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Minimum 15 bantams. Can mix and match colors and breeds. Straight Run (Mix of males and females as hatched) only. Free Shipping! Available year round on hatchery choice. Common colors January to October. Rare colors January to May. Bantams are small chickens, generally one-fourth the size of a normal chicken. During World War II the fact that bantam chickens required less food than standard chickens and the tireless work of the American Bantam Association pushed these small birds into the spotlight.
This product is sold out!
| https://www.purelypoultry.com/bantam-chickens-c-154_155.html | dclm-gs1-112470000 |
0.266326 | <urn:uuid:0b14bf1f-9579-408e-8a44-8cbbe2dec9c9> | en | 0.840453 | "You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch" Sung By Tay Zonday!
The interactive transcript could not be loaded.
Rating is available when the video has been rented.
Uploaded on Dec 22, 2009
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/tayzonday TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/tayzonday
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel.
You're as cuddly as a cactus,
You're as charming as an eel,
Mr. Grinch.
You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel.
You're a monster, Mr. Grinch.
Your heart's an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders.
You've got garlic in your soul, Mr Grinch.
I wouldn't touch you with a
Thirty-nine and a half foot pole.
You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch.
You have termites in your smile,
You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile,
Mr Grinch.
Given the choice between the two of you,
I'd take the seasick crocodile.
You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch.
You're a nasty wasty skunk.
Your heart is full of unwashed socks.
Your soul is full of gunk,
Mr Grinch.
The three best words that best describe you,
Are as follows, and I quote"
You're a rotter Mr Grinch
You're the king of sinful sots
Your hearts a dead tomato squashed with moldy purple spots
Mr Grinch
Your sole is a appalling dump heap
Overflowing with the most disgraceful
Assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable,
Mangled up in tangled up knots.
You nauseate me, Mr Grinch
With a noxious super nos
You're a crooked jerky jockey and,
You drive a crooked horse
Mr Grinch!
You're a three-decker sauerkraut
And toadstool sandwich,
With arsenic sauce!
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0.101894 | <urn:uuid:3eb8c9ec-61d9-412c-982a-1a4a89ac9631> | en | 0.917638 | Find Doctors and Dentists by Specialty that take First Health (Coventry Health Care) in Sunwood Central, Santa Ana, CA
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0.10859 | <urn:uuid:0bb0738f-49ab-4dab-98e1-35122aae4970> | en | 0.970411 | Ping Pong Cellular Telephony: Chinese phones and US SIM cards
June 4, 2008 8:13 PM Subscribe
Phone from China, SIM card in the US: what do I need to know to make sure I have a working cell phone when I return to the US for a month or two this summer?
My girlfriend and I are currently living in China and will be returning to the US for a month or so this summer. We would both like to have cell phones while in the US without having to get on a plan or buying separate phones for the two countries. I've never dealt with SIM cards in the US.
The best solution I envision is being able to purchase prepaid SIM cards when we arrive in the US, pop it into our phones, and start making phone calls. How plausible is this? My cell phone is a Nokia 2100, which I believe is EGSM 900, GSM 1800. Because it works with both of the major providers' SIM cards in China, I believe it is also unlocked. What other specifications are important?
My girlfriend, on the other hand, needs to purchase a new cell phone and would like one that works in both countries. What specifications does the phone need to have so we can be assured it will work in the US?
posted by msbrauer to Technology (6 answers total)
In the US, the two frequencies used are 1900 and 850. As your phone supports neither of these, you will need to buy new phones for the two of you. I would recommend you buy something like the GoPhone even though that will be only usable on our crappy wireless companies.
posted by ooklala at 8:25 PM on June 4, 2008
I've always used Sony Ericsson phones in both the US and China/HK. I used T-Mobile in the US and a variety of major telecoms in China. Never had an issue. Just switched out the SIM cards and I was good to go.
I specifically used the K700 & K750i. Both work great.
posted by qwip at 9:33 PM on June 4, 2008
Two options... I'd just buy a virgin mobile card from 7-11 in the US.
The second option is to buy one in China.
Use a bit of intuition and smarts, and buy the cheapest quad you can find there in China.
One thing to look for is on the list of features on the card next to the phone, there will be a list of the features and price of the phone. You know what I'm talking about, right... the list that's not in English, is usually blue for reason, and has the price stamped on the bottom. They're in those big cell phone store monstrosities that are in every mid to upper-tier shopping area in Chinese cities. The two things you'd be looking for us the price and a line that has the number of bands on the phone.
There's usually a line that has the number of bands... I forget the second character, but the first character is just a number. So there's
二band, 三band, and 四band phones.
It might help if you could write down "800 MHz, 950 MHz, 1850MHz, and 1900MHz". They'll know what you're talking about.
This isn't an exotic request, I believe it's important for those traveling to Hong Kong or Taiwan.
And then, as an exercise to you, the reader, wrangle out a SIM card from a company in the states.
posted by sleslie at 9:54 PM on June 4, 2008
I bought a phone just a few weeks before I left China for similar reasons. If you put in a SIM, no problems. But yeah, your phone isn't going to work in the US. I bought a nokia 2610, which was the cheapest phone I could find that would work in both countries and had a dictionary. They're widely available, and pretty cheap, I can't remember the exact price, but I think it was about 550 RMB, two months ago.
posted by bluejayk at 11:15 PM on June 4, 2008
I did the same thing and it did not work. We had to buy cheap-o prepaids back in the US despite buying several sim cards and "unlocked" phones at some supposedly reliable black market shops in Beijing.
posted by Pollomacho at 5:15 AM on June 5, 2008
My Nokia 3230^ that I purchased in Chongqing before returning stateside works fine with AT&T. For an additional $10 a month I have international text messaging. I recall paying ~1500rmb a year ago so I expect you could find one for considerably less in the rapidly changing Chinese cellular market.
posted by geekyguy at 10:13 AM on June 8, 2008
« Older How do credit bureaus work in ... | There is a black rectangle acr... Newer »
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0.88593 | <urn:uuid:aaf31e3c-d106-4f94-9670-bc8be93ede59> | en | 0.959266 | The Motley Fool Discussion Boards
Previous Page
Retirement Discussions / Retired Fools
Subject: Re: Obama on payroll tax Date: 6/13/2008 11:47 PM
Author: cliff666 Number: 13417 of 19483
<B?it is unfair for middle-class earners to pay the Social Security tax "on every dime they make," while millionaires and billionaires pay it on only "a very small percentage of their income."
It's plenty fair now because the benefits are capped along with the tax.
Think of it like car insurance. You pay $500/year to cover car X. A really rich person pays $500/year to cover car X. Is that unfair? Should he pay more for the same coverage just because he has more? So why should he pay more for the same SS benefits just because he has more? While we're at it, why not make rich people pay double the sales tax?
Same old Democratic claptrap--there's a whole lot of exploitation of class envy going on.
Kinda like it's fair that I pay school taxes when I have no (and never had, never will have) children in school? I actually benefit by keeping their mangy asses off the street for at least a portion of the day. Similar: I benefit by keeping the aged poor off the streets. They are sooooo unsightly!
Don't even start with the sales tax. The poor pay a much higher percent of their income on sales tax than do the rich.
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0.052903 | <urn:uuid:6203b5be-3bbf-493f-a033-5ef2511460ee> | en | 0.976635 | Engelbart, inventor of computer mouse, dies at 88
July 4, 2013 - 10:35 PM
FILE - In this April 9, 1997 file photo, Doug Engelbart, inventor of the computer mouse and winner of the half-million dollar 1997 Lemelson-MIT prize, poses with the computer mouse he designed, in New York. Engelbart has died at the age of 88. The cause of death wasn't immediately known. (AP Photo/Michael Schmelling, File)
Engelbart "brought tremendous value to society," said Curtis R. Carlson, the CEO of SRI International, where Engelbart worked when it was still known as the Stanford Research Institute. "We will miss his genius, warmth and charm. Doug's legacy is immense. Anyone in the world who uses a mouse or enjoys the productive benefits of a personal computer is indebted to him."
The notion of operating the inside of a computer with a tool on the outside was way ahead of its time when Engelbart began working on it. The mouse didn't become commercially available until 1984, with the released of Apple's then-revolutionary Macintosh, a prelude to future breakthroughs such as the iPhone and iPad.
All of those devices were conceived by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died in October 2011. Although Jobs' contributions to personal technology are far better known, Engelbart left an indelible mark, too.
"There are only a handful of people who were as influential," said Marc Weber, founder and curator of the Internet history program at the Computer History Museum, where Engelbart had been a fellow since 2005. "He had a complete vision of what computers could become at a very early stage. He was thinking about these things when computers were used just for calculations and number crunching. They weren't interactive at all, so it was pretty radical at the time."
Although computer mice remain prevalent, their usage is waning as people increasingly control smartphones and tablets in an even simpler way: by merely swiping their finger across a display screen. But the leap to touch-screen controls might not have been made if the mouse hadn't simplified computing in the first place.
Among Engelbart's other key developments in computing, along with his colleagues at the Stanford Research Institute and his own lab, the Augmentation Research Center, was the use of multiple windows. Engelbart's lab also helped develop ARPANet, the government research network that led to the Internet.
In a precursor to the dramatic presentations that Apple's Jobs became famous for, Engelbart dazzled the industry at a San Francisco computer conference in 1968. Working from his house with a homemade modem, he used his lab's elaborate new online system to illustrate his ideas to the audience, while his staff linked in from the lab. It was the first public demonstration of the mouse and video teleconferencing, and it prompted a standing ovation.
"Many of those firsts came right out of the staff's innovations — even had to be explained to me before I could understand them," he said in a biography written by his daughter Christina. "They deserve more recognition."
In 1997, Engelbart won the most lucrative award for American inventors, the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize. Three years later, President Bill Clinton bestowed Engelbart with the National Medal of Technology "for creating the foundations of personal computing."
After the war, Engelbart worked as an electrical engineer for what is now NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. Restless, and dreaming of computers that could change the world, Engelbart left Ames to pursue his Ph.D. at University of California, Berkeley.
He earned his degree in 1955. But after joining the faculty, Engelbart was warned by a colleague that if he kept talking about his "wild ideas" he'd be an acting assistant professor forever. So he left for the research position at SRI.
Engelbart is survived by his wife, Karen O'Leary Engelbart; his four children, Diana, Christina, Norman and Greda; and nine grandchildren.
Video of his 1968 demonstration: http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html | http://cnsnews.com/news/article/engelbart-inventor-computer-mouse-dies-88 | dclm-gs1-112830000 |
0.037502 | <urn:uuid:bacb3710-0a62-4df0-ac20-7988fbbd30a1> | en | 0.9407 |
OK, everyone has their opinion on who "They" want, who "Don't" you want?
Discussion in 'Fan Zone' started by SteveOS, Apr 26, 2006.
1. SteveOS
SteveOS Dedicated to Sports Gaming
1,883 Messages
0 Likes Received
Let's say the Boys drafted "This Guy". The guy you hope they don't draft when their spot comes up, but they end up taking him. :)
Who's that guy?
2. Funxva
Funxva Inventor of the Whizzinator
1,685 Messages
20 Likes Received
No WR at 18. No QB either.
3. Raneiron#31
Raneiron#31 Member
91 Messages
0 Likes Received
Personally I dont want to see us draft any DB in the first round, so no WIlliams or Cromartrie (sp?). Other than that ill prolly be happy with LB OL or DL.
4. dools
dools Member
222 Messages
1 Likes Received
Bobby Carpenter! I think he will be a good player on the field but I just dont think he will be a game changer. IMO
5. Colo
Colo Rocky Mountain High
805 Messages
4 Likes Received
Running back, tight end or wide receiver. I don't won't to see any of those positions at 18. Otherwise, I'm easy..
6. groverat
groverat New Member
59 Messages
0 Likes Received
Taking an unpopular stance here...
I don't want a tweener for SOLB in the first. I'll probably be disappointed, but why reach like that when you can get a guy like McClover or Gocong in the 3rd or 4th?
They are all projects, so why not spend a lot less money?
I would love to see us grab any of the 3 top QB prospects if they fall to us, Bledsoe isn't long for this league and Henson has a lot yet left to prove.
Sadly, we need so much help that I'm not against too much else besides the tweeners. Ideally we get a trade down and pick up a 2nd rounder. I am absolutely not in love with anyone projected to be at our spot.
7. CIWhitefish
CIWhitefish Member
787 Messages
12 Likes Received
Jason Allen. I don't want us to take an injury risk in the 1st. It's one thing to roll the dice on a #4 like Canty ended up but to risk a #1 would make me nervous.
8. TheHustler
TheHustler Active Member
5,391 Messages
0 Likes Received
Sinorice Moss.
9. CriscoKidd
CriscoKidd New Member
57 Messages
0 Likes Received
chad jackson
10. Paniolo22
Paniolo22 Hawaiian Cowboy
3,625 Messages
23 Likes Received
IMO, Chad Greenway would be no better than Scott Fujita.
THUMPER Papa
9,522 Messages
0 Likes Received
No WR or DB in the first this year unless Huff somehow drops to us. None of the WRs are 1st round talent IMO and only a couple of DBs are.
My axiom for the first round is: "Don't reach or take project players. Draft guys that can start."
12. aikemirv
aikemirv Well-Known Member
7,093 Messages
56 Likes Received
Jason Allen - hip injuries scare me.
13. speedkilz88
speedkilz88 Well-Known Member
20,859 Messages
1,238 Likes Received
Winston Justice
Eric Winston
Chad Greenway
Santonio Holmes
Jason Allen
Donte Whitner
Lendale White
Nick Mangold
Jimmy Williams
Johnathan Joseph
Tye Hill
Ernie Sims
Demeco Ryans
Not that a lot of them aren't good players, I just don't want to see them with the Cowboys first pick.
14. cboyd
cboyd Member
392 Messages
3 Likes Received
Bobby Carpentar, he is getting way to much love for a guy who is pretty short, slow and weak.
15. Phrozen Phil
Phrozen Phil Active Member
3,894 Messages
15 Likes Received
I've not seen or read anything that would give that impression. Why do you believe that he's any of the above ? He's 6' 3", 254 and runs a 4.61 40 at what is described as being 90% healthy. The guy can flat out play football.. I'd be quite happy to have him at #18.
16. Howboutdemcowboys31
Howboutdemcowboys31 Well-Known Member
1,162 Messages
275 Likes Received
17. Bob Sacamano
Bob Sacamano Benched
57,073 Messages
1 Likes Received
Santonio Holmes
18. Bob Sacamano
Bob Sacamano Benched
57,073 Messages
1 Likes Received
Carpenter is considered short for OLB, but who really cares?
19. Woods
Woods Active Member
12,375 Messages
11 Likes Received
Ideally, I want an OLB to pair up with Ware for the next decade (Wembley/Carp/Lawson), a FS who can make plays on the ball, a back-up NT, and a Guard (Joseph/Spencer).
I'd prefer to draft a WR either in the 3rd or on Day 2.
20. InmanRoshi
InmanRoshi Zone Scribe
18,334 Messages
79 Likes Received
Santonio Holmes. Despite the fact that he would be a 3rd rounder in previoius WR drafts, three kids out of wedlock by the time you are 21 is generally not a good display of decision making potential.
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0.430956 | <urn:uuid:1440efc3-3f44-47fb-b53d-8a4b73fe58d5> | en | 0.953536 | Asian cuisine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Asian food)
Jump to: navigation, search
Location of Asia.
Asian cuisine can be categorized into several major regional families, including East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern cuisines. A cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions,[1] usually associated with a specific culture. Asia, being the largest and most populous continent, is home to many cultures, many of which have their own characteristic cuisine.
While rice is common to most Asian cuisines, different varieties are popular in the various regions. Basmati rice is popular in the subcontinent, Jasmine rice is often found across the southeast, while long-grain rice is popular in China and short-grain in Japan and Korea.[2]
Curry is a common dish in southern and eastern Asia, however it is not as popular in eastern cuisines[clarification needed]. Curry dishes with origins in India and other South Asian countries usually have a yogurt base while Southeastern and Eastern curries generally use coconut milk as their foundation.[3]
East Asian cuisine[edit]
Location of East Asia.
Main article: East Asian cuisine
East Asian cuisine includes Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, and Taiwanese food. Considering this is the most populated region of the world, it has a lot of regional cuisines (especially China). Examples of staple foods include rice, noodles, mung beans, soy beans, seafood (Japan has the highest per capita consumption of seafood), mutton (Mongolia), bok choy (Chinese cabbage), and tea.
Southeast Asian cuisine[edit]
Location of Southeast Asia.
South Asian cuisine[edit]
Location of South Asia.
Main article: South Asian cuisine
South Asian cuisine, also known as Desi cuisine, includes the cuisines from the Indian subcontinent. It has roots in the Hindu beliefs, customs and practices practiced by the large population found in the region. Foods in this area of the world are flavoured with various types of chili, black pepper, cloves, and other strong herbs and spices along with the flavoured butter ghee. Ginger is an ingredient that can be used in both savory and sweet recipes in South Asian cuisine. Chopped ginger is fried with meat and pickled ginger is often an accompaniment to boiled rice. Ginger juice and ginger boiled in syrup are used to make desserts. Turmeric and cumin are often used to make curries.
Common meats include lamb, goat, fish and chicken. Beef is less common than in Western cuisines because cattle have a special place in Hinduism. Prohibitions against beef extend to the meat of (water) buffalo and yaks to some extent. Pork is considered as a taboo food item by all Muslims and is avoided by most Hindus.
Central Asian cuisine[edit]
Location of Central Asia. In some definitions, it also includes Afghanistan.
Main article: Central Asian cuisine
Most Central Asian nations have similar cuisines to each other as well as their neighbors, taking many features of the neighboring cuisines of Western and Eastern Asia, particularly Mongolia. A dish known as "plov", or "osh", for example, is a widespread variation of pilaf. However, many of the same countries use horse meat and mutton as the most common meats, similar to beef in the U.S.. This is owing to Mongolian cuisine. In Kazakhstan, cuisine has evolved to meet the needs of a nomad lifestyle.
Central Asia is also noted for being the birthplace of yogurt. Like Kumis, it is widespread among Turkic peoples.
West Asian (Middle East) cuisine[edit]
Location of Western Asia.
West Asian cuisine is the cuisine of the Middle East, minus Egypt.
Middle Eastern cuisine is the cuisine of the various countries and peoples of the Middle East. The cuisine of the region is diverse while having a degree of homogeneity.[4] Some commonly used ingredients include olives and olive oil, pitas, honey, sesame seeds, dates,[4] sumac, chickpeas, mint and parsley. Some popular dishes include kibbeh and shawarma.
Cereals constitute the basis of the Middle Eastern diet, both historically and today. Wheat and rice are the major and preferred sources of staple foods. Barley is also widely used in the region and maize has became common in some areas as well. Bread is a universal staple —eaten in one form or another by all classes and groups— practically at every meal.
North Asian cuisine[edit]
Location of Northern Asia.
Pelmeni, originally a Permic or Ugric dish, has entered into mainstream Russian cuisine as a well-known dish, but it can still be considered part of the Yamal cuisine for its area of origin. Some speculate them to be a simplified version of the Chinese wonton. In Siberia, pelmeni are frozen outdoors to preserve the meat inside through the long winter. In Yamal, other types of drying and preservation are common. Key ingredients in most northern Siberian cuisine include fish and cowberries, sometimes known as lingonberries in Europe and North America. Yakuts, like many other Turkic-speaking peoples, traditionally enjoy Kumis as a common drink.
The Nenets people are infamous for their practice of eating an animal raw and drinking its blood; however, this is among the only options in the cold and desolate tundra.
See also[edit]
1. ^ "Cuisine." Accessed June 2011.
2. ^ "The flavors of Asia". Quaker Oats Company. Retrieved 2008-12-19. [dead link]
4. ^ a b "The Middle East: Background.", Accessed January 2007.
External links[edit] | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_food | dclm-gs1-112940000 |
0.068496 | <urn:uuid:cd7f8d04-6f3b-4d28-a052-cce47e1839cf> | en | 0.966529 | Tarzan's Hidden Jungle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle
Directed by Harold D. Schuster
Produced by Sol Lesser
Screenplay by William Lively
Based on Characters created by
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Starring Gordon Scott
Vera Miles
Jack Elam
Music by Paul Sawtell
Cinematography William Whitney A.S.C.
Edited by Leon Barsha
Distributed by RKO Pictures
Release dates
• February 16, 1955 (1955-02-16) (US)[1]
Running time 73 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle is a 1955 RKO B&W movie starring Gordon Scott in his first film as Tarzan, taking over the role from Lex Barker, who had in turn followed Johnny Weismuller in the series. This film about Edgar Rice Burroughs' ape-man also features Vera Miles and Jack Elam, and was directed by Harold D. Schuster. It was the last of 12 Tarzan pictures released by RKO Studios.
Tarzan's mate, Jane, does not appear in this motion picture. Tarzan at first seems to show more than casual interest in Miles' character, but ultimately there is no romance. In real life, Scott and Miles were married after the film was completed.[2] Scott eventually played Tarzan in six movies over a five-year span.
Two men come into the jungle intent on wholesale slaughter of animals to get barrels of animal fat, lion skins and tusks. Tarzan tries to help a baby elephant, one of their first victims. He takes the elephant to an animal doctor and his female assistant who have pitched their tents in the jungle to do business. The hunters turn up and pretend they are photographers and have the doctor escort them to where the animals are. They leave the doctor and start killing animals. His assistant finds out they are evil and goes after them but needs Tarzan's help when she stumbles into quicksand. He rescues her, and she says she needs a bath so Tarzan throws her into the river.
They reach a tribe who worship animals and who are Tarzan's friends. However, the tribe hear that animals are being slaughtered and decide to kill the doctor and his assistant as he led them there. Tarzan goes after the villains and they end up getting their just deserts. He arrives back in time to save the doc and his assistant from the lions in the pit they have been thrown into.
External links[edit] | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarzan's_Hidden_Jungle | dclm-gs1-112980000 |
0.643221 | <urn:uuid:0745da6e-71c9-49c1-96d6-c1c04bef77cd> | en | 0.905961 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
Something like 'Optionality' or 'Ordinality'? (It's similar in kind to the words "Arity" and "Cardinality")
Example: "Fred listed the XXXity of each parameter, noting whether it was optional or mandatory"
Follow-up question: What part of speech is this?
share|improve this question
Optionality is obviously a noun (you are even using it with a definite article in your example) and is included as such in several dictionaries (Wiktionary, Merriam-Webster, Collins). And in fact some dictionaries have a dedicated entry for the suffix -ity. – RegDwigнt Apr 4 '13 at 10:16
I see - as in "noun referring to a state or quality"... so there isn't a specific word for this? – Richard Inglis Apr 4 '13 at 10:32
How about 'Necessity'? Does a thesaurus help? – Mitch Apr 4 '13 at 12:00
Are looking for a part of speech more refined than 'noun'? You're looking for an abstract concept but there's nothing grammatically special about that. – Mitch Apr 4 '13 at 12:03
2 Answers 2
There are a few recently contrived words that try to do this; optionality is indeed used from time to time, and I've seen things like mandatoriness too. But actually there are some more established words that do the same job.
Of course, optional-ness is actually binary - something is either optional or mandatory. Therefore the quality of optionality/optional-ness is actually the same as the quality of mandatory-ness or compulsory-ness, just with the polarity reversed.
All of which is a fairly long winded way for me to get around to saying this:
I think the word you're looking for is the noun, necessity.
share|improve this answer
+1 for necessity – Canis Lupus Apr 4 '13 at 12:12
It appears that Ordinality is used in this sense (even though it has a more normal meaning of 'ordering'). Maybe this is verging on jargon.
For example: "Ordinality is a property that indicates whether an entity instance is mandatory"
(from: 'Oracle SQL and Pl/SQL Handbook: A Guide for Data Administrators, Developers')
share|improve this answer
Naming of database properties isn't always a guide to good English usage. – DJClayworth Apr 4 '13 at 16:55
Agreed, but in this case the context happened to be appropriate :) – Richard Inglis Apr 4 '13 at 21:50
Your Answer
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0.028297 | <urn:uuid:10431bbe-d16f-497f-9722-68fa90926d29> | en | 0.962068 | Despite everything...
spn - my home is the road [my music the
*swiffers off the LJ dust*
spn - epic love story
Being snowed in seems like as good an oppurtunity as any to get off of Facebook and back on the writing track. To start somewhere small and find that groove, because I'm afraid I've really rather lost the touch but then again maybe not. It's like the proverbial bike, right?
Only partially feeling it and not exactly...inspired. But I'll do it anyway. Should I pick up the threads of one original thing or the other right away, or should I fall back into the comforting non-pressure of fandom-y wonders? Decisions, decisions.
...because I could happily (shamefully?)jump on the Vampire Diaries train if I let myself. Augh.
This post brought to you by the Get-Your-Shit-Together-Maria program
spn - my home is the road [my music the
Dean Winchester vs. Eric Northman
Prettiest. Fight. EVER.
....I mean, no one would win and they'd end the night with a pat on the back and a wink, because I say so....but think of how PRETTY it would be.
Also, if I had the ability to shape-shift, I'd like to be able to change into a wise old Asian man.
Just because.
spn - my home is the road [my music the
Have not been posting. Too busy obsessing over True Blood. A love me my vampire shows.
Except for, you know, most of the vampire shows on tv now. But I make an exception for shows that include tall blond Viking vampires. Ah, Eric. Mrawr.
What else...oh. Went to Vegas for the first time and promptly fell in love with the place. 100 degree weather? Yes, please, may I have another? A city with no real concept of time seems ideal for me.
Have been enjoying all the sun and heat waves. Nevermind that I was born and raised in Boston. I have very little tolerance for the cold and I'm milking the summer for all it's worth until I can move somewhere where it is always hot and bright.
Walking through Whole Foods yesterday when a hipster strolled on past. There are lots of hipsters around, but this one was special. This one was carrying a gold elephant statue through the grocery store with care and a nonchalent attitude. No idea why or where he got it from. It was possibly one of the best things ever.
Aaaand...while ninja-ing my way into an apartment building the other day [something I seem to do with alarming frequency], a nice service man offered to just let me in.
Service Man: Aw, I'll let you in. You just can't tell anyone.
Me: I won't! Thank you!
Service Man: I mean, you look nice. You're not a murderer or anything, right?
Me: Not yet!
Luckily he laughed instead of calling security. The sad thing is, it didn't even occur to me to just say 'No, of course not'. That would be silly.
Oh, Failbender
spn - my home is the road [my music the
So I was going to seeThe Last Airbender for the lulz, but apperantly the movie is too depressingly bad to even laugh at. This makes me sad. I wasn't expecting a good movie at all, but I thought something would salvage it at least a little. I mean, I like to mock things but if the reviews are any indication, the movie crosses beyond the mocklands and into the black abyss.
BUT then I found this review and it makes so much sense.
My favorite bit: Airbender doesn't just poke fun at its entire genre, with its hyperactive mix of randomness and blandness - it actually MST3Ks its audience...Aang and Sokka become Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, staring out of the screen and bemusedly riffing on our feeble attempts to invest in this saga.
Hahaha.....ugh. I knew it was going to be downhill once I saw Zuko. He has all his hair right from the beginning! How are we supposed to track his redemption if his hair is not growing along with him?!
Anyhoodle. I probably won't see the movie now. I just rewatched the first season and remember how friggin EPIC and beautiful and emotional the finale is. That will only highlight the fail. At least I managed to get my brother addicted to the series now =D
On the other hand, I loved the Doctor Who finale! Hearts on Amy! Hearts on Eleven! They remind me of Ten and Rose <3 back in series two, before the angst kicked into over-drive. So very Peter and Wendy =3
...I still prefer my Doctor pinstriped though.
Bleeding Hearts grow best in a graveyard
spn - my home is the road [my music the
Or, at the very least, they enjoy growing in graveyards in Winchester. So many of them are blooming around my grandmother's headstone, even though we didn't plant them.
another possible SPN ending
spn - my home is the road [my music the
Hey. I'm not great, but I'm able. Which is something.
And this time I'm not drunk!writing.
Possibly because I have work tomorrow and my Jack Daniels has disappeared. I'm inclined to blame my brother for this catastrophe.
Anyways. Fic...thing. Sort of. Written about twenty minutes ago because the Season finale is tomorrow.
SPN: The sad thing is...Collapse )
steady on
spn - my home is the road [my music the
Lunch break in Boston = wind tunnels, clear skies, and pretty angles.
Yesterday I thought to myself "You know, I really really REALLY miss Jack Sparrow". Because I do. Then I turn on the tv tonight and 'Dead Man's Chest' is on. I turn it on in time to laugh at the threesome fight and sniffle when the Kraken/Sarlaac destorys Jack and his Pearl. Having not watched this in quite awhile, it had an affect.
So I look up the next Pirates movie. I had heard about it being confirmed and the basic premise...but apperantly the title has been released. PotC: On Stranger Tides. It sounds like a sitcom, starring Captains Sparrow and Barbossa. Oh, the wacky misadventures they shall have. Like the Odd Couple. Or Two and a Half Men. On a boat. Oi. It can't be worse than the 2nd and 3rd movies though. Right? I mean, Jack will actually be important in this one. And have his ship back in one piece. Right? Right.
I could happily go back to when 'Curse of the Black Pearl' was first released and live there forever. I distinctly remember it being a wonderful and happy time all around.
Things I see on the side of the road...
spn - my home is the road [my music the
Today I observed things on the side of the road. In particular, I took note of objects while stopped at red lights. Today that list includes:
- an empty Coke cup
- an empty and crushed french fry container
- a pile of cigarettes [literally a pile. I can only assume that either someone smoked an entire pack while waiting for the light to turn green, or everyone just hopped on the bandwagon in this particular hot spot]
- What appeared to be part of a broken television set [there was nothing on, apperantly]
And, finally
- a cucumber with a condom carefully rolled on [always practice safe vegetation?]
I don't even know.
Oh man, you guys, remember the Gin Blossoms?
spn - my home is the road [my music the
You should. Because they were awesome and from the 90s. Which makes it doubley awesome. I had one of those 'Holy cow, I used to love this song!' moment the other day and have since been looping it.
Srsly. 70s may have had some of the best rock, but the 90s were amazing. There were few bad 90s songs. Just great, good, and hilarious. Like Nirvana. And all those Savage Garden songs. And the Cardigans's 'Lovefool'! AND CREEP OMG!
And 'The Thong Song'.
....Okay, so I spent two days working with kids who were born between 2005 and 2007. It made me feel old and nostalgiac. I miss my gelly sandals and wrist-slap bracelets. And side-poytails. Sigh.
[Sidenote: This icon is perhaps one of the most appropriate icons for me ever. Bahaha.]
Crazy delicious
spn - my home is the road [my music the
I was given a bag of Jazz apples today. I had never had a Jazz apple before. I guess it's the new 'It' apple. I know this because there are billboards advertising it.
Oh man.
It's like someone got a bunch of Fuji apples drunk on champagne then handed them over to me for safe-keeping.
Which is clearly a very bad idea.
Also I was sick again. With the Devil's virus apperantly because omgawd doom
Also, the people on tv just said that the only people who should get tattoos are people who are gorgeous and have model-esque rockin bodies. And most people have tattoos that are ugly, unless they choose the kind that every other person in L.A. and Miami have.
I really think those are the last people who should get any ink done. But that's just me.
spn - my home is the road [my music the
He's such a puppy.
An amazing gravity-defying puppy.
I may or may not have woken up half of my hotel by screaming when he won gold. Yay!
Also, am now obsessed with White Collar. I watched the whole season [so far] while on the treadmill last week and holy cow. So good. Neal Caffrey is made of awesome. And the slash practically writes its self. How charming!
spn - my home is the road [my music the
Reasons why the opening ceremony for the Vancouver Olympics was better than Beijing's:
1) Winter games are just better (imo...but seriously, they are).
2) Saun White is the most adorable thing ever. He's like a giddy Irish Setter on a snowboard. With floppy hair.
3) Apolo Anton Ohno being...there...somewhere. He might not have even been at the actual ceremony. But his SPIRIT was present and probably wearing spandex.
4) Both 2 and 3 kind of contribute to 1. Which is like a super combo attack.
5) Fiddles. Fiddles, people. Being played by awesome punkish dancers. With sparkler shoes. Did I mention the fiddles?
That tops a zillion raver-drummers-platform-walkers-ect any day.
....really, though, Saun White = Irish Setter puppy. I WANT TO KEEP HIM IN MY POCKET FOR ALWAYS.
I think I should go to bed before I start in on a 'Why Supernatural is The Best Thing Ever, Furreals' because that will just be repeating about a hundred other posts. but omg I love Mary and Dean and Cas so damn much ahhhhhhhhhh some other time....going now.
If I were a Demon....
spn - my home is the road [my music the
So, I was thinking about Supernatural. And the demons in Supernatural. And how when a person is possessed they are not likely to get past any pesky salt lines. That's gonna stop you in your tracks, right? And then NOTHING will get done.
I decided that if I were a demon, I would so totally carry a leaf-blower around with me. It would solve a lot of problems and save a lot of time. Salt line barring your way into a motel room? Just pull out the leaf-blower and WHOOSH. Gone. You now have a straight shot at any hottie Hunter; such as a Winchester.
Not saying I root for the bad guys in this case, but really....doesn't it make sense? Plus it would be hilarious.
Dean: *wakes up* Mmrf. Dude...what the hell is that sound?
Sam: *blearily* Is that a leaf-blower?
Demon: *busts in door* I'm evil, armed, and SO glad my meatsuit was a landscaper.
.....I should write for Supernatural. It would be 5 times more retarded.
So. It's snowing.
spn - my home is the road [my music the
"Someone shook us and we're a snowglobe!" says my Mother.
Not in a snowglobe, mind, but apperantly we are one.
Yeah. I'm not sure if she just missed a word in there or was having some kind of strange existential revelation.
spn - my home is the road [my music the
Wednesday Darling
another place
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0.21207 | <urn:uuid:c0dab6c1-a458-4949-89b3-21454ce60dae> | en | 0.965321 | Bill Clinton Wants His Domain Names Back
In the late '90s, private investigator Joe Culligan registered and other Clintonesque domain names as a joke. Now Bill Clinton's lawyer is pursuing legal action to get the website addresses. It's payback, says Culligan.
For months, Culligan has been digging into the mystery of why Maggie Williams, a longtime Clinton staffer who served as Hillary Clinton's campaign manager and now works for her as a Secretary of State recruiter, used Clinton's taxpayer-funded office to receive correspondence about stock options she received from Delta Financial, a subprime lender.
It's the most obscure imaginable charge. What, does Culligan think Clinton ripped off taxpayers by having a government-paid clerk drop the letter off at Williams's desk? It's hardly a scandal compared to the $1 million-a-year bill the government has paid since 2001 to fund Clinton's post-presidential operation.
It would have been a simple thing for the Clinton camp to brush off the charge as irrelevant. But the move to reclaim Clinton's domain names suggests that the charge has stung nonetheless. What is it about Williams's mailing address that has Clinton's lawyers so worried now — as opposed to any point in the past decade, during which time Culligan pointed,, and as a gag to the Republican National Committee's website?
(Photo by AP) | http://gawker.com/5209000/bill-clinton-wants-his-domain-names-back?tag=Domain-Names | dclm-gs1-113120000 |
0.22943 | <urn:uuid:167d5087-55e3-47eb-baa6-01a99427ec2f> | en | 0.817329 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
I just stumbled upon something I've never seen before. In the source of Backbone.js's example TODO application (Backbone TODO Example) they had their templates inside a <script type = "text/template"></script>, which contained code that looks like something out of PHP but with JavaScript tags.
Can someone explain this to me? Is this legit?
share|improve this question
Great question and answer. I just ran across this trick in the new YUI App Framework code: new.yuilibrary.com/yui/docs/app/app-todo.html – mjhm Aug 18 '11 at 20:53
What about type="text/tcl" which I saw in the W3C doc? How to use it? (Should I ask another question?) – L01man Jun 11 '12 at 14:11
@L01man yes, you should ask another question. – Nate Glenn Feb 17 '13 at 22:05
7 Answers 7
up vote 220 down vote accepted
Those script tags are a common way to implement templating functionality (like in PHP) but on the client side.
By setting the type to "text/template", it's not a script that the browser can understand, and so the browser will simply ignore it. This allows you to put anything in there, which can then be extracted later and used by a templating library to generate HTML snippets.
Backbone doesn't force you to use any particular templating library - there are quite a few out there: Mustache, Haml, Eco, and so on (the one used in the example you linked to is underscore.js). These will use their own syntax for you to write within those script tags.
share|improve this answer
Thanks for your response. So this is a cross-browser solution to having the browser's ignore this code? – Matt Feb 6 '11 at 9:58
@Matt, exactly that. At the same time it's easy to retrieve the full text again using .innerHTML, hence it's common practice now among templating engines. – Box9 Feb 6 '11 at 10:01
hi, different Matt here. Would <script type="text/template"> pass an html verification test? – Matt Apr 5 '12 at 22:16
nevermind, I found on icanhazjs.com that it's valid – Matt Apr 5 '12 at 22:24
Looking forward to <template /> tag. html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/webcomponents/template & caniuse.com/#search=template – Volker E. Jun 7 '13 at 21:07
It's legit and very handy!
Try this:
<script id="hello" type="text/template">
Hello world
Several Javascript templating libraries use this technique. Handlebars.js is a good example.
share|improve this answer
How would you do this alert in raw javascript with jquery? – tremor Oct 9 '13 at 21:01
@tremor Do you mean in raw javascript without jquery? Something like: var el = document.getElementById('hello'); var html = el.textContent; alert(html); (you'll need to look further into processing script tags' text in IE) – SgtPooki Oct 16 '13 at 19:03
@SgtPooki ya i meant without, thanks for the answer. What I'd really like to do is src that script to an external file and get it, but I've found that's not really possible.. so I'm diving into AJAX and socket.io now. – tremor Oct 30 '13 at 16:14
@tremor, I may not understand exactly what you're trying to do, but grabbing external files dynamically, to either run or parse as a template, is definitely possible. Check out requirejs. – SgtPooki Oct 31 '13 at 16:08
To add to Box9's answer:
Backbone.js is dependent on underscore.js, which itself implements John Resig's original microtemplates.
If you decide to use Backbone.js with Rails, be sure to check out the Jammit gem. It provides a very clean way to manage asset packaging for templates. http://documentcloud.github.com/jammit/#jst
By default Jammit also uses JResig's microtemplates, but it also allows you to replace the templating engine.
share|improve this answer
jQuery Templates is an example of something that uses this method to store HTML that will not be rendered directly (that’s the whole point) inside other HTML: http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.template/
share|improve this answer
jQuery.template is abandoned, and followed up by jsviews.com/#jsrender – doekman Sep 6 '13 at 19:19
It's a way of adding text to HTML without it being rendered or normalized.
It's no different than adding it like:
<textarea style="display:none"><span>{{name}}</span></textarea>
share|improve this answer
It is different, a textarea will still insert those elements into the DOM and fetch any external assets (like images) requested. A script tag will not. – LocalPCGuy May 13 '13 at 22:09
@LocalPCGuy thats not true, including <img src="image.jpg"> inside a textarea will not cause the browser to fetch image.jpg, the browser knows that the content inside a textarea is not meant to be rendered. – vikki Apr 11 at 17:35
@vikki woops, you are correct, textarea may be one of the few elements that would be a viable replacement for script tag templating. – LocalPCGuy Apr 11 at 23:41
@LocalPCGuy yeah I think those two can be used interchangebly. If your template has the line </script> you can't use it inside a script tag, so you can use the textarea then, and vice versa. – vikki Apr 13 at 7:30
By setting script tag type other than text/javascript, browser will not execute the internal code of script tag. This is called micro template. This concept is widely used in Single page application(aka SPA).
<script type="text/template">I am a Micro template.
I am going to make your web page faster.</script>
For micro template, type of the script tag is text/template. It is very well explained by Jquery creator John Resig http://ejohn.org/blog/javascript-micro-templating/
share|improve this answer
<script type = “text/template”> … </script> is obsolete. Use <template> tag instead.
share|improve this answer
<template> tag still isn't supported by Internet Explorer as of IE 11. – ovinophile Aug 23 at 6:23
In 5 years time use the <template> tag. – superluminary Sep 30 at 13:06
<script type = “text/template”> can hold anything, they are not parsed. On the other hand, <template> tags are parsed into a DOM, hence needs to valid HTML. Usually, this means that the first will be kept as intact template, while the second will strip away non-html-compliant parts and break the template. ...of course, it's only a problem if you use template engines like mustache or the like. – arnaud Sep 30 at 13:16
Your Answer
| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4912586/explanation-of-script-type-text-template-script | dclm-gs1-113790000 |
0.046236 | <urn:uuid:b3a249c6-16c5-48f5-96a8-46305cea832c> | en | 0.990271 | Drop-front desk was made around 1890
Published Sunday, April 01, 2007
Actually, they were utilitarian pieces that mostly were used in offices. Early ones were made by cabinetmakers, but many were factory-made. They were used around the country and should not be considered a Southern form.
This desk appears to made of pine or poplar that has been heavily refinished. It may have been made by a cabinetmaker or manufactured. These are truly useful pieces that fit into country dcors. It would retail for about $895.
Q: I inherited my dresser. It was painted white and I had it refinished. It has a mirror and a small piece of marble on top. The drawers (are dovetailed with wooden pegs). I would like to know its age and value. -- C.K., Tampa
A: Your Victorian walnut dresser was manufactured in the late 1870s or early 1880s. It probably was once part of a bedroom suite that included a bed, dresser and washstand. The machined dovetails are typical of the period.
The style is best described as late Victorian Renaissance-Revival. It evolved during the 1870s, but was popular through the early 1880s. Simple pieces like this dresser often were grained to simulate expensive rosewood.
It could have been made almost anywhere in the country. It would retail for around $295.
| http://staugustine.com/stories/040107/off_the_record_4501592.shtml | dclm-gs1-113820000 |
0.018146 | <urn:uuid:b232badc-d05c-458a-9a2b-84c52ee0dd1b> | en | 0.867973 | 1. M5 Gloucestershire Northbound
Incident type: disruption
Between J13 for A419 Gloucestershire
And J12 for B4008 Quedgeley Gloucestershire
M5 Gloucestershire - M5 closed northbound between J13, A419 (Stroud) and J12, B4008 (Quedgeley), because of recovery work and a fuel spillage. Diversion in operation - A419 and A38 to re-join at J12, following the 'Black Triangle' symbol signed diversion. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/gloucestershire/incidents/road?epoch=1337899403&enabled=0&asset=40309.jpg | dclm-gs1-113970000 |
0.031381 | <urn:uuid:cdee0214-2d57-46ad-a750-9660d40ac4fb> | en | 0.924758 | Coedo Beniaka - Coedo Brewery (Kyodo Shoji Koedo Brewery)
Not Rated.
Coedo BeniakaCoedo Beniaka
Displayed for educational use only; do not reuse.
66 Ratings
no score
(send 'em beer!)
Ratings: 66
Reviews: 31
rAvg: 3.4
pDev: 16.47%
Wants: 12
Gots: 2 | FT: 0
Brewed by:
Coedo Brewery (Kyodo Shoji Koedo Brewery) visit their website
Style | ABV
Happoshu | 7.00% ABV
Availability: Year-round
Notes/Commercial Description:
Imperial Sweet Potato Amber.
Because of the use of sweet potato as a secondary ingredient, Japanese laws classify Coedo Beniaka as a Happoshu (malt beverage).
(Beer added by: Westsidebuddha on 05-07-2010)
View: Beers (10) | Events
Beer: Ratings & Reviews
Ratings: 66 | Reviews: 31 | Display Reviews Only:
Reviews by doktorhops:
Photo of doktorhops
3.68/5 rDev +8.2%
Happoshu - A brew I've never tried. So I wrote you a Haiku, it goes:
Happoshu good brew
sparkling spirits lead me
clear tasting
Yeah I wont quit my day job. [I'm a Haiku writer by day].
Poured from a 330ml bottle into a nonic pint.
A: Deep copper red body, with a light tan lacing on top.
S: Interesting notes of soy sauce send me off kilter in that Japanese out-of-place kinda way, like that cos-play girl dressed in a schoolgirl outfit yet at the same time being of ample bosom and well-rounded ass which sends mixed signals to my brain, this brew adds it's own Japanese oddness to the mix. Sweet potato and malt also adds to the aroma however that soy note is odd, very odd.
T: Highly intriguing... a tad on the sweet side but there are some decent characters; toasted malts, sweet bread, chestnuts and caramel. It's similar to some English Christmas flavoured beers like Theakston Old Peculier and Hook Norton's Twelve Days, but with that classic Japanese oddness sitting quietly in the corner katana on lap, I'm just waiting for it to jump at me and cut off my head in a swift sweep of refined bladed steel.
M: Flat and borderline syrupy.
D: It's got a bit going for it: alcohol content [check], flavour [check], drinkability [check]. The only thing holding it back is that old devil: the price. At $9AUD RRP a bottle it is indeed in the realm of a "special occasion drink" or "something to try once", which I did: try once [check].
Food match: it's a bit of a given - Japanese beer = Japanese food, so I'll refrain from the obvious. What I will say is that I could see this pairing well with a good old fashioned American Thanksgiving dinner replete with turkey, mashed yams, cranberry sauce, corn and the obligatory pumpkin pie slice for dessert.
More User Reviews:
Photo of wethorseblanket
3.43/5 rDev +0.9%
A: Pours from a 333ml bottle a clear amber under a thin (1/4") off-white head which fades slowly to the rim and leaves some splotchy lace.
N: Definite sweet potatoe, grainy/malty, ABV noted, slight caramel sweetness.
T: Bready malts, sweet potatoes, yeasty, overripe plum/raisins and slightly grassy/herbal.
M: Semi-moderate body and light carbonation. Finishes with a bit of boozy, malty, and vegetal.
O: A mildly sweet, boozy, and interesting style. First for me.
Photo of kuishinbo_tantei
3/5 rDev -11.8%
Photo of Jaysicles
3.5/5 rDev +2.9%
Photo of ant1
3.75/5 rDev +10.3%
Photo of ehammond1
3.23/5 rDev -5%
Thanks for the tick/gift, UCLABrewN84!
Dark copper color with very minimal light tan head. There's not a lot of visible carbonation and this leaves the glass nearly clean.
The aroma is a combination of caramel, bread, a bit of spice character, and vegetables (celery and tomato?).
The flavor is malty with some spice character to it, along with moderate bitterness and some celery flavor as well. Drinkable.
Medium bodied with low carbonation. I think the body of this beer brings the rest of it down.
Drinkable, but unexciting. It's nothing I'll revisit.
Photo of Brenden
3.44/5 rDev +1.2%
This one is a sort of medium-dark brown with a hint of violet in the body and some ruby in the very thinnest edges. The head is off-white, pretty small but fairly firm at the layer that stands up for the duration. Lacing consists almost exclusively of light spotting, but some little legs go out here and there.
There's some caramel in the nose, seemingly from the malts and a little sweetness. The potato itself is evident. There is an unfortunate, though not heavy, vegetal note.
The flavor pulls together nicely; malts form a good backbone with some caramel sweetness, the sweet potato makes a good showing, and there even seems to be a bit of alcoholic sweetness as well. I'm not sure what the yeast content is, but it seems to be contributing a different sort of earthiness and light sweetness of its own. It's pretty bready in the malts, too.
The body is lighter than some might expect, though it reaches a firm medium. It's a bit too carbonated, but it holds the malts well. It's lightly crisp and decently smooth, keeping up almost entirely to the end.
Maybe there are better Happoshu beers out there, but from how little seems to be out there, probably not. Then again, I've never been to Japan.
Photo of ironchefkook
3.5/5 rDev +2.9%
Photo of cyrushire
3.25/5 rDev -4.4%
Photo of CrazyDavros
3.28/5 rDev -3.5%
Pours coppery brown with a small head.
Sweet potato is quite prominent in the aroma, but also some sweet malt. very interesting.
Lots of sweet potato as a flavour too. A hit of booze ruins things a little though. Again, quite sweet.
Body feels a bit flat, need a lot more carbonation to cut the sweetness.
Photo of mdillon86
3.5/5 rDev +2.9%
Photo of mrcraft
3.5/5 rDev +2.9%
Photo of smakawhat
3.38/5 rDev -0.6%
So this is my first Happoshu. Not sure what to expect here, this sweet potato concoction, but here goes. Poured into a nonic pint glass. Heard some horrid things about Happoshu, however this is Codeo and have managed to enjoy at least their Hefeweizen.
Out of the bottle is watery sounding pour, a bit of slap slap as the beverage enters the glass. Deep amber plum like red body, highly murky and cloudy. Barely makes half a finger of tan head, to fall to a filmy puck. Manages to maintain at least a tan collar that is about three millimeters thick and resembling at least a beer.
Sweet malts, kind of maraschino sticky cherry, and alcohol fussel like heat and warmth. Really not much else going on, but definitely sweet and getting into malt liquor like realm.
Surprisingly very light bodied, nearly crisp. Sweetness comes with a minimal subdued mouthfeel, but there's some hint of crackling toast and grains here, maybe even some caramel sweetness. Once again, jarred sugar cherries and plum like fruit, but kind of cheap tasting.
The most interesting thing, is I thought this was going to be an alcohol malt liquor sugar bomb but it's actually well hidden and drinks real easily. Most of the happoshu I've heard about is a canned cheap swill beverage, but this is a little different even if it's not really looking that appealing.
Photo of Satishgupta
5/5 rDev +47.1%
Photo of metter98
3.35/5 rDev -1.5%
Bottle at Samurai Mama, Brooklyn, NY
A: The beer is clear dark reddish amber in color and has a light amount of visible carbonation. It poured with just a few bubbles on the surface and a very thin ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass.
S: There are light aromas of sweet potatoes in the nose; these become a little stronger as the beer warms up.
T: Similar to the smell, the taste has lots of flavors of sweet potatoes and a slight amount of sweetness.
O: This beer style is definitely unique and sweet potato is more interesting as an adjunct malt compared to corn and rice. It definitely tastes a lot more flavorful compared to Japanese rice lagers.
Photo of eric5bellies
3.65/5 rDev +7.4%
Drank from my Stella Artois tulip.
A - Pours a very dark amber colour, with a yelloy coloured large bubbled head that disapperas in less than two minutes.
S - A light slightly sweet aroma and maybe some sort of dark fruit.
T - Slightly sweet throughout, with a little caramel and dark fruit, alcohol is so very well hidden.
M - Light to medium body and medium carbonation.
O - Quite an unusual brew, and very enjoyable, I would definitely have another one
Photo of atigerlife
3.3/5 rDev -2.9%
Pours a tea color with a small off-white head which dissipates rather quickly.
Aroma is somewhat winey...not much else.
Taste is rather sweet with some wood, earth, sweet potato, apple cider. Some other stuff there...but hard to figure.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, lightly cleansing and slightly cloying.
Overall, pretty easy to drink and worth a try. Drinkable, but not your typical beer profile. Good to try as a curiosity.
Photo of DarthKostrizer
2/5 rDev -41.2%
Photo of silverking
3.5/5 rDev +2.9%
Photo of DaveHS
3.48/5 rDev +2.4%
A-Dark ruby color with a thin light tan head.
S-A hint of fruity tartness, like artificial cherry syrup. Nutty, bracingly sweet.
T/M-The addition of sweet potatoes is interesting. It conjures a flavor comparable to maple syrup, and has an earthy character most likely attributable to potato skins. Not bad, but it gets old fast. Medium bodied with low carbonation.
O-The best I've had from Coedo. Wish it had a little more going for it other than the sweet potato.
Photo of fipoceilz7
3.83/5 rDev +12.6%
There is initially a sweet and tart fragrance with herbal hops, caramel, and an earthy undertone; there's some almond and cocoa after a couple minutes. The light khaki head is short-lived; the body is reddish-brown with orange highlights (resembles Lipton tea). It's quite flavorful but peculiar—it has the spicy, fruity taste of a lager, but the sweet potato, which is subtle but detectable, contributes its characteristic starchy sweetness and lingers noticeably in the finish. Its body is medium-light; the carbonation is fairly low but lends considerable crispness; the 7% ABV is very well masked.
Flavorful with a visually appealing hue, this is a rather welcome variation on an otherwise unremarkable style. The flavors and aromas are only a step up from par, but it's far from bad. And as an ingredient in the popular variety of sake, shochu, the sweet potato contributes an interesting Japanese twist.
Photo of ygtbsm94
2.5/5 rDev -26.5%
Photo of dbrauneis
3.78/5 rDev +11.2%
Served in a bottle at Samurai Mama in Brooklyn, NY
A: Pours a crystal clear dark amber in color with some very light amounts of visible carbonation. The beer poured with no head and there was no lacing observed.
S: Definite sweetness in the aroma but a more pleasant smell from the sweet potato than what I find in a corn/grain/rice adjunct malts. Pleasant and inviting but not overly strong.
T: Very sweet, almost to the sweetness levels I associate with a quad. The sweet potato flavor comes through along with some more traditional malts.
M: Medium bodied with light carbonation. Smooth.
O: A very elusive style that I am psyched I found and tried, the use of non-corn/grain/rice as the adjunct malts definitely makes it a unique experience. I very much enjoyed the beer and felt it easy to drink, one you could have many of in a session. Matches well with sushi. Some definite complexity to the aroma and flavor. I would get this one again.
Photo of Thorpe429
1.93/5 rDev -43.2%
Bottle thanks to drabmuh. Served in a taster glass. Pours an orange-copper color with a tiny head of bubbles that falls quickly. The nose has some sweet potato and a touch of caramel. Flavor starts off with caramel, sweet potato, and bread, but then is taken over by a strange off dryness. Very odd. Body is light and off kilter. Not a big fan.
Photo of railcaider
1.6/5 rDev -52.9%
True to its name, this beer has a nice burgundy color that's complemented by an off-white head. The head itself was pretty small and soon dissolved, leaving only a small ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass. The bouquet is mostly sweet strawberry and raspberry smells with a little vanilla, and is dominated by a strong vegetal odor not usually present in beer.
According to the label, the main ingredient is Japanese sweet potato. In Japan, sweet potatoes are also used to make a clear liquor called shochu, so there is some precedent for using them to make alcohol. They have a heavy vegetal flavor and a very mild sweetness, which is a strange combination of tastes for a beer. When I first took a sip, I was surprised by how the balance of the taste is the opposite of the smell. The main taste is vegetal, and only the aftertaste had any real bitterness. There is some fruity sweetness, but it's quite muted, like dark chocolate. The viscous mouthfeel goes well with the sweet notes, but the heavy alcohol content and strange vegetal taste overpower the mild flavor profile.
This lack of balance really hurts the drinkability. Normally I don't like to waste beer, but in this case I was actually tempted to just pour it down the drain and be done with it. Coedo produces some very good beers, which makes this one all the more disappointing.
Coedo Beniaka from Coedo Brewery (Kyodo Shoji Koedo Brewery)
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The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon
Strong's Number: 139
Original WordWord Origin
ai&resißfrom (138)
Transliterated WordTDNT Entry
Phonetic SpellingParts of Speech
hah'-ee-res-is Noun Feminine
1. act of taking, capture: e.g. storming a city
2. choosing, choice
3. that which is chosen
4. a body of men following their own tenets (sect or party)
1. of the Sadducees
2. of the Pharisees
3. of the Christians
5. dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims
King James Word Usage - Total: 9
sect 5, heresy 4
KJV Verse Count
1 Corinthians1
2 Peter1
Bibliography Information
Thayer and Smith. "Greek Lexicon entry for Hairesis". "The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon". . | http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/hairesis.html | dclm-gs1-114000000 |
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Who Invented What When 0 9781741104882 1741104882
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Who Invented What When: Who Invented What When recounts the 500-year saga of innovation that has shaped the world we live in, from the first pocket watch to the latest nanotechnology. Arranged chronologically, each new invention is placed in its historical context and provides insight into the inventor?s life and motivation as well as the difference their invention has made.
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Crazy on the Outside DVD (2010)
When Tommy (Allen) gets released from the big house, he discovers life on the outside is even crazier than it was behind bars. Tommy s eccentric sister Viki (Weaver) won t get off his back, his sexy ex-girlfriend won't leave him alone, and his former partner in crime Gray (Liotta) won t take no for an answer. Through it all, Tommy might just find the girl of his dreams and get convicted of love in the first degree.
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T H E P E D I A T R I C C A R D I A C S U R G E R Y I N Q U E S T R E P O R T
Chapter 2
Pediatric Cardiac Issues
H o w Th e H e a r t F u n c t i o n s,
Congenital Heart Defects
A n d Th e i r Tr e a t m e n t
T HE HUMAN HEART
The heart is a marvellous combination of functional simplicity and systemic complexity. It is, on the one
hand, simply a large muscle specifically designed to pump blood through the blood vessels of the body. On
the other hand, its importance, while self-evident in one respect (if it does not work, you die) is hidden in
many others (if it does not work perfectly, your health can be compromised in less-obvious ways).
The functioning of all other organs and systems within the body depends on an adequate blood supply.
One example of this is the brain. Reduction or impairment in its supply of blood can result in a loss of neu-
rological function, a loss of consciousness, or even death. One can, of course, appreciate what a sudden and
sustained loss of blood supply can do to someone. But impairment in blood circulation can progress so
slowly and over such a long period of time that, while its impact can be serious, its consequences may be
difficult to detect. Problems can occur if the heart’s ability to function adequately is even slightly impaired.
Slow deterioration in cardiac performance can cause an equally slow deterioration in other organ perform-
ance. Thus, diagnosing even a minor condition that impairs the heart’s performance is important. While
one’s life may not be immediately threatened by a minor impairment, ultimately one’s life can be seriously
affected and even shortened by the eventual deterioration and failure of other life-sustaining organs, such
as the lungs, the kidneys and the liver. The heart, therefore, plays a central role in sustaining the optimal per-
formance of all other organs and bodily systems. The heart must perform its function in such a way as to
enable all other organs of the body to perform their tasks.
The heart muscle even sustains itself. In pumping blood, the blood vessels of the heart, the coronary
arteries, are themselves filled with blood. The heart muscle is thereby nourished, allowing it to continue to
perform its pumping.
The heart performs a vital balancing act with each contraction. It pushes blood in two major directions—
to the lungs and to the body. Blood flows to the lungs through the pulmonary arteries and from the lungs
Diagram 2.1 Normal Heart (with blood flow)
1 - Superior vena cava
11 - Innominate artery
2 - Right pulmonary artery
12 - Left subclavian artery
3 - Right pulmonary veins
13 - Aorta
4 - Pulmonary artery (pulmonary
14 - Left pulmonary artery
15 - Left pulmonary veins
5 - Pulmonary valve
16 - Left atrium
6 - Right atrium
17 - Mitral valve
7 - Tricuspid valve
18 - Aortic valve
8 - Right ventricle
19 - Left ventricle
9 - Inferior vena cava
10 - Left common carotid artery
through the pulmonary veins, in what is referred to as the pulmonary circulation. Blood flows to the body
through arteries and their smaller branches and from the rest of the body in veins and their smaller branch-
es. This is known as the systemic circulation. The amount of blood flow needs to be equal through the left
and right sides of the heart and through the systemic and pulmonary circulations.
H OW A NORMAL
HEART WORKS
The normal heart consists of four chambers: two upper atria (singular: atrium) and two lower ventricles.
The atria are the collecting chambers of the heart, into which blood flows from the body and the lungs. The
atria pump blood into the ventricles, although the force of the atrial pumping action is not as strong as that
of the ventricles. These are the stronger pumping chambers, responsible for moving blood to the lungs and
to the body. Of the two ventricles, the right ventricle is not as strong a pump as is the left ventricle. The right
ventricle only pumps blood through the lungs or pulmonary circulation, which has a low resistance and
therefore requires less pressure than the left ventricle, which pumps blood around the entire rest of the
body. Thus although the amount of flow needs to be equal through the right and left sides of the heart, the
pressures are quite different on the two sides.
Blood flows from the body into the right atrium. That blood is ‘blue’ and is in need of oxygen, because
oxygen has been removed from the blood by the body’s organs and muscles in the course of blood flow. This
blood is referred to as venous blood. It then passes from the right atrium into the right ventricle, which
pumps the blood through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs where the blood picks up a fresh supply of
oxygen. The oxygenated or ‘red’ blood then returns to the heart, flowing from the lungs through the pul-
monary veins to the left atrium. The oxygenated blood next passes into the left ventricle, from where it is
pumped through the aorta to the body.
The heart has three major vessels that bring blood to and take blood from it. The superior vena cava
(SVC) and the inferior vena cava (IVC) are the two largest venous vessels that connect to the right atrium.
The SVC returns the blood from the head and upper body to the heart to be oxygenated, while the IVC does
the same for the lower body. The aorta is the major arterial vessel that takes blood from the heart. The left
ventricle pumps all the oxygenated blood through the aorta to the body.
As blood flows through each of the four chambers of the heart, valves open and close in precise sequence.
In the normally functioning heart, this allows blood to flow forward into the next chamber and prevents it
from flowing backward. If a valve is defective, then blood can sometimes flow backward through it. When
blood flows backwards through a valve, this is known as regurgitation.
There are four valves in the heart. The mitral valve and the tricuspid valve separate the heart’s upper and
lower chambers. The tricuspid valve separates the right atrium from the right ventricle, while the mitral valve
separates the left atrium from the left ventricle. These valves are known as the atrioventricular valves.
The pulmonary valve separates the right ventricle from the pulmonary artery, which is the main blood
vessel connecting the heart to the lungs. The aortic valve separates the left ventricle from the aorta. It is the
closing of all four valves which produces the heart beat sound with its familiar ‘lub -dub’.
Diagram 2.2 Heart contracting - atrial contractions Diagram 2.3 Heart contracting -
Atria contract, forcing blood out. ventricular contractions
Force of blood opens inflow valves Ventricles contract, forcing blood out.
and blood enters ventricles. Force of blood opens outflow valves and closes
inflow valves.
When heard with a stethoscope, heart murmurs sound like soft whooshing noises that follow or replace
the normal sounds of the heart’s action. Murmurs may indicate that blood is leaking through an imperfect-
ly closed valve and may signal the presence of a serious heart problem.
The contractions of the heart are actually more complex than the simple squeezing of a bag.In effect,the heart
contracts in rhythm, with the left ventricle contracting slightly ahead of the right ventricle. These contractions
occur so closely together that one can think of them as one contraction, but that is not actually the case.
The wall of the heart consists of three distinct layers—the epicardium (outer layer), the myocardium
(middle layer) and the endocardium (inner layer). The myocardium actually causes the heart to contract, as
its muscle fibres create a wringing movement that efficiently squeezes blood from the heart with each beat.
The thickness of the myocardium varies according to the pressure generated to move blood to its destina-
tion. Thus the myocardium of the left ventricle is thicker than the myocardium of the right ventricle. The
endocardium lines the cavities of the heart, covering the valves, small (papillary) muscles inside the heart
and structures called chordae tendinae. (These are fibromuscular structures extending from the papillary
muscles to the edge of the mitral and tricuspid valves.)
The volume of blood expelled by the heart is referred to as the cardiac output. This is usually calculated
on the basis of the volume of blood expelled with each contraction of the heart (or stroke volume), multi-
plied by the number of times that the heart beats each minute.
Blood pressure is a measure of the force that results from the heart’s pumping action. The highest (sys-
tolic) pressure occurs during contraction of the ventricles; the lowest (diastolic) pressure occurs during ven-
tricular relaxation. When the blood pressure is too low, the patient is said to have hypotension. When blood
pressure is too high, the patient is said to have hypertension.
The heart is suspended in a membranous sac called the pericardium. The fibrous pericardium (the strong
outer portion of the sac) is firmly attached to the diaphragm beneath it, to the membrane lining the chest
on each side and to the sternum (or breast bone) in front. The heart is covered by the visceral pericardium
or epicardium. Between the heart and the epicardium lies the pericardial cavity, which is normally filled with
a very small amount of pericardial fluid.
The pericardium can become irritated or inflamed following surgery. This condition is called pericardi-
tis. This can be accompanied by an increase of fluid in the pericardial sac. If this fluid accumulates rapidly
or in great amounts, the heart can become compressed by the fluid, a state called cardiac tamponade. The
heart then has less ability to fill with blood and there is less cardiac output. Severe cardiac tamponade can
cause a shock-like state that may be fatal. In such cases it is necessary to remove the fluid.
C ONGENITAL HEART DISEASE
In the case of children, most heart problems are congenital—that is, they are problems the child is born
properly. (Another term for a congenital heart defect is a ‘lesion.’) Some defects require treatment, while
blood circulation to ensure that most of the ‘blue blood’ (deoxygenated blood) goes to the lungs and most
of the ‘red blood’ (oxygenated blood) goes to the body. However, the heart's structure post-operatively can
Ventricular failure
occurs when the pumping capability of the heart is impaired and the ventricles are unable to pump an ade-
quate volume of blood to the body and/or the lungs. This can affect either the left ventricle or the right ven-
tricle or both (as in biventricular failure).
Left ventricular failure
With left-sided heart failure, blood backs up in the left ventricle and then progressively into the left atri-
patient may retain fluid and appear to gain weight.
Right ventricular failure
Biventricular failure
also fail.
successfully undertaken.
P EDIATRIC HEART DEFECTS
AND THEIR TREATMENT
The following section outlines the major heart defects that were diagnosed in the children whose deaths
are under investigation in this Inquest.
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)
One of the heart problems diagnosed in these children was a patent ductus arteriosus. The ductus arte-
riosus is a blood vessel that is present in all babies before they are born. While in the womb, the lungs of the
fetus cannot provide oxygen to the fetus’s blood. Instead, the fetus receives its oxygen from its mother,
through the umbilical cord. Because of that, the fetal lungs do not need to receive the volume of blood flow
that will be required after birth. The ductus arte-
riosus connects the pulmonary artery to the
aorta, allowing blood to bypass the lungs.
Normally the ductus arteriosus closes on its own
within a few days of birth as the lungs begin to The diagrams
illustrating pediatric
strengthen and provide the body with the oxygen heart defects
it requires. Once it is closed it is referred to as a demonstrate
general blood flow,
ligamentum arteriosus. but are not
Occasionally, the ductus may not close on its representative of
any specific point
own and remains open (or, in medical terms, in the heart’s cycle.
patent). This condition is called a patent ductus
arteriosus (PDA). In some babies, a procedure
known as a PDA ligation must be performed to
close (or, in medical terms, to ligate) the PDA
and prevent blood from flowing through it. Diagram 2.4 Patent ductus arteriosus
Otherwise, if the ductus arteriosus remains 1 – open or patent ductus arteriosus
The shunt or abnormal flow is from aorta to pul-
patent, the newborn may develop congestive monary artery as indicated by the shaded red arrow.
heart failure from the increased pulmonary blood
Sometimes closure of the ductus is not a positive development if the baby suffers from other defects that
prevent adequate blood flow to either the lungs or body. Then the patent ductus may provide an alternative
and necessary route for blood flow. In these babies, a drug (prostaglandin) can be given to keep the ductus
Septal defects
The most common pediatric cardiac problems result from defects in the wall separating the right and left
sides of the heart. The wall is called the septum, while the defects are referred to as septal defects. The wall
between the atria is called the atrial septum and the wall between the ventricles is called the ventricular sep-
tum. A defect in the wall between the atria is referred to as an ASD, or atrial septal defect, and a defect in the
wall between the ventricles is called a VSD, or ventricular septal defect. The defect can range from a small
hole in the septum to a significant portion of the septum actually being missing. When there is such a
defect, shunting can occur.
If blood flows from the right side of the heart to the left, the child may appear blue because of the lack of
oxygen in the blood. The medical term for this reduced oxygen supply is cyanosis, and a baby with blue
colouring is described as being cyanotic. With some septal defects, blood may actually flow back and forth
between the right and left sides of the heart.
Some VSDs occur at a higher point on the septal wall, where the septum is thinner. These are referred to
as perimembranous VSDs. Those VSDs that occur at a lower point on the septal wall, where the septum is
Diagram 2.5 Atrial septal defect (ASD) Diagram 2.6 Ventricular septal defect (VSD)
1 – atrial septal defect 1 – ventricular septal defect
The shunt or abnormal flow is from left atrium The shunt or abnormal flow is from left ventricle to
to right atrium as indicated by the shaded red right ventricle as indicated by the shaded red arrow.
thicker, are called muscular VSDs, which may be single or multiple. Other VSDs occur just below the aortic
valve and are referred to as subaortic VSDs.
Some ASDs and VSDs can heal or close on their own, but in a significant number of patients, surgery is
required to repair them. Repairs can take the form of a suture (or stitch) being used to close the opening if it
is small enough, or a patch actually being sewn over the opening in the case of larger defects. Such patches are
usually made of the patient’s own pericardium or inert material such as teflon. Pericardial tissue is preferred,
since it stands a smaller chance of infection or rejection and can usually grow along with the heart itself.
Tetralogy of Fallot
Tetralogy of Fallot involves four defects within the heart. The first is a hole in the ventricular septum or
a VSD. Second, the aorta, which is normally attached to the left ventricle, is wrongly positioned overtop the
ventricular septum (and is termed an overriding aorta). Third, there is thickening (in medical terms, hyper-
trophy) of the muscle of the right ventricle (referred to as right ventricular hypertrophy). The fourth condi-
tion is a partial or complete obstruction of blood flow from the right ventricle (also termed RVOT—right
ventricular outflow tract obstruction). This most often results from pulmonary narrowing (or, in medical
terms, stenosis).
Pulmonary stenosis is a narrowing of the vessels carrying blood from the right ventricle to the lungs.
This narrowing is caused by an underdevelopment of the area around the lung valve and along the pul-
monary arteries, and can range from a blockage at the valve to thickening below the valve. There can also be
narrowing of the pulmonary artery above the valve,
and the vessel can narrow into both of the branch-
es that go to the lungs.
To provide relief for the lack of blood flow creat-
ed by the pulmonary stenosis, it is usually neces-
sary to insert a small tube as an artificial shunt.
This shunt then connects the aorta (or one of its
branches, such as the subclavian artery) to one of
the pulmonary arteries. The best size for the shunt
will depend on the size of the patient, as well as the
specific structure of the patient’s heart and blood
Such shunts are often referred to as Blalock-
Taussig shunts, after the surgeons who developed
them, and are used in a variety of pediatric cardiac
Diagram 2.7 Tetralogy of Fallot
procedures. Depending on the artery to which the 1 – pulmonary stenosis (a form of right
shunt is connected, they are known as either clas- ventricular outflow tract obstruction)
sic or modified Blalock-Taussig shunts. 2 – right ventricular hypertrophy
Children with Tetralogy of Fallot are often 3 – overriding aorta
4 – ventricular septal defect
referred to as Tet babies. Some children with this The degree of pulmonary stenosis controls the
condition also suffer from weight loss or fail to flow patterns. The shaded blue arrows show
gain weight (known medically as failure to thrive). blue blood mixing with red blood. The broken
white arrows indicate diminished blood flow
Other Tet babies suffer Tet spells or periods when through the pulmonary artery.
they are extremely cyanotic. Symptoms include
anxiety, air hunger, respiratory distress, increasing cyanosis and an altered level of consciousness. The
symptoms are most often brought on by activity. Tet spells usually indicate an urgent need for repair of the
heart defect.
The operation to correct Tetralogy of Fallot consists of removing the outflow tract obstruction and patch-
ing the VSD. Care must be taken not to damage the heart’s electrical conduction system because of the
nature of the operation. Damage to the heart’s electrical conduction system can interfere with the heart’s
ability to beat properly.
Most often, complete correction of the lesions is performed, even in newborns. Palliative procedures are
reserved for those patients with extremely abnormal hearts, such as those with severe underdevelopment
(hypoplasia) of the pulmonary arteries and certain abnormalities of the coronary arteries. (A palliative pro-
cedure is one that alleviates the current problem but is not a definitive repair and does not usually offer a
long-term good outcome.)
canal defect
Atrioventricular (AV) canal defect is a large
hole in the centre of the heart. The defect is situat-
ed where the septal wall between the upper cham-
bers (atria) joins the septal wall between the lower
chambers (ventricles). In addition, the tricuspid
and mitral valves (the atrioventricular valves),
which normally separate the heart’s upper and
lower chambers, are not formed as individual
valves. Instead, one large valve bridges the defect.
Complete AV canal defect, also known as an
atrioventricular septal defect or endocardial cush-
Diagram 2.8 Atrioventricular (AV) canal defect
ion defect, is often associated with other cardiac
1 – atrial septal defect defects, such as Tetralogy of Fallot. The complete
2 – abnormal tricuspid valve AV canal defect is commonly found in children
3 – abnormal mitral valve with Down’s syndrome. An incomplete or partial
4 – ventricular septal defect form of AV canal defect, known as an ostium pri-
The shunt or abnormal flow is from left atrium to
right atrium, left ventricle to right ventricle (as indi-
mum atrial septal defect, involves only the atrial
cated by the shaded red arrows). Tricuspid and septum.
mitral valve regurgitation occurs as a result of the
abnormal tricuspid and mitral valves.
The AV canal defect lets some of the oxygen-
rich blood from the heart’s left side pass (or
shunt) back into the heart’s right side. There, the oxygen-rich blood mixes with the oxygen-poor venous
blood from the body and is sent back to the lungs. This results in the heart pumping an extra amount of
blood and working harder than it should. In time, the extra work causes the heart to enlarge. There is also
an associated increase in the pressure in the pulmonary artery, which may cause problems.
With complete AV canal defects, signs and symptoms occur early in infancy. These usually include abnor-
mal heart sounds, congestive heart failure, intermittent cyanosis, respiratory infections, poor feeding and
inadequate weight gain.
In a baby with severe symptoms or high pulmonary artery pressure, surgery must usually be done in
infancy. The surgeon closes the hole with one or two patches. The single valve is then divided between the
atria and the ventricles to make two separate valves. Again, care must be taken not to damage the heart’s elec-
trical conduction system.
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Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Irish poet and dramatist whose reputation rests on his comic masterpieces Lady Windermere's
Fan(1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). Among Wilde's other best-known
works are his only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray(1891) and his fairy tales especially "The
Happy Prince."
Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin to unconventional parents. In 1878 Wilde
received his B.A. and in the same year he moved to London. His lifestyle and humorous wit
soon made him the spokesman for Aestheticism, the late 19th century movement in England
that advocated art for art's sake. Between the years 1883 and 1884 he lectured in Britain.
From the mid-1880s he was a regular contributor for Pall Mall Gazette and Dramatic View. In
1884 Wilde married Constance Lloyd. Wilde's marriage ended in 1893. He had met an few
years earlier Lord Alfred Douglas, an athlete and a poet, who became both the love of the
author's life and his downfall.
Although married and the father of two children, Wilde's personal life was open to rumors.
His years of triumph ended dramatically, when his intimate association with Alfred Douglas
led to his trial on charges of homosexuality (then illegal in Britain). He was sentenced to two
years hard labor for the crime of sodomy. Wilde was first in Wandsworth prison, London, and
then in Reading Gaol. During this time he wrote De Profundis (1905), a dramatic monologue
and autobiography, which was addressed to Alfred Douglas.
After his release in 1897 Wilde in Berneval, near Dieppe. He wrote "The Ballad of Reading
Gaol", revealing his concern for inhumane prison conditions. Wilde died of cerebral
meningitis on November 30, 1900, penniless, in a cheap Paris hotel at the age of 46.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
A plot began with meeting of Lord Henry and young, handsome Dorian Gray. Their common
friend was Basil Hallward, who loved Dorian’s portrait and who had found a long searched
muse in him. For Basil it was the best work he had ever done. Basil was shocked when Dorian
said to him that he could never look at this picture again. It had a reason, Dorian is jealous of
this picture. He knew that the picture would be always same, but he would be older and older,
meanwhile the body would have the laugh of him. At that time he wanted for the first time to
be just like that stature in a picture. He wished to be young forever.
Dorian and Lord Henry became very good friends. But Lord Henry was very depraved.
Dorian’s a little bit naive, unstained and young view at the life was rapidly changed. They say
the life is only about a beauty, which is most important, and that is why Henry advised him to
be young the longest time possible. Dorian’s soul was struggling with weird and scary inside
disputes about what is and what is not right. Dorian found a solace and an innocent in
beautiful and young actress, Sibyl vane, who he fall in love with and he depended entirely on
her. But she was wholly elated by their one another’s love, so that she didn’t want to live her
characters in drama, but her own life. Dorian was disappointed by her change and he left her
with a scorn. Next day Dorian got to know that she had committed a suicide. He was
overwhelmed, but Henry was the reason, why he fastly forgot.
He was becoming cruel, impassive and scary. It was also for the first time he found out that
there was something bad going on with his own portrait. The portrait was becoming a view on
his awesome soul and it was just like the reflection in the mirror, but there was one y big
difference. It was showing his scary inside, not just the body’s reflection. All bad what he had
done was written (noticed) in his face. Dorian decided to hide his portrait, so that nobody
could see it. Dorian was having the laugh of his portrait which was continually becoming
older and older. There was something weird because he was still as handsome and old as
when the portrait had been made. His life was becoming more and more cruel, carefree,
unprincipled, impassive and groundless. Dorian was using his beauty to make people trust
him. They believed that somebody, whose face was so beautiful, couldn’t be as cruel,
bottomless and disgraceful. The years went by but he was still young.
After 18 years Basil visited Dorian in his seat for a chat. He wanted to tell Dorian which bad
things he had heard about him. They say Dorian had been meeting with bad people, or good
people were changed after some time they had spent with him. Dorian had always longed for
telling him the truth, so, he showed him his portrait. Basil was scared. Dorian had been firstly
ashamed and had cried, but then he began to suspect Basil for all what had happened. In the
end of their fight he killed him. He took advantage of his former friend and disposed of the
Basil’s dead body.
At that time Dorian was struggling with his own remorse and with first symptoms of sorrow.
He was trying to forget and that was why he was trying to hide his fear in opium. In one of the
opium houses he was recognized by Mister Vane, who was Sibyl’s brother and he had
promised himself to revenge her. Vane was pursuing Dorian, but he was by mistake killed.
Dorian relieved himself, but simultaneously he felt the desire to change himself. In order that
he didn’t take advantage of one girl, so that he thought the picture could be nicer, but he had
been wrong. The picture was even more repellent and scarier. How Henry had said, Dorian
could not change himself and all he would do would be even more selfish and bad. The figure
at the portrait was stained with blood, because of a murder of Basil and that is why he decided
to destroy a portrait, which was his last link with a past. He stabbed the portrait and at that
time the servants heard a loud scream. When they entered never used door, they found a
portrait in original state, how Basil had drawn him, and next to the stand was an old man with
a dagger in his heart and with a frightening face. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of
I like Oscar Wilde very much. All his work makes me think about his life and what kind of
person he was. I don’t read very often and I know it is my shortcoming, but if I find some
time, I always read some kind of the stories which are similar with work of Oscar Wilde. I
like scary, weird, mysterious and smart works. That is why I read also Edgar Allan Poe and
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If I should think about who Dorian Gray was, it would take a long
time and I would never find the answer. It was a person, who didn’t know what is good and
what is bad. Is it his fault or fatal mistake of our society? I don’t know indeed, but I know that
it is good that it is just character of the book, because I would like not meet that kind of a
Short illustration:
… The thing was still loathsome--more loathsome, if possible, than before--and the scarlet dew that spotted the
hand seemed brighter, and more like blood newly spilled. Then he trembled. Had it been merely vanity that had
made him do his one good deed? Or the desire for a new sensation, as Lord Henry had hinted, with his mocking
these? And why was the red stain larger than it had been? It seemed to have crept like a horrible disease over
the wrinkled fingers. There was blood on the painted feet, as though the thing had dripped--blood even on the
To give himself up and be put to death? He laughed. He felt that the idea was monstrous. Besides, even if he did
confess, who would believe him? There was no trace of the murdered man anywhere. Everything belonging to
him had been destroyed. He himself had burned what had been below-stairs. The world would simply say that he
was mad.
They would shut him up if he persisted in his story. . . . Yet it was his duty to confess, to suffer public shame, and
to make public atonement. There was a God who called upon men to tell their sins to earth as well as to heaven.
death of Basil Hallward seemed very little to him.
He was thinking of Hetty Merton. For it was an unjust mirror, this mirror of his soul that he was looking at.
something more. At least he thought so. But who could tell? . . . No. There had been nothing more. Through
vanity he had spared her. In hypocrisy he had worn the mask of goodness. For curiosity's sake he had tried the
denial of self. He recognized that now.
But this murder--was it to dog him all his life? Was he always to be burdened by his past? Was he really to
confess? Never. There was only one bit of evidence left against him. The picture itself-- that was evidence. He
would destroy it. Why had he kept it so long? Once it had given him pleasure to watch it changing and growing
He looked round and saw the knife that had stabbed Basil Hallward. He had cleaned it many times, till there was
and all that that meant.
It would kill the past, and when that was dead, he would be free. It would kill this monstrous soul-life, and
without its hideous warnings, he would be at peace. He seized the thing, and stabbed the picture with it.
crept out of their rooms. Two gentlemen, who were passing in the square below, stopped and looked up at the
great house.
Shared By: | http://www.docstoc.com/docs/88535397/Oscar-wilde | dclm-gs1-114330000 |
0.119765 | <urn:uuid:75388616-d31d-4cf3-a843-8f9d6b2b5108> | en | 0.932413 | dslreports logo
story category
Washington Post On Comcast Caps
Cox, AT&T chime in...limits still not specified...
by Karl Bode 09:27AM Friday Sep 07 2007 Tipped by RichNice See Profile
We've been talking about this for roughly half a decade now, but the Washington Post has just discovered Comcast's invisible bandwidth caps. As noted countless times, the company sends disconnection letters to users who consume too much bandwidth, but never tells said users how much consumption is too much:
To trigger a disconnection warning, customers would be downloading the equivalent of 1,000 songs or four full-length movies every day. Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas declined to reveal specific bandwidth limits. "It's our responsibility to make sure everyone has the best service possible," he said, "so we have to address abusive activities so they won't damage the experience for other customers."
AT&T, who has no caps, says they have some bandwidth hogs, but says "we figure that's why they buy the service." Cox tells the paper they spend little time imposing limits, but occasionally warn customers about egregious consumption -- though such efforts "are few and far between," the company insists.
95 comments .. click to read
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In Deo speramus.
Kendall, FL
4 recommendations
Thanks Comcast!
Thank you Comcast for actually taking a stand and removing customers who are consuming 200GB+ every month. Those customers who run torrents 24/7, downloading movies, uploading movies, and in the end, just slowing down my connection. Thank you for not being like AT&T or Cox who apparently could careless how their network and service is degraded as long as the customer pays. Thank you for being on top of it and for removing the less than 1% of the top bandwidth abusers on your network.
And thank you for not making it known what the caps are. That way users aren't abusing it by always coming "close" to the bandwidth limit, but never over.
YourIP.US - It's Your IP .. and more!
rr.cx - Personal Site.. coming soon.
1 edit
2 recommendations
The wheels on the bus....
go round and round, round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round everytime we mention Comcast capping speeds....
| http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Washington-Post-On-Comcast-Caps-87344 | dclm-gs1-114360000 |
0.060429 | <urn:uuid:c6e4c06e-311c-432d-9003-290093741de7> | en | 0.925043 | Just about a year ago, JVC introduced its first lineup of quickly refreshing LCD TVs, and now the company is reinstating its support by offering up adequate replacements. The forthcoming High Speed 2 series of sets will sport a second-generation version of its Clear Motion Drive technology, which enables a 120Hz refresh rate that was "designed specifically for Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) displays" and is said to "improve motion detection fivefold compared to the original high speed driver." Essentially, CMD II will offer up reduced blurring, flickering, and motion interpolation, and it will work side by side with the fifth-generation D.I.S.T. (Digital Image Scaling Technology) engine on the "JVC-exclusive" 32-bit Genessa chip. Additionally, the trio will sport three HDMI 1.3 ports apiece, a slimmer bezel around the display, and a whole lot less plastic compared to previous iterations. While there's no word on price just yet, the 37-inch LT-37X898, 42-inch LT-42X898, and 47-inch LT-47X898 should hit US shores sometime this fall.
[Via Electronista] | http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/18/jvc-intros-high-speed-2-1080p-lcd-tvs-with-120hz-refresh/ | dclm-gs1-114430000 |
0.025791 | <urn:uuid:97f33ac3-1301-45e3-aebf-2fe089147b3b> | en | 0.877103 | Selection for :
clover alfalfa
The Pokémon Dream League
A forum for all things Pokémon. Join our League today! We have Gym Leaders, Elite 5, and many other members for you to battle. We also have lots of art contests and regular Pokémon tournaments. This is an extension of sweetcharm. net
pokemon, pokémon, league, gaming, wifi, online, battle, elite, community, adopt, adoptables, pets, contests, prizes, ribbons, chat, sprites, fanfic
Search for a forum in the directory
Create a free forum
Create a forum | http://www.forumotion.com/tag/clover/alfalfa | dclm-gs1-114550000 |
0.984237 | <urn:uuid:ba878024-899c-4533-bfb1-ae66b8ccb376> | en | 0.905106 |
pop time warp or lust when alterac valley starts.
#1seabass40Posted 4/25/2013 10:17:59 PM
kids get mad, and scream kick him. lol. grow the *** up.
#2GForceDragonPosted 4/25/2013 10:18:30 PM
Sounds like you're mad that you got kicked for doing that.
#3seabass40(Topic Creator)Posted 4/25/2013 10:19:33 PM
not really, just found it hilarious, it's just a game grow a back bone . and deal with it. so many butt hurt wow players these days | http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/534914-world-of-warcraft/66053772 | dclm-gs1-114580000 |
0.053275 | <urn:uuid:b37857c8-adc9-47ec-89f1-3e72e19577bc> | en | 0.88892 | How do I fight Sarcophagus again?
#1ChaoskerzxPosted 10/23/2013 12:27:42 AM
Just finished the 2nd Arc and I am Taming bosses and hit a wall, How do I fight Leon's Guardian form again? I cannot access the place before.
Playing: Rune Factory 4 and Pokemon X/Y
3DS FC: 1848 - 1758 - 9305 Safari Fairy Type (Jigglypuff, Snubull, Floette)
#2chaos_aureliusPosted 10/23/2013 12:37:05 AM
afaik, you need to go finish that arc first
later, Leon Karnak will open again, with lv100+ monsters inside and lv150+ 1+2 mid bosses, and that Sarcophagus you're looking for will be at the very back... yes, after those two stone guardians
I've seen the strong friendships you all share. But it seems that every single bit of it is nothing more than an illusion
Hotaru ~ KonoSora
#3Zarren364Posted 10/23/2013 1:35:06 AM
Yeah, I think you need to initiate the third arc in order to have access to that room again. Right now I can get to the top of the tower, but as I'm still in the transition between the two, I cannot access that room yet. | http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/635388-rune-factory-4/67591248 | dclm-gs1-114590000 |
0.025272 | <urn:uuid:195d2a93-6918-4bff-985d-7f0145b1eeda> | en | 0.868424 | LF Low Lvl Legendaries
#1powerslave855Posted 5/14/2013 2:22:53 PM
Hey all,
I was just trying to transfer some items in a friends game and it dropped out so I was wondering if you could help me get some of them back. They were:
corrosive Surprise
shield of the firehawk
If you have any other low ones that would be cool to.
Thanks :)
GT P0werslave420
#2gunsndrosesPosted 5/14/2013 2:24:00 PM
Halo 4 was the best Call of Duty.
#3dk2101Posted 5/14/2013 3:24:21 PM
What lvl?
#4powerslave855(Topic Creator)Posted 5/14/2013 3:46:55 PM
19 maggie
13 surprise
8 firehawk
but my psycho is 9 right now
#5Elprede007Posted 5/14/2013 4:17:17 PM
Lvl 4 Lobbed Bonus Package, if you got some krieg heads..
Discoverer of The Super Dupe --The new dupe glitch.[Skyrim]
They are called randumbs for a reason, right? | http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/638784-borderlands-2/66196765 | dclm-gs1-114600000 |
0.045443 | <urn:uuid:58fd9510-0ea4-4d5f-8ad5-243c0460c878> | en | 0.971174 | Redknapp: Hazard still on Spurs radar
Next Story →
Hazard on Spurs' radar. (©GettyImages)
Hazard on Spurs' radar. (©GettyImages).
Lille winger Eden Hazard remains a transfer target for Tottenham this summer, but Harry Redknapp says he is unsure where the club stand regarding negotiations over a possible move to White Hart Lane.
The 21-year-old Belgian international is one of the most highly coveted forwards in all of Europe, with Premier League rivals Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea also reportedly interested in the player's signature.
Redknapp has publicly declared his interest in bringing Hazard to north London, but said that all negotiations will be handled by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
"I don't know. I like him, he's a fantastic player but I don't know where the club's at with that," the 65-year-old told reporters. "The chairman will deal with that.
"Daniel [Levy], if anyone's talking to Lille it will be the chairman, not me. He's a player that obviously I watched him an awful lot and he's a real talent but only the chairman would know where we are with actually getting the player.
"I wouldn't have a clue whether we're close, a million miles away or anything else at the moment."
Tottenham's hopes of securing automatic qualification for next season's Champions League have been cast into doubt following three straight league defeats, allowing north London rivals Arsenal - who currently occupy fourth spot - to close the gap on them to just one point.
However, Redknapp has rejected any suggestions that the club's chances of signing Hazard depend solely on their inclusion in Europe's top tier competition next year.
"For sure, they want Champions League football, don't they? But it doesn't mean top players won't go to Chelsea if they don't make [the] Champions League," he continued. "It don't mean top players won't go to Arsenal if they don't make Champions League.
"They still go there because they're going to a big club in London, a big club in England and they get the wages they want so they still go.
"People aren't going to go 'I'm not going to Chelsea if they don't make the Champions League' - they know Chelsea will invest again next year and will make Champions League.
"Tottenham will keep trying to make the Champions League, so will Arsenal, so I don't think it works that way - I think people get carried away with that one."
Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League
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Scroll for more articles below. | http://www.givemesport.com/184854-redknapp-hazard-still-on-spurs-radar | dclm-gs1-114650000 |
0.034277 | <urn:uuid:6376bdb4-f693-430e-afff-064cabf704ed> | en | 0.960143 | Good Breeding, Good Eating
Most chefs agree that pork from heritage-breed pigs tastes better. But why are some heritage breeds more popular than others?
heritage breed pigs
Pork used to be so simple. Ten years ago, a trip to the butcher shop to buy some pork left you with only the options of cut. A chop tonight? Maybe a ham hock for beans or a nice chunk of shoulder for pulled pork? These days, the farmers market and the meat counter have become jam-packed with odd names: Ossabaw, Tamworth, and Berkshire, to name a few. The pork we sell at Marlow & Daughters is all from heritage-breed pigs, but while most chefs agree that these animals taste better, no one seems to be able to say why they do or even why some breeds are more popular than others. I thought I should ask a couple of farmers.
“Choose a pig you can live with,” says Michael Grady Robertson, the director of agriculture at the 47-acre Queens County Farm Museum, which runs a stand at the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan. He has been raising pigs for only a few years, but his favorite is already clear. “I prefer the Gloucester Old Spot,” he says, “because of temperament, appearance, and taste. We’ve raised Tamworth-Large Black crosses, Tamworth-Gloucester Old Spot crosses, and a few Hampshire-Tamworth crosses, but, temperamentally, the GOS pigs are much more docile and easy to handle.” Robertson goes on to tell me about a particular Gloucester Old Spot that had a bad leg. “It was really accepting of my massaging arnica gel on that sore leg,” he says fondly.
Michael Yezzi of Flying Pigs Farm in Shushan, New York (which produces the pork we sell at Marlow and Daughters), agrees. “My favorite is the Gloucester Old Spot,” he says. “They’re called an orchard pig, bred to have a mild disposition so that they will eat all the fruit that drops in an orchard but not destroy the trees.” Yezzi relates a story get rid of a particularly aggressive Ossabaw boar that chased him around the barnyard one day.
So why is it, I wondered, that most of the heritage pork we see around isn’t from the lovable and peace-loving Gloucester Old Spot? Robertson explains: “So far, the GOS pigs have taken a month or two longer to reach slaughter weight than the other breeds. The difference is notable even at a few weeks. I kept wondering whether the GOSs would catch up, but they never did. If I were in it for the money, I might go for a Tamworth instead. Feeding for two extra months is a solid chunk of change.”
Again, Yezzi concurs. “Rare heritage breeds do grow more slowly than […] Durocs, Yorkshires, and Berkshires,” which are among the more popular heritage-breed pigs. “Tamworths, though, were bred to be bacon pigs, meatier than lard pigs; they grow a little faster than the others.”
While the financial and flavor considerations are important, the argument for certain breeds—like the Gloucester Old Spot—goes even deeper. After Yezzi bought the land for Flying Pigs Farm in the late 1990s to secure the parcel from encroaching developers, he and his partner, Jennifer Small, realized their mission wasn’t over. “We were attracted to the rare heritage breeds because there are so few of them and they need help to keep from becoming extinct,” he says. “Large Blacks, GOSs, and Ossabaw pigs are listed by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy as ‘critical,’ which means there are fewer than 200 registrations in the U.S. and an estimated global population of less than 2,000.” Farmers like Yezzi and Small are helping to increase the animals’ numbers.
Still, at the end of the day, the choices that most farmers make come down to the pigs’ potential worth on the table. Yezzi, despite his run-ins with the combative breed, speaks rapturously about his Ossabaw pigs: “They’re a feral breed that is often used for charcuterie because of their marbling and the quality of their fat.” Robertson says of his Old Spots: “I’ve found that the slower-growing pigs have much more fat on them and retain more moisture when they’re cooked.” Perhaps Yezzi sums it up for all heritage-breed farmers when he says, “Pasture-raised, rare, heritage-breed pigs just taste the best.”
tom mylan
Subscribe to Gourmet | http://www.gourmet.com/foodpolitics/2009/06/good-breeding | dclm-gs1-114680000 |
0.019415 | <urn:uuid:41b59131-4a1b-4d99-8e3a-4e7544fb184c> | en | 0.981594 | Huffpost Politics
The Blog
Gabrielle Burton Headshot
Inauguration Second Time Around--Sort of
Posted: Updated:
Our blood is thin from California living, and my husband, Roger, had a broken arm, but we braved the cold and the crowds and went to the Inauguration. We stood on the mall with two million other joyful people and were glad we didn't need a restroom quickly.
It was our second time around--sort of. In 1964, when Lyndon Johnson was elected President by mandate, we lived in Bethesda, MD. and I, a young suburban wife and mother, desperately wanted to go to the Inaugural Ball. Not because I cared for President Johnson; he was totally incidental to the glamour I yearned for.
Roger asked everyone he knew and one day came home waving a pair of prized Inaugural Ball tickets. My excitement fizzled fast: They cost $100.00 apiece! My thrifty nature, even my ethics, would never allow me to spend that kind of money on a ball.
But I still was dying to go. One day I read in the Washington Post that, to expedite traffic, suburbanites going to the Balls could park their cars and ride special buses into DC. And an idea grew. On January 20, 1965, I went to the beauty salon, had my hair done in a chignon, put on my wedding dress, which, minus the train, was a beautiful beaded sheath; and Roger, a musician, put on his work tuxedo. We kissed our babies goodbye, drove our Peugeot to the designated spot, and joined a cluster of other couples in formal dress. "They're going to find us out, they're going..." I said the entire bus ride downtown. "Yes, they will," Roger said, "if you keep talking so loud."
There were 3 or 4 balls that year, the President expected to make an appearance at each. We got off the bus at the Shoreham Hotel, site of the fanciest, swept into the lobby and staked out a central sofa.
All evening we sat on the sofa and watched the crowd; now and then we strolled around the lobby. Once I went into the Ladies Room where an elegant silver haired woman said, "I love your dress. Isn't it terrible in there? It's such a crush, you can't see anything." I smiled in commiseration, wondering if she was someone famous, maybe an ambassador's wife. After several thrilling hours, we ducked out a side entrance Roger knew from playing dance jobs there. And suddenly, walking up the driveway to that entrance was Lyndon Johnson. He, several secret service agents, Roger and I were the only people in the shadowy driveway. And, to my great surprise, I began clapping. I wasn't looking at a huge hulking 6'3" cowboy who paled next to the Kennedy Camelot myth. In the aura of office, Johnson was nine feet tall. He was the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. He smiled and nodded at us and vanished inside to a muffled Hail to the Chief.
We hopped on the bus to Bethesda, drove to the IHOP and, giddy in our fancy clothes, ate waffles, strawberries and ice cream.
Four years later on Inaugural Day, we watched a haggard haunted Lyndon Johnson on television standing next to Richard Nixon being sworn in. Although I never shouted, "Hey hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" I had vociferously protested the Vietnam War and Johnson, inextricably linked, but now the ceremony, all that had preceded it and what it presaged, and Johnson seemed profoundly sad. "He's like a Greek tragic hero," I said. "He could have been one of the greatest presidents in history, and he blew it with Vietnam hubris." The TV announcer said that a motorcade was taking Johnson to the home of his friend and former Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford. We didn't know Clifford, but knew he lived two blocks from us. "We have to go over there," I said. "This has to be a terrible day for him." We bundled up the kids and walked over. A lot of other people had the same idea.
We stood with our two toddlers in their yard, the baby in my arms, watching reporters trample Mrs. Clifford's prize azaleas. "He's coming!" buzzed through the crowd. A TV cameraman careened backwards up the sidewalk, shooting Johnson as he approached. "Watch out for that baby!" Johnson shouted. His hands on my shoulders, he looked into my eyes, and said, "Are you okay, Ma'am?" "Yes, Mr. President," I said.
So by fluke I saw Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president, close-up not on that first bloody day he took office but on his first elected day as President, and on his last day as President.
A lot of raised and thwarted hopes, angers, and despair cloaked as cynicism have passed since then. In 1972, I ran as a delegate for Shirley Chisholm for president, and worked for her at the convention in Miami. "Do I have enough votes to...?" she asked her chief assistant, Helen Butler. "Shirley," Helen said quietly, "you don't have enough votes to be elected dogcatcher of Miami Beach." It sounds like a funny remark, but it wasn't. She had 152 votes--28 she won; Hubert Humphrey released his 124 black delegates to her--and we had to beg McGovern workers for seats in the hall. This time around, I was for Hillary in the primaries, and still plan to see a woman in the White House in my lifetime. Secret service agents wield automatic rifles now--nobody will get as close to any president as I did to Johnson twice. My wedding dress with its train hooked on has been worn three more times by my daughters. Even if the dress still fit me, my appetite for glamour and celebrity and Inaugural Balls has long since diminished. But I packed my long underwear and flew cross-country to the Inauguration, though I knew I'd be watching it with less comfort and visibility than if we'd stayed home. You can see it or be there, someone said, and without hesitation we chose the latter.
In the late 60's and early 70's, before Cambodia and Kent State and Watergate eroded trust, there was a flash in time when it seemed as if the women's liberation movement, the civil rights movement, the anti war movement, gay liberation, free speech, the sexual revolution, and the ecological movement had coalesced into one giant movement, its spirit tremendous excitement, deep hope, and an unlimited sense of possibility. Those of us lucky enough to be involved in politics then knew, as we marched shoulder to shoulder down Pennsylvania Avenue past all the great monuments to freedom, held our children up to put lighted candles on the White House fence, that we were part of history as it was happening. On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama made history on top of all that other known and unknown history and, for the moment, there is again a spirit of possibility. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabrielle-burton/inauguration-second-time_b_160572.html | dclm-gs1-114740000 |
0.074022 | <urn:uuid:ca1cdd3f-2888-42d1-b697-d038d429f36f> | en | 0.963577 | Huffpost Impact
The Blog
Rick Ayers Headshot
Doctor for America to Debut This Fall
Posted: Updated:
Kopp scoffs at the idea that doctors need rigorous and extensive training. "Ninety percent of the things doctors do are routine. Computers spit out the data, you can Google the diagnosis. What's the big deal?" With the help from massive grants from the Gates and Broad Foundations, DFA has developed a series of protocols based on the statistics of health care challenges and appropriate interventions. "You have diabetes? We'll prescribe insulin. How much? Well, look at the test results and the weight of the patient, it's on the chart. No big deal."
What about surgery? "Hey, sometimes you have to use the ambulance personnel, emergency medical technicians, you know? They are pretty awesome. But for a lot of surgery... did you ever see those Civil War movies and those doctors working with saws and tourniquets? Awesome stuff." We will rely on a battery of tests to determine if patients are well and to evaluate how quickly the hospitals manage to move them out.
Doctor for America claims that medical schools provide very little value added to the ability of physicians to treat illness. Indeed, they find that doctors working in the poorest communities have the worst health outcomes, indicating that these doctors just don't care and are hanging on to their jobs.
Members of the American Medical Association have raised some objections to the DFA project but Kopp has dismissed them. "Why all the whining? They are just trying to protect their jobs. What has the AMA done for you lately? Actually, when you think about it, 100 percent of people end up dying. I would guess we can do better than that."
Analysts from Harvard University and the University of Chicago have concluded that market forces, rather than medical principles, are likely to do a better job in improving the health of Americans.
Kopp has further plans for after DFA. "Airline pilots. Think about it. They get that thing up there and the computers take over for 99 percent of the flight." | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-ayers-/doctor-for-america-to-deb_b_3559045.html | dclm-gs1-114770000 |
0.018311 | <urn:uuid:154c1b56-0e12-42cd-b6d6-ca37c7918438> | en | 0.981496 |
Girardi endures pain to anchor Rangers' back line
Dec. 4, 2011
Ironmen on ice
Entering Saturday night's game against the Lightning, Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi led the NHL in average ice time per game. Here's a look at the top five in that category:
• Dan Girardi, Rangers, 27:41
• Ryan Suter, Nashville, 26:48
• James Wisniewski, Columbus, 26:44
• Brian Campbell, Florida, 26:43
• Kris Letang, Pittsburgh, 26:11
Note: Only Wisniewski (18) had played fewer than 22 games.
Dan Girardi's address should be 5 Harm's Way.
Because that's where he lives, at least for the NHL-leading 27 minutes, 41 seconds he averages on the ice each game as one of the Rangers' most dependable defensemen.
"Oh my God," teammate Brian Boyle said.
"The bruises he's come in with some days, it's just balls of colors on his body. He never says a word about it, never complains about it. He knows that's what he does. We're accustomed to seeing it, and he knows he's got to keep doing it now because that's his game. But it's tough. It's a tough job."
Unimaginably tough, for most of us. How does a person fling himself into flying frozen pucks at such great risk and with such frequency?
Entering play this weekend, Girardi was eighth in the NHL in blocked shots this season, though only one of the seven in front of him had played fewer games. He led the entire league with 236 (almost four per game) last season, and he was leading in the playoffs (26 in five games) when the Rangers were eliminated.
Girardi is glad that his 20-month-old son is too young to notice when Daddy comes home with a fresh new facial welt or zipped-up scar — Landon Girardi is just happy that his father's home — and that wife Pamela just laughs in disbelief.
But it's as much a part of his game as skating or shooting or defending.
"In juniors I blocked some shots, and over the years it's kind of evolved," he said. "You get better at something every year. ... You learn different positions of the stick and body positions, and you learn something every year that will help you.
"It's tough. It's almost easier to not think about it, because you're going down in front of a slap shot, a one-timer slap shot coming at you. If you're thinking, 'Oh, what if it hits me in a bad spot?' — that's kind of when you're not in the right position. You just go out there and do it."
This has become the Rangers' identity during the past season and a quarter. A one-for-all, selfless, whatever-it-takes grinding bunch, night after night. Ryan Callahan earned the captain's "C" by embodying that identity with his physical play. So does Girardi, who has worn the alternate captain's "A" since his defense partner, All-Star Marc Staal, has been sidelined with concussion symptoms.
(Page 2 of 3)
That's why coach John Tortorella, referring to Girardi not being on the All-Star ballot, said the league has it all backward (his actual terminology was a bit more colorful) when it comes to promoting its players, inferring that those with a pedigree and/or marquee statistics and/or those who were high draft picks get better treatment than someone who, oh, was never even drafted.
Girardi was not drafted. He has probably been the Rangers' MVP to date, playing those monstrous minutes each night against the likes of league sweethearts Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin — without Staal.
Callahan was Girardi's junior teammate at Guelph in the Ontario Hockey League, and said he didn't really think about it when Girardi went undrafted.
"But looking back at it, I'm really surprised he wasn't drafted," Callahan said. "Those things happen. Some guys get looked over. The big story with him was he started out in the East Coast (League) and got himself an AHL deal and worked himself up, right through the system. It shows if you're persistent and you stick with it and you believe in yourself, you can make it.
"He sacrifices himself; he does whatever it takes to win; he grinds down low; he gets dirty. And that's what this team needs to be successful. And he's part of that young core that they talk about that we're trying to build up through."
Girardi's 27 now and in his fifth full NHL season, and sixth overall. He's missed exactly two games. He lost a streak of 330 consecutive games — 357 including playoffs — when he sat out two games with a rib-cage injury just before the All-Star break last season. He wanted to play, but he feared that if he began the game and twisted the wrong way, he'd "leave the guys stranded with five defensemen."
Girardi's performance in the Rangers' playoff elimination game last season in Washington nearly brought the hard-boiled Tortorella to tears. Girardi, already playing with the rib-cage injury and a hernia that would require surgery in the summer, blocked a shot that hobbled him early — he'd need X-rays after the game — and later suffered a horrifying injury to his finger, which was mangled.
(Page 3 of 3)
"You're just so amped up in the game, and our lives are on the line," Girardi said. "That was pretty gross, actually. The bone was through the skin, and it was pretty hard to look at. They kind of popped it back in, sewed it back up and taped my whole finger up (and froze it with an injection) and said, 'Do you want to give it a try?' Well, yeah, why not? It's already through the skin. It's not going to get any worse. It's a tough injury, but you've got to play through things."
And to think, there was a time two seasons ago when Girardi's courage was questioned. In a game in Philadelphia, he froze and made a mistake. Then-Flyers thug Daniel Carcillo had hunted down the Rangers' Marian Gaborik during a fracas. Girardi wasn't sure if he should jump in and risk being ejected and costing the Rangers a power play. He stayed out of it — the wrong decision.
"For the first couple of days, they showed a lot of highlights of it," Girardi said. "It was a weird situation. I wanted to go in, but I didn't want to get kicked out of the game. But I know now, if it happens again, I'll be the first one in there.
"No matter what, no matter what the score of the game, or what the time is, no matter what, I've got to go in and take care of business when it's one of your top guys. If it ever happens again, it's not going to turn out that way. That was kind of a low moment for me, getting some flack that maybe I was not brave enough or whatever. That hurt ... because I know that I'm not scared to do anything."
That sure has become obvious these last two seasons.
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0.046312 | <urn:uuid:883baf2a-b681-4881-9f8b-57c5f6fd97c2> | en | 0.854411 | Results for: americans+breathing+air
Easing embargo would boost Cuba's moribund economy
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0.06075 | <urn:uuid:b05bc9a7-ff92-4b28-bd79-46532ec56185> | en | 0.955066 | El Rey - The Wedding Present
Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critics
Critic score distribution:
1. Positive: 8 out of 15
2. Negative: 0 out of 15
1. Gedge and Albini is a match made in heaven, and El Rey is an excellent follow-up to one of their finest works together.
2. No matter how fraught or heartbroken these stories get, each is gifted with an indelible chorus, and even the few tracks of sort-of filler like 'Soup' are performed with enough verve and energy that El Rey zips by.
3. El Rey has its share of surprises, mostly in the vein of its particular subject, which is the cruelty older men visit on younger women, and vice versa. But mostly it's merely another Wedding Present record: witty, randy, guitar-heavy, and not quite satisfied.
4. The expert recordings and mixes on El Rey provide a marquee for these intimate investigations of the complex social and emotional landscape of Los Angeles to glow long into the night. [Summer 2008]
5. If you've been sticking by the group for long, you'll be rewarded by El Rey's brutal honesty, hard-won wisdom, and first-rate songcraft, and you'll relish the sound of a band trying to recapture a brilliant sound from their past and succeeding completely.
6. 70
He sounds too lecherously happy to reach the emotional depth of his best work, but for lessons in proto-Brit-rock, he remains a top authority. [June 2008, p.119]
7. Solidified by finally having a mostly established band, this record is less impressive than their pre-’90s work, but better than anything since 1994, and generally a welcome addition to their already established résumé.
8. It’s a mere change of scenery, then, that separates this from much of the Wedding Present’s canonical work; the scabrous schoolboy humor of their 1987 debut, "George Best," has become the scabrous, middle-aged cynicism of El Rey.
9. 60
No "George Best," perhaps, but a rugged, well-meaning Paul Scholes of a record nonetheless. [July 2008, p.100]
10. Though a certain battle weariness has set in, many songs lacking The Wedding Present's trademark guitar bluster of old, Gedge remains wry, dry and wholeheartedly likeable. [July 2008, p.111]
11. El is the kind of album you listen to once--and appreciate--but never really groove through with any regularity.
12. One for the fans, but it would be churlish to deny that the Wedding Present still have plenty to offer.
13. His guitar hooks are reliable enough on El Rey, the seventh all-new studio Wedding Present album (compilations and live discs abound), and Steve Albini engineers them vividly enough, but it's the words that fail him.
14. 40
Maybe it's not Albini's fault that El Rey lacks the melodic thrust of earlier projects, but this is wiry, unappealing fare. [July 2008, p.114]
15. Much of this album is leaden and lumbering, with the vocals mixed low (thanks, Albini) and gummy bass tugging at curtains of distortion, but there are shining exceptions.
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0.221478 | <urn:uuid:6571965b-f1d3-4ef6-a3ee-9658a5b7269f> | en | 0.932278 | print correct
A Bitch Is A Bitch Lyrics
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[Eazy E]
Oh shit. I guess there's one less bitch you gotta worry about.
Let's describe a certain female. A female with the disease of character
and attitude. If you will a snob. However in a view of NWA...
[Ice Cube]
A bitch is a bitch (bitch)
So if I'm poor or rich (word up)
I talk in the exact same pitch
Now the title bitch don't apply to all women
It's like a disease that's plagues their character
Takin' the women of America (yeah)
And it starts with a letter B
See, some get mad and some just bury
But, yo, if the shoe fits wear it (wear it)
It makes 'em go deaf in the ear
Are you the kind that think you're too damn fly?
Bitch eat shit 'n die (ha, ha)
Ice cube comin' at you at crazy pitch
(Why?) I think a bitch is a bitch
'Who the fuck you think you're callin' a bitch you little sorry muthafucka?
I dunno who the fuck you think you're talkin' to. Let me tell you one
muthafuckin' thang, I'm not a...' [Eazy E] 'Bitch, shut the fuck up.'
She look good and the bitch won't phony
She ain't no dummy she's right the ...
Yo, bitch fuck when I'm driving
See a young nigga that's striving
You're thru' without a BMW
That's why a bitch is a bitch
I guess, or ether P-M-S
Here, test the girl that's kinda snobby (a'ight)
And I bet you dis a nigga is her hobby
And after she finished the test
Write today a B-I-T-C-H
And watch her get mad 'cause she know it's true (she know it)
But a nigga like me, I say 'fuck you'
'Cause a bitch is a bitch
'Why I gonna be a bitch?'
'I ain't call you no bitch. If you'd listen to a goddamn song it'd tell
you what a bitch is.'
'Fuck the song 'cause I'm not no muthafuckin' bitch.'
'I didn't say you was a bitch.'
'Fuck you, punk-ass nigga!'
'Fuck you, bitch!
'Fuck you! Who the fuck you think you are?
'Fuck you! Suck my dick, bitch!
I once knew a bitch who got a slack
'Cause she playing me like she was all that
A bitch can be your best friend talking behind your back (yeah)
About who's fucking who and who's getting fat
Look at yourself for me, (look bitch)
Now do you fall in this category?
Or you're the kind that won't bleak
'Cause you don't think, yo, shit stinks
Luckily I haven't had a drink
'Cause I'll down you ass
Than I'll clown your ass
'Cause the niggas I hang with ain't rich (I ain't rich)
We're all saying 'Fuck you bitch!' (Word up!)
Now, what I can do with a hoe like you
Been your ass over then I'm thru'
? that you see Ice Cube ain't takin' no shit
(Why?) 'Cause I think a bitch is a bitch
There you have it. The description of a bitch. Now ask yourself,
are they talking about you? Are you that funky, dirty, money-hungry,
scandalous, stuck-up, hair piece contact wearing bitch? Yep, you
probably are.
print correct
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0.05886 | <urn:uuid:ca3b447a-6bbb-45d1-9276-19a4b8755b50> | en | 0.983522 | 'Gangster Squad''s Mickey Cohen: 9 Bizarre Facts About the Real-Life Gangster
Jan 11, 2013
Sean Penn's portrayal of real-life mobster Mickey Cohen in Gangster Squad is screamingly over-the-top. But so, too, was the man himself. Here are nine strange facts about Cohen that didn't make it into the movie—and their absence makes Penn's acting job look downright understated.
Back when Mickey Cohen was still a 20-year-old featherweight boxer, he went down to Tijuana to fight a guy named Carpenter in front of a bunch of mob bosses Cohen was determined to impress. He was the better fighter, but Carpenter was a workhorse who wouldn't stay down even when Cohen socked him good. After the sixth time Carpenter picked himself up off the mat, Mickey attacked. As he described it later, “I finally got so upset by his not staying down that I jump in and start biting his ear off. So help me, I got it nearly bitten off before the referee can pry us apart. My opponent runs around hollerin' with a glove over his bloody ear. The referee hangs on to me, 'You got him dead! What do you want to do—eat him?'”
Sean Penn could make a sweat sock look brilliant and charismatic, but the real-life Cohen wasn't nearly as compelling on first glance. Unlike handsome Bugsy Siegel or Arnold “The Brain” Rothstein, the fixer behind the 1919 White Sox scandal who reportedly had an IQ of 150, Mickey Cohen wasn't much to look at or talk to. Barely 5'4” and overweight, Cohen had five missing teeth, a scar under each eye, and an addiction to platform shoes. Most people described him as “simian.” LAPD Police Chief Parker went further: “He is essentially stupid. He is heavyset and heavy-browed and quite ignorant.”
Though Cohen was a hustler from an early age—he started on the streets when he was three—he didn't have a firm grasp on reading or math until his 30s. In fact, he was so bad at numbers, when he had to divide a score between his fellow crooks, he'd arrange the cash by dollar amount and pass out the bills one at a time in a circle. Years later, Cohen hired a tutor to improve his vocabulary and boasted to the media that he was reading War and Peace. When his friend's wife asked to borrow his copy, he told her he never intended to open the book but wasn't going to let her have it for long. “I got a war and peace of my own to worry about. Why should I worry about Tolstoy's troubles?” he said. “I want it back 'cause it leaves a hole on the shelf when it's gone. It matches the color of them other books.”
Even as a teenager, Cohen immediately reinvested his little swindles in improving his image. If he stole $100 in the morning, that afternoon he'd buy two $50 hats. Eventually, he bought himself a $20,000 wardrobe complete with 1,500 pairs of socks and 50 pairs of $50 silk pajamas. He had his underwear embroidered with his initials and stitched “Mickey” in blue thread on his shirt pockets. He needed variety—he'd change clothes up to five times a day.
Cohen's grooming ritual was elaborate. First, a hot shower of no less than one hour, during which he'd use a whole bar of Cashmere Pink Bouquet soap. He didn't want to scratch his skin with fabric, so he'd blanket the bathroom floor in a fresh carpet of towels and airdry his body by running back and forth and dusting himself with baby powder. Slicking back his hair took another hour, and by the time he finally got his shoes on, he'd have to rewash his hands several times to make up for touching something unclean. Naturally, he was late for everything. Not only was Cohen four hours late for his first date with future wife LaVonne, a high-class redhead who inspired Emma Stone's character in Gangster Squad, he was even late for his own wedding. As a sidenote, his best man was William “Stumpy” Zevon, father of quirky '70s musician Warren Zevon.
Cohen's mania for washing his hands was actually full on obsessive-compulsive, though that lingo wasn't around at the time. He traced his fixation on feeling clean back to his days of being a paperboy when his hands were constantly stained with ink. Every morning, he'd make his assistants trade out the used money in his cash wad for fresh bills, and while in prison, he had the guards smuggle him in six rolls of toilet paper a day. Worse, as a teenager, he contracted gonorrhea before there was an antibiotic cure, so his physical repulsion to germs extended even to women. Though he dated burlesque tarts like Candy Barr and Beverly Hills, they'd rarely kiss, and at brothels, he'd never sit down in a chair.
For most people, such extreme OCD would have wrecked their lives. But for Cohen, it saved his. During his bloody gang wars with rival Jack Dragna, his acquaintance Jimmy Frattiano set him up for a hit at the clothing store Cohen used for a front. Frattiano and his family strolled in, said their hellos to Cohen, then walked out and gave the signal to assassins who shot up the joint through the window. Cohen's top lieutenant Hinky Rothman was killed, but Mickey was fine—after Frattiano shook his hand good-bye and left, Cohen had immediately run to the bathroom to wash away the germs.
Sure, Cohen trafficked in booze, but he didn't partake. As an eight-year-old aspiring bootlegger who hung around poolhalls, he tried cigarettes and alcohol early and hated them both. Even as an adult, he shunned smoking or drinking because he didn't enjoy the taste.
But what he did love was sweets. His second arrest at age nine was for stealing a whole crate of Abba Zabbas. As an adult, when ice cream stores were closed, he'd pound on the door and offer to buy a whole tub of chocolate or rum raisin. He lived on French pastries, and when he got rich enough to build his dream home in Brentwood, he installed a soda fountain and a special freezer just for ice cream. While in prison, he bribed the officers to let him import cakes and cookies from his personal chef, which caused a minor scandal that forced the warden to insist that Cohen wasn't the only prisoner with access to ice cream. And when he was released, he concocted the perfect front for his illegal operations: He launched the Carousel Ice Cream Parlor in Brentwood.
Mickey was a publicity hound who got in good with newspaper men early. By eight, he'd convinced the city editor of the Los Angeles Examiner to let him sleep in the bathroom so he could be the first on the block with copies of the early edition. He was well connected at the studios, especially with Columbia boss Harry Cohn, who put up with him and Bugsy controlling all the extras in Hollywood and setting up “insurance businesses” as shakedowns to keep sets under control. And the execs would ask favors in return, like when they had Cohen smooth over a union fight between the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Conference of Studio Unions, who were throwing bricks at each other outside MGM and Warner Bros.
Later, Cohn sent Mickey out to Vegas to convince Sammy Davis Jr. to dump Kim Novak before he ruined her career. Cohen rankled at the racism, but did the favor to save Sammy's life before he got whacked, which was a legitimate threat. It wasn't the first or last time he waded into the love lives of the stars. Cohen had a string of male studs he used to seduce starlets for his own blackmail use and for stag videos he'd sell coast to coast. Rumor is his goons Sam LoCigno and Georgie Piscitelle filmed themselves with Marilyn Monroe, which Cohen then threatened her with unless she reported back on JFK's opinions on supporting the Israeli state. He's also alleged to have set Lana Turner up with abusive meathead Johnny Stompanato, and sold copies of their sex tape for $50 a pop. Though he even gave Stompanato $900 to buy her daughter Cheryl a pony, when Cheryl later stabbed Stompanato to death, Cohen lamented her acquittal in the newspapers—though he tastefully referred to the dead man as merely his “bodyguard.”
Johnny Stompanato wasn't Mickey's weirdest buddy. In 1950, then-House Representative Richard Nixon ran a nasty, anti-Semitic campaign against standing Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas, funded in part by Mickey Cohen and his pals. Cohen lent Nixon an office on 8th and Olive in downtown L.A., covered all his printing materials, and even threw him a lavish fundraiser at the Knickerbocker Hotel. When his dinner recouped only $55,000—$20,000 short of his goal—Mickey locked all the doors and said, “Nobody's going home until this quota's met.” It soon was. Why would a Jewish mobster with no interest in politics align himself with a largely unknown candidate? In the two years after Nixon's successful bid, his campaign manager was the legal defender for 221 mob cases, most of which ended in light fines or suspended sentences. After Nixon ascended to the presidency, a then-incarcerated Cohen felt abandoned, grumbling, “I never had no idea this Nixon guy could go anywhere.”
Even weirder was Cohen's mutually beneficial relationship with preacher Billy Graham. After Cohen's first stint in jail, he befriended the then-young evangelist to rehabilitate his image. For Graham, it was great publicity. “I explained to Mickey, as simply and forthrightly as I could, the gospel from A to Z,” he told the press, going on to offer Cohen $15,000 just for showing up at one of his religious rallies at Madison Square Garden. Cohen went, but Graham stiffed him $5,000. Later, Cohen loudly assured everyone who would listen that the Jewish former boxer who'd fought with a Star of David on his shorts had never seriously considered becoming a Christian, even going so far as to speak out about it during a live interview with Mike Wallace in 1957.
Naturally, Mickey Cohen was also friends with William Randolph Hearst. The newspaper magnate had known of L.A.'s most famous hustler for years, but Cohen finally got on his good side in 1949 after he waged a protracted battle to save a widow from foreclosure. Touched, Hearst asked his papers to watch language when talking about Cohen, saying, “A man who does a thing like this isn't a hoodlum. You can call him a gambler, but I wish you'd see that he gets a fair break.”
Twenty-five years later son Randolph Hearst reached out to Cohen to see if he could use his underworld connections to try to find his kidnapped daughter Patty, who had by this point been brainwashed by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Cohen tracked her down to Cleveland—or at least, he said he did—but upon hearing that Patty would likely be arrested and sentenced to decades in jail, he backed out of the deal, telling Hearst, “I don't bring nobody in to go to prison.”
In reality, Mickey Cohen lived a long and mostly happy life. He survived 12 assassination attempts and two stints in prison (he and Al Capone are the only two tax invaders ever sent to Alcatraz), and still managed to die peacefully in his sleep in a posh Los Angeles apartment in 1976 at the age of 62. He's interred in a mausoleum at the Hillside Cemetery in Culver City between Moe Howard and Jack Benny.
Works Cited Above:
Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster: The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen, by Brad Lewis (2007)
Follow along on Twitter @TheAmyNicholson and @Moviesdotcom.
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The Burning Question
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0.135249 | <urn:uuid:9ee3a4da-4fc4-41f4-8fa1-adafcab9d5e3> | en | 0.975443 | Childcare costs survey - the results
(77 Posts)
RebeccaMumsnet (MNHQ) Tue 26-Jun-12 08:11:18
Thanks to all those who completed our recent survey on childcare costs.
As you might have seen we've published the results today following swiftly on from David Cameron announcing a commission into the cost of childcare costs last week.
We'll be forwarding the results on to the childcare commission - so do let us know what you think.
throckenholt Tue 26-Jun-12 08:15:40
Your link gives me a
"Sorry, that page does not exist on" message sad
HeadsShouldersKneesandToes Tue 26-Jun-12 08:16:06
"Sorry, that page does not exist on" - is it possible the page is still visible to MNHQ only?
RebeccaMumsnet (MNHQ) Tue 26-Jun-12 08:17:37
Sorry therockenholt - try again now.
throckenholt Tue 26-Jun-12 09:32:42
works now smile
bizzyizzie Tue 26-Jun-12 10:00:34
I am a regestered childminder, I really try hard not to charge too much, anything over 160 a week sounds a bit greedy to me, I realise I get asked for long hours at times, and that can push the money up. I would say 160 per week for 50 hours a week, Is that too much do you think? Maybe childminders should not have to pay tax and for inspections and first aid so they could charge less or something.
purpleroses Tue 26-Jun-12 10:25:53
Don't know why they don't just reduce the age limit from 5 to 4 for determining staff ratios for childminders or nurseries. When my DD was 4 it was a complete pain finding childcare in the school holidays as providers wouldn't take her because of the higher staff ratios needed for under 5s - yet she was a school in a class of 30!
This would help make childcare cheaper, but still preserve the high staff ratios that are needed for toddlers.
MN didn't offer us the option of chaning the age limit in the survey, you just had to say yes or no to lower staff ratios for under 5s, but a 18 month old is a very different creature from a 4 year old.
lollystix Tue 26-Jun-12 10:26:12
Cost of Childcare was actually a motivating factor for DH and I to leave the country this spring. We had 3 small kids and no. 4 came along as a surpirse. I couldn't make the sums add up in terms of childcare and paying the rent on a 2 bed flat in a capital city for the next couple of years. I know it was my choice to have 4 kids btw before I get flamed.
So DH earned around £35-£40K for 5 days (in reality about a 55 hour week). I earned £38K on 4 days (with overtime after kids in bed around 35-40 hour week). We were higher rate tax payers and didn't qualify for any tax credits. With 3 at nursery for 4 days we were paying around £1800 a month but were getting the full childcare vouchers from both employers of £110 a week and the 12 free hours on DS1 and 2. If either of us moved employer we would lose the £55 childcare vouchers and go down to £28 a week (I think) due to the April 2011 changes to the vouchers for higher rate tax payers. DS1 hit school and we got some respite but with DS4 arriving I could see we were heading for £2100 a month with 3 at nursery and 1 at school in wrap around care. This meant I was would be working up to a 40 hour week for around £400 a month until DS3 turned 3 and DS2 hit school. I couldnt afford not to work as we couldn't afford to live on DHs salary alone plus I wanted to work.
So we've moved to NZ for a couple of years with DHs work. DH earns around the same and I have taken a 5 days a week role for £10K more thasn I was on in the UK. We get 20 free hours for over 3's and nannies are cheaper so we have a registered nanny for 50 hours for around £9 an hour. I now pay around £1800 for 5 days of cover so £300 less and I take home the extra £10K a year. Otherwise living costs are the same so we intend on staying until all our littlies are up to school age.
duchesse Tue 26-Jun-12 10:42:32
I completed that survey. Unfortunately there was not space to mention that I am moving to France in September for 4 months, where DD3, who will be just 3 by then, will attend the nursery of private school at a cost of 20 euros a month. The hours are 9-4 for the 20 euros, but she can go 8-6 for a small extra cost (6 euros a day) if I choose or need her to, they will serve her meals and have a room for sleeping, and cover the full french nursery curriculum from age 3 to 6. That's what we need in Britain.
I believe that the fragmented childcare that most parents have to juggle (unless one is earning enough for a full-time day nursery or excellent nanny) is stressful and disruptive to family life and to the child. Much better if the parents both work full-time, that the child goes to the same place every day, where they can really settle in.
15 hours a week in a playgroup is practically useless to working parents, if they have to rush back at lunchtime several times a week to collect their child, or arrange for a childminder or granny or friend to collect them after their free hours. Many playgroups only run in the mornings here, or a limited number of days a week.
JugglingWithTangentialOranges Tue 26-Jun-12 10:45:10
Excellent point about how a 4 year old is very different to an 18mth old (or a baby) purple roses.
Also, obviously more should be done to help childminders as bizzyizzie suggests - such as government take them out of tax, not charge for inspections shock, offer free courses such as first aid (especially where they are compulsory)
Then as bizzy says many childminders will be able to pass such benefits on to parents. Childminders should get a better deal for the amazing and valuable work they do in any case imho.
JugglingWithTangentialOranges Tue 26-Jun-12 10:50:17
Also agree with duchesse many other countries such as the Scandinavian ones, and it seems France, have much better models of how to provide education and care for the under 5's, which also enables parents to work, and supports family life, and builds a strong society both now and in future generations.
Really, it's a no-brainer as they say !
I think the 4yo point purpleroses made is excellent. MNHQ should have added that as an option. I wouldn't want a childminder looking after more than 3 toddlers/babies at a time. But a 4 year old who have started school is so completely different.
TantieTowie Tue 26-Jun-12 12:03:24
I'm self-employed and, since the limits changed, don't get working tax credits anymore. It would make such a difference to be able to write my childcare costs (c £600/pm for three short nursery days) off against tax. This is the single cost I have to pay in order to work and at the moment it's really hard. As I understand it, if I had a chauffeur I would be able to write that cost off, but I can't childcare costs. That's mad and, I think, has to change.
TantieTowie Tue 26-Jun-12 12:04:13
Just to add that by short, I mean 8.30am-4pm (fits in with school hours of DC1).
Tee2072 Tue 26-Jun-12 12:35:47
I am also self-employed and agree with Tantie. My business isn't nearly as successful as it could be as I can't afford to have my son in daycare fulltime.
If I could write off the cost of daycare, even if it's just the amount above what my husband gets taken off his wages for Childcare Vouchers (which is about half the cost of my son's 3 full days a week), I could put him in for more hours.
This is easing up some in September when he gets his 15 free hours, but, to be honest, 3 hours a day doesn't do much for me. We have a childminder lined up for 2 pick ups and keeps for the afternoon, but it would be nice to write off her amount as well!
I think childcare subsidies should go direct to providers, so parents aren't so reliant on tax credits (which are invariably delayed or incorrect) and to reduce the nominal cost of childcare so it "feels" worth working once childcare costs are compared to the lower wage earners income.
There needs to be better provision for school holiday care, or better leave for parents of school aged children, as currently it doesn't add up (4 weeks a/l, 13 weeks school holidays) and holiday clubs are often hard to get to without a car and run hours shorter than school (typically 10.30-3).
JugglingWithTangentialOranges Tue 26-Jun-12 13:48:18
Well done Katie MN - Just seen you on ITV lunch-time news.
See, I'm not always on here wink
JugglingWithTangentialOranges Tue 26-Jun-12 13:52:11
Liked how you finished with call to look at "big ideas" in this area - and not just "tinkering around the edges" smile
Want2bSupermum Tue 26-Jun-12 14:07:31
If this government are serious about the advancement of women then they need to bring in changes that allow women to continue working. I think the best way to help all women and families is to change the tax laws so childcare is fully deductible. DD is in daycare for 11 hours a day (7am-6pm) and DH is the one who has had to cut back his hours to pick up DD because I am required to work until 9-10pm for much of the year. Yes I am in the US but the hours are not all that different in the UK. If we were in the UK a nanny would be needed but the cost of one is more than my take home salary after tax.
Another reason for allowing childcare to be fully deductible is that it would eliminate double taxation. A mother pays tax on her income and then pays a childminder/nanny who then pays tax on their income. Both the mother and childminder/nanny are paying NI and taxes. It isn't like where corporations pay tax on income after these expenses, although they do pay taxes on payroll (which are not as high as the taxes paid by the employee).
LittleCatZ Tue 26-Jun-12 14:45:05
Completely agree with annual leave versus holiday cover - plus no employer I know will entertain a request for a term time contract any more. It amazes me when I hear how well organised other countries seem to be compared to the UK and I do agree that it benefits society as a whole.
DH and I will be managing the reception year holidays by having just a few days off at the same time sad We have used every possible hour of leave in splitting all the school holidays, TD days and school events to try to be as involved as we can for our oldest in reception year. Holiday clubs just feel a bit too soon for DS1 as he will be just 5 this summer and the hours are limited in our area for our long work days (we work our hours in 4 days to be with our children at more than just the weekends).
I'm incredibly lucky as DH works his hours in 4 days too, which makes it financially worth me bothering to work (in a profession where you have to keep your hand in/knowledge up to be useful). We have 3 days childcare costs. I think I earn what most would consider a good wage but 4 days nursery, plus breakfast club and after school costs for 4 days, plus having to find summer holiday cover... it's better if I don't think about how little of what I earn would be left over.
Both DH and I have compromised our careers (willingly and hopefully temporarily) for our DC and a key reason is the cost, flexibility and quality of childcare. I try to feel smug that I'm paying less in tax grin as well as the obvious joys of more time with DC and having a day off each week smile.
LittleCatZ Tue 26-Jun-12 14:54:16
I feel strongly that any childcare improvements should be available to both mums and dads/carers of any type (e.g. Foster carers, grandparents etc). This would help women in getting jobs as men are equally able to request the same - I love the idea of men being able to take more paid Paternity leave, as an example.
When the time is right to pursue a career move, I've no idea if DH or I will need to work more days or travel. It will depend what opportunities come up.
WantAnOrange Tue 26-Jun-12 16:14:26
It would help to pay Tax credits directly to the provider. I can't remember the exact figure but a lot of money is claimed from tax credits for childcare that is not actually being used. Paying providers directly would mean that this fraud is not longer possible (by parents that is). All a parent needs to claim the childcare element is my Ofsted number, I've only ever had one actually be checked up on.
This would prevent fraud, saving money in the first place, and the money that is spent on childcare will all be going to the provider enabling them to pass on the benefits to the children (i.e. money well spent).
Agree with providing free training that is compulsery (like child protection and first aid). Our tax allowences (as a childminder) are actually pretty fair, but any breaks we get and any funding helps me keep my costs down.
It's not a nice feeling as a child minder to know that my mindees parents are struggling to pay my fees, yet I cannot afford to charge less. I know some childminders who aren't bothered by this but I want to offer a good quality service that people can actually afford.
A fair hourly rate for the 15hours free entitlement would help massively. If I got a decent amount for children during those hours I would not have to make up the gap by charging more for my hourly rate. £3.73 per hour before expenses is not enough. Can't imagine David Cameron working for that! Why is good enough for the people who take care of our most important little people?
funnyperson Tue 26-Jun-12 17:04:32
How many responded to your survey?
duchesse Tue 26-Jun-12 17:25:54
Orange, I don't understand. Round here, day nurseries charge the parents around £3.60/hour. They seem to be able to make a profit on that whilst respecting staffing ratios.
You're not actually working for £3.80/hour if you have more than one child to look after! More like £7.60 or £11.40 or £15.20 depending the number of children you have. Hardly any jobs around here (Devon) pay more than £10/hour, most are more in the £7-8 region.
BoffinMum Tue 26-Jun-12 18:14:44
As an employer of a nanny (periodically) I think it's inappropriate that things like payroll and other red tape expenses that relate directly to her employment are not tax deductible for me, but they are for a company or other organisation, as they can be set against profits in such instances. It also beggars belief that we have to pay employers' National Insurance, a kind of fine for being an employer, which is more or less equal to the amount we get back in childcare vouchers, so the cost of the nanny is not offset at all. For those of us in areas when nurseries and childminders are all but non existent, nannies are about the only childcare we can access yet this seems to penalise us very harshly.
restassured Tue 26-Jun-12 18:28:37
Goodness Duchesse, where are you??!! I'm in North Hampshire and dd's day nursery charges £5.10 an hour!!
lowfatiscrap12 Tue 26-Jun-12 19:06:27
it still doesn't solve the issue of what to do with older children. I've got a twelve year old. What do I do with her for 3 full days during the summer holidays, since holiday clubs stop at age 12? Leave her alone in the house all day?
PaulaMummyKnowsBest Tue 26-Jun-12 19:14:47
where I am, day nurseries are £65 a day or £10 per hour!
(I am in St Albans, Herts)
Childcare is expensive but childcarers need to earn a living too
duchesse Tue 26-Jun-12 19:18:54
Devon. Standard charge around here. Since most people around here are on a low wage they could be waiting a long for customers at £10/hour. That's just silly money. £30/hour after tax if you have 3 children. Quite mad. Average wage here is something like £23000/year.
BoffinMum Tue 26-Jun-12 20:00:38
My employer sent a long winded email to us today whittering on about how important it was to pay £7.20 an hour to people as that was the least they could live on. Which was why it was trying to avoid giving the rest of us a pay rise.
Ironic. After commuting costs and childcare I am lucky to make £1.50 an hour.
Go figure.
JugglingWithTangentialOranges Tue 26-Jun-12 20:24:53
I do think the owners of nurseries must be making a lot of money, charging parents so much, and paying staff so little. (I do realise there are some costs involved, but even so) Not fair on the parents or the people that do the caring for the children sad
ceeveebee Tue 26-Jun-12 20:54:09
I have 7mo twins and am currently trying to negotiate part time hours to return to work in November. The nearest nursery to me charges £85 per day per child, which for full time would cost around £42,000 per year out of post-tax salary. There are cheaper nurseries but not found anything under £70 per day. Childminders around here charge £65 per day but will struggle to find one with two vacancies. So I am forced to get a nanny which will be the cheapest option. I would prefer a nursery or childminder so that they get more interaction with other children and (later) some structure in their early years, but cannot afford this.
When answering the questionnaire I raised the idea of state run nurseries similar to the crèche system in France. I don't understand why state run nurseries in the UK don't start until 3 years old and don't cater for working parents.
lollystix Tue 26-Jun-12 21:02:25
Yes it's bizarre - when I've looked into state run nurseries when on mat leave they operate silly hours like 9.15 to 11.30. So you drop kid there, get home for say 9.45. Sort out house and get baby down for sleep. Sort out more house crap, get baby up and fed and then back to pick up kid. All lovely if you are not working but of FA use to working folk unless you have nanny or childminder so you're back to square 1.
PaulaMummyKnowsBest Tue 26-Jun-12 21:10:57
ceeveebee ...... where are you? That is very expensive
ceeveebee Tue 26-Jun-12 21:30:12
SW London. It's a total killer!
tiggersreturn Tue 26-Jun-12 21:38:02
Completely agree. The system is designed to encourage women not to work. I have ds aged 5 and dts aged 10 months. Nanny is the only option for us as in order to get ds to and from school and cover school holidays I need a nanny. There are no cms who do pick up or drop off at his school. There is no before or after school club. Even if I could put the babies in nursery I'd still need a solution to that and there are none. After childcare and commuting I take back a lovely £2.68 ph from a really high earning job. It's just laughable.
And what are the cheaper options? An au pair where you might strike it lucky or receive one who sends you a text saying "your 3 year old is asleep in the cot and I'm in a taxi on the way to the airport. Get back as soon as you can."?
But unemployed women are good for the government aren't they? They can't claim jobseekers' benefit as there's no way for them to jobseek. They don't claim maternity benefits or sick pay as they're not working and they're not competing with all those men for jobs so you solve the unemployment problem. Is this why they cut the childcare vouchers?
duchesse Tue 26-Jun-12 21:54:51
Ah yes Boffin, but you get to keep the children afterwards. grin What you keep them with is more relevant.
canuck43 Tue 26-Jun-12 22:00:20
lollystix, years and years ago we use to have state run nurseries taking children from 6 weeks old, open from 7.30am-6pm. Not sure of the cost.
In my spare time, agree with what you say about the tax credits not going to parents. In Mexico where our son and family live if you are a working mother and pay social security (like our N.I.) child care is free. Our granddaughter was in a well run safe and secure nursery, run by qualified staff. Is this the way to go.
purpleroses Tue 26-Jun-12 22:01:54
Can't believe how much people in London or near say they're paying for childcare. Surely it would be best to become a childminder - if you could charge £10/hour for 3 kids, plus some after school pick ups you could easily be making £300 a day shock
ceeveebee Tue 26-Jun-12 22:10:12
Yes but I would be rubbish at looking after other people's kids, I can barely manage my own two! But you're right and worth thinking about...
holleyshiftwell Tue 26-Jun-12 22:11:01
I have found school hours very hard to work around. There is no breakfast club at DD's school and the school gates are not opened until 8:40am. How anyone is supposed to drop off their child and then get to work for 9am is beyond me, unless their workplace is within a five minute walk of school! The after-school club is completely oversubscribed so they share it out and DD has been allocated one day a week until 5:30pm. I have contacted every childminder in our area and not one is either willing or able to do afternoon school pick-ups and look after her until the end of the working day.
So my only options are au pair or nanny. I can't afford a nanny (would make a loss) and we live in a tiny house with nowhere to put an au pair!!
So I can only work from 9:15 until 2:45, which hugely limits the range and nature of jobs I can get. And that is before even thinking about childcare for DS aged 3.... or the school holidays....
School schedules do not match work schedules - the current system was developed when almost all mums were stay at home mums. And until there is a better match between the two then it's going to continue to be difficult for parents who both need to work.
Diane456 Tue 26-Jun-12 23:10:30
I gave up my job and registered as a childminder. Once my second child was born, I realised that I would be in the red if I went back to work. As women are more often than not the primary carers, I feel that it is women who are priced out of jobs by expensive childcare.
BoffinMum Tue 26-Jun-12 23:44:44
I honestly fail to understand why, given that we are in the middle of a financial nightmare nationally, that a national network of state run nurseries isn't established. After all, there is effectively a war on, as they say, and we are all needed at work, FFS. How hard can it chuffing well be for this country to achieve economy of scale and a professional setup for all this??? Instead of making every woman in the chuffing country chase her tail trying to make it all work. FFS. angry
duchesse Wed 27-Jun-12 00:00:01
Just give up all hope of paid work and run the Big Society instead, Boffin. You know it makes sense. Women, know your place!
montmartre Wed 27-Jun-12 01:04:25
Indeed- they need women to leave the workplace so that all men can be employed hmm
lollystix Wed 27-Jun-12 06:19:52
Couldn't agree more. Can't help thinking Cameron wanted us all back in the kitchen making Jam.
flubba Wed 27-Jun-12 06:57:03
I'm also SW London, and with three kids under the age of 5, I couldn't afford to go back to work after the birth of my 3rd, as I calculated needing to earn at least £37k to cover childcare costs (and that was with one in school!), but as a teacher my hours couldn't be flexible during term time, so we would have needed childcare before and after school every time.
Shocking really, this childcare situation so many people are finding themselves in.
lollystix Wed 27-Jun-12 07:34:21
It's like there's no template in the UK for family life. Everyone is just struggling along trying to do what they can to get through the years with LOs until they hit school (and that in itself brings more care issues) and relying often upon grandparents to step up. And then we all bash each other about our choices to be SAHMs or go to work and often they aren't choices. It's completely unsatisfactory and I think the government couldn't give a shit tbh.
Cokeaholic Wed 27-Jun-12 10:02:05
I'm shocked at people's lack of grasp of reality !
47% said that Employers should contribute more to childcare costs shock
Come on folks, how the hell will this enable parents to return to the workplace, get jobs etc when it is cheaper to employ someone without children because as amployer you don't then have any contribution to make towards childcare costs.
Did people switch of their social conscience and think only of themselves and their own situation when responding to the survey ?
In the long run, say 10-20 years from now when the economy has recovered I'd like to see childcare costs tax deductible in full at an approved rate per hour but only to cover the number of hours worked. This could be done via payroll but with the taxpayer and not the employer responsible for any fraud.
BoffinMum Wed 27-Jun-12 10:37:25
I would like to see a situation where home based childcare was the norm for children between 0-2.5, and this was tax deductible or even refundable according to a set of banded pay scales and rates (metropolitan areas, urban/suburban areas, rural areas, remote areas). This would deal with the whole gross pay/net pay nonsense in one fell swoop, and also standardise what was available. I would ditch the OFSTED approved childcarer stuff (as it is effectively meaningless in terms of children's development and the actual quality of care) and only inspect childcarers for 'elf n' safety. So anyone running a childcare business, passing the 'elf n' safety checks, and paying tax would be able to join the scheme. All childcarers providing home based care should be self-employed so parents do not have to manage payroll etc on top of everything else they have to do, and so they can deduct transport and equipment costs from their tax payments.
Childcarers taking their own children to work would face a reduction in pay in proportion to the number of children they were caring for, so if there were three children altogether and one was the childcarer's, they would face a reduction of 33 1/3% in the official rate (gets around the Spanish practices that go on where childcarers are able to work for a full salary and yet effectively get free childcare for their own children at someone else's expense, where the employers' children are experiencing reduced contact time).
Then children would move to nursery or some form of group childcare from the age of about 2.5, depending on when parents thought they were ready. This would also be tax deductible and heavily subsidised as well, so parents weren't paying more than abut 10% of their take home pay per child. Workers in specific key industries would have anti-social hours payments specifically for additional childcare costs, which would allow them to have some out of hours home based childcare as required (I am thinking of doctors, nurses, fire fighters, police and that sort of thing, as well as shift workers and air crew, to name a few examples).
In terms of school aged children (4.5 to 16), they should be cared for in school and any child requiring a place should be entitled to one. However the model for out of school care should be as domesticated as possible, with children being able to change into home clothes, have food and drink when they like, call staff by first names and generally have a more relaxed environment than during the school day. Again, no parent should spend more than 10% of take home pay per child.
ceeveebee Wed 27-Jun-12 11:20:16
Boffin you make some good points, however I personally think a state run crèche from 3-6 months would be a better solution. It works very well in France. Children become socialised from an early age, parents are fully supported in returning to work, the crèche workers are qualified and regulated, and it is far more efficient (therefore cost effective) to have all children attending a crèche than to have nannies in everyone's home.
ceeveebee Wed 27-Jun-12 11:21:14
When I say 3-6 months I mean this as the starting age, to be attended until starting school.
Strix Wed 27-Jun-12 13:27:44
Disappointed to see I missed an opportunity to respond to this survey. But, now, I am marking place to come back later.... Just have to go find my soapbox...
I want all of the income which I use to pay for childcare (which is in fact incurred for the sole purpose of going to work) to be tax deductible. That is every penny I spend on childcare should not insure any income tax/ ni from me. Fine for my employer to still pay, and fine my nanny (if i had one) to still pay her income tax / ni.
More later... Must go earn some tax to pay.
Strix Wed 27-Jun-12 13:29:30
Ps totally opposed to state run crèche. They can't run anything else we put them in charge of. Hands off my kids' early years!
Rubirosa Wed 27-Jun-12 14:26:15
There are already lots of state run nurseries, and they provide excellent care (better than private nurseries in general). They take babies and are open 8am-6pm, but are not any cheaper than private nurseries. In my city they are around £45 a day, most nurseries are £40-£50.
WantAnOrange Wed 27-Jun-12 14:43:08
I know I'm a couple of pages behind now but I wanted to answer Duchesses question.
£3.60/hour (per child) is not what I earn in wages. It's my gross income. From that I have to take out all my expenses (premesis, gas, electric, water, council tax, food, travel, outings, toys and resources, cleaning supplies, toiletries, training costs, Ofsted fees and insurance).
I could earn a fair wage easier if I stayed at home all day and did nothing but I offer quality childcare. We go out everyday. I provide all food. My fees are all inclusive.
So my actual wage at the end of the day is considerably less than £3.60/hour/child.
Also, the £3.60 is the same rate whereever you go in the country, but this does not reflect childcare costs. Most nurseries in my area charge around £4.20/hour. I don't know how they could get round this and still be fair tbh.
Want2bSupermum Wed 27-Jun-12 15:04:03
I think state run nurseries are not ideal. So many on here complain about state schools so I can't imagine the uproar about private vs state nurseries. I also think small groups work better for young children. DD is in a small class of between 4-12 children age 3-24 months depending on the day. When we were looking, a local daycare they had 33 6wk - 18 month babies in one room. It was too much and I know a couple of the babies who attend that nursery. Those kids get ill a lot more than DD does and there have been more incidents. Personally I don't think there should be more than 16 in a class with a ratio of staff to babies of 4:1. In the name of cost I fear that state run nurseries would result in bigger classes.
Overall, I do think that the UK needs to think very hard about where they stand when it comes to supporting a family. This isn't about supporting the parents so much as supporting the development of the children. It is vital that our children turn out to be productive members of society. I currently live in the US and there is much more support here through the tax system, state programs and community charity for families with children compared to the UK.
Rubirosa Wed 27-Jun-12 15:08:52
Want2bSupermum - the ratio of under 2s is 1:3, 2-3s is 1:4. In the state nurseries I know of, the group size in under 2s rooms has been 6-9, and in 2-3s 12-16.
nannynick Wed 27-Jun-12 19:05:34
What question was asked which resulted in the finding
20% want a childminder to be only able to care for two children under age 5? Really? That's hardly going to help reduce costs.
Twit Wed 27-Jun-12 20:10:32
What about opening schools all year round? Teachers & kids could take the same amount of holiday per year as parents. Also School hours have to be longer than average work hours so that we have a chance to get a decent shot at a decent job.
Want2bSupermum Wed 27-Jun-12 20:28:47
Ruby My fear is that if care for preschool children becomes state provided by the taxpayer that this will change.
The ratio as per the state of NJ is 4:1 for babies up to 2yrs. The local place with 33 under twos in the one room has a ratio of 3:1. I looked into both places and observed the class for half a day via video for the local place. Music time was done with all 33 children. It was chaos. This local place is more then $400 a month cheaper than their competition. The bigger classes have enabled them to reduce costs while maintaining staff ratios.
Flisspaps Wed 27-Jun-12 22:01:57
nannynick That was my thinking too, plus I personally would then be screwed (as would many other childminders) with 2 under 5s of my own!
That would make it impossible for me to make enough money to live on as a CM so I'd have to WOH - only with 2 under 5s I'd have to find a CM with no under 5s of their own, and no Early Years mindees to care for, and what I'd be contributing to the family pot after we'd taken out childcare would be around £0...
How on earth would that be a workable solution?
Flisspaps Wed 27-Jun-12 22:04:03
Twit How would that be possible in terms of ensuring that all children were taught the full curriculum? It would be impossible to plan!
Twit I would feel awful making my DCs go to school for longer than working hours, with no holidays! While I agree the disparity between school holidays and work holidays needs addressing, there are better ways than making DCs work more than adults.
Perhaps more flexibility from employers, so parents can work e.g. 3 days in school holidays, 5 days term time, or reducing core hours to 9.30-2.30 so parents can choose to work early or late to reduce childcare. Also, given the prevalence of the Internet, more work could be done from home or at unconventional hours to fit around family life.
lowfatiscrap12 Thu 28-Jun-12 11:35:48
I think we're making a mistake if we think it's the job of schools to provide childcare. A school is there to provide an education. The only childcare provider able to do long, flexible hours is a nanny, and even then you have to work around holidays, sickness, maternity leave etc.
I've got a novel idea. How about parents look after the children they weren't bullied or bribed into bringing into the world themselves? Is that really so outmoded and unthinkable, for those who are able to afford it?
duchesse Thu 28-Jun-12 11:40:10
Heck of a lot more expensive in terms of lost income, job prospects, etc for children to be looked after at home by a parent. Obviously there are very many positives to having 1-1, 1-2 or 1-3 attention but it's not a solution without cost, either to the family, or to the economy/society. And this is NOT a WOH/SAH debate, more a debate about the practicalities or otherwise of existing childcare situations. Shall we keep it that way?
lowfatiscrap12 Thu 28-Jun-12 11:44:13
I didn't know you were in charge of steering the discussion a certain way duchesse, LOL!
lowfatiscrap12 Thu 28-Jun-12 11:45:30
I made a perfectly valid point which was pertinent to the subject.
duchesse Thu 28-Jun-12 11:46:52
No, no you weren't. The thread is about how to improve childcare. Your solution is "child care shouldn't exist". How does that help?
lowfatiscrap12 Thu 28-Jun-12 11:53:21
I didn't say that. You said that.
I said it's not the job of schools to provide childcare.
Their job is to provide an education.
The root of this problem is not the lack of childcare, or the cost of it. The real problem is that employers are inflexible and expect parents to fit their children around a 40 hour a week job, 52 weeks a year. The real issue is that companies don't offer enough flexibility, home working, term time working, working around school hours etc. That's the real issue for government, not trying to arrange 24/7 childcare cover to pander to the whims of unreasonable employers.
lowfatiscrap12 Thu 28-Jun-12 11:55:10
and there's been plenty of thread drift throughout this discussion. Funny how you took objection to my drift though because I said something which challenges your world view?
bubbles11 Fri 29-Jun-12 17:22:16
havent read the thread but in response to the survey results - so relieved to discover it is not just me
Since i returned to work in January 2011 I have been poorer than i have ever been in my whole life including when i was a student - at least someone is looking into it - thankyou
Want2bSupermum Sat 30-Jun-12 00:20:37
lowfat Employers are not going to change to suit working parents. They need their employees working during business hours. Most professional careers don't allow for flexible working or working part time. The real problem is the cost and hours available. Nurses and doctors need care available to them 24/7 to accomodate their shifts.
Strix Sat 30-Jun-12 09:45:07
I agree that the purpose of school is to educate and not to provide childcare. I would therefore like the government to stop claiming they have assisted with my childcare by providing me with a primary school.
I don't need or even want my employer to give me part time / flexible working. I an just as committed to my job as the single blokes without young children who sit around me. But I do want to live in a society where normal peopl can reasonably expect to have children, and go to work in order to support them.
Regarding the comment about why don't parents look after their children themselves, I provide for my children by going to work. Without the money that comes in from this job, we would not have food, clothes, a variety of children's activities, etc. This is my chosen approach to raising my children. Others may have a DH who pays all the bills and choose to stay home with their children. That's great... For them.
What I want is a system which allows parents to make the choices which suit them. I do not want the government to tell me how my children will be looked after (I.e. state run nurseries where I have little control over how they are run, what activities are provided, and let's not even think about what they would feed my children). I want choices which are reasonably affordable to normal people who want/need to work.
BoffinMum Sat 30-Jun-12 09:59:49
Nobody is really saying that schools and teachers should provide childcare, but it seems extraordinary that our massive investment in school buildings lies unused for 1/4 of each year and 1/2 of each waking day.
BTW for those that say teachers should have the same holidays as everyone else, they aren't technically entitled to any holidays at all! They are just entitled to be absent from the premises during school holiday periods. You will find most of them pop in and out during the holidays and so on, and also do a great deal of their termly lesson planning and paperwork then. A McKinsey study commissioned by the Government a few years back added up all the hours teachers worked and found they were equivalent to most other professional roles, but concentrated into more intense periods (i.e. mainly term time). It's an odd sort of job.
Twit Mon 02-Jul-12 22:17:39
Sorry, I didn't mean they would have to work, I meant wrap around care, for home work and chilling. I realise it would be a nightmare and I also know teachers work very hard, my dad was a primary head and worked in the holidays etc. I was just throwing it out there really.
Ingy123 Tue 29-Jan-13 22:09:11
Please sign this petition... we need childcare vouchers to be increased to help parents out paying for childcare costs...
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0.023131 | <urn:uuid:76aff05c-f884-4e64-84f3-4ce94d8ab8d4> | en | 0.941604 | Robert Skidelsky en <![CDATA[Robert Skidelsky: The welfare state did not cause the crash. So why is Osborne cutting it?]]> <div class="field field-name-field-subheadline field-type-text-long field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p> If a government has to cut its spending, it is much better to tax the rich than starve the poor.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-node-image field-type-image field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-fullnode-image" src="" width="510" height="348" alt="The view from the European Central Bank. Photo: Getty" title="The view from the European Central Bank. Photo: Getty" /></figure></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-nodeimage-title field-type-text field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The view from the European Central Bank. Photo: Getty</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p> The Institute for Fiscal Studies <span style="font-size: 11pt;">(IFS) has warned that there will need to be “colossal” cuts in </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">public spending to balance the books by 2018-19 – at least £55bn extra. On 4 December, the day after the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, the director of the IFS, Paul Johnson, said that it wasn’t for lack of effort that the deficit hasn’t fallen. Rather, it was “because the economy performed so poorly in the first half of the parliament, hitting revenues </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">very hard”.</span></p> <p> Very true – but what Johnson omitted to say was that the main reason the economy performed so poorly in the first half of the parliament was because George Osborne was busy cutting the deficit. He should have been expanding it!</p> <p> This is something that expert commentators lack the guts to say because that would brand them as Keynesians. They may admit that fiscal consolidation has made economic recovery “more challenging”. But they don’t tell us why. This theoretical gap leaves them without a reputable story of why the economy behaved so poorly. They are in familiar “blown-off-course” territory.</p> <p> Every possible event that might affect growth, however fleetingly, has been summoned in aid of explaining the failure of the economy to grow: the Greek crisis, the rising price of oil, the extra bank holiday on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the closure of shops during the London Olympics, snow and floods – everything except the real reason, which is that a deficiency of private demand was not being offset by public-sector investment.</p> <p> The latest explanation of why the Chancellor has failed to meet his deficit targets concentrates on the nature of the labour market recovery. The government has congratulated itself on the fall in unemployment. We would expect falling unemployment to increase tax revenues and reduce public spending. However, this will not happen if government policy has created lots of new, mostly low-wage jobs whose holders pay no direct taxes and that must be propped up with benefits.</p> <p> The catastrophic fall in productivity that we are now seeing was planted in the two and a half years of stagnation that followed the creation of the coalition in 2010. In October 2012, the Office for Budget Responsibility found that the economy had grown by only 0.9 per cent between Q1 of 2010 and Q2 of 2012, while its June 2010 forecast was 5.7 per cent growth over the same period. Subsequent upward revision has made these figures less dire but there is no doubt that Osborne and his advisers seriously underestimated the adverse effects of austerity on investment.</p> <p> As is now increasingly recognised, this extended period of stagnation reduced the long-term growth rate of the economy through the destruction of both human skills and physical capital.</p> <p> Despite his warning about the size of the cuts to come, Paul Johnson said that they could be achieved. He added, however, that they would require a “reimagining” (or, put another way, shrinking) of the state. Two questions arise. First, what effect will shrinking the state have on the economy? Second, what effect will it have on the polity?</p> <p> On the first, Johnson seems to assume that the economy will go on growing at about 2.5 per cent a year, even as the deficit is being cut to zero. This is highly optimistic because the cutting is simultaneously reducing private incomes. It may be possible, by sufficiently heroic austerity, for a government to keep revenues for a time running ahead of cuts but at what <em>level</em> of GDP will the budget eventually be balanced? Certainly lower than it would have been without the cuts.</p> <p> The cuts not only change the level of GDP but also its composition and, therefore, the relations between the state and its citizens. This point is recognised by Labour, which promises “fairer” cuts. If a government has to cut its spending, it is much better to tax the rich than starve the poor. However, this is alien to the spirit of cutting. The barely subliminal message of all austerity programmes is that the deficit has been caused by spiralling welfare payments to the poor, with the object of austerity being to “get them on their bikes” – like in the 1930s, when unemployment was consistently around or above 10 per cent.</p> <p> We urgently need to have a proper debate about the role and size of the state. Prosperity does not demand that the state should spend 40 per cent-plus of national income as it does now, though justice may.</p> <p> In the old days, people used to talk of a “trade-off” between efficiency and justice and some of those arguments may still be valid, though I am less and less persuaded that the private sector scores heavily over the public sector in efficiency. A financial system that allocates capital to itself and whose crash in 2008 left the population 15 per cent poorer than it would have been is hardly an advertisement for private-sector efficiency.</p> <p> What is really indefensible is to cut the state for reasons of financial dogmatism, as though the size of the state – and especially the welfare state – were the cause of the slump. We need a cool discussion on the role of the state as owner and regulator in a market economy and in the light of the civic purposes that people set for themselves. It needs to be pointed out that these huge cuts imply serious losses to the quality of government services and the strength of the defence and police services.</p> <p> I’m not sure which is worse: to bleed the economy with small cuts stretching many years ahead or to cut deeply now and hope for the best. What does seem clear is that politics will not allow the second and only a Labour government can avert the first.</p> </div></div></div> Wed, 10 Dec 2014 14:55:06 +0000 Robert Skidelsky 218446 at <![CDATA[Putin is not Russia: the Kremlin’s view on events in Ukraine]]> <div class="field field-name-field-subheadline field-type-text-long field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p> War in Ukraine, economic woes and the decline of an autocrat, by Robert Skidelsky.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-node-image field-type-image field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-fullnode-image" src="" width="510" height="348" alt="Pride, honour, poverty, patriotism: pro-Putin protesters parade through Moscow as he becomes president for the second time, May 2012. Photo: Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin" title="Pride, honour, poverty, patriotism: pro-Putin protesters parade through Moscow as he becomes president for the second time, May 2012. Photo: Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin" /></figure></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-nodeimage-title field-type-text field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Pride, honour, poverty, patriotism: pro-Putin protesters parade through Moscow as he becomes president for the second time, May 2012. Photo: Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> In 2004, the Valdai Discussion Club was set up “to promote dialogue between [the] Russian and international intellectual elite”. Each year, two or three days of discussions involving foreign and Russian scholars and journalists would climax at Sochi on the Black Sea in a dinner with President Vladimir Putin himself. One qualification, at least for a foreigner invited to join the club, was not to be viscerally hostile to Russia’s foreign policy. This led some superannuated cold war warriors to call its foreign members “Putin’s useful idiots”. This idiot was asked to join four years ago, and this year’s event was my second exposure.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> We met from 22 to 24 October at a ski resort, surrounded by magnificent snow-clad mountains, built for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The conference, on “The World Order: New Rules or No Rules?”, was held in the shadow of western sanctions against Russia for annexing Crimea, in Ukraine – an awkward moment, to be sure, which thinned the foreign contingent considerably. This time, the Big Boss chose to address the assembled idiots from the podium rather than wining and dining them. He delivered a one-hour attack on the United States for wanting a world based on power (its own) rather than rules; more a polemic than a diatribe. Leading Putin officials such as Vyacheslav Volodin, Sergey Lavrov, Sergei Ivanov and Igor Shuvalov turned up to display their loyalty. For Volodin, “Putin is Russia”.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> The tone of the leadership was more regretful than truculent. It followed a well-established narrative line. Putin had offered America a sincere partnership in the fight against Islamic terrorism. Instead, America and its allies, claiming the spoils of victory in the cold war, had been pushing the EU and Nato eastward into Russia’s historic space. In the three-hour question-and-answer session that followed his speech, Putin was occasionally spirited, but mostly listless and rambling. His lack of facial animation may have been due to the famed skills of Russia’s embalmers. He seemed exhausted; he sounded like a jilted lover.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Of course, Ukraine was the hot topic of the hour, and one advantage of being at Sochi was to hear in detail Russia’s defence of its actions, which is hardly ever heard in the western media. As the Russians tell it, an illegal coup against the democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych brought extreme nationalists and “fascists” to power in Kyiv on 22 February. Their menacing anti-Russian stance forced the Russian communities in Crimea and south-eastern Ukraine (jointly known as Donbas) to organise in self-defence against persecution and even massacre. Russian “volunteers” from across the border came to the aid of their beleaguered brothers. To the west, this story is a pack of lies: Putin saw in the popular uprising against the corrupt, despotic and increasingly violent government of Yanukovych an excuse to seize Crimea and destabilise the Ukrainian state. His strategic aim was to prevent Ukraine freely choosing to pivot its economy and security system on the west.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> There was much legal chatter about sovereignties, frontiers, guarantees. One expert claimed that Russia’s annexation of Crimea was not illegal under international law because Crimea was not part of Ukraine when Ukraine became a member of the UN in 1945. Such legal subtleties attract lawyers, but are really beside the point. Legal rules cannot create conditions of justice and stability. They are the achievement of history, and Ukraine’s history as an independent state has yet to be written.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> This is a conclusion that the west finds difficult to accept. The contemporary liberal credo is that any state, however diverse, can be made or kept whole by a constitution that guarantees democracy, the rule of law and minority rights. Ukraine’s failure to achieve such a constitution must be due to Russia’s manipulation of its neighbour’s politics in<br /> its own interests. Russia takes exactly the opposite view: it is America and its allies that have been manipulating Ukrainian politics so as to detach Ukraine from its historic space in the Russian family of nations.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> The truth is much more complicated than either story allows. As the former Czech president Václav Klaus pointed out in an incisive essay last April: “The state of Ukraine today is a sad outcome of Stalin’s attempts to mix up nations and boundaries, disrupt historical ties and create a new Soviet man by turning original nations into mere ethnic, residual and historical leftovers.” The Ukrainian state set up in 1991 was illegitimate to sizeable fractions of its own population. No common Ukrainian identity has emerged. There was no political transformation: democracy has been a sham, with disputed elections and messy power transfers. In the economy, wealth is divided and redivided between alternating Russian and non-Russian oligarchic clans, to the accompaniment of stagnation, industrial decay and high unemployment. Ukraine was ripe for the manipulation of its politics by outsiders. The question is: which side had more justified reason to meddle?</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> This brings us back to the big unsettled question of Sochi: Russia’s place in a world dominated by the US. It is obvious that Russians have felt deeply humiliated by the US “victory” in the cold war and the destruction of the Soviet Union as a geopolitical balancer. They have countered this adverse shift in their position with the doctrine of “multipolarity”. On 28 June 2000, Putin stated that “Russia shall seek to achieve a multipolar system of international relations that really reflects the diversity of the modern world”. He repeated the message in Munich in 2007. “The unipolar world,” he said, “did not take place . . . There is no reason to doubt that the economic potential of the new centres of global economic growth will inevitably be converted into political influence and will strengthen multipolarity.”</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> At first, multipolarity did not imply hostility to America. Putin began his presidency looking for a “strategic partnership” with the US against the common threat of Islamic extremism. Following the 9/11 attacks, he overruled his military to give unconditional support to US intervention in Afghanistan, and military access to central Asian countries bound to Russia by security treaties, while closing down Russian bases in Cuba and Vietnam. He acceded to the Americans’ request to lower the oil price.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> It was only because the payoff from such gestures was so meagre that multipolarity evolved into resistance to US superpower pretensions. Russia was offered neither a fast track into the World Trade Organisation nor a meaningful security role in Nato or the Middle East. America unilaterally abrogated the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, restarting an arms race it knew it could win. Russia retaliated by joining Germany and France to oppose the Iraq war; wherever possible, it has tried to create its own “coalitions of the willing”. In 2001, Dmitri Trenin, of the Carnegie Moscow Centre, looked forward to a “quasi-alliance” with the US. By 2006 he was lamenting the “decoupling” of Russia from the west. The “reset” of Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev – Russia’s president from 2008 to 2012 – got nowhere.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> It was plain from Sochi that the Russian leadership cannot grasp that Russia is too weak to negotiate the terms of a strategic partnership with the US. They fail to appreciate that the US can choose what partners it wants and that, in America’s eyes, Russia’s authoritarian and corrupt political system, and its disregard of human rights, have disqualified it as a partner for most purposes. As a description of reality, multipolarity is thus a geopolitical fiction. The world may not be exactly multipolar, but for most global purposes the US remains the indispensable power. Russia has too few assets, hard or soft, to be a rival pole of attraction. From this perspective, the biggest failure of the Putin years has been the failure to modernise and diversify the Russian economy. The post-Soviet leadership dismantled the old industrial system without replacing it with a new one. Russia remains dangerously dependent on the price of a single commodity – oil – and its economic dynamics are dominated by the struggle for oil rents. At Sochi I asked Putin: “How do you propose to make Russia attractive for business? What are you going to do to persuade Russians to invest in Russia rather than export their capital, which drives up house prices in London to insane levels?” In his answer, Putin reeled off statistics of agricultural production.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Although it is a descriptive fiction, multipolarity as a normative proposition has much to be said for it. No single power is wise or disinterested enough to claim a universal sovereignty. The US-led attempt to export democracy by force if necessary has created a shambles in the Middle East, with worse to come. A better appreciation of the “diversity of the modern world” would have saved western policy from much error and humanity from much misery.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> In my own remarks at Sochi, I suggested that, with the faltering of Russia’s attempt to “join the world”, it had in fallen back on an implicit Monroe doctrine. Like the US president James Monroe in 1823, it is telling the meddling foreigners to keep off its patch. Significantly, it defines the frontiers of the old Soviet Union as the strategic frontiers of the Russian Federation. A world of Monroe doctrines, spheres of influence and regional blocs is contrary to the contemporary western norms of international relations. It may have more appeal for great powers that find themselves at odds with the “universal empire” championed by the world’s superpower. The Ukraine crisis has divided the world into the western countries that imposed sanctions and the non-western world that was either indifferent to Russia’s behaviour or thought it justified.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> However, the assertion of hegemony in the former Soviet space may now be beyond the capacity of Russia. There is talk in Moscow of a “Eurasian Union”, but few of its possible members would be willing to cut themselves off from the EU’s own “neighbourhood policy”. Asked at Sochi about Ukraine’s future, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, hoped that it would be a “negotiated restructuring of the Ukraine state”. The former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin, who appeared on the panel alongside Putin, made the sensible suggestion to set up a “contact group” of the US, Russia, Germany, France and the UK to work to convert the Ukrainian ceasefire, originally signed in Minsk on 5 September, into a settlement. They may be able to negotiate a middle ground of autonomy for the separatists within the Ukrainian state.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> But this is starting to look ever less likely. The latest round of parliamentary elections in Ukraine has consolidated the division of the country into two states, divided by the ceasefire line. The 26 October parliamentary elections gave President Petro Poroshenko a two-thirds “super-majority” to sign an association agreement with the EU and reunite the nation. In a “rogue” election on 2 November organised by the separatists of Donbas, a much smaller electorate – reportedly about 5 per cent of those eligible to vote nationally – gave separatist leaders a mandate to break away.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> What follows? Their reinforced mandates weaken the incentives for the two sides to negotiate. The Ukrainian army might try to recapture the lost territory by force. But the west will not supply Kyiv with the necessary offensive capacity and Russia will continue to supply the separatists with the necessary defensive capacity. So, in all likelihood, the conflict will be “frozen” along the ceasefire line for the foreseeable future. If this happens, Russia will have suffered a major defeat. It will have exchanged an implicit regional hegemony, secured by its ability to manipulate Ukrainian politics, for a tiny fraction of Ukrainian real estate, freeing the much larger remainder of Ukraine to pursue the pro-western alignment that it has been the chief object of Russia’s Ukrainian policy to prevent. And for this meagre achievement it will have incurred huge costs in terms of sanctions and subsidies. At what point will the owners of wealth decide that Putin is not Russia?</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Sochi left me with the overwhelming impression of people putting the best face possible on a bad story. The Russians “hope” for the future; others dictate it. Probably Russia will stagger on in a mediocre way, neither very successful nor quite failing, neither devil nor pure in heart, proud of its own values, semi-permanently estranged from the US and western Europe, resentful but not overly aggressive, until such time as it feels more at home in a world that it will have played little part in shaping. </p> <p class="111Raggeditalictext"> <em>Robert Skidelsky is a cross-bench peer and a leading biographer of J M Keynes. His most recent book is “Britain Since 1900: a Success Story?” (Vintage, £10.99)</em></p> </div></div></div> Thu, 20 Nov 2014 10:00:11 +0000 Robert Skidelsky 216016 at <![CDATA[The Osborne audit: what have we learned?]]> <div class="field field-name-field-subheadline field-type-text-long field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Ahead of this week’s budget, the economic historian Robert Skidelsky examines how four years of austerity have affected Britain.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/2014%2B10osborne%20oops2.jpg" style="width: 510px; height: 680px;" /></p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent rteright"> <em>George Osborne by Ralph Steadman</em></p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> On Wednesday, for the first time in four Budgets, George Osborne will be able to claim plausibly that Britain has come out of the Great Recession. Growth was 1.8 per cent in 2013 and is expected to be between 2.4 and 2.8 per cent in 2014. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the economy is still 1.4 per cent smaller than it was in 2008 and 14 per cent smaller than it would have been had the recession not struck.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> That lost output, amounting to £210bn, is gone for ever. Every household is almost £2,000 poorer on average than it would have been; the government’s revenue is £70bn less – that is (say) 70 hospitals, 1,000 schools and 250,000 housing units not built. Or, to take another number: 650,000 people now unemployed would have been in employment.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> This is not all. Every year of the recession has reduced our growth potential. Economists use the word “hysteresis” to describe the rusting away of economic resources through misuse or underuse. Hysteresis has to do not just with the output lost during the slump but with the potential output lost in the subsequent period of near-zero growth. Headline unemployment is an incomplete measure of such rusting, because it also occurs when people work less than they want to, or are in jobs below their skill level, or just leave the workforce. A physics graduate may be able to find employment as a taxi driver or waiter. But how much physics “potential” will he retain after years of doing such jobs?</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> These are heavy costs. Just as George Osborne did not cause the recession, he has not caused the recovery. Intertwined economies usually fall and rise together, and Britain has been lifted off the rocks by the global upturn. Yet policy does make a difference – to the speed of recovery, its strength and its durability. On all three counts, the Chancellor’s policy is open to severe criticism.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Fiscal austerity slowed and weakened the recovery; monetary looseness ensured that it would be highly unbalanced and therefore fragile. Significantly, the official independent watchdog, the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR), in its December 2013 <i>Economic and Fiscal Outlook</i>, judged the “surprising” growth surge of the past year to be “cyclical . . . rather than indicating stronger underlying growth potential”. That the bank rate needs to be kept near zero shows that the economy is still on life support. </p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> <strong><span class="Textsansboldred">Missed budget targets</span></strong></p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> Let’s start with the targets Osborne set himself in his first Budget of June 2010. He inherited a prospective deficit for 2010-2011 of £149bn, equivalent to 10.1 per cent of GDP. He promised to get this down to £20bn, or 1.1 per cent of GDP, in 2015-2016, mainly through spending cuts. By 2013-2014 the deficit should have been £60bn. In fact, it is projected to be £111bn, or 6.8 per cent of GDP this year. Now the Chancellor must cut spending by another £62bn over the next four years to meet his original target, two years later than promised.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> There were no growth targets – those were abandoned years ago – but there were growth forecasts. Fulfilment of Osborne’s budgetary targets depended on the economy growing at 2.3 per cent in 2011, 2.8 per cent in 2012 and 2.9 per cent in 2013. In fact, the growth rates achieved were 0.9 per cent in 2011, 0.1 per cent in 2012 and 1.8 per cent in 2013. In other words, Osborne’s failure to meet his deficit targets was caused by the failure of the economy to grow to expectation.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> The official explanation for this failure is “bad luck”. In familiar language, policy was “blown off course” by unexpected events. Chief of these was said to be the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, which started with fears of a Greek default in March 2010 and then spread, by contagion, to Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy. For the next three years the eurozone slumped almost as badly as Britain. The eurozone slump, it is argued, stymied the British recovery.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> There are two things wrong with this. First, with its own currency and control of its exchange rate, Britain should have done better, not worse, than the members of the eurozone. Second, although the eurozone financial crisis undermined confidence, and hit British exports, the European slump arose in part because European finance ministers were pursuing exactly the same policy as was George Osborne. So it makes more sense to say that the coincident slumps of the eurozone and Britain between 2010 and 2013 were the effects of a single cause: the policy of cutting public spending. The “unexpected” element in the situation was the failure of so-called fiscal consolidation to deliver growth.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Why should anyone expect a policy of cutting public spending in a recession to produce growth? It is counterintuitive. A recession is caused by businesses and households spending less. If the government also spends less, one would expect this to worsen, not reverse, the recession. This, I think, is exactly what happened.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/2014%2B10briefcase.jpg" style="width: 510px; height: 383px;" /></p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent rteright"> <em>Making the case: George Osborne on his first Budget Day, 2010</em></p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> <strong><span class="Textsansboldred">Primitive economics</span></strong></p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> Over the past four years, I kept asking myself: what did Osborne have to believe to convince himself that cutting government spending was necessary to “get the economy moving again”? His core belief, I concluded, is ideological. This is that state spending is heavily wasteful. From this, it follows that the smaller the share of GDP spent by the state, the larger GDP will be, because the private sector allocates resources more efficiently. It’s as simple as that.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> This ideological fundament generates three seemingly common-sense, short-run propositions, which I call “primitive economics”. The first, known by the cognoscenti as “real crowding-out”, states that if the government commandeers an extra quantum of “real” resources such as workers and factories this will deprive the private sector of their use.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Second, there is the idea of “financial crowding-out”. If the government borrows additional financial resources (money) to fund its spending, this will force up interest rates and oblige businesses to pay more for their money.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Finally, there is “Ricardian equivalence”. This says that government borrowing is just deferred taxation. Expecting to pay more taxes tomorrow, people increase their savings today. So increased government consumption “crowds out” an equivalent volume of private consumption.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Eighty years ago, John Maynard Keynes pointed out that this trade-off view of the relationship between public and private spending may be valid at full employment, but is quite wrong in a severe recession.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> In such a situation, extra government spending does not necessarily “crowd out” real resources. Where there is slack in the economy – the labour supply exceeding labour demand as today – extra government spending can bring into use the idle resources by creating more employment. There is no displacement; the public spending is not done at the expense of private spending. Rather, the public spending compensates for a lack of private spending.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Second, it is not true that whatever the government borrows is a subtraction from a fixed pool of savings that would otherwise be invested by the private sector. Many savings are just lying idle in bank accounts, because the private sector lacks the confidence to invest them. By offering investors a risk-free rate of return, the government can put these savings to active use. And by generating employment, this “crowds in” additional savings.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Finally, “Ricardian equivalence” ignores how government spending can pay for itself, not just by increasing national income (and therefore government revenue) but by investing in projects that create value for the economy, such as schools, houses, transport infrastructure, green energy, and so on.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Probably few policymakers today believe these “crowding-out” stories literally. I doubt whether even George Osborne does. But they believe that governments need to behave as though they believe these ideas in order to retain the “confidence” of the markets.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> So, the question is: why do the markets believe them? Why do they scream “Default” whenever government borrowing goes up? Why did Osborne feel that unless he got the deficit under firm control, he would be spooked by the markets?</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> The reason is that, for the past 30 years, all economically literate or market-savvy persons (who do not generally include politicians) have been slaves to “models” of the economy which ruled out severe recessions by assumption. Even social democrats, who wanted to use the tax system to redistribute the wealth created by the private sector, bought in to the dominant view that, on average, markets do not make mistakes. This was the tragedy of Gordon Brown; it is also why Labour under Ed Miliband has been unable to deploy a convincing case against Osbornite economics.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Consequently, it is not surprising that governments and central banks failed to take precautions against a slump happening; more surprising that they did not thoroughly revise their beliefs when it did happen. To some extent, they did. When the world economy crashed in the winter of 2008 all the main governments came in with bank bailouts and stimulus packages. But as soon as the danger of another Great Depression was removed, the old orthodoxies reasserted themselves. In particular, as it was bound to do, the slump left a legacy of rising deficits and taxpayer liabilities. In this kind of climate, fears about the solvency of governments seemed reasonable.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> And mainstream economics offered no help at all. What was going on, the economists said, was just a readjustment of economic life from one optimum equilibrium to another. Thus there was no “output gap” that needed to be filled by extra government spending. Rather, what needed to be done was to cut down state spending in order to make the existing output more productive. The Chancellor is no economist: but this presentation played to his ideological preconceptions. In a world-view of this type, there is no distinction between the short run and the long run. We always live in the long run, and if we leave the long run to the markets, all will be for the best. </p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> <strong><span class="Textsansboldred">Delusions</span></strong><span class="Textsansboldred"><p></p></span></p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> A world in which beliefs and facts have come so far apart will be particularly prone to delusionary thinking. The delusion was that policies that made the recession worse would produce recovery. This delusion was abetted by reputable economists. Three years ago, the doctrine of “expansionary fiscal contraction” was all the rage and a huge research effort went into trying to prove its core proposition: that the less the government spends, the faster the economy will grow. The econometricians produced some striking correlations. One claim was that “an increase in government size by 10 percentage points is associated with a 0.5 to 1 per cent lower annual growth”. In April 2010, Alberto Alesina of Harvard University assured European finance ministers that “many even sharp reductions of budget deficits have been accompanied and immediately followed by sustained growth rather than recessions even in the very short run”.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> An International Monetary Fund paper in 2012 brought Alesina’s hour of glory to an end. Going through the same data as he had examined, the IMF authors pointed out: “While it is plausible to conjecture that confidence effects have been at play in our sample of consolidations, during downturns they do not seem to have ever been strong enough to make the consolidations expansionary at least in the short run.” Fiscal contraction is contractionary, full stop.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> George Osborne has said publicly that he was influenced by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. These two Harvard economists claimed that their data showed that countries’ growth slows sharply if their debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds 90 per cent. It turned out that their findings were skewed by the vast overweighting of one country in their sample. But a much more important error was their confusion between correlation and causation, also seen in the work of Alesina. High debt levels may cause lack of growth but a lack of growth may cause high debt levels; or both may be due to some other factor(s). How, one asks, can good statisticians make these kinds of mistakes? Only, I think, because their theory or model already tells them that this is the way the causation has to run, so that their only task is to establish a correlation.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> <strong><span class="Textsansboldred">Quantitative easing to the rescue?</span></strong></p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> With the failure of fiscal “consolidation” to revive the economy, the Chancellor increasingly turned to monetary policy. This fitted his ideology. Orthodox monetary policy works by the central bank targeting short-term market interest rates, providing banks with the reserves needed to keep the rates on target and, by varying the rates (or expectations of future rates), influencing the volume of private-sector lending and borrowing. It bypasses fiscal policy, which is why it is attractive to those who dislike state intervention. Since 2008, monetary policy has been ultra-loose or “unorthodox”. Not only has the bank rate been kept at 0.5 per cent for a record length of time, but the Bank of England has injected £375bn of “new money” into the economy, £225bn of it before Osborne became Chancellor. This is known as “quantitative easing” (QE).</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> How big a part has QE played in producing a recovery? The quick answer is that no one knows for sure. Unlike government spending, which has a direct effect on the economy, monetary policy works indirectly by inducing private households and businesses to change their behaviour – to save more or spend more. QE is supposed to work through two “transmission channels”: the bank lending channel and the portfolio rebalancing channel.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> The central bank activates both channels by buying government bonds (gilts), mainly from non-banks. The sellers of the bonds receive cash; they deposit their extra cash with the commercial banks. In the first transmission channel, this is supposed to increase bank lending. The banks have more cash to lend out, causing them to lower their interest rates. As a result, more money is borrowed by businesses and households; the spending of the loans raises total spending, and therefore output, in the economy.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Early experience of QE showed that this was not happening: the banks were hoarding their cash, not lending it out. The architects of QE had underestimated the damage that banks had suffered as a result of the collapse of their assets in the crash, and therefore their desire to rebuild their reserves. What Osborne then did was to start subsidising bank lending. The Funding for Lending scheme, introduced in July 2012, was supposed to stimulate bank loans to businesses. It failed to do this – business lending is still well down from its pre-crash levels.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Desperate to get something in the economy going up, the Chancellor switched to Help to Buy in April and October 2013, which insured banks for a 15 per cent loss on 95 per cent mortgages. This has certainly contributed to the recent surge in house-buying and the rise in house prices.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> It should be noticed, however, that both attempts to boost bank lending are fiscal policy by the back door, as the contingent subsidies are liabilities for the taxpayer.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Because of the disappointing results of bank lending, the Bank of England came to rely more on the second transmission channel, portfolio rebalancing, to stimulate the economy. Bond purchases by the Bank swell the cash deposits of the sellers, encouraging them to spend. Simultaneously, they reduce the supply of gilts in the market, which causes the price of gilts to rise and their yields to fall. The “search for yield” then induces investors to switch from gilts to stock-market securities and other assets, making it easier for businesses to raise capital. The increase in the price of these assets also expands the net wealth of the asset-holders, causing them to spend more. These various effects will result in growing GDP. Certainly the rise in stock-market and house prices has contributed to a “feel-good” factor, which is bolstering the current optimism about future prospects.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Set against these benefits are two costs. By encouraging excessive risk-taking, QE may reignite the pre-crash asset bubble, against which the new governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has warned. The second is the increase in inequality. Of this, John Kay wrote in the <i>Financial Times</i>: “In the modern financial economy, the main effect of QE is to boost asset prices . . . the one certain outcome of QE is that those with assets benefit relative to those without . . . these policies may not benefit the non-financial economy much, but they are helpful to the financial services sector and those who work in it.”</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> The trouble with unorthodox monetary policy was that it is not unorthodox enough. Rather than try to increase private-sector cash balances, the Bank should have lent the money directly to the government to spend on public investment. We can be sure the government would not have hoarded the cash! But this operation would have blurred the line between monetary and fiscal policy, and thus the sacred ideological divide between the private and public sectors.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> To put the matter crudely: a recovery based on stuffing the mouths of bankers with gold will be weaker and less durable than a recovery based on an upsurge of mass spending power. </p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> <strong><span class="Textsansboldred">Conclusions</span></strong></p> <p class="111Justifiedtextnoindent"> Wealth and income have been growing more unequal in Britain since the 1980s. George Osborne has not created the inequality; but he has exacerbated it by dragging out the slump and using lopsided means to bring about the recovery. Britain may well emerge from the recession with a problem of structural underconsumption. Investment is driven by consumption, so when consumption falls off, so does investment. A tendency to domestic underconsumption – unless offset by a buoyant demand for exports – will result in what economists such as Larry Summers have started to call “secular stagnation”. The chief symptom of this will be rising structural underemployment: a slackening of demand for labour which does not reverse itself with recovery.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> This brings us back to the ideological fundament. It is the Chancellor’s firm belief that the government’s share of total spending should be reduced as much as possible. Spending financed by deficits is twice cursed, not just because government spending is wasteful, but because it enables governments to pass on the cost of waste to future generations. Hence Osborne’s pledge to eliminate the Budget deficit entirely. This is tantamount to saying that the government expects to pay out of taxes for all the schools, hospitals, housing and transport systems that it builds. Because all Conservative governments want to reduce taxes as well, this amounts to a vast programme to privatise virtually all public services.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> At this point, the ideology destroys sane economics. A sensible view of public spending would distinguish between capital spending and current spending. It would enable one to say that deficits resulting from excessive current spending are bad because they do not generate any revenue and add to the national debt, but deficits that are incurred on capital spending can raise productivity, improving the country’s long-run potential. A sensible Osborne policy would have been to confine cuts to the current account and offset these fully by expanding public investment in green projects, transport infrastructure and social housing, as well as export-oriented small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has been arguing this case inside the government; lip-service is paid to the principle, but public investment is still 35 per cent down from the pre-crash levels.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> What George Osborne has done is to bring an ideological fervour to a defective theory of macroeconomic policy: the theory that additional government spending can, under no circumstances, move the economy to a better-equilibrium growth path. What may be rational to believe when the economy is fully employed is palpably wrong when resources stand idle.</p> <p class="111Justifiedtextindent"> Moreover, it is not Osborne and his friends and bankers and Top People who suffer. It is the ordinary people of this country, whose lives and prospects are wrecked or diminished. Four years of George Osborne have been four years too many.</p> <p class="111Raggeditalictext"> <em>Robert Skidelsky is a cross-bench peer and a leading biographer of J M Keynes. His most recent book is “Five Years of Economic Crisis” (Centre for Global Studies, £5)</em></p> </div></div></div> Mon, 17 Mar 2014 12:10:43 +0000 Robert Skidelsky 200895 at <![CDATA[The economics of love: Following the heart, not the head]]> <div class="field field-name-field-subheadline field-type-text-long field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Humans move beyond the strictures of “homo economicus” – we are more than economic entities.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-node-image field-type-image field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-fullnode-image" src="" width="510" height="348" alt="" /></figure></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-nodeimage-title field-type-text field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">There's nothing transactional about love. Photo: Alec Soth/Magnum. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Let’s start with an addled view of what it is to be human. According to economists, it is the ability to calculate. Their picture of the human is that of <em>Homo economicus</em>, “economic man”, a calculating machine who is always weighing up the costs and benefits of every course of action.</p> <p>Economics is about “economising” –eliminating waste (including waste of time) so that all behaviour becomes efficiently purposive. The task of economics, according to the economist Dennis Robertson, is to “economise on love, that scarce resource”. We need to economise on love because we live in a world of scarcity and cannot afford to spend too much time on wasteful activities such as love. Economics offers us a way of getting what we want without love. Excluded is the idea that we might “want” to love and be loved, that we might want beauty, leisure and many other things that make life worth living.</p> <p>In order to make the construction <em>Homo economicus</em> plausible, economists assume that human behaviour is self-interested and that wants (“preferences”) can be measured in money. It is money that makes possible the calculation of costs and benefits from different courses of action. Every activity has a cost and a benefit measurable in money. Love has a cost. If I spend time on love, I forgo the opportunity to make extra money to buy the iPad I crave, because “time is money”. The best form of love for <em>Homo economicus</em> is quick sex, because that wastes very little time.</p> <p>Most people believe that marriage is about love, but the economist Gary Becker has shown that individuals, in making their choice of partner, calculate the costs and benefits of different types of relationships.</p> <p>Similarly there are costs and benefits in telling the truth, not cheating at cards, buying one’s partner flowers, listening to music, reading a poem. Indeed, there is almost no form of activity one can think of that does not have attached to it at least the pretence of costs and benefits calculable in terms of money. And if one habitually makes this calculation before deciding to act, one will slowly but inexorably cease to be human.</p> <p>The alarming thought is that, exposed to training in economics, human beings <em>do</em> start acting in the way economists say they should. In a marvellous book, <em>I Spend, Therefore I Am</em>, Philip Roscoe reports on research that shows that students studying economics are markedly more calculating than students of other subjects. Economics contaminates all our motives, forcing, in Amartya Sen’s words, “smallness on us”.</p> <p>The dilemma in defining what is human is this: calculation is an integral part of the human outfit; animals don’t calculate. Without calculation, there could be no economising behaviour. And without economising behaviour there would be no growth of wealth. But if calculation is all we do, then we cease to be human. For the alternative forms of existence are not human and animal, but human, animal and robotic. Robots can be programmed to act exactly as economists think human beings should: efficiently, purposefully. There is no waste in a robotic civilisation.</p> <p>So, as I would see it, the essence of distinctively human activity is action without thought of the consequences, without counting the cost of the activity and weighing it against the prospective benefits to be obtained.</p> <p>And I would also claim that for many, if not most activities, this is the only rational form of action. For, contrary to Dennis Robertson, the truly scarce resource is not love, but knowledge. The great advantage of acting from motives of love is that it economises on the need for knowledge.</p> <p>Usually we have only the foggiest idea of what the consequences of our actions will be, especially further in the future. And the net of delusion is being cast ever wider, as we are bombarded with more and more information masquerading as knowledge, more and more material for the calculus, which far outruns our ability to sift it into truth and falsehood.</p> <p>Therefore to follow our hearts rather than our heads, our intuitions rather than our calculations, is the distinctively human way of being. And if economics tells us the contrary, down with economics.</p> <p><em>Robert Skidelsky is emeritus professor of political economy at the University of Warwick</em></p> <p><em>The What Makes Us Human series is published in association<br /> with BBC Radio 2</em></p> </div></div></div> Wed, 15 Jan 2014 09:48:06 +0000 Robert Skidelsky 199873 at <![CDATA[Osborne may gloat about recovery, but his “hard slog” will leave Britain worse off]]> <div class="field field-name-field-subheadline field-type-text-long field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The recovery of the British economy, which started under Labour, was aborted in 2010.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-node-image field-type-image field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-fullnode-image" src="" width="510" height="348" alt="" /></figure></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-nodeimage-title field-type-text field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">George Osborne. Photo: Getty</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>George Osborne is bound to crow at the Conservative party conference about the superior performance of the British economy under his stewardship. After three years of “hard slog”, there is at last some good news to report. In the second quarter of this year, the economy grew by 0.7 per cent after “flatlining” for the previous three years. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research has revised its annual growth forecast upwards twice in its latest forecasts. The British economy is now expected to grow by 1.2 per cent in 2013, 0.5 percentage points more than was forecast as late as in February, and in 2014 this will surge to 1.8 per cent. The tables, the media will gush, have been turned on Labour. George has pulled it off. And Osborne will claim a number of things that are either false or implausible.</p> <p>First, he will say that his critics (people such as me) have “lost the battle”, because they can’t explain why the economy is improving. I haven’t yet met a critic of Osborne’s policy who claimed that the economy would not recover from the collapse of 2008-2009. Economies always recover from their low points, whatever the policies pursued, sooner or later. Things happen, in the country or in the world, to revive business’s “animal spirits”. The question is whether they happen sooner or later and how long the recoveries last. Here, policy does matter.</p> <p>The critics’ charge against Osborne is not that he caused the slump but that his policy of fiscal austerity delayed the recovery, possibly by as much as three years. His failure was a failure to offset the decline in aggregate demand, or total spending, which followed the crash, by a policy of fiscal expansion. Instead, his policy, which aimed at cutting the Budget deficit and reducing the national debt, added to the depressive forces created by the financial collapse.</p> <p>That is why the UK economy is still about 3 to 4 per cent smaller than it was in 2008, whereas in the US, where fiscal stimulus was sustained, the economy is now larger than before. The recovery of the British economy, which started under Labour, was aborted in 2010. A recent US study by the economists Alan Taylor and Òscar Jordà suggests that each year of Osborne knocked 1 per cent off the growth of the British economy; that is, £92bn all told, enough to restore Labour’s schoolbuilding plans and still have enough change to plug the funding gap in the NHS. For the average household, this amounts to a loss of £3,500 over three years – and, as Taylor and Jordà point out, this is a conservative estimate.</p> <p>Osborne’s second claim will be that the “hard slog” was necessary to ensure sustainable recovery – one that didn’t lead to “boom and bust”, as allegedly Gordon Brown’s pre- 2008 boom did. A critical policy aim has been to shrink the size of the bloated state sector, which was supposedly sucking vitality out of the “wealth-producing” private sector. A more plausible view of the cause of the crisis is that the British economy had become dangerously dependent on an oversized banking sector pumping money into private housing.</p> <p>In this view, a “sustainable” economy is a “balanced” economy, like the balanced portfolio prudent investors are advised to hold. Instead, government-backed schemes such as Funding for Lending and Help to Buy are quite likely to create a housing bubble.</p> <p>Crucial to both the strength and durability of recovery is the level and distribution of expected demand. Unfortunately, the main effect of quantitative easing (QE) – the only kind of stimulus the government accepts – is to boost asset prices; that is, to make the rich richer. It does nothing for most wage and salary earners, the main source of effective demand. Moreover, this boost to the wealth of the rich comes on top of decades of rising income inequality.</p> <p>And it is worse than this. In so far as it increases inflation, QE depresses the purchasing power of exactly those people on whom a strong recovery depends. With earnings lagging behind prices, the TUC estimates that average real pay has fallen by 7.5 per cent since 2008. Higher-paid public-sector jobs have been replaced by lower-paid privatesector jobs. In lauding the “flexibility” of the British labour market, the Chancellor has ignored the consequences of this flexibility for the level of demand. That’s leaving aside its effects on our long-term future as a highvalue- adding economy.</p> <p>“Demand” is the one word that has never passed George Osborne’s lips. He doesn’t believe in it. He is a prisoner of Say’s law: that supply creates its own demand. Look after supply – especially the supply of credit – and demand will look after itself. Keynes taught the exact opposite – look after demand and supply will look after itself. This is not always true but it is valid in a slump.</p> <p>Yet Osborne is the chancellor who, a few weeks after the collapse of the world’s financial system, declared that Keynesian measures aimed at maintaining the level of aggregate demand would be like a “cruise missile aimed at the heart of a recovery”. So we always knew where George was coming from.</p> <p>Keynes believed that without a jolt, or stimulus, a depressed economy could remain in a state of “underemployment equilibrium” for decades. By this, he did not mean that nothing would change. There would still be booms and busts. What he meant was that the average level of activity over the cycle would be lower than it would be if the economy were fully employed. The average level of unemployment would be higher, the rate of economic growth lower; people would be employed in less rewarding jobs and below their skill level; discouraged workers would leave the labour force.</p> <p>There would be less work to do, not because people needed less, but because most were too poor to buy what they needed. For all his talk of recovery, this is the future that Osborne offers.</p> <div> <em>Lord Skidelsky is a cross-bench peer and the pre-eminent biographer of Keynes</em></div> </div></div></div> Mon, 30 Sep 2013 07:42:22 +0000 Robert Skidelsky 198114 at <![CDATA[Creative destruction: our economic crisis was wholly predictable]]> <div class="field field-name-field-subheadline field-type-text-long field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Keynes, Hobson, Marx - and the crisis of capitalism.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/newstatesman_complete2.jpg" style="width: 510px; height: 692px;" /></p> <p><em>Artwork by Julie Cockburn</em></p> <p>Is it to the wrong ideas of economists or to the interests of the power-holders that we should turn to explain the “Great Contraction” of 2008-2009? John Maynard Keynes believed that the Great Depression of 1929-32 was caused by the wrong theory of how the economy worked in the minds of policymakers – the remedy for which was to equip them with the right theory. But this ignored one thing: that the reigning ideas are, more often than not, the product of the dominant power structures.</p> <p>Economics, therefore, needs to be supplemented by political economy – the study of how power affects the choice of ideas and policies and the distribution of income; in short, Keynes plus J A Hobson and Karl Marx.</p> <p>Keynes explained that it was uncertainty that causes economies to crash. Hobson explained how unequal income distribution makes crises more likely and recoveries more difficult. Marx explained that this inequality is inherent in the power structure of the capitalist system. All have their part to play in explaining the crisis and collapse of 2008.</p> <p>Let’s consider first of all the case of the “closed” economy – what happens in an economy without foreign trade.</p> <h2> The closed economy</h2> <p>The strong message of Keynes’s <em>General Theo</em>ry is that investment is the unruly element in a decentralised market economy, because of the existence of irreducible uncertainty. For one reason or another, businessmen lose confidence in the future and stop investing at the same rate as before. This is how recessions or depressions start.</p> <p>In Keynes’s theory there is no automatic recovery mechanism, so that, in the absence of an external stimulus, a collapsed economy might get stuck in a situation of “underemployment equilibrium”.</p> <p>The present crisis exhibits the truth of both parts of this analysis: there was a collapse of “animal spirits” in 2007-2008 and the developed world has since been in semi-slump.</p> <p>Hobson, Keynes’s near-contemporary, argued that because of the unequal distribution of wealth and income too much of the national income is saved and too little consumed. This leads to more investment producing more goods than the remaining income of the community can buy at prices profitable to the producers. Periodic crises of “realisation” are the result. Today China is a classic case of an oversaving, underconsuming economy.</p> <p>This has some affinity with Marx’s theory of capitalist crisis, but the mechanism is different. For Marx, crises were the result of a fall in the profit rate. In the Marxist scheme, the surplus value extracted from labour – paying workers less value than they produced – was the source of profit. With the substitution of machinery for labour, surplus value became increasingly difficult to obtain. So, like Hobson’s economy, Marx’s suffers from periodic crises. In Hobson’s economy these are crises of surplus production. In Marx’s economy these are crises of profitability or surplus value.</p> <p>Keynes, Hobson and Marx all suggest permanent remedies for the tendencies towards crisis. Keynes called on the state to maintain enough effective demand in the economy to offset the ravages of uncertainty. Hobson wanted the state to redistribute income in order to reduce the share of saving in national income. Marx’s more radical cure, as we know, was to abolish surplus value – the profit-seeking system we call capitalism – altogether.</p> <p>Keynes never engaged properly with Marx, but he saw some similarity between his views and Hobson’s because Hobson, as Keynes did, challenged the core classical belief that saving is always good.</p> <p>Where Hobson went wrong, Keynes suggested, was in identifying overproduction as the worst consequence of excess saving. For Keynes this was only a “secondary evil”; the primary evil was a propensity to save, which was not realised in investment and production.</p> <p>According to Keynes, Hobson’s theory was incomplete because he had no “independent theory of the rate of interest”. In Keynes’s theory, the rate of interest (the rate that banks charge for loans) is determined not by the volume of saving, as Hobson, following the classical economists, believed, but by “liquidity preference” – the desire, in situations of great uncertainty, to hold savings in liquid form, chiefly cash. Thus the interest rate cannot be the price that keeps the desire to save in equilibrium with the desire to invest: far from falling when people decided to save more, the rate of interest might easily go up, as people decided to hoard cash. Situations could thus arise when the expected rate of profit fell below the minimum rate at which banks were willing to lend. “Oversaving” thus went with “underinvestment”, not with “overinvestment”. This speaks to the present situation where, despite huge injections of liquidity by central banks, commercial banks refuse to lend to customers, preferring to sit on piles of cash.</p> <p>What, then, eliminates the excess saving and brings the economy back into balance? Keynes suggested it was the fall in income. As economies get poorer, the amount of saving falls to the level of the reduced investment. Thus economies regain “equilibrium”, but it is an inferior equilibrium to the previous one. This is a good approximation to the current state of Britain, with no clear tendency for a shrunken economy either to grow or to contract.</p> <p>Keynes was aware that a grossly unequal income distribution made it harder to maintain full employment. The rich save more than the poor, so the more unequal the distribution of income, the larger the gap to be filled by investment if the economy is to reach full employment. At the same time, the richer that societies are as a whole, the fewer new investment opportunities there will be. Hence the problem of unemployment would get worse over time from both ends. Underinvestment becomes a structural problem as wealth increases, because bona fide investment opportunities decline while the ratio of saving to income rises.</p> <p>So, what should governments do to maintain full employment? Keynes suggested that in the short and medium term a government should provide sufficient public investment from loans, but in the longer run it should redistribute wealth and income in favour of those with a higher propensity to consume. This latter was in line with Hobson’s remedy for slumps, reached by a different theoretical route.</p> <p>Keynes’s ultimate policy aim was to absorb some of the unwanted surplus of saving in increased leisure. This would mark entry to the “golden age” of capital abundance – the theme of his futuristic essay “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren”, published in 1930. A hundred years hence, Keynes thought, both capital accumulation and consumption would approach saturation.</p> <p>Marx, too, looked forward to this kind of utopia but he denied that it could ever be achieved by capitalism. The capitalist class (and the political apparatus it controlled) would never allow the scale of public investment Keynes wanted – which it would deem inefficient and wasteful; nor the measures of redistribution advocated by both Hobson and Keynes – which it would condemn as weakening the incentive to save and work. As machines increased the productivity of labour, and thus the possibility of shorter hours of work, capitalists would force down real wages by raising unemployment, and more generally by pauperising the mass of the population. Sooner or later this would cause a revolution. It was socialism, not capitalism, that would inherit the era of abundance.</p> <p>The ideas of the three thinkers all play out differently when we introduce a foreign sector. Let us call this “globalisation”.</p> <h2> The open economy</h2> <p>In a closed economy – one without a foreign sector – it is excess saving, according to Hobson, that causes periodic slumps. But an open economy provides an alternative: the domestic saver can lend his savings abroad to develop new markets. Hobson called the need to find a foreign vent for saving the “economic taproot of imperialism”. This was taken up by Lenin to explain why capitalism hadn’t collapsed on schedule. Faced with a falling rate of profit, capitalists could restore their profits by opening up sources of exploitation abroad.</p> <p>Unfortunately, this remedy – which both Hobson and Lenin called imperialism – only postponed the evil day. The competitive drive to capture new markets and open up new sources of exploitation would lead to wars between the leading powers for the “division and redivision of the world”. Hobson thought the Boer war was a precursor of a new type of capitalist war. Lenin interpreted the First World War in the same terms. Keynes drew a similar conclusion to Hobson and Marx. “If nations can learn to provide themselves with full employment by their domestic policy,” he wrote in 1936, “there would be no longer a pressing motive why one country need force its wares on another or repulse the offering of its neighbour.”</p> <p>The contemporary value of the analysis of all three thinkers is that it forces us to look more critically at the phenomenon of globalisation. Is globalisation the consequence of a benign and normal search for higher returns? Or is it an attempt to solve problems of underconsumption and declining profitability in the capital-exporting countries which would otherwise bring their economies crashing down?</p> <p>All three analyses are relevant to this problem. Keynes was the least interventionist of the three. He thought moderate globalisation was potentially beneficial but it needed to be underpinned by monetary “rules of the game” which would prevent surplus countries from “hoarding” their surpluses and thus impose austerity on the debtor countries. In his International Clearing Union, which he proposed in 1941, the reserves of persistent creditor countries would be taxed and the proceeds redistributed to the debtor countries. But no such mechanism was established by the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944, and the problem of adjustment of trade balances between creditor and debtor countries plagues not just the eurozone but US-China relations, threatening a descent into currency wars and protectionism.</p> <p>The intuitions of Hobson and Lenin also speak to our present situation. Hobson’s notion of a structural imbalance between production and consumption, leading to “excess saving” that requires a foreign vent, surely applies to China. Lenin’s idea that the export of capital is required to overcome periodic crises of profitability in the advanced capitalist nations helps explain the “offshoring” of manufacturing (and service) jobs to China and east Asia.</p> <h2> Today’s “crisis of capitalism”</h2> <p>We have gone in the opposite direction to Keynes’s, Hobson’s and Marx’s hopes, pushing into a distant future the golden age of capital abundance. We are still fixated on economic growth and have abandoned any attempt to control the level or kind of investment. In order to make growth happen, we encourage more and more consumption through advertising, while actively promoting inequality.</p> <p>And instead of the state embarking on wasteful and unnecessary investment programmes to keep people in jobs, we leave it to the financial sector to do this, wasting the money of investors in order to enrich a tiny minority, while most people fall ever deeper into debt.</p> <p>A structural analysis of how we got to where we are should start with an account of how Keynesian ideas, which saw off the Marxist challenge after the Second World War, were in turn dethroned by neoliberalism in the 1970s, opening the way for the dominance of finance capitalism.</p> <p>The political economies of the capitalist world between 1950 and the 1970s brought about a balance of forces between capital, labour and government. Economic policy was designed to achieve full employment, wages grew with productivity, incomes were equalised through progressive taxation, and international exchange was restricted. This configuration created a virtuous circle of growth.</p> <p>This was the Keynesian age. Keynes believed that the power of ideas – his ideas – would be enough to kill off Marx permanently, but he never considered the possibility that his own ideas might be at the mercy of changes in the power structures of western societies. After 1980, the state proved unable to protect the Keynesian revolution from the consequences of the continuing full employment it guaranteed. Over time, full employment strengthened trade union power; unions used their position to push wages ahead of productivity; wages started to encroach on profits; inflation took hold as governments tried to stay ahead of trade union demands. To end what had become a vicious spiral of “stagflation”, the business class demanded lower taxes, freedom to export capital, free trade and an end to the full employment commitment. Two of the countervailing powers, the unions and the state, were humbled, leaving capital in control. This brought back the power system of the 19th century, brilliantly aaalysed by Marx.</p> <p>The economics profession justified the shift back to an older form of capitalism. The technical ammunition for the monetarist counter-revolution was provided by Milton Friedman’s restatement of the quantity theory of money, coupled with his assertion that in each economy there existed a “natural” rate of unemployment, which could not be lowered, except temporarily, by printing money.</p> <p>Friedrich Hayek’s slow-burning <em>Road to Serfdom</em>, published in 1944, offered a powerful political economy argument against state intervention in economic life. There was also a revival of the Schumpeterian idea that the dynamism of capitalism depended on bouts of creative destruction. “Free-market” think tanks and journalists, funded by business, provided the simplifications and slogans needed for politicians to understand and mouth the new verities.</p> <p>In this way, after 1980, a new economic paradigm established itself, based on widening income inequality, repression of real wage growth, an accelerated transfer of manufacturing jobs to east Asia and a resulting high level of structural unemployment and underemployment. A rickety economy was rescued from collapse in the 1990s by the dotcom boom, and in the 2000s by asset-price inflation, financed by exploding private debt-to-income ratios. A banking collapse was inevitable.</p> <p>Globalisation was business’s “open” economy answer to the problem of domestic underconsumption identified by Hobson and the declining rate of profit predicted by Marx. Hobson’s oversaving analysis best explains China’s reliance on export-led growth, but it also sheds light on western countries’ reliance on access to cheap credit to maintain the stagnating purchasing power of what is now called “the squeezed middle class”. Analysis in terms of the declining rate of profit is good at explaining the accelerated transfer of productive capacity to east Asia. And by completing the destruction of the Keynesian state, globalisation has handed our future to finance, which Keynes identified as the most uncertain, least stable element in the economic structure.</p> <p>According to the Harvard economist Dani Rodrik, we face a “political trilemma”: press on with globalisation and restrict democracy to improve economic efficiency, limit globalisation in the name of democracy, or globalise democracy.</p> <p>The first option will be politically intolerable for large democracies of the west and the third is pie in the sky, which leaves the second. It is time to call a halt to the rush towards globalisation and take stock.</p> <p>At the minimum, there needs to be a global bargain between the US and China and a regional bargain between Germany and its partners in the eurozone on their respective “rules of the road”, which should aim to prevent the continuing current account imbalances. This is the problem that Keynes’s clearing union was designed to overcome but which the Bretton Woods system failed to solve.</p> <p>Yet Rodrik’s “trilemma” does not dig deep enough. It assumes that globalisation would be best if it could be made to work equitably. But global economic integration, in the absence of domestic policies to maintain full employment, create a broad base for consumption in all countries and reduce hours of work in the rich countries, is bound to be destructive for the reasons Keynes gave in 1936: it forces countries into export-led solutions to domestic problems which deny democratic control and are bound to bring them into conflict. Closed economy problems identified by Keynes, Hobson and Marx must be overcome if the open economy is to work harmoniously.</p> <p>What hope is there of this? Given that the Marxist physic of abolishing capitalism is worse than the disease, the question is whether it is any longer in business’s interest to go along with a system that crashes every few years, with increasingly harmful economic and social consequences. Keynes repeatedly said he had come not to destroy capitalism, but to make the world safe for capitalism – and make capitalism safe for the world. It may be that business interests are now sufficiently aligned with the needed domestic reforms to enable further global economic integration to proceed peacefully, if less hectically. If a change in the configuration of “vested interests” allows better “ideas” to succeed, the recent crisis will not have been in vain.</p> <p><em>Robert Skidelsky’s most recent book, co-written with Edward Skidelsky, is “How Much Is Enough? The Love of Money and the Case for the Good Life” (Allen Lane, £20)</em></p> </div></div></div> Fri, 17 May 2013 11:53:19 +0000 Robert Skidelsky 194181 at <![CDATA[Meeting our makers: Britain’s long industrial decline]]> <div class="field field-name-field-subheadline field-type-text-long field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The Slow Death of British Industry: a 60-Year Suicide, 1952-2012 - review.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-node-image field-type-image field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><a href="/culture/culture/2013/01/meeting-our-makers-britain%E2%80%99s-long-industrial-decline"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-fullnode-image" src="" width="510" height="348" alt="Railway volunteers at work on railway track during the General Strike of 1926" title="Railway volunteers at work on railway track during the General Strike of 1926" /></a></figure></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-nodeimage-title field-type-text field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Railway volunteers at work on railway track during the General Strike of 1926. Photograph: Getty Images</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p align="center"><strong>The Slow Death of British Industry: a 60-Year Suicide, 1952-2012</strong><br /> Nicholas Comfort<br /><em>Biteback Publishing, 344pp, £8.99</em></p> <p>In the early 1950s, Britain was an industrial giant. Today, it is an industrial pygmy. Manufacturing was industry’s bedrock. In 1952, it produced a third of the national output, employed 40 per cent of the workforce and made up a quarter of world manufacturing exports. Today, manufacturing in this country accounts for just 11 per cent of GDP, employs only 8 per cent of the workforce and sells 2 per cent of the world’s manufacturing exports. The iconic names of industrial Britain are history; in their place are the service economy and supermarkets selling mainly imported goods. What happened? Was it inevitable? Does it matter?</p> <p>Nicholas Comfort’s book is exactly what its title promises: a roll-call of the dead and the dying. The broad outline of the story is well known. Britain emerged from the Second World War with a technological edge in aircraft, aerospace, computers and electronics that it failed to exploit. In the 1950s and early 1960s, British manufacturers dominated the home market and had about 20 per cent of world exports, with some world-beaters such as the Comet airliner, the Mini and Triumph motorbikes. Then, a decline set in with increasing import penetration and declining export sales, until the trade surplus in manufactured goods finally disappeared in 1983.</p> <p>In the 1970s, many firms with household names went under. Governments, starting with Edward Heath’s, desperately tried to keep“lame ducks” such as Rolls-Royce afloat by nationalising them. Margaret Thatcher returned the lame ducks to “the chill forces of the market”, many of them drowning. Manufacturing went on shrinking under New Labour; the sector’s workforce halved from 4.5 million to 2.5 million between 1997 and 2010. “Financial and business services,” writes Comfort, “were seen [by the New Labour government] as the way forward for Britain, with manufacturing recognised as globally competitive only in aerospace and pharmaceuticals.” As immigrant workers flooded into Britain’s services and food-processing sector, manufacturing jobs flooded out, mainly to the Far East. Flagship businesses were sold to foreign firms, notably Cadbury’s, which was taken over by Kraft in 2010. No story, writes Comfort, is more poignant than the “fall of two of the giants of the 20th-century British economy – GEC and ICI.”</p> <p>Every advanced economy has been affected by the shift from manufacturing to services but the sheer scale of the industrial decline in Britain demands a special effort at explanation. After all, Germany has kept a much larger manufacturing capacity and its workers work fewer hours. France, too, has maintained world-class manufacturing companies such as Dassault and Peugeot. Why did Britain fail to emulate them?</p> <p>Unfortunately, we don’t get an explanation here. Like almost every writer on industry, Comfort cannot see the wood for the trees. The reader is wearied by page after page of blunders, business miscalculations and missed opportunities; failed grandiose projects such as Concorde; firms going bust, changing their owners, changing their names and either disappearing or reappearing in shrunken form with new acronyms.</p> <p>Comfort spreads a thin coat of “factors” to cover every possible influence: not just “fuddy-duddy management, failure to invest, outdated working practices and headin- the-sand trade unions” but also “shorttermism in the City and the Treasury; the sterile and destructive cycle of nationalisation and privatisation; poor decision-making by government; inadequate market size at home; an obsession with size; the transfer of jobs to the developing world; takeovers driven by boardroom egos; boardroom disdain for manufacturing as such; the lure of Wall Street; sheer bad luck – and good oldfashioned incompetence”. Some old saws – comprehensive education and health and safety legislation – are duly wheeled out to complete the list. As Churchill once said of a dessert placed before him: “This pudding lacks a theme.”</p> <p>A historian of British industry should be able to do better. There cannot be a single explanation of the British economic experience but we can suggest two important ones. The first was the imperial overhang. Until well into the 1960s, most British companies expected to go on earning their living from the empire – that financial, industrial and military complex making up the imperial system. Premonitions of industrial decline – “Made in Germany”, the “yellow peril” – date from late-Victorian and Edwardian times. Joseph Chamberlain’s 1903 campaign for tariff reform was deliberately designed to reduce competitive pressure from Germany and Japan. It is easy to forget that for twothirds of the last century competition was repelled not by superior British efficiency but by military force: it took some time after defeat in the Second World War for German and Japanese competition to start up again.</p> <p>Imperial policy was not wholly consistent. Maintaining the sterling area – not finally wound up until the late 1970s – required high interest rates and an overvalued exchange rate that hit manufacturing. But it was part of a system of sterling loans tied to orders for British exports, a British government procurement system for imperial defence and a resource-extraction system from imperial primary producers.</p> <p>The British aircraft, shipbuilding, railway and motor vehicle industries were under no pressure to modernise their plants, upskill their managers and workers or reform their archaic labour practices when they could rely on captive domestic and imperial markets. Complacency ruled; entrepreneurship was at a discount. Globalisation put a stop to all that.</p> <p>After the breakdown of the imperial system, the big problem facing British industry was erratic government policy. In the 1950s, Conservative governments pursued benign neglect. Governments of the 1960s and 1970s, mainly Labour, decided that the future lay in “industrial policy”: making industries more efficient by reorganising them. Governments would “pick winners” as, allegedly, the French and Japanese did. Industrial policy started up with the National Economic Development Council and its regional counterparts, the “little Neddies”; it gathered strength with the merger boom and nationalisations of the 1960s and 1970s; it was discredited with Tony Benn’s attempt to turn collapsed industries into workers’ co-operatives; it was abandoned by Thatcher in 1979.</p> <p>Running through this history is a lack of continuity: government policy towards taxation and incentives continually changed, long-term aims were repeatedly sacrificed to short-term financial exigencies, projects were taken up and abandoned when they became too costly, fashions in thinking shifted, waste was colossal. The result was neverending unsettlement and uncertainty. The theoretical debate that went on at this time between “governments” and “markets” was largely off-beam. Both business and government miscalculations were equally gross.</p> <p>As the former civil servant Chris Benjamin has written (<em>in Strutting on Thin Air</em>), “The underlying essential for industrial success is ‘continuity’ . . . Continuity fosters consistent focus, expertise evolved over decades and pursuit of research, innovation and knowledge application to secure the feedback for ‘increasing returns’.”</p> <p>In the end, does industrial decline matter if we can earn our living in other ways? Comfort is of the school that laments that “Britain has forgotten how to make things” but it is not easy to separate out the economics from the nostalgia in this statement. Economic policy should not be determined by misty-eyed reminiscences about the brand names of decades past or by a nationalism derived from the tangibility of “things”.</p> <p>Comfort certainly seems to feel more at home complaining about where Terry’s Chocolate Oranges are now made (Poland) than explaining why an economy less reliant on services might be a healthier one. He deplores how, while the Queen’s coronation souvenirs were made in Britain, knickknacks for the Diamond Jubilee were mostly made in China – as if cheap souvenirs were the secret recipe for Britain’s economic future.</p> <p>Yet there is more to be said. Almost the last gasp of the view that manufacturing mattered was the House of Lords select committee report on overseas trade in 1985. It asked: what would happen to our balance of trade when surpluses from North Sea oil ran out? The then chancellor, Nigel Lawson, replied succinctly: services would take up the slack. Yet this is a superficial response for a number of reasons. First, in so far as the big gainer from loss of manufacturing has been the financial services, it has greatly increased the tendency to short-termism. Michael Heseltine, as president of the Board of Trade in 1993, said in parliament:</p> <p class="rteindent1">I do not doubt for one moment that deep-seated short-term attitudes are prevalent in our affairs; or that this is one important strand in understanding why we as a nation have performed less well than many of our competitors. Such attitudes have led us to invest less than we might in technology and advanced means of production. They have encouraged growth in companies by acquisition and financial engineering rather than through organic development and building on products and markets. They have led us to place far too great an emphasis on comparisons of near-term financial results in judging our companies, instead of considering the strength of management and its underlying strategy. Those attitudes are of a piece.</p> <p>Second, Britain’s reliance on financial services has increased the volatility of government revenue. The financial sector, as the experience of 2008 showed, is particularly prone to boom and bust. Financial volatility affects all incomes, including the income of the government. Because of its disproportionate reliance on the inflated taxes from the financial sector, the British government’s revenues collapsed disproportionately when the financial sector failed.</p> <p>This helps explain why our government’s “structural deficit” was greater than those of countries with more balanced economies. It had become over-reliant on a particularly volatile income stream. Like individuals, governments should hold balanced portfolios. No government should remain indifferent to the distribution and performance of a nation’s assets, human or physical, because on that depends its ability to fulfil its social functions. Governments therefore need to promote a balanced economy.</p> <p>Finally, services of all kinds are worse than manufacturing at securing high employment and progressive increases in median incomes. In the long run, automation is bound to reduce manufacturing employment but as long as manufactures are such a large part of international trade, they are important for maintaining employment in a trading economy, because most services cannot be exported. A country that loses its industrial base will thus experience rising structural unemployment apart from automation.</p> <p>Manufacturing is also a safeguard against income deterioration because it is more productive than most services. The more people are employed in labour intensive activities – especially retail services – the lower the typical income will be. The loss of two million manufacturing jobs between 1997 and 2010 probably explains why Gordon Brown, despite his best efforts, was unable to increase average productivity growth in the period.</p> <p>For these reasons, Lawson’s dismissal of the case for manufacturing as “special pleading dressed up as analysis” is not the last word on the subject. It is a shame that Comfort has missed the chance to put that case in a more persuasive form.</p> <p><em>Robert Skidelsky is the author, with Edward Skidelsky, of “How Much Is Enough? The Love of Money and the Case for the Good Life” (Allen Lane, £20)</em></p> </div></div></div> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:26:58 +0000 Robert Skidelsky 192059 at <![CDATA[An economy in crisis, a coalition in denial]]> <div class="field field-name-field-subheadline field-type-text-long field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>As long as Cameron and Osborne are battling Vince Cable’s Lib Dems for control over the direction of Britain’s economy, the slump will persist.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-node-image field-type-image field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><a href="/politics/politics/2012/09/economy-crisis-coalition-denial"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-fullnode-image" src="" width="510" height="348" alt="David Cameron" title="David Cameron" /></a></figure></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-nodeimage-title field-type-text field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">David Cameron. Photograph: Getty Images</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Refreshed by his summer holiday, David Cameron vowed to “get Britain moving again”. A slew of kick-starting initiatives has followed, most of them the brainchild of his government’s one-man think tank, Vince Cable.</p> <p> The figures are dire. After a tepid recovery from the collapse of 2008, the British economy has started shrinking again. Most forecasters expect a negative growth outcome for this year. The same is true of the eurozone.</p> <p> What has gone wrong? In the spring of 2009 all the major economies, including Britain’s, were given a large fiscal and monetary stimulus. Then in June 2010 George Osborne, the Chancellor, entered the Treasury with a large dose of austerity. It is true that a correlation isn’t a cause, but could it be that the earlier recovery had something to do with the stimulus, and the subsequent decline with the austerity? At any rate these are striking coincidences. By contrast, the United States, which escaped Dr Osborne’s cure, has continued to grow, albeit feebly.</p> <p> It would be foolish to say that Osborne’s budgets have caused the slump. The charge is that his budgets, far from offsetting, have aggravated the collapse of demand that followed the banking crash of 2008. Austerity has not caused the economy to shrink, but has kept it from recovering. Meanwhile, it is wonderful to see how we clutch at straws. For example, the fall in retail sales in July compared to July last year has been attributed to people preferring to watch the London Olympics rather than go shopping. Could it just be that they had less disposable income than last year? Then there was the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. This was blamed for the poor second-quarter showing. In a healthy economy, however, parties don’t typically lead to such severe hangovers.</p> <p> The government clutches at straws of its own. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor assert ad nauseam that Britain’s recovery was derailed by the eurozone crisis. Unfortunately, the dates are wrong. The British recovery petered out before the eurozone crisis started. It actually petered out as soon as the coalition got started.</p> <p> Yet surely it was only the government’s austerity policy that prevented Britain from going the way of those big European spenders? Here is David Cameron in the <em>Mail on Sunday</em> (2 September): “When I became Prime Minister our market interest rates were the same as Spain’s. Ours are now less than 2 per cent; theirs more than 6 per cent. Why? Because we threw a lifeline around the British economy and pulled it back from the cliff edge.”</p> <p> But wait a minute: Spain had a budget surplus and a low public debt in the run-up to the crisis. Since then Spain has followed much the same austerity policy as the UK. So how can the difference in the yields of the two governments’ debt be due to the differences in their fiscal policies? There must be “other factors”.</p> <p> Now we come to some good news. “Yes, growth has been disappointing,” Cameron admits, “but in the past two years we’ve also seen more than 900,000 jobs created in the private sector.” This may be true, but the number we are most interested in is net, not gross, employment. In fact, unemployment has risen in the two years of coalition rule, from 2.48 million to 2.59 million. More importantly, almost half of the new jobs created under Cameron are parttime. Agreed, better some employment than no employment, but hardly the resounding success story it’s made out to be.</p> <p> There is still a puzzle. The government takes comfort from unemployment having fallen recently, even though the economy has continued to shrink. The headline figure of 2.59 million unemployed is actually slightly lower than it was six months ago. The reason for this is almost certainly that employers are hanging on to skilled labour for fear of losing it altogether, with the consequence that there has been a fall in recorded productivity. As the <em>Guardian</em> put it, “. . . it now requires many more of us to labour away to churn out the reduced volume of stuff” (15 August).</p> <p> The figures have to be spun to disguise Osborne’s failure. The present situation is the predictable and, by some of us, predicted outcome of policies of fiscal austerity pursued in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Second World War. That prediction rests on a straightforward Keynesian analysis.</p> <p> Keynes explained how conditions of semislump can get established. Let’s start from a situation of full employment and high private indebtedness. This latter does not matter so long as the economy is growing. But suddenly the next step up the ladder is no longer there and a lot of people find themselves “living beyond their means”.</p> <p> The only thing they can do is to reduce their spending: that is, save more. But what happens if all households and firms try to increase their saving at the same time? Well, then the total spending in the economy will fall because everyone’s spending is someone else’s income. There will be less demand for goods and services and therefore for labour. Our collective attempts to get back into balance – get rid of our credit card debt, as the Prime Minister likes to put it – will have made us all poorer, and, indeed, reduced the amount of saving as well, given that we will have smaller incomes out of which to save. So the economy will go on shrinking until the excess saving is eliminated by the growing poverty of the community.</p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/skidlesky.JPG" style="width: 510px; height: 507px;" /></p> <p> The essence of this insight is captured in the phrase the “fallacy of composition”. The fallacy consists in the claim that what is true of the parts must also be true for the whole. The bestknown application of this fallacy is the “paradox of thrift”. New acts of saving, though virtuous for the individual, make us all poorer when the demand for new capital has declined. That is why Keynes rejected more saving as the remedy for a slump. The correct response was more spending. And if private agents lack the resources or incentive to increase their spending then the government needs to increase its own spending. This, in a nutshell, is the theory of the stimulus.</p> <p> We all worry about debt, yet the important figure is not what I owe but the ratio of what I owe to my income. I can try to reduce this ratio either by saving my income to pay off the debt or trying to make my income larger. Reducing the national debt is more complicated. It can only be done by taxing more or spending less, and this drives down people’s incomes and creates unemployment. Furthermore, by reducing incomes, it also reduces people’s ability to pay taxes, and this can be self-defeating. Something like this has happened in Europe, where falling incomes due to austerity have driven debt ratios up, not down (see chart).</p> <p> Offloading private debt on to the public sector may help stabilise the economy, but does not, of itself, produce recovery; and may, in addition, frighten the bond markets into raising their default premium on government paper.</p> <p> So we seem to be between a rock and a hard place. International organisations such as the OECD and the IMF are more or less agreed that the present austerity policies are preventing growth; but they offer no alternatives. Here is Ángel Gurría of the OECD: “Deleveraging necessarily means higher savings, and that means lower consumption and therefore lower demand. And the lower demand means even lower employment and even lower incomes for households and lower revenues from governments.<br /> And both of these mean slower deleveraging. It is a vicious circle.”</p> <p> And here is the latest IMF study: “The recovery has stalled and unemployment is still too high . . . Additional macroeconomic easing is needed to close the output gap faster. Scaling back fiscal tightening plans should be the main policy lever if growth does not build momentum by early 2013 even after further monetary stimulus and strong credit easing measures.”</p> <p> To a Keynesian, these belated insights are hardly news. Gurría, for instance, is merely repeating Keynes’s argument that to withdraw demand from an already demand-deficient economy will lead not to recovery, but to a shrinking economy, a growing debt (private and public) and the need for more austerity.</p> <p> Today there is a silent U-turn going on in the UK as well as in eurozone countries, hence Cameron’s call to “cut through the dither”. But there is still great disagreement about what the recovery policy should be.</p> <p> The debate is broadly between the supplysiders and the demand-siders. The supply-siders argue that there is too little money in the economy, the demand-siders that there is too little spending power. It might seem that the two come to the same thing, but as Keynes pointed out, the holder of money has a choice: whether to “hoard” it or spend it. Those who argue that any increase in the money supply is bound to be spent on buying goods and services ignore the existence of “liquidity preference” – the desire to hold on to cash because of uncertainty about the future.</p> <p> The favourite tool of supply-side expansionism is quantitative easing (QE), or “printing money”. Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve and Mervyn King of the Bank of England, together the most powerful central bank governors today, believe that the reason the Great Depression of the 1930s was so deep and lasted so long was that the monetary authorities allowed the money supply to collapse. They are determined not to make the same mistake this time. The technique of printing money is for the central bank to buy government (and pos - sibly corporate) securities from non-financial companies and give them cash in return. The recipients deposit this additional cash in their bank accounts. They then spend it buying assets. Alternatively, the banks’ increased cash reserves enable them to reduce the rates they charge for loans. Either way, there is a stimulus to spending.</p> <p> Despite attempts by the Bank of England to devise “more economically relevant” measures of money, the evidence is that only a small fraction of the “new money” has got out into the economy, enough to stop a slide all the way down into another Great Depression, but not enough to produce a recovery. The main benefit of QE has been to keep down the cost of government borrowing: one of the inestimable advantages of having your own central bank able to print money. This gives the government more room for fiscal manoeuvre.</p> <p> So, contrary to Cameron’s claim, it is not fiscal austerity that has kept the cost of government borrowing low, but QE – plus the lack of business confidence in alternative investment prospects.</p> <p> The government has dangled a succession of carrots before the banks to induce them to “lend more” of the extra money they are getting. In March, there was a National Loan Guarantee Scheme. This was replaced less than six months later by the Funding for Lending Scheme. However, attempts to increase the volume of lending by lowering banks’ funding costs have largely failed. Since July, when the new scheme was launched, bank funding costs have fallen by 0.5 per cent, but the rate for new mortgages has fallen by only 0.1 per cent; that is to say, the spread between the two has in fact widened, to the great advantage of banks’ balance sheets, but not borrowers. Now the government has promised a £40bn guarantee for private infrastructure investment. These schemes all help, yet the basic problem is not too little credit, but too little demand for credit. Would people borrow more, even at lower interest rates, when the economy is shrinking? As economists used to say, “You can’t push on a string.”</p> <p> The alternative expansionary tool is an increase in the government deficit. Instead of the Bank of England buying bonds, the government sells bonds – that is, incurs debt – to finance its spending. There would be no point in doing this if the private sector was already investing its money productively. If, in this situation, the government started selling more of its debt, it would merely “crowd out” existing private investment. Yet this is not the case when there is a deficiency of aggregate spending. Government borrowing then absorbs “idle” savings and puts them to use.</p> <p> There are many ways it can do this. The least promising is the policy of tax cuts for the rich advocated by the political right. The reason is that the rich save more of their money than the poor, so the stimulating effect may be quite small; and the non-saved part of the tax windfall is quite likely to go into the kind of financial and real-estate speculation that precipitated the last crash. Tax reductions for the poor, though, in the form of temporary relief from National Insurance contributions, would be helpful.</p> <p> In the present situation there are two quick ways for the government to boost total spending. It could supply all households with timelimited spending vouchers – a Christmas present of, say, £100 for each family in the land. Some of the extra spending power would be used to buy imported goods or repay debt, but there would still be some net increase in domestic spending.</p> <p> On the investment side, the easiest thing that the government could do would be to reinstate capital spending programmes cancelled in the drive for deficit reduction, with social housing and school-building given priority. Easing planning regulations (a favourite supply-side measure) to stimulate construction will help, but the private sector will not construct buildings if there is no effective demand for them.</p> <p> The government should also set up a national investment bank with its own portfolio of investment projects focused on infrastructure and cutting-edge technology. A firm, long-term commitment by the investment bank would not only give the country new roads and energy sources but spread jobs to small and mediumsized suppliers.</p> <p> The crucial difference between the National Investment Bank and the government’s plan to guarantee £40bn of private infrastructure projects is that the investment bank would be an active investor with its own funds, whereas the government’s plan leaves the initiative to the private sector. Even Vince Cable’s so-called small business bank is not expected to do more than “shake up the market in business finance”. This is based on the fallacious doctrine that the private sector will always be better at “picking winners” than any public authority, however shielded an authority may be from political interference.</p> <p>This largely reflects the failed experiments of the 1960s, such as British Leyland. The experience of many European and Asian countries gives the lie to the notion that state-led investment is bound to fail. And the recent catastrophic performance of the financial services industry should guard us from the belief that the private sector always knows best.</p> <p> The important requirement, as our success in the Olympics showed, is the identification of potential winners and sticking with them long enough to show results. The bane of British “industrial policy” has been not the inability of public authorities to pick winners, but the chopping and changing of policy in response to temporary financial exigencies. The cancellation of public capital projects after 2008 is a good example of this unsteadiness of aim.</p> <p> This is where the economic debate rests. It is high time to move it from academic discussion to the political arena. This will be necessary in any case if, as I believe, the prospect under present policy is for semi-permanent continuation of conditions of semi-slump.</p> <p> <em>Robert Skidelsky’s most recent book – written with Edward Skidelsky – is “How Much Is Enough? The Love of Money and the Case for the Good Life” (Allen Lane, £20).</em></p> </div></div></div> Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:53:28 +0000 Robert Skidelsky 189184 at <![CDATA[Plan B: Start a national investment bank]]> <div class="field field-name-field-node-image field-type-image field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><a href="/economy/2011/10/investment-bank-capital"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-fullnode-image" src="" width="510" height="348" title="width" /></a></figure></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <!-- Generated by XStandard version on 2011-10-18T12:34:18 --><p>Dear Chancellor,</p> <p>In 2008, you said that a Keynesian stimulus would be a "cruise missile aimed at the heart of recovery". Three years on, may I suggest that austerity is a "cruise missile aimed at the heart of recovery"? If everyone is being austere at the same time - householders paying off their credit-card debt as the Prime Minister wants, businesses deleveraging, the government cutting its spending - the economy is bound to shrink. It is one thing to be austere when the need is to reduce overheating. It's quite a different thing when the economy is freezing and the need is to restart growth. The question is: where is growth going to come from?</p> <p>I accept that, for reasons of politics and confidence, you cannot now abandon your commitment to your deficit-reduction programme. What we need, though, is to revive the conceptual distinction between current and capital spending. You should aim to achieve a balance of revenues and expenditure on current account, but augment capital expenditure. Banks cannot be forced to lend, or households and business forced to borrow. Therefore, the government has to provide the stimulus for new capital investment on a scale sufficient to overcome the cumulative forces of austerity. But, for the sake of the public accounts, and also to give confidence, it would be far better that the programme of public investment be entrusted to a separate, independent institution.</p> <p>You already have an instrument to hand: the Green Bank. But it is to be given only £3bn and prevented from borrowing. A bank that can't borrow is no bank at all. We need a proper national investment bank, with more capital and the ability to raise private money.</p> <p>My proposal is very simple. You should use part of the proceeds of the sale of government shares in bailed-out banks to increase the capitalisation of the national investment bank. A limited fiscal commitment - say, £10bn in subscribed capital, with contributions drawn down over the next four years - would allow the new bank to finance enough spending to more than offset the £87bn of reductions in public investment planned before 2015. In this way, it could bolster confidence and increase demand without adding to the deficit. To those who say there are no "shovel-ready" schemes, I would reply that the commitment to a large programme of capital investment, of itself, would give confidence ahead of the start of the investment.</p> <p>The difference between the total and the government contribution would be funded from the bond markets. This is the magic of leverage, of course: the magic that got such a black name as a cause of the crisis. But a national investment bank is an opportunity to turn that magic to a constructive end.</p> <p>In fact, an investment bank would kill three birds with one stone. First, through its funding programme, it would create a new class of bonds - long-term, but with a yield pick-up over gilts, reflecting the modest credit risk of the bank - which could include features that fit the needs of the UK pensions industry, the need for renewing infrastructure and the demands for energy efficiency. Second, by lending for the long term, it would help long-term growth. And finally, by ramping up its operations now - when the corporate recovery is being hamstrung by shrinking bank lending and fiscal austerity - it can offer a boost to aggregate demand when it is needed most.</p> <p><em>Robert Skidelsky is emeritus professor of political economy at the University of Warwick. He is a crossbench peer and a biographer of John Maynard Keynes</em></p> <p><em><a href="">Previous: Print money for the public, says Sushil Wadhwani</a></em></p> <p><em><a href="">Next: Lift the cap on immigration, says Jonathan Portes</a></em></p> <p><em><a href="">Back to list</a></em></p> </div></div></div> Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:42:32 +0000 Robert Skidelsky 41351 at <![CDATA[The boom was the illusion]]> <div class="field field-name-field-subheadline field-type-text-long field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The world economy is on the edge of a precipice. The best we can hope for now is a managed retreat f</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-node-image field-type-image field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><a href="/economy/2011/10/world-growth-china-investment"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-fullnode-image" src="" width="510" height="348" title="width" /></a></figure></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <!-- Generated by XStandard version on 2011-10-25T16:42:41 --><p>Since its collapse in the autumn of 2008, the world economy has gone through three phases: a year or more of rapid decline; a bounce back in 2009-2010, which nevertheless did not amount to a full recovery; and a second, though so far much shallower, downturn this year.</p> <p>The resulting damage over the past four years has been huge. The world economy contracted by 6 per cent between 2007 and 2009, and recovered 4 per cent. It is 10 per cent poorer than it would have been, had growth continued at the rate of 2007, and the pain is not yet over. Today, we are in the first stages of a second banking crisis. It may already be too late to avoid a "double dip", but it may still be possible to avoid a triple dip. For this we need a robust intellectual analysis of what is required to ensure durable recovery, and the collective political will to implement it.</p> <h2>Backdrop to the crisis</h2> <p>Economics is in a mess. With the shattering of the dominant Chicago School paradigm, whose rational expectations hypothesis ruled out, by assumption, the kind of collapse we have just experienced, two old masters, Friedrich von Hayek and John Maynard Keynes, have risen from the dead to renew the battles of the 1930s, equipped this time with explanations for what has gone wrong. We can label these "money glut" and "saving glut".</p> <p>The Hayekian argument for the slump is that lax monetary policy made it possible for the commercial banks to lend more money to businesses than the public wanted to save out of its current income. Hence, a whole tranche of investments - "malinvestments", Hayek called them - was being financed by credit creation, not genuine saving. This led to a bubble in the real estate and financial sectors which powered a consumption boom. When (belatedly) the money tap was turned off, the bubble burst and the American economy slumped. The slump is simply the liquidation of the unsound investments - "capital consumption".</p> <p>By contrast, the problem for Keynesians was not insufficient saving, but insufficient investment. Investment is governed by uncertainty, while saving is a stable fraction of income. Keynes's economy tips over into recession when, for some reason, profit expectations decline relative to the volume of saving being done. Businesses start to prefer liquidity to investment. This pushes up the rate of interest, or cost of borrowing, just when you want it to come down. Saving and investment are then brought back into balance, not by a fall in interest rates, but by a fall in incomes. The recession of 2008-2009 was caused by a collapse in investment, not by overindebtedness; overindebtedness was a consequence, not a cause.</p> <p>Both explanations have an international dimension. The Hayekian story starts with the overissuing of dollars by the US Federal Reserve, made possible by the dollar's role as the world's leading reserve currency. This enabled Americans to live beyond their means and to spend more than they produced.</p> <p>The Keynesian story starts with Chinese oversaving. The Chinese save a much higher proportion of their incomes than their economy, as organised, can absorb. It was the voluntary recycling of excess Chinese savings into the US economy by means of the Chinese central bank's purchase of US Treasury bills which allowed the United States to become the world's "consumer of last resort". The "money glut" in the US was a consequence, not a cause, of the more fundamental "saving glut" in China.</p> <p>The two stories are derived from contrasting theories about how a market economy works. The first sees it as a self-regulating mechanism, in which the "invisible hand" smoothly channels the self-interested actions of individuals towards a social optimum in the absence of monetary disturbances. The Keynesians accept the social value of the market system, but deny that, in the presence of irreducible uncertainty, it is optimally self-regulating. The "invisible" hand guides economies not to a social optimum but to "underemployment" equilibrium. As such, government intervention is needed to ensure full use of potential resources.</p> <p>On a cool view, there are elements of truth in both explanations of the recession. We do not have to choose between American profligacy and Chinese frugality. Our policies for recovery have to deal with both contributions to the unravelling of prosperity.</p> <h2>Austerity v stimulus</h2> <p>The differences just described over the origin of the crisis underpin the present debate between austerity and stimulus. According to Meghnad Desai, writing in the <em>Financial Times</em> of 15 September, "The long recession is a Hayekian phenomenon and not a Keynesian one . . . The need is to deleverage, not to spend." The private and public sectors alike need to increase their saving, even though this will reduce aggregate demand in the short run. Letting assets find their proper value will bring genuine demand at realistic prices and punish those who have taken wrong decisions.</p> <p>There will be more pain in the short term, but the Keynesian alternative of stimulus delays the adjustment, unfairly forcing taxpayers to pay the price of rescuing those who took too much risk. The boom was the illusion; the slump is the opportunity to liquidate the malinvestments.</p> <p>To this, Keynesians pose two objections. First, they deny that there was "too much" spending in the US economy before the collapse. There were no signs of general overheating: inflation was low, and there was no shortage of labour. What they would concede to the Hayekians is that cheap money made possible a great deal of misdirected, or speculative investment, which fuelled a wealth-driven consumption boom. But this is not the same as saying that there was overinvestment in the strict sense that further investment would have yielded a zero rate of return, or that there was too much consumption in general. It is absurd to believe that the demand for goods and services of those 46 million Americans living below the poverty line had reached the point of saturation. The houses and construction facilities built in the bubble economy are still there: they require an increase, not a reduction, in the incomes of the low-paid in order to become "affordable".</p> <p>But more fundamentally, Keynesians argue that, even if the Hayekian diagnosis is right, the remedy of austerity is wrong. It derives, they say, from the medieval medical practice of bleeding a sick person to purge the rottenness from his blood - a species of cure that frequently led to the death of the patient. Lionel Robbins, retracting his opposition to Keynesian stimulus policies in the 1930s, wrote:</p> <blockquote><p>Assuming that the original diagnosis of excessive financial ease and mistaken real investment was correct - which is certainly not a settled matter - to treat what developed subsequently [by austerity policies] was as unsuitable as denying blankets and stimulants to a drunk who has fallen into an icy pond on the ground that his original trouble was overheating.</p> </blockquote> <p>(Compare this with the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble: "You can't cure an alcoholic by giving him alcohol.") The point is this: if both the government and the private sector are trying to increase their saving at the same time, you don't just liquidate the bad investments, you kill the economy as well, by reducing national income until everyone is too poor to save.</p> <p>That is why I have been arguing in the UK that when private enterprise is asleep, for lack of effective demand, the state must step in to stimulate the moribund investment machine back into lively activity.</p> <p>The truth is that the policy of all-round "cutting down" increases the problem of indebtedness. The bond markets have diagnosed accurately that, in the absence of growth policies, one lot of debts after another will become "unsustainable". Both the national debt and the debts of private institutions will shrink automatically as a fraction of national income if national income grows, and conversely will grow if it shrinks. Growth, not debt reduction, should be the chief aim of economic policy today. Where there are too many debt collectors, they end up ruining themselves. The eurozone today is awful witness to this truth.</p> <p>With austerity in the ascendant, the world recovery is petering out. Europe is on the edge of a precipice, in a feedback loop from bank insolvency to an explosion of sovereign debt to a second round of bank insolvency. The United States is in little better shape, with its fiscal policy paralysed and the markets expecting a Japanese-style stagnation.</p> <p>Latin America, the Middle East and Russia are benefiting from a commodity boom. Of their main markets, however, the US and Europe are hardly growing, and China is slowing down as Beijing tries to rein in an inflationary bubble in real estate, and because its export-led growth depends on the continuing increase in American and European demand. If China's voracious appetite for commodities slows, growth in Latin America, the Middle East and Russia will grind to a halt, which in turn will limit demand from them for Chinese goods. So the circle of pain widens, as each misfortune feeds back on itself.</p> <p>The plain fact is that there is too little aggregate demand in the world, and the net effect of all the policies being pursued is to reduce it further. So, what will the future bring?</p> <p>We know what happened in the 1930s: the world economy broke up. The conventional wisdom is that this is impossible today under any circumstances. The cliché has it that economic integration is irreversible; that the revolution in information and communications is ineluctably turning the world into a "global village". However, this benign prospect ignores the possibility of great crises and collapses. People were saying exactly the same thing in 1914. Historically, globalisation has come in waves, which recede under the impact of crisis and catastrophe as economic life retreats to the relatively safe haven of national jurisdictions.</p> <p>We have reached the end of that phase of globalisation in which we dealt with the problem of permanently mispriced currencies by means of recycling mechanisms that pumped up speculative bubbles. But what follows it? There are two alternative hypotheses, which may be described as a choice between Disintegration and Co-ordination.</p> <p>The first hypothesis is that, as we fail to solve our problems globally, the global economy will start to fragment. At present, domestic demand is being suppressed both by countries that depend heavily on export-led growth and by countries that are trying to reduce their current account deficits. What this signals is that the global authorities are engaged in a simultaneous effort, for different reasons, to reduce aggregate demand.</p> <p>This is completely the wrong policy. Christine Lagarde, the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund, is right to argue that fiscal retrenchment in the teeth of a recession is suicide. The break will come when the deficit countries, unable to endure any further "bleeding", start to resort to currency depreciation and protectionism. If the eurozone fails to organise growth policies, Greece and possibly other eurozone countries will resume their monetary and trade independence. Currency and trade wars will erupt across the globe: indeed, these wars have already begun.</p> <p>The second hypothesis, Co-ordination, is what Gordon Brown calls a "G20 growth compact". Essentially, he is calling for a revival of the spirit of international co-operation which produced the stimulus of 2009 and halted the slide into another Great Depression.</p> <p>Elements of such a compact would include a reform of the global monetary system, aiming to end the era of current account imbalances; a reform of the financial system, aiming to avoid the excesses of bank lending that triggered the crisis; and macroeconomic policies that aim to boost world demand in the short run.</p> <p>Progress has come on the second item. Basel III has accepted the need for the banks to hold more capital against their liabilities. Individual countries have also began to beef up their regulatory systems. In the UK, the Vickers report has proposed splitting the retail from the investment functions of banks. Hayek would have approved.</p> <p>The more fundamental problem is the political power of the big banks. Not only does finance have to be reformed, it must be tamed. Winston Churchill put it well in 1925, as chancellor of the exchequer: "I would rather see finance less proud and industry more content." So far no government has had the guts to stand up to the banks. This suggests that financial re-regulation will be emasculated.</p> <p>On the other two items, there is no progress to report at all. Reform of the world monetary system needs be based on a grand bargain, mainly between China and the US, on reserves and exchange rates, but there is no sign yet of any serious attempt to achieve this. As for the third item, the only macroeconomic co-ordination is in the direction of cutting down, not building up, the world economy. There is no investment in growth.</p> <p>Yet the world economy cannot cut its way out of recession: it has to grow its way out. If the bond markets force deficit reduction programmes on highly indebted governments, states must look to alternative instruments - such as national or regional investment or infrastructure banks - to mobilise private savings going to waste for want of profitable investment opportunities.</p> <h2>Disintegration scenario</h2> <p>Sovereign wealth funds and pension funds would invest in growth if there was any growth going on. As it is, they invest in government debt, which carries low yields but is at least relatively safe. The former US deputy Treasury secretary Roger Altman has made the point that historically low yields on long-term government debt in the US, the UK and Germany can be explained only by anticipation of "negligible demand for capital".<br />Of the two scenarios, Disintegration is the more likely. This is not just because political leadership is not up to the job of forging a global compact, but because the adjustments required of our current national economic models are too great to be undertaken voluntarily. Americans will need to consume less and export more; China and Germany will have to consume more and export less. Such change requires a fundamental rethinking of ways of living into which all three countries are locked.</p> <p>In the US case, adjustment will require a break with a credit-fuelled economy, which is the only way American capitalism has of dealing with the vast inequalities of wealth and income that it has created by outsourcing most of its manufacturing to low-wage countries. There is little sign, however, of the US being willing to rethink its version of capitalism.</p> <p>In the case of the Chinese, their country's low consumption ratio, as Michael Pettis, on his blog China Financial Markets, points out, is "fundamental to the [Chinese] growth model, and the suppression of consumption is a consequence of the very policies - low wage growth relative to productivity growth, an undervalued currency and, above all, artificially low interest rates - that have generated the furious GDP growth".</p> <p>Germany, too, is locked in to export-led growth, and does not seem fully to understand that if it beggars its European neighbours by running a permanent export surplus, it will end up by beggaring itself.</p> <p>If China and Germany insist on being 21st-century mercantilists - exporting more than they import - the rest of the world will start to protect itself against them. Germany's policy will lead to the breakdown of the eurozone, China's to the breakdown of the world trading and payments system.</p> <p>The two scenarios - Co-ordination and Disintegration - have in common that they presuppose more reliance by countries or groups of countries on domestic sources of growth, and less on foreign trade. That is what we mean when we talk of a more balanced world economy. The sole question is whether the retreat from the wilder shores of globalisation will be orderly or disorderly: whether we drift into the bloc economics of the 1930s, or whether we have the wisdom to build a managed and modified form of globalisation, free from the illusion that everything can be left safely to the markets.</p> <p>And here's the point - a disorderly, acrimonious retreat from globalisation is bound to overshoot the mark, reviving the economics and the politics of the 1930s; but leading, in an era of nuclear proliferation, to consequences that are even more terrifying. So we must resolutely work for the best, without illusion, and with only modest hope.</p> <p><em>Robert Skidelsky is a crossbench peer. His book "Keynes: the Return of the Master" is published in paperback by Penguin (£9.99)</em></p> </div></div></div> Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:54:03 +0000 Robert Skidelsky 41188 at | http://www.newstatesman.com/feeds/writer/1757 | dclm-gs1-115070000 |
0.023136 | <urn:uuid:df81c10b-a286-426f-8f2a-47932fbf529e> | en | 0.95714 | Edition: U.S. / Global
Cuba After Castro
Published: April 9, 2000
To the Editor:
With all due respect to Gary Hart (Op-Ed, April 2), whether the United States has formal diplomatic relations with Cuba is irrelevant to Elian Gonzalez's well-being and to the larger question of Cuba policy, since we have had such ties since the late 1970's, disguised as liaison offices in Washington and Havana.
The American interest, whether couched in moral terms or political ones, lies in helping Cubans prepare for life after Fidel Castro. A post-Castro Cuba is likely to be politically unstable, economically needy and a constant source of immigrants. A violent struggle among his successors would be likely to prompt American military intervention.
Unless this is what Americans want, we should lift economic sanctions (which after 40 years have failed to oust Mr. Castro), except those directed at the military and other agents of repression. Let the market do what it did for Eastern Europe and set the stage for a more liberal Cuba.
Boca Raton, Fla., April 5, 2000
The writer was United States ambassador to Costa Rica, 1980-83. | http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/09/opinion/l-cuba-after-castro-678040.html?src=pm | dclm-gs1-115110000 |
0.034876 | <urn:uuid:b41be456-7bad-4fb2-9722-734d1c0dba2f> | en | 0.824861 | Home » Infrastructure » Unix » Create a folder with a script (Unix, Oracle 10g)
Create a folder with a script [message #525132] Thu, 29 September 2011 05:47 Go to next message
Messages: 28
Registered: May 2011
Location: Delhi
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Subject: Make a folder in an particular naming convention using unix shell script
Requirement: There is an standard input directory on unix
, there are multiple files in these folder. Once the bussiness completes it's processes.
All the files from this folder should move to a new folder having a naming convention
where nnn refers to the version of that process that has been run.
Version can be retrived from the oracle table known as
The folder has to be created under
Please provide assistance.
Re: Create a folder with a script [message #525133 is a reply to message #525132] Thu, 29 September 2011 05:51 Go to previous message
Michel Cadot
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This question bears no real connection with Oracle.
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0.299369 | <urn:uuid:aa4dea6a-ffb2-4a9d-8aeb-e80c173df554> | en | 0.904496 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Thursdays 10:00 PM on FX
Its always sunny in philadelphia
TV Fanatic Works Better with Prime Instant Video
Try it Now for Free and Instantly Watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
You waste so much time talking when you should be plowing.
Mac [to Dennis]
I hear the guy hangs dong and I'm very interested in seeing that.
That sounds the tits!
What the shit is a thunder gun?
I'm 200 lbs. I'm as big as my avatar!
I wanna see Charlie do his thing and he's good.
Dennis [stoned out of his mind]
Let's get high in the back office.
Dennis [to Charlie]
Charlie: Why is your face so shiny?
Dennis: I had my face peeled off with chemicals. Wanna know why?
Charlie: Not really.
I'm not drinking bleach.
Bar patron to Charlie
Dee is guilty of sloth...and she's pro-abortion.
Mac [to priest]
Everyone knows who Superman is and it's not you!
Charlie [to Dennis]
You look like Superman.
Dee [to Dennis]
Displaying quotes 49 - 60 of 164 in total | http://www.tvfanatic.com/quotes/shows/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia/season-7/page-5.html | dclm-gs1-115560000 |
0.048975 | <urn:uuid:42b9d2b5-7925-424c-8981-e8a67eb4041a> | en | 0.939324 | Skip to content
Health & Baby
Why Human Babies Are Fattest (and Smartest)
Newborn Baby Fat Protects the Brain During Critical Stages
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WebMD Health News
Feb. 20, 2004 -- The next time you see a plump baby, compliment the parent on how smart their child will be. A new study shows that baby fat is linked to the size of babies' heads and future intelligence.
Researchers say human infants have long been recognized as the fattest newborns, much fatter than other animals that need extra fat for insulation. In fact, most mammals, including nonhuman primates, don't start accumulating fat until after birth.
Answering the evolutionary question of why human babies are born plump has puzzled scientists for years, and many explanations have been offered. But Portuguese researchers say they now have evidence to back up their theory.
Fatter Babies Have Bigger Heads
In their study, published in the current issue of the American Journal of Human Biology, researchers studied 1,069 human newborns. They found that the fatter the baby was, the bigger his or her head was likely to be, even after accounting for other factors such as gestational age and birth length.
They say the finding shows that newborns need that extra fat to feed their brains during the critical early stages of development.
Previous studies have shown that the brain needs high amounts of energy in order to function and grow, and the bigger the organ is, the more energy it needs.
Researchers say this is especially true during infancy when the brain goes through its maximum growth stage. For example, a newborn's brain can expend as much as 60% of the total energy produced by the body.
Because human babies are not capable of fending for themselves, fatness as a newborn may have developed as an evolutionary mechanism to protect the brain as it develops. Malnutrition in early life can negatively affect the brain's development and is a major cause of infant death.
Researchers say prior studies have also shown that birth weight and head size at birth are associated with head size and mental abilities in childhood and later life. Therefore, newborn fatness would have been favored by natural selection and explain why the trait has endured throughout human evolution.
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0.022529 | <urn:uuid:17394400-0993-4815-bd03-25d8ca50bfac> | en | 0.951845 | Originally written on Purple Jesus Diaries | Last updated 11/18/14
It's almost Christmas time, and if you haven't wasted your money on the Minnesota Vikings fan in your life by purchasing crappy Vikings shirts from the Purple Jesus Diaries' Merchandise Shop, then you're clearly doing it wrong. If you bought one of ours I can guarantee you that it will make an adult human male giggle and prance like a youngling opening up a GI Joe play set during a 1980's Christmas scene. YOUR LOSS, DUDEBRO. If you ended up buying a DIFFERENT crappy Vikings shirt, I can also promise you that you have ruined Christmas. Flat out ruined it, because there's like a .017% chance that any Vikings related merchandise you probably saw online and purchased looks like a tinfoil dump. I don't know why this is, why NFL merchandising people can't just design cool looking apparel for fans to buy, but it's a fact. You're ruined Christmas, your present to your Vikings' fan will soon become a dishrag, and you should go cry into your mulled wine in the corner. On the off chance that you haven't bought anything yet and in fact are still looking for some Vikings apparel, outside of our own shirts, I can't actually tell you what looks good. What I can do though is steer you clear of the five worst Vikings shirts we've found this holiday season. Buy anything but these, and you'll have a Merry Christmas. Or at least one without sad tears. Below are five shirts we've stumbled across that are a blemish on society and an embarrassment not only to Vikings fans but to fans of the NFL anywhere across this great country. In short, DO NOT WANT. It'll be pretty obvious why. Zebra Allen Vikings Jersey Know a female Vikings fan who just thinks that Jared Allen is the CUUUTTTest?! Well, this shirt is the you give to her to show her how horrible of a human being she is. The problems with this "shirt" are numerous. Aside from this being designed to look like the Vikings jersey with a name and number on the back, when it CLEARLY doesn't even follow the current ugly jersey layout, it also takes some frightening "artistic liberties" with the Zuba stripes. And grey? Really? Because grey is definitely one of the Vikings primary color schemes? Not like, MAYBE, it's fifth color option back in the 80s? OK. Cool gift, but even worse if you had asked for it. WOMEN, amirite?! WTF Favre The only thing worse than owning an actual Minnesota Vikings Brett Favre jersey, is having a Favre piece of apparel that shows how much you also hate him. Attention hoodlums like Favre will take either acknowledgement, people, don't you get that? Whether you're adoring him or flipping him the bird, he loves that ****. And unfortunately for McLeod Bethel-Thompson, a purple number four will always be tainted. Unless of course this is a social statement about how flabbergasted you are that Chris Kluwe changed from his original number four jersey to the number five, and you're statement is all "What the F*ck?!" then, totally, great shirt. Gerry Skolcia I think I have actually seen people wear this type of garbage. When I do, I'm surprisingly not mad at them, more so just curious. Like, is that person OK? Do they need mental help? That's cute that they were let out of the assisted living facility for a little while to visit other humans. That poor mental person has been given homeless bum clothes to wear. So unfortunate. I mean, that's the only story that would make sense why someone would where this shirt that has a Vikings "V" pointing straight to their shriveled dick. You want to draw attention to that thing? OK. Sorry about your life. Power Trip Morning Show There are tons of these shirts now available on the Vikings shopper market now that Mike Morris has been fired from KFAN's The Power Trip Morning Show, but I'm here to tell you to stay clear. First, if they are indeed old Morris shirts, they probably smell horrible. I wouldn't recommend gifting that to someone and then having to aerate your home the next day. Second, this shirt and all other "Affliction" style shirts are grounds for automatic cornholings if seen worn in public. I don't know, maybe your recipient is into that sort of stuff and it'd be the perfect gift for them, but I doubt it. Don't take the risk and just stay clear. Eat Pirates Well, this shirt is actually just kind of cool. It may not be EXACTLY Vikings related, but if you were in a pinch and needed something that said "Vikings" on it for your nephew that for some sad, depressing reasons likes the Minnesota Vikings, you could do worse. The swear words may piss off the parents, but that's why you'll be the COOLEST gifter this season. But really, Vikings, Pirates, or Ninjas ... Who do you choose? There's no right answer. Hopefully this helps to inform you on what to stay away from. If you need to, feel free to pass it along to your family and friends as well, so they know not to buy any of this crap for you, too. If you are someone who ends up with a ****** Vikings present this Christmas, we'd love to eventually see it. And, of course, our apologies in advance. [follow]
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and afghanistan. and my belief that there is a smarter way to achieve our national security goals. and so, madam speaker, since that day i stood here in this spot to say over and over again that these wars are eroding our spiritual core. bankrupting us morally and fiscally. teaching our children that warfare is the new normal. i have delivered these speeches as a member of the majority and the minority when the president was a member of my party and when he was not, and today i am doing it for the 400th time. when i began the war in iraq was still quite popular. as was the president who launched it. but we spoke out anyway, refusing to bend on principle because we knew that we did not belong there. my colleagues, representative barbara lee and representative maxine waters and i, we called ourselves the triad, started the out of iraq caucus. we first -- forced the first house vote to bring our troops home. along the way i visited iraq, i tried and i learned on that trip and my opinion was confirmed against that very war, but at the same time it increased my admiration for our troops. gradually th
cut down on fuel in afghanistan and every bit of energy independence protects us from higher energy prices by instability in the east or skyrocketing demand in china. more than 50 universities, venture capital firms and professional societies, the association of american universities, the association of public and land grant universities have signed a letter in support of increasing arpa-e funding. they and i hope that we will provide the funds that arpa-e needs to continue to do the research that will change our world, not today but tomorrow and for decaded to -- decades to come. this amendment offsets the increase with a cut to the department administration account, as many people have noted, the department of energy has a serious management problem, perhaps cutting this account will send a message that a new approach is needed. but this invests in our future. energy is a national security issue, it's an economic imperative, it's a health issue, it's an environmental issue and to invest in this kind of cutting-edge research, in a reinvention of government kind of agency is exactly
a group of army soldiers who were returning home from the front lines in afghanistan with a bill for almost $3,000 or $200 a piece for each soldier to check four bags on a scheduled domestic flight. americans were right low outraged by the incident -- rightly outraged by the incident which was posted in a youles tube video. the fourth bag, for which he was charged $200, contained an import carbine rifle, a .9 millimeter pistol. a spokesman for the veterans of foreign wars told the associated press the fees were the worst welcome home any soldier could receive. the shock of even being charged is enough to make service men and women simply shake their heads and wonder who or what it is they are protecting, end quote. members of the armed forces who are serving our country on the front lines should not endure personal financial hardship when they are traveling to or returning from war zones. yet, the media's reporting of the incident last month showed that major u.s. carriers were applying the same or similar policies across the board. airlines were charging soldiers to check four r
're putting money in other places like to the war, places like that in afghanistan, to other wars. that is my question. guest: two interesting things your question brings up. when fdr designed so security, he said, we're going to put it on your checks every week so you will see it being taken out and you will note it is there for you. that was very, very important to fdr and the preservation of the social safety net. also, he said, we are going to make sure that every time -- that you know this is something that is solvent, but the money is there in the bank so it is not a welfare program but it should not be means tested. we all know what happens to welfare programs. we all know they go under the knife. he said it had to apply to everyone. that is one of the things they want to attack at this point, too. you may say, well, the wealthy should not because it is in financial trouble. it is not. the minute you make of a welfare program, the death warrant. host: we have heard recruitment efforts will be hurt by any perceived abandonment in the area of medicare by democratic leaders. your thoughts
and afghanistan and places around the world. there has to be hope. the reason why i know there is hope is because my own industry, the energy industry, just created a program for veterans who jobs through the energy industry. i'm asking them to create one for 18 to 35-year-olds. businesses are still alive and well. the financial services, the banking entity must be involved in providing access to credit for our smaller businesses who are creating jobs. we are alive and well. and so i believe what we should do is to go forward with a package that is reasonable. that lifts the debt ceiling as we did for everyone else. i would vote for a clean debt ceiling. lift it up. then begin to with great common sense plan our budget and our cuts. mark zahny -- zandi has said that. an economist who worked for a number of republicans, such as john mccain, former presidential candidate. why are we trying to reinvent the wheel? all economists will say, you don't make immediate cuts in this fiscal year, you project them out. just like budget and household. they move out. they do what they are going to do for the mo
is in afghanistan. he was asked by soldiers whether they will get their checks next week. how can you allow these soldiers to wonder whether they will be paid? >> the senator and i are both confident that we are going to be able to come to some agreement with the white house and and this impasse -- and end this impasse. >> [inaudible] with a bipartisan agreement next door? >> we could have had this finished early this week. there is a bipartisan agreement between myself and the senate leaders to move the underlying bill that we moved to the house yesterday. all the president had to do was say yes. that bill would have moved quickly through the house and senate. we have wasted a week that we did not need to waste. we have been driven into this cul-de-sac and it is time for the president to decide how we are going to get out of it. >> what gives you confidence? >> in spite of our differences, we are dealing with reasonable, responsible people who want to this crisis to end as quickly as possible. i am confident we will. >> let me just add, you know, our country is not going to default for the
is in afghanistan. he was asked whether they are going to get their checks next week. >> i think we are beth confident we'll be able to come to some agreement with the white house in this impasse. heading the way of the vote. by this time, we could have had this bipartisan agreement nextdoor. we could have had this bill flippished early between next week. there was an agreement between myself and leaders to be moved through the house. for the president, all he had to do was say yes. that bill would have moved quickly through the house and senate. we wasted a week we didn't need to waste. we've driven through the cul-de-sac and it is time for the president to decide howle handle it. >> what gives you confidence? >> in spite of our differences, we are dealing with reasonable and responsibly people that want this crisis to end as quickly as possible. i'm confident it will. let me add, our country is not going to default for the first time in history, that is not going to happen we now have a level of seriousness with the right people at the table that we needed and thought we had last weekend.
billion on katrina. in afghanistan we spend $325 billion -- million a day and in iraq we've spent about $100 million a day. that's almost $1 billion a day. we're talking about $950 -- almost $1 billion in light rail. we can both be right and smart and compassionate if we do the right thing. in our budgeting process we should have an unexpected fund for unforeseen circumstances, we should have learned from katrina. we're looking at probably about $4 billion in term of army corps of engineers. i think our leaderships need to get together and just say that we can do this without fighting among each other, without making each other wrong. because that's wrong. in the eyes of the public, they want us to do the job that needs to get done and have our leadership do that. and so my plea is that we can be fiscally responsible and we can be compassionate and we do that with good planning and good budgeting process, including having contingency funds that should have been there. and so we have an opportunity right now to show the public that we can do all these things and still come out winners fo
. not only as we wind down the two wars in afghanistan and iraq, i think as a general principle, we have to have a much more what i would call in mechanical factor on our resources, regardless of which branch of the service we are talking about. keep the military strong, make sure we are protecting our veterans, which we have not done a very good job at. i don't think we need the amount of money we're spending now for every military -- every apparatus we can think of. i don't think we can continue down that trail any longer. we cannot afford it and we don't need it. host: congressman bill pascrell is with us for another 15 minutes. republican -- helen, republican line. guest: good morning, helen. caller: i used to be a substitute teacher. the school i had had supplies. it was blessed. but the administration in our county is bloated, its bloated. because i was a substitute teacher, i listened. there is so much administrative and bureaucratic money wasted on education. but you holler, oh, the poor children and teachers, which is correct, but so much money is wasted in bureaucracy -- wasted
on the home of someone serving in a rack or afghanistan. -- in iraq and afghanistan. host: why did they see this as an area that need to be filled? guest: the problem has been wrapped up in the general difficulties. it turns out a lot of homes have gone into -- a lot of people have gone into default of mortgages. some companies are better than others at collecting monthly payments and keeping track of paperwork. the ones have proved not to be so good at it have caught service members in the riptide. we have not gotten your payment, we over charge them. foreclosure. that sort of thing going on. this has been a politically embarrassing process of writing wrongs done against members of the military in active duty. host: gym as white as a deployed serviceman and against paying his mortgage -- jim asked why a deployed servicemen against paying his mortgage? guest: he is not exempt against paying his mortgage. is exempt against being foreclosed on. as it has been explained to me, a service member might be in the field for a week or two and have virtually no contact with the outside work force the
of iraq and afghanistan, it would take a serious look out of social security and medicare and in many cases contributing to this deficit. and it would say that those who benefit from ethanol subsidies and oil company tax breaks, the wealthiest people in this country would have to pay a little bit more to pay their fair share. something like that is what should be on the floor here this afternoon because it can pass, the president can sign it and it can solve the fiscal problems of this country or take us in the right direction. but we don't have something like that. instead we have a plan that says the following and puts it in the constitution, the guy who runs an ethanol company who gets massive public subsidies can make profits is completely left alone. he doesn't have to do anything. but for the woman who cleans his office at night is going to have to pay more to go to college, more for health care for herself, her children and her parents and more for just about anything she wants in her life. there's something wrong with that picture. sacrifice that is broadly shared is needed in
looks into counter narcotics operations in afghanistan. live coverage on c-span3 c- span.org. . >> this weekend on c-span2, literacy, economics, humor. malcolm x and the obama administration. few of the panels from our haarlem book festival. barack."er i what you try to do with your stolen moon rocks? don't try to sell them on line. sign up for book tv alerts. >> "the supreme court" is now available as a standard and enhanced e-book and tells the story to the eyes of the justices themselves. 11 original c-span interviews with current and retired justices. this new e-but includes an interview with the new supreme court justice, elena kagan. watch multimedia clips from all the justices. available now where every e- books are sold. >> revisit the civil war this weekend on american history tv on c-span 3. sunday we are live from the manassas national battlefield and the hundred 50th anniversary of the battle of bull run. lincoln and his transformation into a wartime commander in chief. what civil war programs throughout the weekend. peter carmichael looks at the social, polit
their lives in the service of our nation in iraq and afghanistan and their families and of all who serve in our armed forces and their families. the chair: without objection, two-minute voting will continue. the unfinished business is the request for a railroaded -- vord -- recorded vote on amendment number 2 by the gentleman from illinois, mr. rush, on which further proceedings were postponed, on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2 printed in house report 112-181, offered by mr. rush of illinois. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. a sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. this will be a two-minute vote, followed by a series of additional two-minute votes. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote, the ye
that they're bringing back, they are companies specifically going after returning iraq and afghanistan veterans to be able to hire them. it was interesting, we were talking about drilling and you go into a drilling platform and they say their favorite people to be able to hire are tank drivers returning from the war zone because they're used to driving equipment, looking on a screen and dealing with multiple things all at once. these are folks employing our veterans and they're engaged in providing great jobs. i was on a fracking site, being able to watch it. it's high tech job, people on computers, as well as people in pumping, trucks, people providing food, people providing the equipment, it's people with big wrenches and people with small computers. and you see this multitude of different jobs provided by oil and natural gas and by fossil fuels we're producing right here in america. we are at a moment that we can either say, we want all green jobs, we want to destroy the jobs producing fossil fuels, or we can say, let's do both. let's encourage the growth of green jobs but let's not
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the bush part, he hasn't wanted to explain them too much. in fact, paul ryan, his running mate says, the math is just too hard. but it really isn't. and i would imagine the obama administration, or obama's going to go through tonight, you really only need to know two numbers about romney's tax plan, one is $480 billion. that's the cost of it in 2015, just to pick one year. and the other is $251 billion. that's the amount that will go to very wealthy families. now, mitt romney's promise, his tax plan won't cost a dime on the deficit. so he somehow needs to get $480 billion out of the tax code by closing breaks and loopholes, seems like the mortgage interest deduction, and also that it won't be a tax cut on the rich. so about $250 billion of it needs to come from tax breaks for the rich. the problem for him is that independent analysts have looked at and basically said, when you take into account the tax breaks he's promised he won't touch, like the capital gains tax break, it's basically impossible to make the numbers worse. there's no way to get that many tax breaks from the rich, b
in their whole lives than they did at that convention. >> not surprisingly, paul ryan is also focussing on swing states. he made stops in new hampshire and ohio yesterday. in the buckeye state he talked about challengers to gun rights. >> the next president is going to make a lot of judgments. the next president will appoint a lot of different judges, and these are lifetime appointments. if you want to make sure that judges respect our second amendment rights, you immediate a president who respects those rights as well. mitt romney and i are going to respect the second amendment because it's our individual right to keep and bare arms. >> paul ryan spends the day today attending fundraisers in connecticut. although the u.s. supreme court isn't set to look at any gun rights challenges, it is going to hear several high-profile and controversial cases. tomorrow morning the justices are kicking off the new term. it always happens the first monday in october. here's joe johns with more. >> reporter: right after the supreme court's health care decision in june chief justice john roberts joked to collea
thursday morning. >> reporter: contrast that with romney's running mate paul ryan who was on another show at all the same time giving the president the edge. >> he is an experienced debater and has done these kinds of debates before. this is mitt's first time on this kind of a stage. >> reporter: a new "washington post" abc poll finds most vote expect the president to win the first face-off. meanwhile, there's already spin on how the media will cover the results. top obama strategist david plouffe said it will be pro-romney. ryan told fox news bias is already baked in. >> i think it goes without saying that there's definitely a media bias. i'm used to media bias. we expect media bias going into this. >> wow. >> reporter: some in the romney campaign are even questioning a slew of recent polls that show the president leading in crucial swing states like ohio. romney's ohio state director issued a memo saying that it is amazing what happens when you stop over-sampling democrats and fine a race in ohio that's as tight as a tick. rhode island an told one interview he prefers interviews with lo
on to clarify. but, ana, paul ryan wasted no time, seizing on those comments. good strategy? >> look, you know, i love joe biden. i don't know how every republican in america doesn't love joe biden. he is a great guy. he's fun. he is the gift that keeps on giving. i miss joe biden. we hadn't heard a gaffe from good old joe in about two or three weeks. it really had been a long time. this is what the campaigns are like today in 2012, unfortunately. we look for gaffes on each other and try to make them real big. i think when joe starts getting earnest, when he starts getting righteous and starts talking about god, watch out, because a zinger is coming out. >> speaking of zingers, the debate spoet supposedly is going to be all about zingers. i can see mitt romney taking that line. i would. maria? >> the problem with that, though, carol, is that if you know joe biden and what he has done in his career, he has actually been one of the strongest spokespersons for the middle class and for working americans. and if you look at what he said, if you look at it in context, he clearly is talking about how
with you guys incidentally. we have had a blast here. but i remember when paul ryan made his speech that night, while the speech was still going on, we were watching the tweets come up pointing out that he had blatantly misrepresented one of the key stories that he told. and i'll tell you, i think that his inability to really give any kind of boost to the romney/ryan ticket has been shaped as much as anything else by the fact that he did a belly flop in that speech because the social media picked him up on it right away before the speech was even over. >> jennifer: it's an interesting thing. maybe the main stream media will be influenced by the twitter stream more than the reverse. >> cenk: we have got to take a quick break, when we come back john has an interesting question. what is the question we would ask of the debaters. >> cenk: we're back on current's politically direct coverage of the first presidential debate. it's coming up in just a little bit. going to be a lot of fun. john fugelsang has a question for all of us. >> john: as long as we're all celebrating
long for paul ryan to pounce on that comment. >> vice president biden just today said that the middle-class, over the last four years has been, quote, buried. we agree. that means, we need to stop digging by electing mitt romney. >> reporter: the latest abc news/"washington post" poll shows the race for president is still very close, which means every word and gesture tonight could impact the election. brandi hitt, abc news, denver. >> thanks to brandi hitt. abc's coverage of tonight's debate begins at 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific. >>> now, we turn to the trouble at american airlines. and actually progress on two fronts this morning. there is new movement in the bitter labor dispute between the airline and its pilots union. and also, the mystery of the seats that came loose during three, separate flights may have been solved. abc's tahman bradley is tracking all of the developments. good morning, tahman. that safety issue with those loose seats. what are we hearing now? >> reporter: well, rob, american airlines is now blaming the loose seats on clamps that were not installed properly. e
. mr. plummer endorsed the paul ryan budget which turns into a doctor program. he also, third, jobs. i have a clear and to the jobs plan which can look at on my website. mr. plummer has a 12-point plan which he has yet to fully release. apparently it endorses continued corporate welfare and ending regulations. we all know what happened when big banks regulation were eased. you've of the determination for which a bus has a better plan to make it better for working people in southern illinois. we do not know where the nation will be next week or next year. we do not know what series decisions will need to be made by our congressmen. so it is important for you to know who we are and how we make decisions. it is important for you to consider which of the candidates has proven experience, proven leadership, proven integrity. there are three drastically different visions. one is clear choice. [applause] >> mr. plummer? >> i want to thank everyone for being here tonight. i'd like to think in the organizations and other groups that helped but this event on. i have been crisscrossing this distr
's how paul ryan responded. >> i thought he was taking my speech. you know what? we agreed these are being buried by obama care and spending regulations and all things plaguing a business. the way to stop this is to stop this. >> the middle class has been buried for four years. who is to blame? >> that little exchange we saw encapsulates the challenge for president barack obama tonight. he has to defend his record, he's got to take credit for the good things that have happened. i do think the country is headed in the right direction as i think most americans do, but i think he has to acknowledge how the experience is of real americans enough. not only on economic issues but he's not changing the tone in washington, which he's set out to do. i think the president also has to say what to do differently in the next four years. each of these men have to make a case of themselves and articulate the vision they have for the next four years otherwise they won't have a successful evening. >> there's trouble for biden in a new poll. a cnn/orc poll to put up for everyone. 60% of like
it less expensive. >> romney and his running mate paul ryan propose to cap malpractice insurance, cut medicate by $810 million over the next ten years, give states more control over your head indicate funds, overall medicare, the overall? people now under than 55, when they reach retirement, they can have a voucher to purchase private insurance. >> this is to guarantee that seniors can always afford medicare coverage no exceptio. s >> romney doesn't want to take out all of the law's provisions. >> we have to make sure that people who have prekpigsing conditions are able to get insured and folks that get sick don't get dropped by their insurance company. >> douglas iken who is the president of the insurance -- >> both sides agree that the mountainous medicare needs to be capped, they just don't agree how to get there. what romney and ryan say they're going to give the money to seniors so they can shop and if they don't like the choice, they can go to another choice and that will meet the cap. >> jonathan supports the law and writes about health care for the me republi lirepublic. >> ba
" narrative. sunday paul ryan said it's not in the least bit true that cutting the tax rate by 20% would cut $20 trillion in five years. >> how much does it cost? >> it's revenue neutral. >> we'll get to the -- >> the cut in tax rates is lower, by 20%. >> how much does that cost? >> it's revenue neutral. lowering the tax rates by broadening the tax rates -- >> let me --. i -- >> you haven't given me the math. >> i don't have the time. it would take me too long go through all of the math. >> that's a quote you're going to hear a lot, i guess from the obama campaign and the president himself. meanwhile the president who's known for being a bit long-winded and can have an hour-long news conference with only eight questions is working to sharpen his responses. quote, we eh had a hard time getting every point across within the time limit. you're trying to make a case to the people, so you have to make sure your answers connect with people. he got some advice from howard dean. >> the president's got to avoid being irritable. hi's got to roll with the punches. mitt is going to be out there, aggress
and congressman paul ryan talking about the upcoming debate. just down the road in denver on wednesday. let's talk about that and some of the issues on the table. bring in the panel from washington. rick klein, senior washington editor for abc news. a.b. stoddard, associate editor of the hill. syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. charles, you heard the back and forth on the sunday shows. what about the setup to this debate? what needs to happen and what is being talked about? >> it looks ridiculous. each side is pretending that the other can't even speak english. obviously, i don't think it will have any effect. romney did do rather well in his debate. he got better. he's done a lot of them, but people are saying well, obama hand debated in all this time. obama is really good. he did come out of nowhere. he beat the clinton machine. he did it in part in his debate, oratory. he will be strong. his one weak point is he is thin skinned. you o the press conference. if romney can manage to get under his skin in some way, that happened in 2008. one or two of the clinton debates. i think it could pu
for the contrast we're going to hear tomorrow. >> campaigning in iowa, running mate paul ryan asked about the confession that 47% who don't pay income taxes think government owes them. >> get them a job so they're good taxpayers. >> we don't want a stagnant economy that fosters dependency. we added 50 million people to food stamp rolls in the last four years because there is no opportunity, no economic growth. >> in the debate, romney is sure to be asked what is now shorthanded as his 47% remarks. he previewed his explanation to denver fox affiliate. >> i'm a president for 100% of the american people. that is the real percent people care about. not 99% versus 1%. not 47%. i'm president for 100% of the people and demonstrated that throughout my life. >> within hours of the vice president remark in the state of the middle class in four years, ryan took him to task. >> vice president biden just today said that the middle class over the last four years has been, "buried." we agree. they're being buried by regulations, buried by taxes. buried by borrowing. they're being buried by the obama adm
today? >> reporter: romney's number two, paul ryan, kept campaigning. >> the obama economic agenda failed not because it was stopped. it failed because it was passed. >> reporter: that's the kind of zinger sure to be heard tomorrow night. doug, andrew and chris say they hope to hear a lot of substance, too. a debate number one in their battleground state. >> reporter: so how critical will this first presidential debate be? today's nbc news "wall street journal" poll finds 38%, more than a third of voters say this debate and the ones to follow will be quite important or extremely important to their decision about who to vote for. live from denver, i'm steve handelsman, news 4. >> thanks, steve. and a program note. nbc news will provide live coverage and analysis of the presidential debate. you can watch it here on nbc 4 starting at 9:00 tomorrow night. >>> meanwhile a judge in pennsylvania has postponed the commonwealth's tough new voter i.d. law. that law requires each voter to show a valid photo i.d. at the polls. supporters say it will prevent voter fraud. critics say there's not
of excuses. and on november 6, you are going to put him out of office. [applause] now, paul ryan and i have a different path we will put america on. there are five things we will do to strengthen our economy and create 12 million new jobs and rising take-home pay. you realize over the last four years, every year you have seen the median income in america come down. income is down, and with the median income of $50,000, things are really tough for the american people. the middle-class squeeze has been unbearable. gasoline prices way up, food prices up, electricity prices up, health insurance costs up. the american middle class is struggling under this president, and my plan and paul ryan's plan to create five steps to get this economy going will help middle income americans have a brighter future and if people out of poverty. let me tell you what those steps are. number one, we are going to fully take advantage of our oil, coal, gas, nuclear facilities. [applause] the president has cut in half the number of permits and licenses on federal land. i will make sure you get the resources in alask
. and then the response from his challenger, the vice-presidential candidate, paul ryan. take a listen. >> all kidding aside, with all the boos, we can stop all the malarkey, this is deadly ernest, man. this is deadly earnest. how they can justify, how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that has been buried the last four years. >> vice president biden just today, said that the middle class over the last four years has been quote, buried. we agree. that means we need to stop digging by electing mitt romney the next president of the united states! [cheers and applause] gregg: republicans didn't waste anytime trying to utilize the biden remark, did they? >> we'll be hearing a lot about that over the next couple weeks. and i can assure you the white house wishes they could reverse time and get biden to say something, anything different from that. but you know, for those us in the press that is the nice thing about joe biden. he is always sort of ad-libbing and giving us great things to write about. gregg: that updates the biden gaffe clock that the rnc always run on their website. paul rya
time. >>> and get this, he just doesn't have time to explain it. paul ryan gives a surprising answer when asked about mitt romney's tax plan. you will have to hear this, coming up. how do you get from here... let's say you want to get ahead in your career. to here? at university of phoenix we're moving career planning forward so you can start figuring that out sooner. in fact, by thinking about where you want your education to lead, while you're still in school, you might find the best route leads somewhere you weren't even looking. let's get to work. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing a reason...to look twice. introducing a stunning work of technology -- the entirely new lexus es. and the first-ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. and the first-ever es hybrid. when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's inve
, mitt romney's not that far off at 49%. what about the wing man, joe biden 47%, paul ryan 46%. all kind of in the same range. >> how often do we poll about the wing man? i rarely see the actual numbers separated for the vice presidential candidate. >> they face off next week. more numbers on them. >> and just lastly, while we look at these polls and hear a lot of people arguing about polls and they're skewed and they follow a narrative and the questions follow a narrative and that may or may not be true. historically, how accurate have polls been toward the election sf. >> i like to brag about our own cnn poll four years ago, we were pretty much spot-on on the popular vote between the president and mitt romney, i'm sorry, john mccain. but they're a reflection of how people feel right now. we still have five weeks to the election. >> it's nice to see you in person. >> great to be here. >> let's do this more often. >> i'll come up. >> appreciate it. >>> and quick reminder for you, as well. it's a really exciting night. i like to call it date night, but it's debate night in america. it's r
this morning on "starting point," no time to explain paul ryan asks for specifics about how mitt romney's tax plan would work and his answer had a lot of eyebrows raising this morning. going to talk about that. also a "starting point" exclusive. he was shot in the face during that aurora movie theater massacre. now stephen barton is going to join us with his new strategy. yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. [ female announcer ] live the regular life. how do you get from here... let's say you want to get ahead in your career. to here? at university of phoenix we're moving career planning forward so you can start figuring that out sooner. in fact, by thinking about where you want your education to lead, while you're still in school, you might find the best route leads somewhere you weren't even looking. let's get to work. email marketing from constant contact reaches people in a place they're checking every day -- their inbox. and
it to president obama? that is a question that congressman paul ryan got yesterday at a town hall in fort collins, colorado. a woman stood up and said, look, i was worried about the performance that john mccain put in four years ago against president obama, and she picks up the question from there. >> will he be forceful in those debates and take it to obama? [cheers and applause] >> ma'am, absolutely. one little difference between then and now. president obama has a record. [laughter] and president obama has a record and a string of broken promises. of course he will. >> reporter: congressman ryan -- sorry -- [cheers and applause] pledging that governor romney will take it to the president next wednesday in denver. no question though, jon, he needs a big move because if you see these polls in the battleground states, he is beginning to lose ground. he needs something big to happen. jon: well, they seem to like the message in the room behind him, is it the vfw hall? >> reporter: yes, it's a legion hall in springfield. jon: legion hall. john roberts, thank you. jenna: the first presidential debate
four years. >> reporter: the romney campaign pounced on the word buried. campaigning in iowa, paul ryan fired back. >> vice president biden just today said that the middle class over the last four years has been, quote, buried. we agree. that means we need to stop digging by electing mitt romney the next president of the united states. >> reporter: later, the vice president did some damage control, clarifying his remarks. >> the middle class was buried by the policies of romney and that ryan supported. >> reporter: 24 hours before the start time of tonight's debate late tuesday, conservatives began circulating a 2007 speech by then candidate obama speaking to an african-american audience about victims of hurricane katrina. fox news host sean hannity prominently featured the video as a gotcha moment. >> it contains some of the most divisive class warfare and racially charged rhetoric ever used by barack obama. >> reporter: nbc, along with several other media outlets, covered the same speech at the time. mr. obama spoke at length about the hurricane response. >> people asked me whether th
as the best republican nominee. he had a very republican primary and representative paul ryan nominated for the vv come see you have this it seems like suddenly wisconsin was back in the republican column or possibly in the republican column. >> and abby livingston, is denied the first debate and only debate or is there a series? >> i don't know off the top of my head, but it is going to be an interesting evening because governor thompson is a statewide brand known and not as governor thompson, but tommy and he's going to be seeking to label the representative baldwin as a liberal. that is the latest, the liberal for nancy pelosi, and she is one of several members of congress who is from the single district trying to run statewide is she's going to define herself in a positive way and definitely going to define her negatively. >> that the date will be live from wisconsin. we will broadcast it live on c-span, 9 p.m. eastern time. tommy thompson and tammy baldwin. did the leaders and top down economics. they basically think if we spend another $5 trillion on tax cuts that favor the very w
completely partisan rhetoric, calling paul ryan to beat up on him in public, accusing doctors of wanting to grab people and cut their tonsils out, and if you liked your health insurance, you could keep it, and if you like your doctor, you can keep them, that's been broken. calling on republicans to have dirty air and dirty water. that's not consistent with our values. all we have to do is remind people we don't want four more years of chicago style politics, and what happens if he's relegislated and he's not even restrained by the prospect of the re-election campaign? if that happens, the hhs regulation, recess appointments when the senate is not in, executive order, setting aside law and creates a new work permit without the dream act kids. whether or not you're for or against it, he act contrary to law. he's acted in a wreckless way. i don't know what the next four years would be. we have to remind people about that. i'm an optimist. i think we're going to win, win the senate as well, whether it's connie mack in florida or george allen in virginia or josh mandell in ohio where senate s
of questions for biden on the debate stage against paul ryan who is famous for his command of budget details. biden's best threat is simply to stick to the script. >> hard to stick to the script sometimes. thank you, bill plante. >>> donnie wahlberg toured with the new kids on the block this summer. hi, donnie. his latest stop is our green room. we'll ask him about reviving his boy band days and his new hit show, "bluebloods." you're watching cbs "this morning". did you take my truck out last night? 'tis tasty. >>> cats may have nine lives but we have a story of two dogs who may be the ultimate survivor. >> one of the dogs met up with a car on the east coast the other had trouble with a truck on the west coast. terrell brown reports it's incredible they are both alive. >> reporter: since the invention of the automobile the relationship between man and dog has been doomed. >> poor little guy. probably kept up with you for a mile or so. tough little mutt. >> reporter: the topic found its way to the campaign trail as one late night dog lover won't let the nominee forget. >> it's not like i put
. that was a question thrown to congressman paul ryan in colorado yesterday. the woman stood up and said i was a little concerned about john mccain performance against president obama, let her pick up the question from there. >> will they be forceful in this debate and take it to obama? >> ma'am, absolutely, but one little difference between then and now. president obama has a record. and president obama has a record in a string of broken promises. of course he will. >> of course one thing is certain, tracy, when you look at the numbers of the battleground polls and how they're trending toward president obama, governor romney needs to make a big move and it needs to happen in that first debate next week, tracy. tracy: john roberts, you're absolutely right. thank you, sir. a quarter until the hour, checking on stocks. the call watching the dow, are we giving it all to spain? nicole: the dow jones industrials are doing very well up about 78 points. four days of selling and here we are, industrials, 26 of the 30 names have green arrows. just name a few of the dow winners. a pretty good day here on your ha
and what we can expect to see tonight is. she is trying to tie heller to paul ryan's budget plan. democrats love to say that once in congress and once in the senate he was actually appointed to the senate last year when he resigned. he voted for it twice and should probably come up tonight. for her to say something along the lines of dean heller wants to end medicare as we know and turn it into a voucher program, and basically try to tie him to that. you've also seen him running a little bit from mitt romney and with his comments last week about the 47% we saw him distance himself from that saying that is and how he viewed the world. so we may see that, as well. she will also likely bring up the dream act that's a pretty good deal in nevada and is obviously a state with a high latino population. shelley berkley supports the dream act and dean heller doesn't. she's tried to cut an issue and he's tried to reach out to latino voters in the ads and other ways of outreach. >> when it comes to looking at the polling or what is suggested as far as this is concerned, what is the story in nevada? >>
saying it is a brand new race. >> reporter: and running mate paul ryan hanging success on the debates. >> the debate phase in this campaign. we will make this case in our debates. >> reporter: that debate will be held here in denver. in the meantime, mitt romney held a rally here behind me. most of his t-unken. preparing for the most important night of his polil cpdaac ner. >>> and president obama is spending his last full day of debate prep at a resort outside st to deliver pza at abc political analyst matt dowd says mr. obama's advisers are focused on helping the president trim his often lengthy answers. to o bes often lengthy answers. answer questions, short, concisely, and to the point, and so it's much more like his mannerisms and his style and the way he comes across as 'posed to information in this. >> so style, not substance, i guess? i don't know. >> sounds like it. >> both parties say the first debate traditionally helps the challenger just by appearing on stage as an alternative. abc news live coverage of the first presidential debate, begins tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. eas
eight or nine or ten months? the american people have heard his story. they have listened to paul ryan and they have rejected their approach. they are embracing this president's agenda because he's got us headed in the right direction. things are improving in america and we ought not to just turn around and go back to the same failed policies that brought on this recession in the first place. >> governor strickland it's always a pleasure to speak with you. >> thank you. >> did you ever see the princess bride? last question. we'll never find out the answer to that question, maybe most important. >> go home and watch the princess bride. >> don't do it. >> what do you make of what governor strickland said there? >> the president's cold and confident nature, for some, comes off as overconfident, can come off as condescending. you played that clip with hillary clinton. how does that play when you have power? will it come off as condescending and smug against mitt romney? it's a tricky thing he has to maneuver. >> last thing you're thinking about right now is what's going to be the tone of m
. paul ryan has been pretty busy, almost nonstop, out on the campaign trail the last couple of days. and so, you know, i think he'll let his surrogates do the talking for him until the debate gets started. one other thing we heard from kevin madden yesterday on the campaign plane heading into denver yesterday, brooke, you heard over the weekend, chris christie saying that this race is going to be turned upside down that romney will have such a strong performance that it is going to be sort of a game changer. i asked kevin madden about that yesterday, and he said he doesn't think that the campaign doesn't think that one event, one moment during these debates is going to decide and determine everything. they just don't see it that way. they like christie's enthusiasm, they say they're feeding off of it, but they don't exactly agree with that assessment. brooke, we're all sort of looking to tomorrow night to be this big moment that is going to change everything and be a make or break moment. it may not turn out that way. it may be a draw. the candidates move on to the next debate and c
administration's policies. congressman paul ryan pounced. >> of course, the middle class has been buried. they're being buried by regulations. they're being buried by taxes. is they're being buried by borrowing. they're being buried by the obama administrations economic failures. >> reporter: biden later tried to dig himself out. >> the middle class was buried by the policies of romney and the ryan supported. >> reporter: except for debate prep, it was a politics-free day for the presidential contenders. romney had lunch at chipotle while president obama paid a visit to the hoover dam. both candidates have spent hours in debate sessions and both have challenges. aides say the president is working on keeping his answers short to not sound like professor obama. in order to win over undecided voters, romney needs to appear relatable and offer specifics on his agenda. >> he has to find something more than just discussing how bad the economy is or blaming the president for how much the economy continues to struggle. >> reporter: all the prep work comes down to just 90 minutes. both candidates, one
. >> steve: he did. >> brian: the other thing is the president had to get prepared for the debate. paul ryan and joe biden had to carry their weight. it didn't really work too well. >> steve: you know how mitt romney prepared yesterday out in denver for the debate. he had the burrito bowl at chipotle. >> brian: right. >> steve: he said he usually goes with a burrito, but yesterday. >> martha: burrito bowl. let's get a look at some headlines this morning. there are concerns today that the obama administration may be looking to move some of the gitmo detainees to american soil. the federal government plans to buy the thompson correctional center in illinois. at one point this prison was considered for housing gitmo detainees and there was a huge controversy based around that. many lawmakers outraged saying it would open the door for ultimately carrying out a gitmo transfer. house speaker john boehner said this, the unilateral decision to purchase the thompson prison, even though congress repeatedly opposed the obama administration's effort to use the taxpayer funds to do so, underscores the ad
as they should in any election. governor romney chose paul ryan and his running mate. he is relatively young by you look at what he stands for. he wants to change medicare as we know it. he uses all kind of and tries to come across like the boy next door. you have to look at the question of why governors -- governor romney is invested so heavily. guest: thanks for the call. in our research, young people are very concerned at issues and looking for information on issues. in 2008, young people said their position on issues was more important than character responsibility are looking for someone who can understand the issues and the variances they have the also, our research has shown that they are caught and sent a worthy of liberation. we hear the young people are looking to places they trust for information. young people are very careful to know about things. -- they areg to get looking to get information from the people in their lives. there are members of the family who they respect. young people are very cognizant of where they get their information and very critical. >> you have talked a
running mate paul ryan propose to cap malpractice insurance. cut medicaid by $810 billion over the next ten years. give states more control over their medicaid funds. overhaul medicare. the overhaul? people now younger than 55, when they reach retirement, would have the option of getting a voucher to purchase private insurance. or they could stick with traditional medicare. >> this financial support system is designed to guarantee that seniors can always afford medicare coverage, no exceptions. >> reporter: while the repeal of obama care would get rid of the prescription drug benefit to seniors, romney doesn't want to take out all of the law's provisions. >> we have to make sure that people who have pre-existing conditions are able to get insured and that folks that get sick don't get dropped by their insurance company. >> reporter: douglas holtz icon, the president of the american action form, he doesn't support the current health care law. >> both sides agree that the amount we spend on medicare has to be capped. they just disagree on how to get there. romney and ryan say, what we're
will be at 7:00. today the presidential candidates are on the road. paul ryan is in iowa and vice president joe biden is in north carolina speaking this afternoon in charlotte. our debatehub at c-span.org is wary confined a full schedule of the debates. -- is where you can find a full schedule of debates at c- span.org. there andtake a look that is our setup for speed -- cspan for tomorrow night. here's a look at the 1992 debate with george h. w. bush and bill clinton. >> ross gave a good answer but i have to respond directly to mr. bush. you the question my patriotism. you even brought some white ring congressman out of the war white house to attack me. i honor your service in world war two. i honor mr. perot's service in uniform and every other man and woman who ever served. when joe mccarthy went around this country attacking people's patriotism, he was wrong. a senator from connecticut stood up to him named prescott bush, your father was right to stand up to joe mccarthy and you were wrong to attack my patriotism. i was opposed the war but i love my country and in need a president that will
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it. >> our old hopes of rising above just a lost cause at this stage. grover norquist, the president for americans for tax reform is coming on the show next because almost every republican member of congress has signed his pledge not to raise taxes. we'll get his take at what is i would say a very critical juncture. >> and also estate taxes scheduled to jump from 15% to 35% with montana land values more than doubling in past decades. farmers and ranchers are up in arms because the impact estate tax would have on their ability to hang on to their land. we'll speak with one of them coming up in the next half hour. >> also weighing in is outgoing montana governor brian schitser who was a farmer and rancher himself so he should know a thing or two about that. >> plus, health care sunday the microscope right now. we'll find out if this year's winners can carry their mojo into next year. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah,
-- >> they cannot cross over the threshold that has been built by grover norquist. >> well, harry reid says he is the reason there is no deal on the fiscal cliff. we're going to ask grover norquist himself if there's any room for compromise when he joins us live. you've got to stay with us right here on the "closing bell." we're now down 133 points on the dow. [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin react
, just want to tax everything. and republicans who totally grover norquist taxes, they hate them, that is not true. to a degree that kind of disturbs me, actually, the two parties mostly agree on keeping the bush tax cuts. up to $250,000 in income, which is a lot of income. republicans and democrats want to keep all the bush tax cuts. that's way more than 80% of all the bush tax cuts. they agree on all of that, no argument. where they disagree is democrats want to raise taxes on any income over 250,000. and they'll accept at this point 400,000. and republicans, though, this is what people don't always know, republicans want to raise taxes too, they want to raise them on poor people. they want to let the stimulus tax cuts expire. those are tax cuts that are helping poor and middle tax cuts. a family may get $60,000 will see a tax increase of almost $1,000. the white house opposes that tax increase. that is the shape of the disagreement on taxes. democrats want to raise them on the rich, republicans want to raise them on the poor. that is where the fight is happening number four. a
not deliver because they refused because of grover norquist not to allow any tax revenues whatsoever. meetings with vice president biden and cantor. cantor walked out of those meetings. he's the majority leader in the house. the gang of six, the gang of eight. we had this super committee, and they were doing good things, good things, dealing with entitlements and revenues, and a week before they would report by virtue of statute i get a letter signed by every republican too, bad about the super committee, we're not going to do anything with revenues, so this is not a capsule of a couple of days. this has been going on for years. they cannot cross over the threshold that has been built by grover for vist. people who are rich who make a lot of money, her not opposing raising taxes on them. the only people in america who don't think taxes should be raised on the rich are the republicans who work in this building. any time bhth speaker and the republican leader come to the president and say we've got a deal for you. the president's door is always own, and mine is, too. >> the senate is back in ses
to the right of rick santorum. he took the grover norquist pledge. he did all the things that were required of a potential republican nominee. but in each of those steps, he made it harder for him to win a general election. and he brought to this some strengths. the other thing that will the president four years ago was that romney was the likely nominee because i believe in the theory of opposites. whoever the incumbent is, people are looking for the brevity, not the replica. and romney would represent a stark difference from obama, a businessman, grounded, not a visionary, not an order for. >> so you thought he would be the nominee. you thought that through the whole entire primary process? >> i had a few moments of doubt, as i suspect he may have. but he got to those moments was to do what i said, to move to the right. with each step, i think he made himself more vulnerable. in the abstract, his profile as a businessman will stay positive, even until the final day. it was the concept of a businessman who knows how to create jobs and so on. that was their message and that was not a bad me
built into a broad media system. we can talk about the primary electorate but people like grover norquist and rush limbaugh and cable television trucks and talk-radio and they might otherwise be willing to look for solutions and can't because if they do they are dead if. they are beyond outrageous and you get no push back because whenever you have a political figure who just try is a little bit to say that is too much the new world of the media basically tells us that the business model that works is the fox news model and somehow a network of an audience at any given time as to in the half million people they can make more profits than all three network news divisions combined with an audience of 40 million people. and is that true? >> $700 million. it's enormously successful. and if we abandon that business model, if fox news to mauro says all right, here is the new message from roger ailes, can't we all just get along? we may not like what this president likes to do but he is a good man and we can find ways to work with them. i will guarantee you is that within a week there wo
. if grover norquist was here, he would say the greatest thing we're able to promise people is no further tax rises. it was the major mistake that bush sr. made when he said read my lips, no new taxes and then broke that pledge. what will you then say at the next election when this issue comes up? >> again, i think i held taxes down to 99% of the people. if it went over the cliff, we would have had to deal with it and then had a tax cut. i think just plain in terms of terminology with each other, but the bottom line, 99% of americans are going to get a tax cut. $730 billion. again, wasn't exactly the way i'd like to see it go down because i'd like to see a spending aspect of it. 49 out of 50 governors, that's what i'm going to push for, but we'll have that spending battle, which is the real issue going forward, but we did bring certainty to some of the tax code. i know a lot of small business people are excited about that. >> it is the real issue, congressman, and it could be the more vitriolic battle on capitol hill. do you feel by siding with the democrats this time around that somehow, you
Terms of Use (10 Mar 2001) | http://archive.org/details/tv?time=20121226-20130103&q=grover+norquist&fq=topic:%22vietnam%22 | dclm-gs1-115750000 |
0.219371 | <urn:uuid:527fbce8-d516-4da4-9095-039481e3d54f> | en | 0.986778 | About your Search
now,-- now-- the line is let. legality. there is law. there is british law. there is american law. it's there, and it wasn't enforced in britain. >> rose: piers morgan for the hour next. captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> rose: piers morgan is here. he is the host of "piers morgan tonight." it is the two-year anniversary of the show's launch. he has interviewed, a colorfulivate of the guests. they range from paris hilton to the calledy llama. earlier in his career he headline the "sun" and "daily mirror. he is bringing his appetite for controversy to america. i am pleased to have him on this program. welcome. époood to see you. >> good to see you, charlie. >> rose: i want to just go to gun control because you waded into this battle. was there a particular thing that set you off, other than the tragedy of 20 innocent children? >> yeah. it was actually-- it was earlier than that. when i began at cnn in january 2010, it was a week after gabby giffords had been shot. and i was completely shocked, not just by what ha
years, it's time to write about hit in the books of law. the job of the president-- and obama has done this magnificently-- to make america feel its greatness, its ideals to arouse our idealism. it's also the job of a president to write it in the books of law, to get actual legislation passed. that's what a nation is governed by and the second term in my mind is going to hinge on what is written in the books of law. >> rose: two things, one is that there's no question that l.b.j. is the most formidable political human figure i've ever met and if we had only known that person that bob caro knows through his research that i was lucky enough to know when i was 24 years old i think the country would have been felt differently there was one moment that he spoke to a bunch of reporters and he was himself and he never did that again. the teleprompter was a girdle on him. to go back to what bob woodward said, we can't forget that the republicans have attacked the democrats and obama even more fiercely than he's attacked them so it's not like he's out there saying these mean things about them.
by liberty and law. that's not the verse i'll sing but that's a good one. >> rose: what's the verse you'll sing. >> you knew, god shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. that's nice. i mean it's great and a lovely song. you know you just get into the song you get into the arrangement and singing it ask it is a lovely patriotic tune. and you know, america is such a noble experiment. it's really the light of the world. a lot of people are angry with us but mainly because of our sort of corporate colonialism that we practice. that's not the american people. those are individuals who are acting badly, you know. not standing alone and union carbide nepal -- that's a real problem for the future aside from carbon in the atmosphere, you know, what we do with corporate organization and corporate power and how we make it serve human beings and the largest number of human beings at that, and not just enslave human beings and you know march backwards. that's a big, that's a big knot for human beings to deal with, this question because corporations don't h
that. >> so how is assad handling his own security? he saw his brother-in-law and several his top national security people in a bomb that took place inside what i would assume a safe area. so he had to say to himself they got -- there they could get here. one said he was sleeping in different places and all of that. >> i have heard so many rumors. he's living in latakia, he is sleeping on a naval ship. he is in the pal dferb -- palace, he is in a private apartment being moved around from place to place every night. i think what isn't clear, what people still -- -- because it's pretty opaque, the syrian regime swrechl a sense it is pretty much a handful 6 men who are really running this country. but we don't have beyond bash orr all assad and coy couple of other sort of shady characters we don't really know who these individuals are, what motivates them, what the flavor of their conversations and interactions and strategy going forward is. i think it's probably unlikely that bash or al-assad plays a huge role in his own security or in sort of pushing forward like the security polic
that there must be limits within the context of the law in terms of slander and leibel. and with that -- libel, and with that there must be greater participation in terms of how we or how the country is to be governed over theext few years. anhis majestyaid that the monarchy's son will inherit will be vastly different from that which he inherited from his late father. >> rose: how do you see the theft threat to jordan. >> looking at this on a broader level, the monarchyes in the middle east have done much better than other types of regime. i'm talking about monarchyes, i'm talking about jordan, i'm talking about saudi a rain ya, the gulf states. we have monarchyes there. and monarchyes are especially attuned, i think to the culture of the regi. and it's npossible simply to is up plant a system which you have had in europe or the u.s.a. and so forth and to implant it in a region which has other aspects of culture, other beliefs, other ten et ceteras that they follow. and that is why there as been an element of legitimacy to the monarchyes which the other regimes did not have. and therefore not
Terms of Use (10 Mar 2001) | http://archive.org/details/tv?time=20130121-20130129&q=law&fq=program:%22Charlie+Rose%22 | dclm-gs1-115760000 |
0.088221 | <urn:uuid:a092d76e-94e7-4838-abed-8aad22b766a4> | en | 0.837661 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
When I build some source in custom location, i.e.:
configure --prefix=$HOME/.local
and then, make install..., man pages are copied in ~/.local/share/man/ but inaccessible from man command
How can I make man recognise pages in my custom location?
share|improve this question
1 Answer 1
up vote 3 down vote accepted
For one-off manpage reading, just point man at the specific file:
man ~/.local/share/man/manX/manpage.1.gz
Otherwise, if you want to always check ~/.local/share, then set the MANPATH environment variable for your user session (typically in your .bashrc file). To check what the current MANPATH is, do:
you'll probably want to append :$HOME/local/.share/man to the end of that.
share|improve this answer
Thanks. Interestingly MANPATH has already $HOME/.local/man but not $HOME/.local/share/man. I added export MANPATH=$HOME/.local/share/man:$MANPATH in .bashrc – zetah Mar 14 '12 at 6:21
Your Answer
| http://askubuntu.com/questions/112818/man-pages-from-custom-location/112821 | dclm-gs1-115830000 |
0.032276 | <urn:uuid:067bbad6-cef6-46c7-96fb-0787aaf1b13e> | en | 0.943631 | Time to Roll Out
Time to Roll Out
• Comments 1
Well, it's good to be finally be back and typing behind the keyboard again! It's extremely rare that I go two weeks completely offline without checking e-mail. But I was really knocked out while in the hospital, and then sleeping most of the week at home once I got out. Now I'm itching to go!
A couple of months ago, I wrote about my experience buying Transfomers toys for my son at Christmas time. Last week, the new Transformers movie came out. I had extremely low expectations given what I wrote about back in February. But being a fan, I just HAD to go. So I took my son to see it.
WOW! I was pleasantly surprised that it was a good movie! The story was filled with the typical plot holes of big budget summer blockbusters, but it stayed true to the spirit of the old cartoons. The effects were just great... probably one of the best mixes of live actors with CGI animations I've ever seen. Those robots looked REAL! Not to mention, they got some of the original voice actors from the cartoon to reprise their roles in the movie. If you like movies like Independence Day, then go see Transformers! It rocked.
One note... and I'm not a prude about things like this, but the movie does have a PG-13 rating. If you're taking your kids (which you should), be aware that there is some brief dialog between the main character and his parents reminiscent of the father/son dialog in the American Pie movies. My son was too young to know anything, but older kids may ask what certain words describing solo activities mean. I laughed out loud, but some folks might beware.
Given the news of how the movie busted box office records, I'm confident there'll be a sequel in a year or two. So, "Transformers: The Decepticons Strike Back" may be more of reality than I joked about back in February.
Wow... so I just wrote a movie review on my tech blog. Is that the quintessential mixing of content that makes me a snooty self-righteous wanna-be a-list blogger? :) Anyway... time to roll out and get back to work! | http://blogs.msdn.com/b/peterlau/archive/2007/07/10/time-to-roll-out.aspx | dclm-gs1-115900000 |
0.021181 | <urn:uuid:1881a05c-f43b-4549-855d-0f7190075a12> | en | 0.939924 | iKettle boils water on command for lazy smartphone users
Getting up and walking into the kitchen is such a hassle. Why not stay under your cozy covers and use your smartphone to turn on the kettle? That's the idea behind iKettle, a Wi-Fi-enabled kitchen gadget that connects to your iOS or Android device.
The iKettle can be controlled remotely from anywhere in your house. You can kick back on the couch, turn on the kettle with your phone, and lounge around until the water is ready. You will get a notification on your phone when the kettle has reached a boil. A keep-warm setting maintains the heat until … Read more
The 404 1,291: Where we paddle out to North Brother island (podcast)
Leaked from today's 404 episode:
- What happens when you install every adware, toolbar, and plug-in offered for download on the Internet?
- Great comments on YouTube for Jeff.
- Cheap vacation: An abandoned island in the middle of NYC.
- You can now buy a spray at Home Depot that makes anything wateproof.
- I usually don't get excited about iPad cases, but this one takes me back.… Read more
Sonic screwdriver toothbrush gives you a timeless smile
Tetris alarm clock levels up your mornings
You could wake up to the buzzing of an alarm clock. You could wake up to your smartphone's ringtone. Or you could wake up to the dulcet tones of the Tetris theme music.
The Tetris alarm clock is officially licensed. At first glace, it's a little nondescript. Look closer and you'll see the function buttons are shaped like Tetris blocks.
The clock's real draw are the falling blocks that build each number as the time changes. The gadget is currently available for preorder for about $40 from Firebox.… Read more
Podtime: Napping tubes for pod people
You want to take a nap, but you don't want it to be just any old nap. You want to nap in sci-fi style in a nearly indestructible polycarbonate tube with frosted doors. You want to nap in a Podtime Sleeping Pod.
A $2,100 Podtime comes with a mattress fit to the tube's dimensions and "outstanding air circulation." That boast probably won't help if you're claustrophobic, however.
The sleeping pods fold down into flat packs for portability. Since each pod weighs about 220 pounds, you won't want to haul it along on your morning commute, but it could be moved around on occasion as needed.… Read more
Personalized superhero action figures: You are Iron Man!
Advances in 3D printing hold great promise for the creation of drugs, medical implants, prosthetics, and now superhero action figure versions of ourselves.
The $125 Personalized Superhero Action Figure available from Firebox is several big steps up from doodling a superhero version of yourself on the inside of your Trapper pocket folder.
It's pretty simple to turn yourself into a mini-me full of rippling muscles and superhuman strength. Take two pictures of yourself, one from the front and one from the side. Send them in to Firebox. Wait for the 3D-printed version of your head and your choice of action figure to arrive.… Read more
Paging Dr. iPhone: ThermoDock takes your temperature
The Medisana ThermoDock gets you one step closer to having a medical toolkit like Dr. McCoy on "Star Trek." This is an infrared device that plugs into your iPhone. Point it at your forehead, your dog, or your iPad 3, and take its temperature.
The nice thing about infrared is that you don't have to stick the ThermoDock where the sun don't shine. That means your iPhone stays at a safe distance from steaming coffee mugs, people carrying around flu germs, and grumpy children.
This gadget can also be used to check the ambient temperature of your room or the great outdoors. As we like to say here in New Mexico, "It's a dry heat!"… Read more
&$@#! Periodic table of swearing cusses you out
Sleepy Bunny gadget soothes worried puppies
Everyone has heard of the old trick for getting a young puppy to sleep. Set a ticking clock next to it. The problem is that in the Digital Age, very few people have clocks that tick.
That's why your not-so-sleepy puppy needs its own gadget. Sleepy Bunny is a stuffed bunny toy with a mechanical heart inside.
Puppies have a lot in common with human babies. Trouble sleeping through the night is a frequent issue for the little pooches, especially when they are newly separated from their litter mates. The good news is that you don't have to put them through college when they turn 18.
The removable Puppy Pulse battery-powered heart mimics a real heartbeat. It is designed to reduce separation anxiety and keep sweet little Spot from waking you up with plaintive yips at 3 in the morning.
It can also help you avoid getting into the habit of having your pooch in bed with you. It may be cute when he's little, but eventually Tiny could turn into a 170-pound, bed-hogging Great Dane.
Sleepy Bunny is currently available for preorder from for $26. When your teensy pup grows up to be a big, strong dog, it can use the bunny as a chew toy. Just be sure to pull out the heart for safe keeping.… Read more
Life-size pet Daleks roll and rotate
One thing had always perplexed me about Daleks. As a "Doctor Who"-watching kid, I contemplated the thorny issue of how they got up stairs. Now, I have the opportunity to do some testing on my very own life-size Dalek.
U.K. company is offering officially licensed Dalek replicas. Each one is more than 5 feet tall and is hand-built to order. A variety of classic colors are available.
Sci-fi fans love to obsess over prop accuracy. uses the original molds and specs from the BBC prop department, so that every nob, plunger-looking attachment, and laser shooter is dead on.
The Dalek replicas won't try to exterminate you, but can get some action out of them by playing with the rotating dome, extendable plunger arm, and casters. I'm imagining taking one of these for a stroll around the neighborhood on a leash.… Read more | http://download.cnet.com/8300-5_4-0.html?keyword=firebox | dclm-gs1-116050000 |
0.018549 | <urn:uuid:1c21afa6-22bf-4ba8-99ad-0d37508c5332> | en | 0.838147 | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This page is about the Automatic Activation Device for parachutes. For the tree family, see Cupressaceae. For the Mediterranean island, see Cyprus. For the law doctrine, see Cy-près doctrine.
CYPRES 2 Student panel
CYPRES is an acronym for Cybernetic Parachute Release System. It refers to a specific make and model of an automatic activation device (AAD), a device that automatically activate a parachute (typically as a reserve system for a skydiver) under certain circumstances. A CYPRES is designed to activate the reserve parachute at a preset altitude if the rate of descent is over a certain threshold. The manufacturer of the CYPRES is Airtec.
The CYPRES works by using a cutter to cut the reserve container closing loop. A spring-loaded pilot chute then leaves the container and breaks through the skydiver's slipstream to begin reserve deployment.[1]
The CYPRES comes in four different models: Expert, Student, Tandem and Speed. The basic operation of the units is the same; only the activation parameters are different, having been optimized for different types of skydiving.
External links[edit] | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypres | dclm-gs1-116070000 |
0.040925 | <urn:uuid:549ce527-ff0e-43e9-88a1-8d80de4c007b> | en | 0.977963 | KETR Local
9:58 am
Fri November 6, 2009
Covicted murderer changes plea to avoid life sentence
Bonham – After being found guilty by a jury, a Fannin County man, who had originally pleaded not guilty, changes his plea to guilty to avoid a life sentence.
Bo Bailey Harris has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for the murder of William Ian Adams of Greenville in 2008.
A Bonham jury found him guilty of the crime Tuesday, following six days of testimony. The jury was also in charge of determining punishment for Harris, who was facing a maximum sentence of life in prison. However, Harris changed his plea to guilty to receive the lesser sentence. | http://ketr.org/post/covicted-murderer-changes-plea-avoid-life-sentence | dclm-gs1-116410000 |
0.019929 | <urn:uuid:c0de3f4d-b99a-4a1a-b1db-c6369f820659> | en | 0.885121 | Subject: Can named listen to alias IP addresses?
To: None <[email protected]>
From: Raphael Jaffey <>
List: current-users
Date: 06/18/1996 08:51:21
I posted this question without a subject just a moment ago so here it is again,
please don't flame me for the duplicate message :-)
I'm in the process of restructuring the network at our site. One of the things
I'm doing is assigning new IP addresses to our nameservers. In an effort to
smooth the transition I've tried to assign alias addresses to the interface on
our i386 NetBSD v1.1 box, but it appears that named only listens to the primary
IP address. Any way to get it to listen to the aliases as well?
Raphael Jaffey | http://mail-index.netbsd.org/current-users/1996/06/18/0006.html | dclm-gs1-116500000 |
0.023908 | <urn:uuid:11144399-2ce5-4793-9599-162d3995b4bc> | en | 0.961611 | Sponsored By
With a stimulus expected in the eurozone soon, those buying up government debt could be gambling their way to another crisis.
20:14, UK, Wednesday 07 May 2014
The Euro sign is seen in front of the ECB in Frankfurt
It seems only yesterday that the eurozone crisis was in full flow.
The borrowing costs of 'peripheral' eurozone countries such as Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece shot to stratospheric levels as bond market investors bet on a possible break-up of the single currency or that some of these countries would be unable to finance their borrowing costs.
The turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable.
Yields of Spanish 10-year government bonds, which stood at 7.6% as recently as July 2012, fell below 3% recently – a level not seen since before the financial crisis erupted.
Now yields on Italian 10-year bonds have also fallen to less than 3% for the first time.
Other evidence of a recovery comes in the fact that Greece, not long ago written off as a basket case, last month raised 3bn euros from investors in its first auction of government bonds in four years. Demand was so strong that it could have raised 20bn euros.
So what is happening? Does it signify an end to the eurozone sovereign debt crisis?
Well, up to a point. It is certainly true to say that bond markets are less worried about the ability of eurozone economies to service their debts.
Mario Draghi
And it is also true to say that investors are not as convinced as they were about the prospect of the eurozone breaking up - as shown by the fact that the premium demanded by investors to hold the debt of 'peripheral' eurozone nations such as Spain instead of ultra-safe German government bonds has fallen sharply.
For instance, the premium demanded by investors to hold Spanish 10-year debt is now less than 1.5 percentage points, a level not seen since August 2010.
But what has driven this is not so much an end to the crisis as the fact that, with central banks such as the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England all keeping interest rates at ultra-low levels, investors around the world are desperate for a return on their money.
That has driven them into financial assets, like Spanish and Italian debt, that offer a better return than US Treasuries or German bunds.
The other crucial factor is that some investors are undoubtedly buying in anticipation of further emergency measures by the European Central Bank to stimulate demand.
They remember well the promise in July 2012 of Mario Draghi, the ECB's president, to do "whatever it takes" to keep the eurozone together.
With inflation plummeting across the eurozone - and with some countries, such as Spain, now experiencing outright deflation - they figure that moment may not be far away.
Should the ECB launch an asset purchasing scheme to try and boost demand across the single currency zone, that would obviously create a profit for anyone already owning eurozone sovereign debt.
The danger is that investors may take on too much risk in their desperate hunt for yield - precisely the factor that caused the financial crisis in the first place.
The other is that, while the eurozone crisis may appear to have ended, it has actually transmogrified into another crisis that can be summed up in a single word - deflation.
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After way too many experiments, I've come to the conclusion that Windows Installer is simply bad technology. But the customers want MSI files.
So, how can I create an MSI file that extracts an EXE file to a temporary directory and runs it with options same or similar as were passed to the EXE file?
Options to an MSI are explained in Msiexec (command-line options) (low level "run" of an MSI is msiexec option package.msi).
EDIT: mjmarsh's WiX solution looks like it works. I just haven't had a chance to try it yet (crunch time). If it works, I'll be accepting it.
EDIT: it does not work. Missing piece: attended/unattended does not seem to be available.
Anyway, the only to make this work at all would be for the custom action to kill its parent process!
EDIT: So somebody posted as a further answer wrapping the whole thing as a post-install custom action. Theoretically possible but since a reboot may be required (thanks MS for .NET 4 requiring a reboot sometimes) we have to do further hackery. So from the matrix of advantages:
Transparency: No. One big custom action.
Customizability: No.
Standardization: No.
Management and reporting: No. Appears to work but will not.
Security: No benefit.
Validation: No. The hackery required to survive reboot makes this sure to not work.
Resiliency: Completely defeated.
Rollback: No. Rollback didn't work when we were using MSI anyway.
Patching & Updates: No. We have a local solution anyway.
Logging: No. Appears to work but will not.
No point.
share|improve this question
So, a lot of people are looking at this. Unfortunately there is no solution, and most of the developers are now in favor of not using MSI period. – Joshua Jul 29 '10 at 22:34
+1 for the first statement – kizzx2 Nov 29 '10 at 13:37
It is entirely possible to run an EXE file during an MSI install, and I have done so several times. It is just a matter of sequencing and verifying that the EXE you run exits cleanly. MSI is generally hard to deal with and often requires specialist attention, but the benefit in terms of corporate deployment is very substantial. MSI does enforce a number of rules that make it hard to do unusual and dangeropus things during installation. – Stein Åsmul May 18 '11 at 2:03
Glytzhkof: try invoking from inside a MSI a third-party EXE that's going to unpack and invoke several MSIs. – Joshua May 18 '11 at 2:09
Please read: "Advantages of using MSI files" for a summary of the benefits provided by MSI files for corporate use. – Stein Åsmul Jul 28 at 11:58
10 Answers 10
Well, there is the free way and the $$$ way. I cannot document everything here, but this should get you started.
On a side note, yes, Windows Installer is a maddening technology. There are many times where I think a task will be straightforward, but it actually becomes complicated. You definitely have to immerse yourself to understand it.
In any case, here goes:
Free: WiX (here)
This is a free tool to generate MSI files from a set of XML configuration files. I'll leave you to find tutorials online, but here is the crux:
You can compress your EXE into the installer by using the following tag in the WXS file:
<Binary Id="MYEXE" src="<path to my exe?"/>
Then you can create a custom action which launches your EXE file:
<CustomAction Id="EXECA_CALLMYEXE" Return="check" Execute="deferred" BinaryKey="MYEXE"
ExeCommand="my command line"/>
Then you insert your custom action into the InstallExecuteSequence in the appropriate spot (I almost always run mine somewhere between InstallInitialize and InstallFinalize)
<Custom Action="EXECA_CALLMYEXE" After="InstallInitialize"><![CDATA[Not REMOVE]]></Custom>
$$$: Get InstallShield (HERE)
First create a "Basic MSI" project and make sure you say you want no setup.exe generated. You set this in the Release settings.
Then you essentially do the same thing as with WiX, but you have a UI for it.
• You can specify your helper EXE file by using the Direct Editor and putting your EXE file in the 'Binary' table
• You can create a custom action to launch that EXE file from the "Custom Actions" Node in the tree on the left
• You can insert the custom action by selecting "Install Sequences" and putting it in the InstallExecuteSequence somewhere between InstallInitialize and InstallFinalize as I said before.
Sorry, I could not be more detailed, but this should be a good start.
share|improve this answer
The installshield way is already known not to work. It does not extract to a temp directory but to the target directory, running into the same bug we are trying to avoid in the first place (modify date on target file is often flat out wrong). – Joshua May 12 '09 at 21:46
Looks like WiX can do it w/ Custom Action and Binary element. Unfortunately the tutorial is currently busted but the help file in the download binary works. – Joshua May 12 '09 at 23:10
Huh, I was unaware of the binary extraction issue with IS. What version do you use? – mjmarsh May 13 '09 at 15:24
We recently had a customer who reported getting a cryptic, undocumented error when running the installer we created with InstallShield. We re-packaged it as an MSI and it ran OK. We are abandoning InstallShield after years of frustration, and converting to WiX. – Pierre Jun 16 '13 at 16:59
I think the easiest way to create a .MSI file is to use WiX.
Lesson 1 from the WiX tutorial is all you need to create a simple install.
share|improve this answer
That link is forbidden(403) now. Granted it is three years later. – Ben L Dec 11 '12 at 23:00
I think the Lesson one should be wix.tramontana.co.hu/tutorial/getting-started. But I don't think it has to do with running a EXE from within MSI. – wenqiang Jan 31 '13 at 7:13
up vote 4 down vote accepted
No solution. We went NSIS as corporate MSI install is going to be broken anyway due to MSI nesting problem (just try installing EXE wrapping MSI from inside MSI someday).
share|improve this answer
Just for the record, here is a summary of deployment tools and their strengths and weaknesses. For other people looking to decide how to do deployment. – Stein Åsmul Jul 28 at 12:01
Please also read: "Advantages of using MSI files" for a summary of the benefits provided by MSI files for corporate use. – Stein Åsmul Jul 28 at 12:02
Joshua, I understand your frustration very well. MSI is quirky to say the least - a completely new way to think of deployment. Still, applied correctly MSI offers the best possible deployment, especially for corporate customers.
What operations does your installer EXE perform? Is it largely file copy, some COM registration and some registry writes, or does it run complex installation logic, setting up databases etc...? The reason I ask is because it probably would be very quick to create a well functioning WIX MSI for you so you can abandon the EXE approach.
It is indeed possible to run an EXE from inside an MSI, but it requires proper sequencing, and it is guaranteed to cause you more blues than a simple MSI. If the app is small, and not doing anything crazy during installation, I would be happy to provide you with a basic WIX conversion.
share|improve this answer
MSI known bug: will not update executable binary that was touched by something else. – Joshua Jun 30 '09 at 15:09
It is not clear to me why an executable binary should be "touched by something else" after deployment? Binaries should essentially be considered read-only after installation? – Stein Åsmul May 18 '11 at 1:57
We never did find out what was doing it. – Joshua May 18 '11 at 2:08
Joshua: very likely a recompiled binary with the same version set. You can deal with this in several ways. The easiest way is to set REINSTALLMODE="emus" in the msiexec.exe command line. This will replace files of equal or lower version (as opposed to the normal behavior of replace lower versions). I prefer to set automatic version updates for .NET assemblies though using 1.0.* in the project settings. – Stein Åsmul Jul 28 at 12:06
Bad guess. We had auto number turned on. – Joshua Jul 28 at 15:31
There is also a free version of the MSI Wrapper. It also supports uninstall and upgrades. Also, it only creates one entry in the Add or Remove programs.
share|improve this answer
What part of "Cannot fire EXE wrapped MSI from within another MSI" do people not understand? – Joshua Feb 17 '13 at 20:05
Delete me wong place and I can't delete – Joshua Oct 8 at 18:39
If you don't want to manage MSI, but only execute EXE, try Exe to MSI Converter Free. You just put in the path to the EXE and get an MSI.
share|improve this answer
Do you know what happens when an EXE that was invoked from a MSI invokes an exe that will invoke an MSI (such as .NET 4)? – Joshua Jun 21 '12 at 16:00
No. I don't got this problem. My setup.exe was developed in Inno Setup works, but I don't call any msi from inside exe. – pawelek Jun 25 '12 at 9:09
Then you won't have the problem. Take a working MSI (any MSI), wrap it in an EXE wrapper, then try using this tool to wrap that EXE in a MSI and watch the spectacular result. – Joshua Jun 25 '12 at 15:59
try this:
In MSI package, there is a behaviour call "Launch an application after installation", that means your exe file will be executed after the MSI installation(the MSI is closed).
Try to execute your exe there, so when your exe invoke other MSI packages, it won't conflict with the first one.
share|improve this answer
Wix can do it. Here is my sample code for wix 3.5:
<?xml version='1.0'?>
<Wix xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi'>
<Product Id='*' UpgradeCode="11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555"
Name='My Setup' Language='1033' Version=''
Manufacturer='Your company'>
<Package Description='pak' InstallerVersion='200' Compressed='yes' />
<Media Id='1' Cabinet='setup.cab' EmbedCab='yes' />
<Directory Id='TARGETDIR' Name='SourceDir'>
<Directory Id="TempFolder">
<Directory Id="INSTALLLOCATION" Name="~_tmpdir">
<Component Id='MyComponent' DiskId='1' Guid=''>
<File Id="File0" Name="setup.exe" Source="setup.exe" />
<File Id="File1" Name="file1.txt" Source="file1.txt" />
<Feature Id='InstallFeature' Title='Install Feature' Level='1'>
<ComponentRef Id='MyComponent' />
<!-- Run Action -->
<CustomAction Id="RunWrapExe" Return="ignore" Execute="deferred"
FileKey="File0" ExeCommand="setup.exe param here"
HideTarget="no" Impersonate="no" />
<Custom Action="RunWrapExe"
After="InstallFiles">NOT REMOVE~="ALL"</Custom>
share|improve this answer
Doesn't work. Setup.exe might, depending on circumstances, execute the exe for SQLEXPRESS, which runs multiple MSIs. – Joshua Nov 4 '11 at 15:16
Well, single exe can work, for me that will resove all. For all install file, we build with great [InnoSetup](www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php) to create a exe, and if customer want MSI, we'll packet exe with Wix. This way, there's only one setup script to maintain. – weir Sep 26 '12 at 8:03
I was having the same problem (wrap EXE, call other MSI from the EXE including .net setup, etc.), and here is my solution:
I build the setup exe using InstallAware. It has its own MSI Wrapper that wraps the generated EXE with MSI.
It works OK, the EXE can call other MSIs without any problem (including .net setup, other 3rd party setups), but that is because the launching MSI ends ("returns") rights after it launches the setup EXE file, and that way they avoid the MSI limitation of recursive MSI calls.
BUT - some customers (companies) that uses MSI deployment tools, requires the MSI (msiexec) to return (end) only after the setup process ends, and that is a problem with the above solution.
So - to solve this:
There is another MSI Wrapper (exemsi.com) that generates MSI that returns only after the EXE setup ends, but for using that you must use another unique option of InstallAware:
InstallAware has the option to generate the EXE setup using their own native engine, and not based on Windows Installer engine, to avoid MSI recursive limitation. Combine those both, and you have the perfect solution.
Hope this will help someone, although many years passed since this question was first posted.
share|improve this answer
Apparently you haven't tried it with the custom .EXE running .NET setup. – Joshua Dec 1 at 1:04
You can try out the ZOLA tool here : http://www.zolasoftware.com
share|improve this answer
So what does it do when the EXE tries to install a MSI? – Joshua Oct 8 at 18:39
Your Answer
| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/854873/how-to-make-an-msi-that-simply-wraps-an-exe-file | dclm-gs1-116880000 |
0.576563 | <urn:uuid:4e68b215-63a4-4cb4-bb29-13a262cd0f3a> | en | 0.979491 | Previous 11 - 20 Next
When a group or nation has declared war, those in a foreign country assisting them are part of the war. If they were still in the US, they can be charged and executed for treason but if a US citizens goes to another country in order to assist our enemy in their war against us or our allies, different story. This is asymmetrical war, but it is still war. If Americans choose to join forces with our enemy in another country, they made a legitimate military target of themselves as combatants and it doesn't matter whether they use a gun, a computer, work to recruit others or are raising money for them. The support system that keeps enemy forces up and running are always a legitimate military target. The fact they went to another country to assist them changes it from treason which requires a trial in criminal court to an enemy combatant and becomes a legitimate military target who happens to have a US passport on him. All this does is render that passport useless and means you cannot leave the country in order to wage war against the US or its allies then turn around and claim the protections of that same government. That should have been law already -you leave the country to wage war against us, you cannot simultaneously demand it protect you.
I have to wonder about the IQ of anyone who thinks respecting and encouraging "diversity" is stifling free speech because it doesn't conform with someone's personal choices. What happened was a demand by one for others to conform to her own personal beliefs. Do not kid yourselves -free speech and diversity are not muslim values, expecting others to conform and accept their definition of "acceptable" is. There is a reason there is no mention of a "right to never be offended" in the Bill of Rights. Getting offended by something is a CHOICE, we CHOOSE to be offended. Personally I CHOOSE to reserve feeling offended when offense was actually intended. And even then, demanding others must have their rights restricted because I CHOSE to be offended is never in the table. If you can't accept American values and grasp what is meant by "liberty for ALL", perhaps you are in the wrong country. If that offends you -too bad.
My life expectancy is significantly longer in the hands of one as a non-Jew and non-muslim.
I think he will be put on trial and if so, I hope he is acquitted. Whether people can face facts or not, Brown attacked Wilson by shoving him back in his car and punched him, resulting in a blow-out fracture of his orbit -the bones that support and hold the eyeball in place in the skull. He attempted to shoot Wilson with his own gun and apparently claim to have proof Brown had his hands on that gun -probably Brown's prints on the gun. There are witnesses backing up Wilson's version of events about Brown ignoring Wilson's order to freeze and instead charging him. One said he was sure Wilson had been missing him because nothing fazed Brown until the head shot dropped him 2-3 feet in front of the cop. No word on the Tox report which may help understand Brown's behavior but after seeing how he used his size and strength to intimidate the much smaller convenience store clerk and smashed the cop's orbital bones, calling Brown a "gentle giant" is a sick joke at best. I'm waiting for the day people understand why the publuc is urged to wait for the complete investigation instead of this mob mentality and assuming everything worth knowing is already known. No, it wasn't. Both Brown and Wilson have a right to a full independent investigation free from interference from out of control mobs and internal pressures to come to a prejudged result. The irony is after blacks had been so often the victims of lynchings in the past, many were demanding the lynching of Wilson. If your kid doesn't know how to avoid being shot by a cop, now would be a good time to let them in on the secret -and point by point let them know what Brown did every step of the way that only kept increasing the likelihood he would be shot -until there was no other option left.
If they make unsubstantiated comments like that then the next time someone can use that as a source that "proves" it is true. That's how it works -make a bold claim without a shred of evidence to support it and as put it out there as if it is a given just as much as "the sun rises every morning". Then they use each others' statements as proof in the future when they repeat their claim. And never once back it up but ends up accepted as "fact" by the intellectually bankrupt. Simple. First rule of Marxism and endorsed by that scum sucking bottom feeder Saul Alinsky-if you repeat a lie often enough, it will be believed. You use the lie put out there by another person to back up your own repetition of the lie and claim it proves it is true. They come out like cockroaches when trying to get a lie accepted as "fact" and must be stomped each time before it reproduces. Lying as a political tool to manipulate and deceive people is a main staple in the Democrat arsenal -they are the ones who think their agenda is just so...noble-y and all, their ends justifies the means.
In response to:
The Ferguson Feeding Frenzy
KayLJ Wrote: Aug 20, 2014 11:15 AM
Those who saw a dead black and an alive white cop wanted to leap to conclusions by assuming facts not in evidence and did so for their own agenda. Michael Brown attacked the cop, shoved him back into his car where he proceeded to shatter Wilson's eye socket and nearly shot him with his own gun. When a dazed Wilson started to give chase yelling "freeze-freeze" and Brown chose to turn around and charge him instead, there should be no surprise Brown was shot. The myth being fed is that white cops are frequently shooting blacks and it is false. Part of the reason this blew up is because it so rarely happens and is NOT routine. But it turns out that just like nearly every other time a cop shoots and kills someone, anyone with even a marginal IQ can identify what the individual did to insure they would be shot. And I can with Brown too and as resistant as some are to dealing with reality, so can everyone else. If your kid doesn't know how to avoid getting shot by a cop, this would be a great time to let them in on the secret.
Your right to have your legally cast vote undiluted by fraud is greater than an imaginary "right" to demand you just accept my unverified word I even have a right to vote still all. Leave it to Democrats to insist their constituents are just too incompetent, too stupid or too lazy to be expected to get an ID because we ÁLL know it has nothing to do with being poor -because they have to have an ID to apply for welfare, food stamps and any other government entitlement. So what is their REAL objection to having an ID to prove you are who you claim to be when it comes to voting? Again, we ALL know what's really behind their objection.
Actually he is correct that conservatives tend to be better educated, Think about it -it isn't hard to grasp while claiming the left is better educated is laughable on its face. The left is composed largely of lawyers and high school dropouts with not much else in between. They either have a law degree or are lucky to have a GED. Cher, a 10th grade drop out, has the education level of the typical liberal and the typical Hollywood celebrity. Those trained to be dependent on government and believe the promise of a minuscule raise in their government handout is worth their vote are not the well educated in society. The average conservative has at least 2 years of college and is more likely to have 4 years college than have nothing more than a high school diploma. It is what it is.
What is it these idiot celebs don't get? You can't promote peace unless peace is on the agenda of all sides. I suggest they all read Hamas' charter document Covenant of Hamas which lays out its purpose for even existing and its goals. Not only is peace not on their agenda, it is SPECIFICALLY REJECTED. In other words -you can't promote peace when one side has already said there will be no peace and any "peace talks" only served to benefit the infidels pushing them but would never be accepted by Hamas. So those insisting Israel must allow Hamas to exist are pushing the very side that insures the highest number of casualties. You want PEACE -then destroy the ONE group in the way of it, the ONE group that has specifically rejected peace and vowed its only goal is to destroy Israel and kill Jews everywhere - and grind them into dust.
These are people convinced of their own superiority and the pure mobility of their agenda, they believe their ends justifies any means. It exposes the real nature of their agenda in the process and the fact it's core is built on nothing but sheer contempt for the people whom they fully believe are stupid and incapable of making good decisions for themselves. They believe that are fully justified to lie to stupid people then if it deceives them into making the "correct" decision -and of course the "correct" decision is only the one that leaves them as a ruling elite with ever greater power. See how that works? Udall HAD to lie because it was really for our own good. As a Marxist defines "good". They believe they have a right to rule and NOT that they must earn the informed consent of the governed.
These people have really adopted the notion of replacing our system with a Chicago-style thugocracy and make sure we all get any of those icky thoughts about liberty and freedom out of our heads. The idea corporations exist to be "patriotic" could come right out of the Communist Manifesto. They exist to make a profit and if they don't, they disappear. Along with every single job they created in their effort to try and make a profit. The biggest loser every time a business fails is government which loses all the tax revenue it was collecting from every employee in addition to taking corporate money it could not use for R &D, outdated, worn equipment and the creation of even more jobs. I take issue with a backward tax system anyway that discourages productivity, savings and hard work in the first place when one based on consumption would bring in greater revenue and those paying the most would always be the rich who would be doing so voluntarily and not because government was being used as a thief in the belief it somehow cleanses the act of stealing from others.
Previous 11 - 20 Next | http://townhall.com/social/kaylj-583061/comments/page/2 | dclm-gs1-116980000 |
0.932291 | <urn:uuid:e9f0d2e6-cb32-4883-ba65-e16b72252360> | en | 0.969962 | [[folder: Fridge Horror ]]
* Let's do some math: one major idea behind the Twilight Cage is that it has YearInsideHourOutside, to the point where one character mentions only being in the Cage for "a few years", while Knuckles claims this same character hasn't existed in over 4000 years. SO! If by, "a few years", he meant, say, five years, that would mean that 800 years in Sonic's world is equal to one year in the Twilight Cage. We see that by the time Sonic and friends come back from the Cage, [[spoiler: Robotnik took over the world, which likely took Robotnik years to do]]. Thusly, let's say Sonic and friends were in the Twilight Cage for a number of months, perhaps exactly five weeks since Ix wasn't messing around (And getting a bunch of aliens to work together isn't something you can accomplish in one day). That's 35 days which is 28000 days. Divided by 365 is 76.7123288 years. [[AdultFear Cream only went to play...]]
** And in this time, Vanilla will have probably died of old age... Feel like recruiting Cream on your next playthrough now?
** [[GameBreaker It's still worth it.]]
** But then how is [[spoiler: Robotnik]] still looking as young as he always was? For that matter, how is he even alive? Even if he was some sort of [[spoiler: TeenGenius, which he's not,]] almost seventy seven years ought to hit somebody '''HARD'''...
*** Eggman Nega has returned ...
**** That means the sequel could possible have [[EnsembleDarkhorse Silver?]] Yes...
*** You expect a MadScientist Dictator to not create a FountainOfYouth type invention?
*** Maybe he roboticized himself or something. | http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/folderizer.php?target=Fridge.SonicChronicles | dclm-gs1-117000000 |
0.018631 | <urn:uuid:a3f91e8f-a322-4529-bbfa-888c3aebace2> | en | 0.667924 | Matt Balzan Plus
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0.545249 | <urn:uuid:2f0f81f5-999f-4350-9c3c-1bc39661768c> | en | 0.973411 | What Policies for Global Prosperity?
By: Warren Mosler
Date: Sept. 23, 2010
Location: Unknown
Warren Mosler is interviewed on April 20, 2010 by Antonio Foglia and Andrea Terzi for the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Antonio Foglia (AF): I have known Warren from his previous life as an investor, where he definitely proved his skills. Now, he is an economist and, as all economists, he thinks he has a recipe to fix the world. He is also becoming a politician, so he now has another reason for having a recipe to fix the world, and we are definitely most interested in learning what his recipes are today, at a very special conjuncture in the world.
Warren, thanks for being connected with us this evening. I know you are in Connecticut now. We are in Switzerland, so I think a more general point of view of the world is probably more of interest to all of us although I understand that you might be more current on how to fix the U.S., as that is where you hope to have an impact soon.
Andrea Terzi (AT): Hello from the Franklin Auditorium, Warren. The floor is yours.
Warren Mosler (WM): Thank you. Well, the most obvious observation is that unemployment is evidence of a lack of aggregate demand, so what the world is lacking is sufficient aggregate demand.
In the United States, my prescription includes 1) what we call a payroll tax holiday, i.e., a tax reduction, 2) a revenue distribution to the states by the federal government and 3) a federally funded $8.00-per-hour job for anyone willing and able to work.
For the euro zone, I propose a distribution from the European Central Bank to the national governments of perhaps as much as 20 percent of GDP to be done on a per capita basis so it will be fair to all the member nations. The interesting thing is that it would not increase spending, or demand, or inflation, because spending is already constrained by the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), and so nations would still be required to keep spending down to whatever the EU requires, but what it does do is to eliminate the debt and financing issues, and it takes away the credit risk from the euro zone. The other thing it does is it gives the EU a far more powerful tool for enforcing its requirements. What happens is that anyone who does not comply with the EU's requirements would risk losing this annual payment. Right now, anyone who does not comply gets fined, but, as we know, fines are not easy to enforce.
AF: I think that after three hours of Keynesian presentations today I didn't expect anything else than an extra vote for more aggregate demand stimulation, on one side, and the irrelevance of printing more money, on the other side. Somehow, though, I do personally remain concerned, and don't fully understand how, in the long run, this will not have side effects as people begin to actually expect the fact that more money is going to be printed, more demand is going to be stimulated in less and less productive ways (because it is basically government spending rather than private spending). If I look at history there is little evidence of how you get out from the sort of Keynesian policy that you are proposing, that is certainly very effective in stopping a depression from developing (and we are grateful that policy makers did that), but I don't understand how you then stop those policies, and how the exit from those policies can happen in the medium and long term.
WM: Okay, so you put up a lot of things there. So I'll start from the beginning. First of all, for the U.S., I'm talking about restoring income for people working for a living which will raise the sales in the private sector right now, so it's not a question of government. You talk about stimulus, but I'm not talking about adding stimulus. I'm talking about removing drag. You can't get something for nothing. If you have somebody running and a plastic bag falls over his head that slows him down you can remove that plastic bag. We are still limited by our productive potential, and what we have now are restrictive policies that are keeping us from achieving it. Restrictive policies are demand leakages. In the U.S., there is a powerful incentive not to spend your income as this goes into a pension fund, and in Europe you have the same types of things that reduce aggregate demand. The only way any sector can successfully "net save" is if another sector goes into deficit, so what the government is doing when it lowers taxes or increases spending, depending on what the case may be, is filling the hole in demand created by the demand leakages.
My proposal for the EU doesn't increase anyone's spending. All it does is this: As long as countries are in compliance with spending limits set by the EU, they receive the allocation. As soon as they are not in compliance, they risk losing this payment, in which case the market will severely punish them and cut them off. So, to address your questions, I am not advocating any excess spending stimulus beyond just making up for the drags created by what I call "saving desires" and "demand leakages" which are largely a function of the institutional structure.
Let me just say it in one more way. A government like the U.S. has to determine what the right size of government is. For example: what is the right size for the legal system? You don't want to have to wait two years to get a court date, but you don't want to have people calling you up asking you come to court because there are a lot of vacancies, so maybe the right waiting period is, say, 60 days. So you then size your legal system and your legal employees for that kind of public service.
Equally, you have to size the military for what the mission is. You have to size the whole government. Once you've sized your government properly, you then have to determine the correct level of taxes that is needed to sustain the level of private-sector activity that you want, and invariably those taxes are going to be less than the size of the government. So, even if you want a smaller government, which is fine, you then have to have taxes that are even lower. Why? Because that's the only way you are going to accommodate your private sector on its savings desires.
AT: I know where you are coming from, Warren, and I'm sure you realize that your proposal that the ECB distribute money to European governments makes many people here in Europe jump on their seats for two reasons. One: the ECB is prevented by statute from financing national governments; and two: people fear that this is further additional printing money, creating inflation. Would you mind going back to your proposal and explaining to me and the audience, step by step, what this distribution really means, where this money comes from, and where it is going, in this score-keeping exercise that is the true character of a monetary economy?
WM: Right, exactly. So, yes, it would require unanimous approval of EU governments. What I'm saying is that European governments have accounts at the ECB. Under my proposal, the ECB would put a credit balance into government accounts. So what will happen is that the balance in their accounts will go up. Just because a balance on a national bank account goes up, it does not mean there is any additional spending. It is spending that causes inflation, not just the existence of a credit balance on a central bank computer. But what would then happen is that in the normal course of spending, borrowing and debt management, this balance would be worked down. Not by an increased volume of spending and not by a change in anything else, but it would just be worked down because, for example, when the Greek bonds would mature, the government would be able to continue its normal spending (this would be limited by compliance with the SGP and other international agencies) without having to refinance its bonds. But once the credit balance is used up, then Greece would continue its normal refinancing, but with a level of debt reduced by about 20 percent GDP the first year.
So again this has no effect on the real economy, no effect on real spending. The only effect is that there would be fewer Greek securities outstanding, and that Greek debt levels would be lower and coming down, which would facilitate their continued funding once the credit balance is used up. So it's purely, as you stated, an operational consideration and not a real economic consideration, and yes, people would be afraid of things that they don't understand. But anyone who understood central banking from the inside at the operational level would realize that this would have absolutely no effect on inflation, employment, and income in a real economy, other than to facilitate the normal funding of national governments.
AT: Are you saying that the effect of such annual distribution would be like the effect of the discovery of a new gold mine every year in a country under the gold standard?
WM: Well, no, it's different, because on a gold standard what we call the money supply is constrained in any case, whereas when you get to a currency it's the opposite: the currency itself is never constrained. So you have a whole different dynamic.
Let me just expose my point from a slightly different point of view. The reason the EU can't simply guarantee all the nations, and the ECB can't simply guarantee all the national governments is because if they did, whoever "deficit spends" the most, wins. You would get a race to the bottom of extreme moral hazard that quickly winds up in impossible inflation. So there has to be some kind of mechanism to control government deficit spending for the member nations. They did it through the SGP, that sets the 3 percent limit, and there's no way around that dilemma. It can't be done through market forces. It has to be done through the SGP. What they did is to leave the national government on a stand-alone basis, so there would be market discipline, but we've seen that that does not work either. They've got to get back to a situation where they are not subject to the mercy of market forces but at the same time they don't want the moral hazard of some unlimited fiscal expansion where anybody can run a 5, 10, 20 percent deficit with inflationary effects.
My proposal eliminates the credit risk at the national government level, so they are no longer restrained by the markets in their ability to borrow, but it makes them dependent on annual distributions from the ECB in order to maintain this freedom to fund themselves.
And because they are dependent on the ECB's annual check, the ECB has a policy to then be able to remove that check to impose discipline on these countries. By having this policy tool to withhold payments, rather than implement fines, the EU would be in a much stronger position to enforce the deficit limits they need to prevent the race to the bottom of nations.
AT: Your proposed ECB distribution would have the immediate effect of reducing the interest rate spread between German and Greek bonds. However, if the 3-percent deficit constraint remains in place, there is not much hope of prosperity in Europe. Do you agree?
WM: Right. The demand management would be based on the SGP: if they decide a 3-percent deficit is not adequate for the level of aggregate demand they may go up to 4, 5, or 6 percent or whatever level they choose. It's always a political decision for them, and it's always going to be a political decision. If they choose something too low, then they're going to have higher unemployment. If they choose something too high, they're going to have inflation.
And so it's going to be a political choice, no matter how you look at. But the thing is, how do you enforce the political choice? Right now they can't enforce it. Right now, they've been enforcing it through the fining of member nations. But it doesn't work. So they've lost their enforcement tool.
The other problem they have is this: because of the credit sensitivity of the national governments, when countercyclical deficits go up like now, which are needed to restore aggregate demand, output and employment, what happens is that the deficits challenge the creditworthiness of the national governments. This is an impossible situation with national governments risking default because of the insolvency risk. They are in a completely impossible position to accomplish any of their goals.
Whereas, reversing the situation, i.e., going from "fines as discipline" to "withholding payments as discipline" puts them in a position that is manageable. It still then requires wise management for the correct level of deficits, for the correct level of aggregate demand, but at least it's possible. Right now, it's unstable equilibrium, and what I am proposing switches it to a stable equilibrium, as they used to say in engineering class.
AF: If I understand correctly, the essence of the policies that you are suggesting, both in the U.S. and in Europe, involve a certain level of deficit spending and debt accumulation. Then one could expect the dollar/euro exchange rate not to move much because people would probably tend to dislike both currencies the same way. How would you see the interaction of these two areas with emerging markets that are in a totally different economic environment and cycle, and whose currencies are actually currently on the rise?
WM: Right, if you look at nations like India and even Brazil, they all have high interest rates and high deficits that help them get through. China, as well, maintains an extremely high deficit offsetting its internal savings desires. China may have overdone it, and it has to face an inflation problem, but this is a different story. I think that the U.S. is in a far better situation than the euro zone right now, because our budget deficits do not represent the sustainability issues or credit issues.
The EU has put its member nations in the same position as the U.S. states, as if Germany, or Greece, were like Connecticut, or California. They put all their member nations in the same position as state governments but without the federal government spending that the U.S. uses to help them out. This puts the whole burden of sustaining aggregate demand on European member nations. To get an analogy in the U.S., if the U.S. had to run a trillion and a half million dollar deficit last year at the federal level, and if the only way that could have happened was at the state level, the U.S. would have been in much the same position as the EU, with all our states right on the edge of default. So because we have our deficit at the federal level, instead of state level, we are in a much stronger position than the EU right now.
You may have already reviewed the mechanics of how nations like the U.S. or the U.K. do their public spending in the conference, but let me do it very quickly. When the United States spends money that it doesn't tax, it credits the reserve account of whoever gets that money. Now, a reserve account at the central bank is nothing more than a checking account.
Let me now use the example of China so I can combine the problem of external debt with deficit spending at the same time. China gets its dollars by selling goods and services in the United States. When China gets paid, the dollars go into its checking account at the Federal Reserve Bank, and when China buys Treasury securities, all that happens is that the Federal Reserve transfers the funds from their checking account at the Federal Reserve to their securities accounts at the Federal Reserve. U.S. Treasury securities are accounted much like savings accounts at a normal commercial bank. When they do that, it's called "increasing the national debt", although when it's in their checking account it doesn't count as national debt. The whole point is that the spending of dollars by the federal government is nothing more than the Federal Reserve Bank changing numbers off in someone's reserve account. The person doing this at the Treasury doesn't care if funds are in the reserve account at the central bank; it makes no difference at all, operationally. There is no operational connection between spending, taxing, and debt management. Operationally, they are completely distinct. And the way any government like the United States or the U.K. or Japan pays off its debt is the same: just transfer funds from someone's security accounts back to the reserve accounts at your own central bank, that's it. And this happens every week with hundreds of billions of dollars. None of this acts as an operational constraint on government spending. There is no solvency issue. There is no default condition in the central banks' computer.
Now, when you get to the EU, it all changes because all this has been moved down to the national government level, and it's not at some kind of federal level the way it is in the United States. There is no default risk for the U.S., for the U.K., or for Japan where the debt is triple that of the U.S. and double that of Greece. It is all just a matter of transferring funds from one account to another in your own central bank.
AT: I'm glad you touched upon the question of China accumulating credits with the U.S., because this is poorly understood. Money that Chinese earn by sending merchandise to the United States are credits in the U.S., and these credit units are nonredeemable, so Chinese owners can do nothing with these things unless they use them to buy American products, and if they do, those units become profits for American firms. But there is also another possibility, which sometimes raises concerns in the larger public, and this is what happens if China should choose to get rid of these dollars by selling the U.S. securities they own. While the amount of dollars owned by foreigners doesn't change, the price of the dollar would in fact decline. If China sells off American debt, dollar depreciation may be substantial.
WM: Operationally, it's not a problem because if they bought euros from the Deutsche Bank, we would move their dollars from their account at the Fed to the Deutsche Bank account at the Fed. The problem might be that the value of the dollar would go down. Well, one thing you've got to take note of is that the U.S. administration is trying to get China to revaluate currency upward, and this is no different from selling off dollars, right? So, what you are talking about (selling off dollars) is something the U.S. is trying to force to happen, would you agree with that?
AT: Yes!
WM: Okay, so we're saying that we're trying to force this disastrous scenario--that we must avoid at all costs--to happen. This is a very confused policy. What would actually happen if China were to sell off dollars? Well, first of all, the real wealth of the U.S. would not change: the real wealth of any country is everything you can produce domestically at full employment plus whatever the rest of the world sends you minus what you have to send them, which we call real terms of trade. This is something that used to be important in economics and has really gone by the wayside. And the other thing is what happens to distribution. While it doesn't directly impact the wealth of the U.S., the falling dollar affects distribution within U.S., distribution between those who profits from exports and those who benefit from imports. And that can only be adjusted with domestic policy. So, number one, we are trying to make this thing happen that we are afraid of, and number two, if it does happen, it is a demand-distribution problem, and there are domestic policies to just make sure this happens the way we want it to be.
AT: Would you like to elaborate on another theme of today's symposium? How do you see the income distribution effects of the U.S. fiscal package? Is it going in the right direction in your opinion?
WM: Well, we had 5 percent growth on the average maybe for the last 2 quarters while unemployment has continued to go up. If GDP is rising and people in the world are getting hurt, and real wages are continuing to fall, then who is getting the real growth? Well, everybody else. And so what we've seen from a Democratic administration is perhaps the largest transfer of real wealth from low income to high income groups in the history of the world. Now, I don't think that was the intention of their policies but it has certainly been a result, and it comes from a government that does not understand monetary operations and a monetary system and how it works.
AT: Warren, what would be your first priority, the one action that you would enforce immediately to improve the current situation?
WM: The United States has a punishing regressive tax which we call payroll taxes. These take out a fixed percent of our income, 15 percent (7.6 percent paid by employees and 7.6 percent by employers), so it starts from the very first dollar you earn, and the cap is $108,000 a year. I would immediately declare a payroll tax holiday, suspend the collection of these taxes. This would fix the economy immediately from the bottom up. A person making $50,000 a year would see an extra $325 a month in his pay check, simply by having the government stop subtracting these funds from his or her pay.
Our economy has always worked best if people working for a living have enough take-home pay to be able to buy the goods and services that they produce. Right now, in the United States, people working for a living are so squeezed they can pay for gasoline and for food and that's about it, maybe a little bit of their insurance payments, and so we've had an economic and social disaster. The cause of the financial crisis has been people unable to make their payments. The only difference between a Triple-A loan and "toxic assets" is whether people are making their payments or not. And you can fund the banks and restore their capital and do everything else, but it doesn't help anyone making their payments. We're two years into this and we're still seeing delinquencies moving up, although they levelled off a little bit, at unthinkably high levels. Hundreds of thousands of people getting thrown out of their homes--that's the wrong way for a Democratic administration to address a financial crisis.
To fund a bank, simply stop taking the money away from people working for a living so they can make their payments and fix the financial crisis from the bottom up. All that businesses and banks need and want at the end of the day is a market for their products; they want people who can afford to make their payments and buy their products. So my first policy would deliver exactly that, which is what I think we need to take the first big step to reverse what's going on.
AT: The action you proposed, the payroll tax holiday, entails some form of discretionary fiscal policy and this raises two questions. First, discretionary fiscal policy has been discredited. Economists like to model politicians' behavior in a way that we cannot trust their decisions as they just aim at winning the next elections. So how do we make sure that discretionary fiscal policy would be used correctly to achieve full employment and avoid inflation?
WM: My proposal is not talking about discretionary spending. It's about cutting taxes and restoring incomes for people who are actually working for a living, who are the people that at the end of the day we all depend on for our lifestyle, so it is not an increase in government spending, it is a tax cut on people working for a living. The only reason this hasn't happened is because of what I call "the innocent fraud" (from my book, The seven deadly innocent frauds, available on my website), that the government has run out of money, the government is broke, the federal government has to get funding, has to get revenues from those who pay tax, or it has to borrow from China and leave it to our children to pay back. This is complete myth, and it is the only barrier between us and prosperity. Now, in terms of using excess capacity and create inflation, the theory says yes, it can happen, though I've never seen it in my forty years in the financial markets.
As they say, in order to get out of a hole, first you have to stop digging, right? Right now, we've got an enormous amount of excess capacity in the United States. Unemployment is at 10% only because they changed the way they define it. Using the old method, we have up to 22% unemployment.
The payroll tax holiday will both increase spending power and lower costs, so we get a little bit of deflationary effect as spending starts. Should there be a time when we see demand starts threatening the price level, then it can come a point where it makes sense to raise taxes, but not to pay for China, not to pay for social security, not to pay for Afghanistan (we just need to change the numbers up in bank accounts) but to cool down demand. We have to understand that taxes function to regulate aggregate demand and not to fund expenditures.
AT: Discretionary fiscal policy also includes discretionary changes in taxes, not only discretionary changes in spending, so how do we make sure that the political ruling class will raise taxes when needed?
WM: Well, right now they're raising taxes, so they don't seem to have much of a reluctance to do that, and they also understand that voters have an intense dislike for inflation. It's not justified by the economic analysis, it's just an emotional dislike for inflation. They believe it's the government robbing people of their savings and they believe it's morally wrong. And so they are always under intense pressure to make sure that inflation does not get out of control or they are going to lose their jobs. But that's the checks and balances in a democracy. It's what the population votes for. And the American population has shown itself to vote against inflation time and time again. The population decides they want more or less inflation, it boils down to whether you believe in democracy or you don't. And I'm on the side to believe in democracy.
AT: In terms of democracy, this choice is not available to Europeans right now. The ECB has been given an institutional mandate of price stability, and the decision of what's more evil, inflation or unemployment, has been removed from voters' preferences on the ground that price stability is the premise to growth and full employment!
But I'm afraid our time is over. Warren, thank you very much. Although the volcano in Iceland prevented you from attending today, at least we had this opportunity to discuss via teleconference.
WM: Was the volcano a result of the financial crisis over there?
AF: It was a way for Iceland to take revenge on the Brits!
Warren, we thank you very much for making this conference possible and thank you for your time. I encourage anybody who is interested to go to your website to get a view of your most recent ideas, and all the best from this side of the Atlantic on your campaign.
WM: Thank you. If anyone has more questions just write to my email address [email protected] and I'll be happy to correspond with anyone looking for more information.
AT: Thank you Warren.
WM: Okay, thank you all! | http://votesmart.org/public-statement/561025/what-policies-for-global-prosperity?flavour=mobile | dclm-gs1-117120000 |
0.2676 | <urn:uuid:78795f81-7098-4260-ae33-f907775650c1> | en | 0.905226 | Animals | WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio
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