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The EMKA GROUP is the world leader for locking systems, hinges and sealings, which are used in cabinets and control cabinets for electronics and electrical engineering. In the areas air conditioning technology and transport, EMKA is one of the leading manufacturers of locking technology. The product range comprises 15000 articles that are developed, manufactured, processed and assembled at nine production sites in Germany, France, England, Spain, Italy, Bosnia and Serbia.
EMKA is an expert in the casting of stainless steel, spraying of zinc and high-performance plastics as well as in the extrusion of rubber and plastic profile. Punching, bending, turning, milling, surface coating or powder coating as well as the final assembly of the modular product program ensure a unique vertical integration. An experienced team of designers, developers and engineers is available at EMKA for the realization of individual customer solutions. The company sets standards in quality, depth of production and delivery performance.


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Composition in Black and Gray
Composition with Grid 4 (Lozenge)
Piet Mondrian, Dutch, 1872 - 1944
Made in France, Europe
Oil on canvasDimensions:
23 5/8 x 23 11/16 inches (60 x 60.2 cm) Framed: 30 x 30 x 3 7/16 inches (76.2 x 76.2 x 8.7 cm)Curatorial Department:
European Painting
1950-134-151Credit Line:
The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950
Made in France, Europe
Oil on canvasDimensions:
23 5/8 x 23 11/16 inches (60 x 60.2 cm) Framed: 30 x 30 x 3 7/16 inches (76.2 x 76.2 x 8.7 cm)Curatorial Department:
European Painting
* Gallery 280, Modern and Contemporary Art, second floorAccession Number:
1950-134-151Credit Line:
The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950
Social Tagsde stijl [x] geometric [x]
[Add Your Own Tags]
Inspired by Cubism, Mondrian moved away from the naturalism of his earlier landscape paintings and began to explore the possibilities of working with a grid pattern to define an entire painting. In this composition, narrow, diagonal lines map a network of diamonds while horizontal and vertical lines divide them into 256 triangles. A flickering optical illusion is created by lines of varying thickness that suggest rectangular and square compartments of different sizes.
Explore the Collections
ProvenancePurchased from the artist through Marcel Duchamp as agent to Louise and Walter C. Arensberg, Los Angeles, probably in 1936 [1]; gift to PMA, 1950. 1. See a letter by Mondrian of March 31, 1936 to Van den Briel, in which he mentions that he has been approached by Valentine Dudensing asking for exclusivity for America, and also that "Besides I got a request from someone here for photos of two earlier things I still have and a new one I am busy finishing. They will be sent and there is every chance of success; the photos came out well" (cited in Joop Joosten, Catalogue Raisonné, v. 2, p. 163). Joosten believes the request for photographs must have come indirectly (possibly through Duchamp in Paris?) from the Arensbergs in Hollywood, with one of the "earlier things" being this 1919 work, and the one he is busy "finishing" being "Composition" of 1936 (see PMA 1950-134-152). Already in 1933, Galka Scheyer had written to Mondrian from Hollywood, attempting to purchase on the Arensbergs' behalf two Mondrian paintings she had seen in his studio; however, as she reported to Hans Arp a few months later, Mondrian had already sold both paintings in question (letter to Mondrian August 31, 1933 and letter to Arp November 28, 1933 in Scheyer archive, Norton Simon Museum). Duchamp's own notes on the provenance of the Arensberg purchases for which he acted as agent, compiled long after the fact in 1951, record that "Composition in Black and Gray" was purchased "from the artist in 1937," and "Composition" "from the artist in 1938" (letter of Duchamp to Arensbergs, September 8, 1951, PMA, Arensberg Archives). However, supporting Joosten's view that the paintings were actually acquired at the same time is the fact that, as Joosten points out, the transport labels of the Lucien Lefebvre-Foinet company on the stretchers bear consecutive numbers (nos. 433 and 434).
* Works in the collection are moved off view for many different reasons. Although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit.

subset: commoncrawl


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More bird flu
Now that bird flu has been found in a dead cat, some people want to kill all the cats.
I suppose that the same persons would want to kill all dogs, horses, frogs as well, if bird flu was found in these animals.
By the way, bird flu has already killed human beings. Shall we kill that species too, before it is attacked by the virus?


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- Address:
- Cheung Chau Beach Road and Hak Pai Road, Cheung Chau, Outlying Islands
- Tel:
- +852 2981 8389 (Tung Wan Beach)
+852 2981 8472 (Kwun Yam Beach)
- Website:
- International | English
- Australia | English
- Canada | English
- 內地 | 简体中文
- France | Français
- Deutschland | Deutsch
- India | English
- Indonesia | Bahasa Indonesia
- 日本 | 日本語
- 대한민국 | 한국어
- Malaysia | Bahasa Malaysia
- Nederland | Dutch
- New Zealand | English
- Россия | русский
- Southeast Asia | English
- España / América Latina | Español
Tung Wan Beach and Kwun Yam Beach
On the weekends, surf-loving city dwellers head to the island of Cheung Chau to enjoy the beaches where an Olympic windsurfing champion once trained. Lee Lai-shan (or 'Shan Shan' as she is affectionately known locally) brought back Hong Kong's first Olympic gold medal from the Atlanta Games in 1996.
A year-round favourite with locals is Tung Wan Beach, which has turquoise waters and charming night views of Aberdeen and Lamma Island. In a small nearby garden, a sculpture of a windsurfer commemorates Shan Shan's achievement. Right next door to Tung Wan Beach, Kwun Yam Beach is where the young windsurfer with stars in her eyes cut her teeth. The Cheung Chau Windsurfing Centre here provides windsurfing, surfing and canoeing equipment, and it's possible to see unusual coastal rock formations and the Mini Great Wall from the waters around here.
Please check the latest information on public beaches here.
Ferry from Central Pier 5 to Cheung Chau (fast ferry services take 35–40 minutes and ordinary ferry services take about 55–60 minutes). From the Cheung Chau Ferry Pier, walk along Tung Wan Road for approximately 10 minutes until you reach Tung Wan Beach.
Kwun Yam Beach:
Walk around another five minutes from Tung Wan Beach in the direction of Warwick Hotel.
Select what you would like to see on the map:
- Attractions
- Events
- Shopping
- Dining
- Hotels


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Brewed by Epic Brewing Company
Imperial Stout11.4% ABV65 IBU
100 Overall 94 Style
One Big Bad Imperial Stout with Cocoa nibs and local Novo Coffee beans, aged in Whiskey Barrels.
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Irish Stout4.2% ABV40 IBU
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Is made from water, barley, roast malt extract, hops, and brewer's yeast. An old and firm favourite.
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Sunday, 29 July 2012 04:23 PM
Nobody in Corporate America wants to go back to 2009, but by one measure companies are there right now.
Based on the 291 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 that have reported earnings so far — along with estimates for the rest — S&P Capital IQ expects overall profits to decline by half a percent from the same period a year ago. That would be the first time that profits have shrunk since the third quarter of 2009, just after the Great Recession. Analysts are predicting that earnings will shrink 0.3 percent for the third quarter, too.
Revenue for those 291 companies has increased just 2.3 percent, compared with a 10-year average of 7.1 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Worse, companies are getting more pessimistic about the rest of the year.
Companies that should benefit from a recovery are instead getting ready for a slowdown. UPS, the world's largest package delivery company, said it expects the global economy to get worse before it gets better. It lowered its profit forecast for 2012. Cisco Systems said it will lay off 1,300 people and warned that revenue for the current quarter will grow much less than expected. Chemical maker DuPont said this year's profits will be at the low end of its expectations because of uncertainty about the economic outlook.
The last recession ended in June 2009, but the U.S. economy remains unusually sluggish this far into the recovery. It grew at an annual rate of just 1.5 percent from April through June. Unemployment remains above 8 percent.
"The economy is bordering on stall speed," said Kurt Reiman, a strategist at UBS.
To be sure, some companies are reporting profit growth. Caterpillar's quarterly profit jumped 67 percent, and the maker of big construction equipment boosted its outlook for the year. Boeing reported a better-than-expected 3 percent increase in profits as it delivers more planes.
But outlooks overall are very cautious. In a survey by data provider FactSet, 47 out of 60 companies lowered the earnings guidance they gave investors for the third quarter. And investors often trade more on outlooks than on the last quarter's results.
Shares of online game-maker Zynga plummeted nearly 40 percent on Thursday after it slashed its profit guidance for the year to between 4 cents and 9 cents per share, from 23 cents to 29 cents previously. UPS lost 5 percent of its value the day after cutting its full-year earnings forecast by 25 cents per share, to a range of $4.50 to $4.75. Its stock regained some of that loss later in the week.
Starbucks shares plummeted 9.4 percent on Friday after it cut its outlook for the current quarter and said it is still struggling in Europe.
Indeed, Europe's problems are causing slowdowns for others. U.S. airlines are cutting flying to Europe this fall. China's growth is slowing, in part because it's hard to sustain the torrid pace of the past few years, and in part because of less spending from Europe.
Dow Chemical has a good window into the world's economies because its materials are used in televisions, paint and agricultural products. CEO Andrew N. Liveris, for example, has visited China four times in the last four months.
"Every single visit, to customers and to governments, they were seeing a decline and the decline was the domino effect of Europe," he said on Dow's earnings conference call on Thursday. Dow has scrapped its prediction for an economic upturn in the second half of the year, and Liveris said it's now unlikely that the world's economy will have broad positive developments this year. Dow's quarterly profit missed analyst estimates, and revenue fell 10 percent.
Investors and corporate executives will be watching Washington Wednesday when the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee meets.
One option for the Fed is another major round of bond purchases, where it would buy up more mortgage-backed debt to inject more money into the economy and, in effect, lower interest rates further. Such a move would be the third time that the Fed has engaged in so-called "quantitative easing."
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on June 20 that another round would be considered "if we need to take additional measures to strengthen the economy."
But Scott Wren, a senior equity strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors, doesn't think the Fed will announce a new round on Wednesday, and he doesn't think it would help much anyway. Rates are already low, but businesses are holding back because they don't know what their future tax burden will be or how much it will cost to hire more workers, he said.
"Their confidence isn't great. They're not hiring a lot of people — and that harms consumer confidence. It's a negative circle. When confidence is low all the way around, people just aren't looking to borrow more money."
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Sometimes the most basic advice is the most profound.
"It all begins from ikhlas and mujahadah (sincerity and struggle). Even if Umar al Khattab or Hasan al Banna rise from their graves and become your murabbi, won't do a thing for you (if you don't have these two things)."
After a while in D&T, the truth of this statement hits you with a resounding 'WHACK'.
Some people are forced to live in far-off places with no people around to always support them, yet they are steadfast.
Others can't be luckier. They are surrounded by good people, have all the reading materials in the world, have lots and lots of opportunities to do good
And yet they stumble.
Abdullah bin Ubayy could have become the best among the people of Madinah. He had Rasulullah as his teacher! He had the sahabah as companions, and je lived when Quran was being revealed!
And yet, his obsession for power overwhelmed him.
And when the going got tough, his heart failed him. He defected from the army of Uhud. The baking sun provided an easy excuse for his men to stay behind while the believers went out to Tabuk.
Ikhlas, and mujahadah. Do it for Allah, and struggle even if the going gets tough. Excuses are easy to find but when you fall for excuses syaitan leaves you behind.
We don't win because our planning is excellent or because we have mastered every single recording of ISK. We win if we are true believers.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
keep calm, uphold solah and carry on
Sometimes the most basic advice is the most profound.
Posted by The Author at 6:04 PM
Labels: dakwah and tarbiyyah


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Member Spotlight
Antitrust Guidelines for Conducting SPFA Meetings
When properly conducted, trade association meetings play a valuable role in promoting competition and consumer welfare. Trade associations must be acutely sensitive to antitrust issues, however, because their meetings also may provide opportunities to reach unlawful agreements.The criminal penalties for violating the antitrust laws are severe: corporations and other organizations may be fined up to $10,000,000 per offense, and individuals face fines of up to $350,000 and/or up to three years in jail. In addition, private parties injured by antitrust violations may sue for treble damages. The costs of defending an antitrust suit are usually very high. In light of these harsh penalties and costs, SPFA takes a conservative approach to antitrust issues. Its meetings must be conducted to avoid even the appearance that members are taking common action that might unreasonably restrict competition.
Notice & Agenda
Each SPFA meeting must be preceded by a notice mailed to the members. A copy of the meeting agenda should also be sent. This will alert the members to the business to be considered, enabling them to prepare for a productive meeting. The agenda can also alert members and staff to matters which may raise legal questions for which the advice of counsel may be sought prior to the meeting.
Discussion Topics
It is not possible to provide a comprehensive list of antitrust rules that would cover every situation that might be encountered at a SPFA meeting. Nevertheless, a prudent general rule, which is to be followed at all SPFA meetings, is that no commercial topics should be acted upon or even considered. To avoid the most sensitive areas, there should never be a discussion of the following topics at SPFA meetings. Any discussion referencing these topics will be dealt with immediately by SPFA staff. Corrective measures could include stopping the meeting until the concern is resolved, terminating the meeting, and reprimanding the offending party to include corrective guidance, removal from the meeting, or in some cases termination of membership.
Items explicitly not able to be discussed:
- current or future prices or components thereof, including discounts, rebates, and credit terms;
- product or installation prices, price lists or procedures for coordinating price changes;
- sales or production quotas;
- allocation or division of territories or customers along manufacturers, distributors, contractors, or retailers;
- boycotting any part or denying any party access to markets, products, product inputs, or information;
- identified individual company statistics, market shares, inventories or merchandising methods;
- commercial practices of particular competitors or customers;
- commercial liabilities, warranties, guarantees, or the particular terms and conditions of sales, including credit, shipping and transportation arrangements, or
- anything dealing with "arm-twisting", trade abuses, or excluding or controlling competition.
When standardization activities are under consideration at a meeting, SPFA policy requires that the discussion be confined to technical, engineering and safety factors. Commercial considerations (warranties, guarantees, etc.) are not proper factors to be considered. Also, since SPFA standards are voluntary, there must be no agreement to adhere to them or any discussions as to when members will begin to offer products conforming to the standards.
Statistical programs are among the most valuable services an association can offer its membership. They are lawful so long as they are not part of a prohibited scheme to fix prices, allocate production or otherwise unreasonably restrain trade. At meetings at which statistical programs are being formulated or evaluated, members should refrain from disclosing or discussing individual company statistics. Nor should discussions in this area lead to statements about an individual company's plans for sales or production. All statistical programs are voluntary; no member may be coerced into participation.
The legal importance of minutes of SPFA meetings must not be underestimated. They are the official record of the association and represent the only contemporaneous evidence of what transpired at the meeting. They are one of the first types of documents that litigants and investigators request. The secretary is responsible to see that the minutes are clear, complete and accurate with regard to the actions which were taken and the justification for those actions. For the benefit of members, it should be noted that there is no such thing as a conversation "off the record" at the SPFA meeting. If you feel that your comments would be inappropriate for recording, they probably are not proper for a SPFA meeting and should not be made.
Presence of SPFA Staff Member
SPFA policy requires the full-time attendance of a member of the SPFA staff at every meeting where SPFA business is conducted. What constitutes "SPFA business" should be broadly interpreted. For example, members should not meet to discuss proposals for submission at a future SPFA meeting without a SPFA staff member present. If a member of the SPFA staff cannot attend the meeting, postpone the meeting. SPFA staff have been instructed in the conduct of meetings and are familiar with SPFA policy and procedure. They can alert the members to situations that pose antitrust pitfalls, some of which may be innocently and unintentionally approached by the members. The presence of a SPFA staff member is a safeguard the members must not forego.
Rump Sessions
When a SPFA meeting is adjourned, it should be over in all respects and not simply in name. Informal "rump" sessions present too great a temptation for "confidential" of prohibited subjects. If anticompetitive industry practices follow such meetings, the results could be disastrous for the member, the member's company and SPFA. Memoranda of these supposedly "secret" meetings often figure prominently in prosecutions for price fixing.
As noted previously, any time competitors meet, the potential for antitrust problems exist. SPFA policy and procedures have been established with the object of avoiding not only any violation of the law but also any action that might give the appearance of illegality or that might invite prosecution. By following the guidelines set forth here, members can meet to transact lawful Association business for the betterment of the SPF industry without incurring significant risks.
* These Guidelines are also applicable to member conduct on any electronic, digital, or telephonic association correspondence, resources, tools, etc (including any online project management software, email, teleconferences, etc)
SPFA believes that the path to a healthful, safe, high-quality and performing SPF installation travels through the hands of a knowledgeable, trained, experienced, and ideally PCP-certified professional contractor.


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Intelligent machines could replace human bank staff in high street branches within five years, the Telegraph has learnt.
Several major banks are understood to be in talks to introduce "express" branches, which would be similar to self-service checkouts in supermarkets. These smaller outlets would be almost completely devoid of human interaction.
If trials are successful, the new format is likely to be adopted across Britain, sources said, with larger branches slimmed down and staff numbers reduced in branches.
Martin Shires of banking technology firm NCR said: "As early as next year, you could see one of the major high street banks buying a convenience store location and fitting it out with ATMs that mean you can do 95pc of your transactions through self-service. Within five years this will be a common sight."
He said technology is now so advanced that all transactions could be screen-based, enabling banks to replace over-the-counter staff and leave just supervisors in branches.
The Telegraph has obtained an artist's impression of how Britain's future banks might look (see above).
The new branches would be smaller and fitted with screens and telephones so that customers could call a specialist department for assistance. This might include a video link similar to the Skype internet telephone service.
Depending on the location, branches might have a "drive-through" option that mimic to the services offered by fast-food chains such as McDonald's. Customers may be able to order a cash withdrawal on their mobile phone, take their car to the bank and collect the money in seconds by typing a special code into the drive-through ATM.
Express branches would enable banks to reduce costs considerably in the long-term, as branch staff and building leases represent a large expense.
Ed Salvesen, a researcher at Brewin Dolphin, the investment manager, said while it is likely that some staff will retained in branches, in-person banking could become a rarity. "Face-to-face communication is slowly being faded out," he said.
He said that although there will be a cost to converting existing branches, the long-term benefit would drive change.
John Ennis of technology firm Diebold said: "I think technology developments will change the way a bank branch is designed. Anything you currently do over a counter will be automated with staff assisting, similar to a supermarket self-service checkout."
Mr Shires said the technology would allow banks to open for longer, as machine-led branches would be significantly cheaper to run. He said a pilot scheme of express branches in the US had reduced operating costs by up to 50pc, with some staff redeployed from branches to video call centres.
The imminent arrival of express branches marks the latest development in the decline of the traditional high street bank. Banks have steadily closed branches in an effort to cut costs, with closures peaking at 350 in 2000, according to Derek French from the Campaign for Community Banking Services.
Banks hoped customers would move online or use a mobile phone. Barclays cited rising mobile use this month when it confirmed job losses reported to be near 1,700. But branch closures have proved hugely unpopular, particularly with customers who live in remote rural areas, the elderly and small businesses who depend on local branches.
"Banks have realised that the mobile banking is not developing fast enough to replicate the experience of service in-branch," said Mr Shires.
Branch opening hours have also become a source of frustration. Metro Bank, the London-centred firm, was the first to offer seven-day services when it launched in 2010. Other banks are now working to follow its lead. Barclays will become the first of the major high street names to offer a seven-day service in a link-up with Asda, announced earlier this month. Next year it will move eight branches into Asda supermarkets.
Existing branches nearby will close, but a Barclays spokesman said all staff will move to the new branches. The reason for the closures was low customer usage and inconvenient parking, the spokesman said.
However, she confirmed that Barclays is investigating how technology could replace counter services. She said: "We are looking at how technology can be better integrated into existing branches and retraining our staff so you may not have a branch counter format."
Mr French said technology-driven developments could work better than previous attempts, as "the world has moved on". However he said personal relationships are still important. "When you are negotiating a mortgage, for example, you want the personal interaction, which is difficult to achieve on a screen.
"The public will tell banks if they like these new technologies or not. If it is the only alternative to closures, then it is better than nothing."
Put a question to our panel of experts email@example.com


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Federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau showed off some dance moves and balanced babies — including his own — in the palm of his right hand during a day of pre-election campaigning in the Lower Mainland on Monday.
"See, I don't just do this with my own kids," he said after holding up a six-month-old like a circus performer while the child's nervous parents tried to capture the strange scene on camera during a Liberal picnic at Douglas Park.
Earlier, he wowed supporters by elevating his five-month-old son Hadrien as wife Sophie Gregoire and their older son Xavier looked on.
It's a trick he learned from his father, the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and involves some delicate manoeuvring given that babies that age typically are unable to stand — but according to Trudeau desperately want to.
"They're very excited. You twist their ankles at the same time as you're holding them up, and their (knees) lock and they're just happy to be big and proud and they can see everything and everyone's smiling," he said, after demonstrating his technique using a journalist's camera and tripod.
An hour later, at the West Vancouver Harmony Arts Festival, local Liberal candidate and former mayor Pam Goldsmith-Jones grabbed Trudeau to dance to the Dal Richards Orchestra's cover of the classic Mack The Knife.
A Liberal media aide cringed — dancing is apparently not the Liberal leader's strong suit — but Trudeau managed to win over the crowd in a Conservative riding.
His three-day tour included participation at Sunday's Pride Parade, a Sunday evening event for Indo-Canadians in Surrey, fundraisers, a meeting Tuesday with municipal leaders, and several media events.
Trudeau's Liberals placed a distant third in the 2011 federal election, but have held a narrow lead in national polls since he assumed the party's leadership last year. The next election is scheduled for October of 2015.


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WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2013 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today highlighted how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) resolved dozens of export issues in 2012, freeing up an estimated $4 billion in U.S. agricultural and forestry exports and protecting roughly 30,000 American jobs in the process. The work is highlighted on Performance.gov, a resource for demonstrating how the Obama Administration is improving performance and accountability for the American people and businesses.
"As consumers around the world demand high-quality, American-grown products, USDA staff are monitoring more than 160 markets to ensure an open system of trade, free from unwarranted and unjustified barriers," said Vilsack. "Since 2009, USDA has acted to remove hundreds of unfair barriers to trade for American companies and is providing businesses with the resources they need to reach new markets. These efforts have resulted in the most successful period in the history for American agriculture and a boon for America's rural economies and agriculture-related businesses."
Over the past year, USDA has aggressively worked to eliminate barriers, open new markets, secure the release of U.S. shipments detained at foreign ports, and ensure the safe movement of agricultural products in a manner consistent with science and international standards. Overall, a highly-dedicated group of USDA Foreign Service officers, animal and plant health experts, and analysts monitor 162 markets around the world, ensuring a level playing field for U.S. businesses and products. USDA works in partnership with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and other federal offices and agencies.
Currently, the American brand of agriculture is surging in popularity worldwide, while U.S. agricultural exports support more than 1 million jobs in communities across the country. Fiscal years 2009 through 2012 generated more than $478 billion in agricultural exports, and 2013 agricultural exports remain on track to set new records. Overall, America's agricultural sector is playing a key role in helping to achieve President Obama's goal under the National Export Initiative of doubling exports by the end of 2014.
This success builds on USDA's efforts to break down barriers to trade and expand access for U.S. goods around the world. Earlier this week, USDA announced that the Government of Japan—the fourth largest agricultural export market for the United States - agreed to expand access for U.S. beef. Under these new terms, which enter into effect on February 1, 2013, Japan will now permit the import of beef from cattle less than 30 months of age, compared to the previous limit of 20 months, among other steps. It is estimated that these important changes will result in hundreds of millions of dollars in exports of U.S. beef to Japan in the coming years. This agreement also goes a long way toward normalizing trade with Japan by addressing long-standing restrictions that Japan introduced in response to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
As American businesses look to reach the 95 percent of consumers outside of U.S. borders, USDA is providing support and service. For example, in 2012, USDA has been able to help conduct more than 110 trade shows around the world to help more than 1,000 U.S. companies make more than $500 million in on-site sales. The majority of these were small and medium-sized businesses. While strong exports benefit farms and rural communities, agricultural trade is also a building block for a strong national economy.
Along with their federal partners, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) works to protect the health and value of American agriculture and natural resources in the international environment. Last year, APHIS successfully negotiated and resolved 150 animal and plant health issues involving U.S. agricultural exports. Examples include:
There are approximately 170 Foreign Service officers in USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), staffing 98 offices covering 162 countries. U.S. farmers, ranchers, trade associations and private companies depend on FAS staff to guide them through export of their products. FAS provides reports on hot market prospects and offers expertise when trade barriers arise. Over the past year, FAS has helped to knock down hundreds of barriers to trade. Examples include:
The Obama Administration, with Agriculture Secretary Vilsack's leadership, has aggressively worked to expand export opportunities and reduce barriers to trade, helping to push agricultural exports to record levels. U.S. agriculture is currently experiencing its best period in history thanks to the productivity, resiliency, and resourcefulness of our producers and agribusinesses. Today, net farm income is at record levels while debt has been cut in half since the 1980s. Overall, American agriculture supports 1 in 12 jobs in the United States and provides American consumers with 83 percent of the food we consume, while maintaining affordability and choice. Strong agricultural exports contribute to a positive U.S. trade balance, create jobs, boost economic growth and support President Obama's National Export Initiative goal of doubling all U.S. exports by the end of 2014.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call
(800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).


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Plans for a 29-mile pipeline underneath Cook Inlet were announced Wednesday. Cook Inlet Energy, one of many new players in the area, is the company applying for a right-of-way lease from the Department of Natural Resources. An underwater pipeline would solve several problems for Cook Inlet oil producers, but other concerns remain.
What it is: a 29-mile, horseshoe-shaped, eight-inch line from Cook Inlet Energy's Kustatan production facility on West Foreland Point, directly across the Inlet from Nikiski. The line will travel south for several miles to avoid deep trenches and fast currents, and finally connect at the Tesoro Refinery in Nikiski. The line's maximum depth will be 200 feet, according to CIE's project description, which also describes the project's purpose as necessary to "bypass the aging infrastructure on the west side of Cook Inlet to eliminate risk of volcanic activity and ice movements to oil shipments."
That has been the main reason people have been pushing for a pipeline since Mt. Redoubt erupted last in 2009, exposing the risks associated with the nearby Drift River Storage Terminal. With its storage capacity compromised after that eruption, tanker traffic in the Inlet increased to keep production moving from one side of the Inlet to the other.
This summer, the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council, or CIRCAC, released a position paper in support of a pipeline, which CIRCAC Executive Director Michael Munger said at the time would be much easier to manage in the event of a disaster or spill.
"If there is going to be an accident in Cook Inlet marine vessel traffic, the highest environmental risk is tanker traffic," Munger said, referring to an assessment study put out by CIRCAC. "Ultimately what we'd like to see is the pipeline installed," Munger said.
Construction is scheduled for April through August of 2014. The line will have the capacity to carry up to 90,000 barrels per day. Cook Inlet oil production was about 10,000 barrels per day in 2011. Hilcorp, who operates the Drift River Storage Terminal, could be one of the companies to benefit from the lowered costs of production anticipated to come with the new pipeline. Hilcorp spokesperson Lori Nelson told the Peninsula ClarionWednesday that there are too many 'ifs' right now to speculate on any agreement, but that they encouraged CIE's success on the project.
While a pipeline mitigates the potential for oil spills in an increasingly busy production center, environmentalists and others still have plenty of concerns. Bob Shavelson is the Director of Advocacy for the Cook Inlet Keeper. A pipeline has been on their wish list for some time. Despite what a pipeline might mean for tanker travel in the Inlet, he says regulations here still lag behind other parts of the state.
"We're really in sort of a regulatory backwater here and if there is a serious problem with a vessel that loses power or runs aground, we don't have the capacity to really deal with that," Shavelson said.
Cook Inlet Energy estimates cost of the pipeline at $50 million. The public has until February 4th to submit comments to the state pipeline coordinators office at spco.records.alaska.gov.


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Lacoste x Roland Garros Vegetal Print T-Shirt - green
This new Lacoste Sport Edition Roland Garros T-shirt reveals a vegetal print with markings, inspired by the glass roof of the Simonne-Mathieu court. Featuring a round ribbed collar with a contrasting stripe on the inside, it is designed in soft cotton jersey. An official tournament badge on the back of the collar and a signature tricolour label complete its unique look, to be worn in the stands every fortnight to cause a sensation.
- Ribbed round neck
- Cotton jersey
- Vegetal tennis court print
- Tricolor label with rivet engraved RG back
- Roland Garros badge on back and green crocodile embroidered at the bottom of the garment
- 100% coton
- Made in Tunisia
Care instructions
LACOSTE, a historic partner of the Roland-Garros tournament for more than 45 years, unveils its new co-branded collection to celebrate the 2017 edition of the French Open. Contemporary and graphic, this collection proposes clothing for men, women and children which combines pleasure, comfort and modernity. With regular stripes echoing the lines of a tennis court or " 100 % tennis " graphics, this line of clothing adorned with the Roland-Garros logo and the embroidered crocodile comes in the classic shades of navy blue, white, orangey red and lavender blue. A vibrant tribute to the timeless elegance which characterises the crocodile brand and the legendary French tournament.
Discover the universe of the Lacoste for Roland-Garros 2018 collection
Free standard delivery for all orders over 80 dollars.
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- Standard delivery with COLISSIMO INTERNATIONAL:
13$ in 5 working days
- Express Delivery with DHL:
18$ in 1 working day
- Standard delivery with COLISSIMO INTERNATIONAL:
11$ in 5 working days
- Express Delivery with DHL:
15$ in 1 working day
- Standard delivery with COLISSIMO INTERNATIONAL:
13$ in 5 working days
- Express Delivery with DHL:
18$ in 1 working day
- Standard delivery with COLISSIMO INTERNATIONAL:
13$ in 5 working days
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18$ in 1 working day
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More information about delivery
Free delivery for all orders over 80 dollars.
Shipping costs vary depending on the geographical area of delivery.
You can estimate the cost of your delivery using the delivery fees simulator on the shopping cart page.
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The delivery time starts from the moment the package leaves our warehouse.
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Road Trip: JediCon WV
I was glad that JediCon WV was on my calendar Saturday, not just for the whole spend-a-day-with-other-Star-Wars-fans thing, but also because I figured it would prevent me from basically pacing around the house and worrying about running my first marathon the next day.
Up at six o'clock, then, intent on leaving by seven for the two-hour drive to Wheeling, West Virginia.
JediCon, though it was a small event, was a milestone for me: It was the first show to which I'd been invited as a guest by the organizers, who got in touch with me shortly after I relaunched "Collect All 21" back in April. And just a few weeks back, they asked if I'd like to do a presentation/reading from the book – another first for me.
I'm a huge fan of road trips: I love checking out different routes and figuring out how to see places I've never been without going too far out of my way. I love stocking the car with maps and music and audiobooks. I love that feeling of pulling out of the driveway before sunup knowing that daylight will illuminate things I've never seen.
This was also the first Saturday in 18 weeks that I wouldn't be running.
For the drive to Wheeling, I'd chosen a route mostly clear of the main freeways: U.S. Route 250, running forty miles shorter than the trip by interstates 77 and 70, but comparable in terms of estimated travel time. I had, in fact traveled a small part of this road before: An Arby's at a rural intersection struck me as familiar, and I remembered it was where Jenn and I had stopped for lunch a few years ago after dropping Kelsey off for a week at the YMCA's Camp Tippecanoe. It was her first time away from home not being spent with family, and it was the same camp where I'd spent a few weeks over a couple summers when I was a kid. It was a quiet lunch that day, and a little sad.
Beyond that, I was mostly on a two-lane road I'd never driven, and it was a beautiful morning for the trip, with a low, gray sky, hills all around, and the woods nearing their seasonal-change color peak. To keep myself in a nostalgic mood fitting for my reading and a day around Star Wars, I listened to Wil Wheaton's "The Happiest Days of Our Lives."
I reached the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum just after 9 a.m., and saw a couple guys unloading a life-sized Darth Vader statue built from Legos. The convention was in the museum's basement, in a room much smaller than I'd expected. A few of the vendors and fan organizations were no-shows, and one of the other guests – a guy who'd worked on the original Star Wars and was supposed to bring pieces of the original Death Star to display – had canceled the day before.
Still, I was here, as was Kim Simmons, a photographer who had worked for Kenner and shot many of the original packaging photos and action-figure setups, and spending a day with fellow Star Wars fans has, to me, never failed to be fun.
Kim sat down at my table, recognizing me and my book from the OSWCC Summer Social in 2008, right after I'd launched the first edition, and we wound up talking for a half-hour or so. A super-nice guy, he was going to buy a copy, but instead we settled on a trade for a signed print of the old Dewback box scene he'd created.
He also said he'd let me use his laptop and projector for my reading, since I'd brought along a slideshow of childhood pictures to accompany some of my memories. My reading started a little later than the 11 a.m. scheduled time, due to a slight technical glitch with the projector, but when it started, there were probably about a dozen people in the room, and a handful of others arrived after I'd begun. I had fun, and it seemed like I got laughs at the right moments, and I think I saw smiles of recognized shared nostalgia while I read and clicked through the slides.
Over the eight hours I was there, even though this was easily the smallest convention I've ever attended, I sold more copies of "Collect All 21!" than I ever have before, probably because it was aimed directly at Star Wars fans, and I had something in common with every visitor who walked in.
Other stuff:
In the silent auction for charity, I wound up the high bidder for a sweet DVD packed with a hundred and ten 1970s and 80s Kenner Star Wars commercials. (Wampaaa! Wampaaaaaaaa!)
Spent some time talking Legos with a very friendly builder from the Toy and Plastic Brick Museum (practically right across the river in Bellaire, Ohio, and if I'd had more time, I'd have tried to work a stop there into the trip, because she made it sound awfully neat).
I left for home just before 5 p.m., my boxes of books a bit lighter, my spirits high, my nerves about the race still at bay, and the sun just starting to turn the hills to fire and rust.
4 Comments »
[…] Flashbacks, courtesy of awhile spent exploring the Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum last Saturday during JediCon WV: […]
Pingback by Memories: No Assembly Required « Cornfield Meet | October 16, 2009 |
[…] the second time I've done a presentation based on my Star Wars memories, and I built on the reading I did at JediCon WV last October and had a lot of fun doing it. I've got another one on the calendar in May […]
Pingback by Weekend: Avatar, The Big Bang Theory and Star Wars « Cornfield Meet | February 15, 2010 |
[…] of so far. I absolutely love doing readings and going to cons anyway, so I was really excited at JediCon WV last August when I met Christine from the Science Fiction Alliance of Pittsburgh and she invited me […]
Pingback by Pittsburgh Comicon Road Trip « Cornfield Meet | April 25, 2010 |
[…] really enjoyed my first trip to Wheeling for the 2009 show, so I happily accepted the invitation to share some more Collect All 21! memories […]
Pingback by Return of the JediCon WV – Episode VII « Cornfield Meet | October 4, 2010 |


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We were recently asked if we will remove a domain if we receive a "donation". Of course, the answer is no.
We've also been accused of asking for a "donation" in order to have a website delisted. Again, that is completely untrue.
The malware blocklist on this site is a list of domains which have been associated with viruses or malware collected from public sources.
This is a completely volunteer effort as part of the fight against malware. And loses money every month.
All donations are used to offset hosting costs and is totally independent of any site listing.


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What to Wear to the Game
You may love going to the stadium or arena to watch a game or match, or you might find it an activity bordering on torture. Whichever is the case, you should aim to look and feel as optimal as possible. Cute and comfortable is the best way to maximize your enjoyment of any sports event.
To that end, here are some style and beauty tips for watching live sports.
• Stay away from high heels. I can't believe I just wrote that. But yes, flat shoes are a must. That has to do with the tricky terrain of stadiums, which includes possibly having to navigate steep and windy stairs, tiny bleachers and long walks from the car to your seats.
I like cool motorcycle boots, weather permitting, because they are sturdy and keep you balanced. But in the summer flats work nicely. Avoid open toe anything.
I was at a hockey game where a Lilliputian blond in precipitously high heels had to be practically carried by her date whenever she tried to get up from her seat. Gallant guy that he was, by the third period the whole thing seemed to be getting kind of tedious for both of them.
The strangest sports event I've ever been to. Ice hockey in open-air Dodgers Stadium; the LA Kings played the Anaheim Ducks. Kings lost, 3-0. (Hey, the warm weather makes the puck hard to handle!) But there was beach volleyball going on between periods (upper, left), along with yoga (upper, right) and, oh yeah, a KISS performance too.
• Showcase up top. Dress your lower half thoroughly, and in rugged materials. That is because stadium seats, even the good ones, are not the most dainty places on the planet.
Also, you should expect to be reasonably squished together with lots of other people. Mostly men. Crouching your way across a row of oversized dudes to get to your seat, all the while wearing a miniskirt or show-em-all-you've-got tight leggings, is not my idea of a good time. Probably not yours, either.
This makes denim or cargo pants a no-brainer, or even thick-ish tights and a cute skirt.
Upper body is for style. Since you might be wearing denims (nice-fitting ones in good condition, lady!) and boots, you might find that the upper half of your body is where you can show some individual style and polish. Wear a cute, fitted top and bring along a smart jacket or sweater to cover up.
• Some accessory ideas.
A good looking scarf made from nice fabric, and in a beautiful color that flatters your skin, hair and eyes. An instant cleavage-cover, too, if you're not feeling quite comfortable.
I usually go for a drink and something to eat with friends prior to hitting the stadium. I'll wear earrings and a bracelet to polish things up. While walking to the sports venue I'll typically cover up with the jacket or sweater and stow the jewelry in my pocket.
Ah, makeup. Here's another area where you can bust out the glamour. Makeup your face nicely and use some bright colors.
- A red lip expertly applied adds a look of visual polish, as do nicely flushed (ahem, blushed) cheeks.
- Since you'll be up close and personal with your date, seating being closely knit and all, keep your hand light and blend, blend and blend to achieve a look of natural beauty.
- Related point: Bring some nice peppermint breath freshener with you; a nice touch for when the kissing camera comes your way. Or when the spirit moves you.
The speed and deftness of players makes ice hockey seem like a ballet on ice…
Until they start beating each other's heads in
I really like ice hockey, so this post is biased towards matches in nicely chilled indoor stadiums. But it's entirely possible that you're getting ready to go to an outdoor arena on a sunbaked summer day.
Some tips for summer sports events:
- Tons of sunblock. Everywhere. The backs of your hands included.
- A hat is not just a handy style note; it's an awesome sun-buster. I avoid anything with a brim unless it's a polo match. (It's the close seating thing again that makes big brims unwieldy.) For baseball, soccer and football, select a baseball hat that flatters your head (a brim that's not too small or large) and face shape also.
- Remember the covered flesh points above? If the idea of wearing jeans doesn't feel alluring in 90-degree heat, consider some cute gauzy pants paired with a fitted tank top.
Attitude isn't everything, it's the only thing, said famed coach Vince Lombardi. This was meant for his players and it most definitely applies to you, Miss Fetching Spectator. No matter how cute and put-together you look, going to a game is ultimately about having fun with your friends or your guy (hopefully, he's both!) Parking delays? Lines? Tons of people everywhere? Be flexible and go with the flow. Smile, cheer, laugh. Sing along to the cheesy fun songs blaring out of the speakers.
These things make for the most glamour, really.


text: The Beatles gave their 72nd lunchtime performance at Liverpool's Cavern Club on this day. The group's lunchtime shows in the Cavern typically lasted from 12-2pm. Overall this was their 113th appearance at the soon-to-be-famous Mathew Street cellar club, including their late-night shows.Although the precise number of their Cavern performances is not known, The Beatles played at least 155 lunchtime and 125 evening shows at the Mathew Street venue between 9 February 1961 and 3 August 1963.


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When it comes to the complex area of retirement income, the key to success for advisors and investors alike has everything to do with outcome.
That is the message of Achaean Financial executive Mike Henkel, who in an interview with AdvisorOne said his firm's retirement advice software, Retirement Outcome, will be incorporating ideas from behavioral finance in the product design. To that end, Achaean has hired noted behavioral finance expert Shlomo Benartzi as the firm's first academic advisor.
Henkel (left), a top executive at Ibbotson for the nine years leading to its sale to Morningstar, says at Ibbotson he worked closely with Benartzi and his academic colleagues Dick Thaler and Daniel Kahnemann, where the three behavioral finance experts "drove it into my head: outcome, outcome, outcome. Shlomo was always coming up with clever ideas," Henkel says.
Benartzi has agreed to advise Achaean periodically on the development of their software. His role will be twofold. The first is as a source of ideas. For example, they agreed that decisions about when to take Social Security should be made at the same time as decisions about whether and when to take annuities, since Social Security is also a pension.
Second, Benartzi will also "help me orchestrate involvement by the academic community with other things we need to do with the software." That is, Benartzi, with his global understanding of behavioral finance research, will make introductions to other academic advisors.
Benartzi (right), a professor at UCLA, is also known in the financial services industry as the chief behavioral economist for Allianz Global Investors' Center for Behavioral Finance.
Henkel believes that the way decisions are framed and phrased can improve retirement outcomes for investors, but also have a significant commercial impact for financial advisors and insurance companies. "You're going to undersell the product unless you can help investors…who have been left to their own devices with their DC plans [with advice and guidance]."
Henkel credits Thaler with a key insight that has informed his product design: "It should be a lot like going to the ophthalmologist. 'Do you see better with this one or with that one?' We're finally getting something that does that," he says.
"It's really a system designed to have an advisor sit down with an investor and help them understand: If you take more risk, this is what happens; if you save more, this is what happens. It's not going to be enough to show them a slice of a pie chart." The objective, he adds, is to offer a "personalized outcome perspective" fully reflecting the impact of saving, spending, investing and taxes on retirement wealth.
Henkel says there are other systems that incorporate some of the elements of his program, but most are insufficiently outcome-based. "There's very little out there: a lot of smoke, but very little fire," he said. "There are very few…effective products in the hands of advisors."
Another significant contemporary problem Achaean seeks to address—in this case, with its Income Plus+ software product —is the remediation of liabilities associated with in-force variable annuities. The problem is that today's market environment squeezes everyone relying on variable annuities for guaranteed income.
"We've got one of the only effective ways for underwriters to [address] sold policies sitting on their books [which] they really have no way to fix."
Henkel explains:
"If [an insurance company has] sold a bunch of VA policies, they've got a book of business. They're not happy with that. Capital costs are very high.
"If you're an advisor, you're not real happy. The high-water mark is way above the account value. You'll never get someone to convert to something new.
"If you're an investor, you realize a lot of what's been sold has little chance of an increase in payment.
"With the income product design that we have, we can actually help insurance companies convert some of these policies," he says.
The situation is somewhat analogous to refinancing a mortgage today. Most homeowners have difficulty meeting the requirements. But IncomePlus+ runs an analysis that determines who can benefit from conversion of an existing annuity policy.
"We can literally go through the entire book of policies and run a Monte Carlo forecast for every one of those policy holders and determine the cash each can receive," Henkel says. "We can do all sorts of fancy quantitative calculations."
For those deemed better off with a conversion, the advisor can use the software to lay it all out: "You may like this option. Here's why. Now it's your choice whether to do it or not.
"Ultimately, if the conversion is not good for the investor, it shouldn't get done."
But, "if [the conversion would] free up a lot of capital, [the clients] may decide, 'We're happy to pay the advisor a commission.'" Doing so may be the only way clients will realistically see annuity payments rise in their lifetime; it will give advisors a basis to convert and earn commission income; and the result for the insurance company will "look a whole lot more reasonable from a capital cost perspective," Henkel says. "There is limited capacity for new business unless there are products that insurance companies can afford to underwrite."
Henkel warns that under increased capital requirements that are already affecting insurance companies domiciled in Europe and Canada and which are coming down the pike for U.S.-domiciled companies in 2014, a failure to convert policies will hurt carriers, driving more insurance companies away from a marketplace that retirees depend on.


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Blog Archive
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- Happy Halloween!
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- Apple Pie Baking Contest: Prizes & Judges
- Sauce-ational: An Experiment in Applesauce - MacIn...
- Saturday Pin(s): More than just apples…
- Sauce-sational: An Experiment in Applesauce
- Escape of the Emus
- Apple-Palooza 2011 - Itinerary
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Informative Blog Posts
Sauce-Sational: An Experiment in Applesacue
- Akane
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Popular Posts
The 2018 apple season started out with not the best weather – it rained and rained and rained some more. One afternoon on a whim, my mother...
The Northern Spy is a variety we're just finally starting to get a decent crop off. Northern Spy is an heirloom apple that characteristical...
The Crimson Crisp is another new variety in our shop this year. It seems to me that the majority of the people that sample them end up buyi...
For all current information on Lapacek's Orchard please visit our new website www.LapaceksOrchard.com Thank you all so much!
Since the orchard now has ground cherries, I wanted to share this easy jam recipe. Ground cherries are delicious as a raw fruit, but they ma...
We had our last Kids in the Garden session today. Before I tell you about it I'm going to share with your some recipe's we made: Cucu...
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Apple Pie Baking Contest: Prizes & Judges
As you hopefully know by now (and if you don't I'm glad you're reading it now) this coming Sunday, October 30th, is the first Apple Pie Baking Contest at our orchard for Apple-Palooza 2011. Not only will everyone that brings a pie receive a free 1/2 peck of Baker's Mix apples and a fun "I Baked an Apple Pie" pin made by The Glitter Workshop but there will also be a 3rd, 2nd, and of course GRAND PRIZE for the top three pie bakers.
First, I'm going to tell you who are judges are:
Becky Gutzman, WNEP Coordinator for UW Extension – read a great interview with her HERE
Alan Otto, Capri's Godfather and he's had 32 years of pie eating experience
Patricia Fischbeck, the inn keeper of a beautiful Bed and Breakfast – the Speckled Hen Inn
Bob Lapacek, Frank's brother and LOVER of all desserts
And now – onto the prizes.
Prize list updated 10/27/11
Grand Prize
The best pie maker will take home a new Apple Machine: Peeler, Corer, Slicer from Lapacek's Orchard (if you already have one you can have $25 towards apple products at the store instead). These Machines make baking with apples easy peasy!
I have heard from many, many customers about how amazing Penzeys Spices are/is. I recently found out that there was a new Penzeys Spices store that opened up on the East Side of Madison. So, yesterday morning I headed out to run some errands and stopped at Penzeys to get another part of the Apple Pie prizes. When I told the folks working there about our Apple Pie Baking Contest they donated a Baking Mini Gift Box for the Grand Prize winner! What an amazing donation - thank you Penzeys! Baking Mini Gift Box includes 1/4 cup jar each of their Powdered China Ginger, East India Ground Nutmeg, Ground China Cinnamon, and Ceylon Cinnamon. Not only do you get the spices but you also get cards taht include handy tips for each spice. What a fantastic little gift box!
Also, I've noticed that a lot of the best pie maker's in my life don't necessarily eat the pie they're famous for. So, the next part of the prize is a gift certificate to Market Street Diner in Sun Prairie that will get you one of their largest pies!This way you can choose your flavor AND enjoy a pie without having to make it yourself!
Second Place
Our second place winner will take home a gift certificate of $10 good for any Lapacek's Orchard Apple products, a gift certificate for one of Market Street Diner's smaller pies, AND a jar of Penzeys Cinnamon.
Third Place
Third place will take home a gift certificate of $5 good for any Lapacek's Orchard Apple products, a gift certificate for one of Market Street Diner's smaller pies, AND a jar of Penzeys Cinnamon.
If you want to enter a pie please have it to the orchard by 12:45 on Sunday, October 30th. Please feel free to email me {lapaceksorchard (at) gmail (dot) com} to let me know to expect you!
Thanks to everyone for their support of our upcoming Apple-Palooza!


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Monday, November 30, 2020
Surge in East Jerusalem home demolitions leaves Palestinian children sleeping rough
Juicebox Gallery
Matt Matthews
- November 24, 2016
Main News
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Mohammed Jaabees reclined on a sofa among the rubble of what was once a four-storey home, housing 30 Palestinians.
"The municipal authorities kept trying to pay me off and I said no, no," said the unemployed 32-year-old. "So eventually they said I was going to pay."
Like an estimated 20,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Mohammed was unable to secure planning permission for his apartments in the Wadi Hilweh district. So the Israeli authorities offered him a choice: pay 150,000 shekels for a fleet of bulldozers, laborers and armed guards, or take it apart himself, brick by brick.
Now the building Mohammed helped to build with his own hands is gone, and the four families who shared it sleep rough under a fly-blown tarpaulin.
An icy November wind already laced through the debris: it was cold enough sitting there with a cup of coffee at midday, let alone for Mohammed's preschool-aged children in the night.
"I had to demolish my own home," he said. "And doing it destroyed me."
Palestinians living in the Holy City are facing an escalating campaign of home demolitions and evictions.
Per the
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
, Israeli home demolitions across occupied Palestine have shot up by 150% since last year – and these demolitions have been concentrated in East Jerusalem.
180 households
in East Jerusalem are currently scheduled for further demolition. More than 800 Palestinian Jerusalemites, and nearly 400 children, are living under immediate threat of homelessness as the bitter winter months come round.
East Jerusalem is seen as the only viable capital for a future Palestinian state but is currently under Israeli occupation, in defiance of international condemnation. This means building permits are difficult or impossible for Palestinians to come by, as Israeli authorities and settler organizations seek to tighten their illegal grip on the land.
Even if a permit is granted, it can cost up to
($80,000), a sum unaffordable for the
82% of East Jerusalemites
who live below the poverty line. It can take several years to secure authorization, and only
7% of permits granted
go to the Palestinian 40% of the Jerusalem populace.
Up to 39 per cent of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem therefore lack formal building permits, the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Few of the tourists gliding from the Western Wall to Bethlehem in sterile, air-conditioned coaches can be aware they are pawns in a one-sided propaganda war against these Palestinian home-owners.
Saher Abbasi, 41, works in a culture centre in the Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan. Her office, plastered with Polaroid photos of abuses by the Israeli forces, is dwarfed alongside the City of David tourist site.
As she explained to the Palestine Monitor, the National Park land there is operated by
settler organization Elad
to peddle Zionist propaganda and force Palestinians off their land on flimsy pseudo-archaeological pretexts. "We are not talking about history or heritage, we are talking about compulsory transfer," she said.
"Silwan is considered to be a green area, and so we're not allowed to build, but we have existed in this area since before 1967," she continued. "They say it's a natural park – but it's natural for us that our families grow, and we want to expand our houses."
And as Saher emphasized, Elad's
stated aim
of Judaising the city by driving out Arabs and parachuting in settlers only follows the official policy of the municipal council.
The Israeli authorities are intent on artificially creating and maintaining
a 70% to 30% split
between Jewish and Arab inhabitants, in the face of high Arab and low Israeli birth rates.
Saher cited the
2020 Master Plan
, a policy document which spells out the land grabs, expansion of Israeli neighbourhoods and concomitant obstruction of Arab population growth necessary to achieve this goal. The policy, in the view of many
, is quite simply ethnic cleansing.
Saher said the policy of Judaisation made her scared for her future: "In Wadi Hilweh there are 6000 Palestinians and 250 settlers. So how are they going to change it in just four years?" she asked. "I don't want to think about it. I'm also going to lose my house, and so are my parents, my relatives…"
While there are of course many more Jewish people in West Jerusalem, across the city as a whole Arab population growth will outstrip growth among Jewish Israelis up to 2020 and beyond – unless the government intervenes with more demolitions.
The current spate of demolitions –
this year alone – comes at a time when Israeli claims to Palestinian land are waxing.
If the hotly-contested destruction of the illegal West Bank settlement Amona goes ahead, city mayor
Nir Barkhat
has threatened "hundreds or thousands" of retributive demolitions in East Jerusalem. But if a bill pushed through by hard-right cabinet members to
legalise illegal West Bank outposts
is passed, and Amona survives, settler organizations such as Elad are likely to capitalize on the political moment to seize more Palestinian land.
Donald Trump's ambassador-in-waiting to Israel, Mike Huckabee, intends to move his embassy from the seat of government in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. No other country has its embassy in the city, but Huckabee is a Christian Zionist who has held
in illegal settlements and views the
West Bank
as a part of Israel.
These coinciding rightward lurches in Israeli and American politics mean the current surge in demolitions is likely to continue unabated.
The brunt of this shift will be borne by ordinary Palestinians like Mohammed, or his aged father.
Straightening up stiffly from making du'aa' on a tatty piece of carpet, he introduced himself as 65-year-old Obaidef.
"I have high blood pressure," he said, tapping his wizened vein. "And there are 12 children sleeping out here. It's hard, but what alternative do we have?"
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What does it take top produce a handful of full-scale public photo exhibitions in Afghanistan? We broke it down by numbers.
Bags checked all the way to Kabul: 32
Number of bags that made it safely to Kabul: 32
Hours spent waiting in Dubai airport: 22
Hours spent sleeping on Dubai airport floor: 3.5
Porters that it took to transport bags from airport to bus: 5
Photo exhibits produced: 4


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Wednesday, September 26, 2012
A sweet little dress up book.
Right before we moved back to Washington, I made this sweet little busy book for my girls. I think I need to make a second one because it's been causing fights around here!
The book features four different animals and a pouch full of clothes for them to wear. Cutting little outfits out of felt is kind of addicting! E asked if I could add some underwear and shoes (why didn't I think of that?). I was majorly inspired by Paper Town Friends, which is one of our favorites apps.
I've created downloadable instructions and templates, which you can find over at Playful Learning. Have you ever made busy books for your kids? I'd love to see them!
Posted by Randi at 3:16 PM
Labels: Little Swoon, Projects
7 comments:
we love paper town! and this little idea will be the perfect holiday gift for my niece. perfect!ReplyDelete
This is such a sweet idea. I just started a "quiet book" board on Pinterest last night. I've never made one, but it looks like fun. :)ReplyDelete
Aw, super super sweet! Felt never fails =)ReplyDelete
- Sarah
These are all items looking very beautiful. thanks for this lovely post on this blog.ReplyDelete
Little Girl's Dresses
So so cute! I am going to have to go make those for my girls and cousins for christmas. They would love it!ReplyDelete
Oh my goodness, this is adorable! It would make such a sweet birthday gift... must get sewing!ReplyDelete
that's a great idea! and I can see why it's addictive for both parts, mother and daughter :)ReplyDelete
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As 2012 draws to a close, people in or nearing retirement face a stunning set of uncertainties about their finances and even basic health and retirement benefits. Congress has left Washington for the Christmas break without passing any measures to delay or soften the effects of the so-called fiscal cliff. Perhaps it might still act before the end of the year, but don't count on it. Odds are that the new Congress that takes office next year will take action to prevent the very worst outcomes. But after years of gridlock, should we really expect things to get better?
Here are eight pressing money and benefit issues that are barreling down on seniors. All of them are bad news. And while there aren't a lot of places to hide, it's important for anyone trying to build or conserve a retirement nest egg to develop contingency plans.
The Bush tax cuts expire December 31. All income tax brackets will shift upward-the 10 percent bracket disappears and the new lowest tax rate will be 15 percent. The 25 percent bracket becomes 28 percent; 28 percent becomes 31 percent; 33 percent moves to 36 percent, and 35 percent will be 39.6 percent. The capital gains tax rate will rise to 20 percent from 15 percent, and dividend taxes will soar, moving from being taxed as capital gains to being treated as ordinary income.
The AMT was aimed at preventing wealthier taxpayers from using deductions and other tax benefits to escape their fair share of taxes. However, the qualifying income levels were not indexed for inflation. Congress has thus had to enact an AMT "patch" each year to help millions of taxpayers avoid extra taxes Congress never intended for them to pay. There is now no patch in place for 2012 income taxes. That's right: the taxes that are due on this year's income. Even if Congress does something soon, tax-filing season likely will be delayed. If Congress does not approve a patch, the number of taxpayers hit by AMT payments will rise from 4 million to 34 million.
Fiscal-cliff negotiations between the White House and Republicans reportedly included the Obama administration's acceptance of a new formula for setting the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security beneficiaries. Called the chained CPI, it may, as supporters and many economists claim, represent a more accurate cost of living measure than the index now used to set each year's COLA. But it would also cut effective Social Security benefits by more than $20 billion a year after it has been in place for several years. It would also raise income-tax bills by reducing the size of the automatic inflation adjustments the tax brackets use to determine different income tax rates.
Estate and gift tax rules are now unusually generous. Individual estates up to $5.12 million (double that for a couple) avoid all estate taxes, and amounts above these levels are taxed at 35 percent. This is also the rate for gift taxes. Without action by Congress, the estate-tax exclusion will plunge to only $1 million in 2012, and the tax on larger estate values will be 55 percent.
Medicare taxes will rise on wealthier wage earners in 2013. This change is part of the Affordable Care Act and not part of the fiscal-cliff impasse. Medicare payroll taxes, now set at 1.45 percent of payrolls, will rise another 0.9 percent on wage incomes above $200,000 in 2013 ($250,000 for couples). These same income limits will be used to trigger a 3.8 percent annual tax on net investment income. The proceeds will be used to help fund health-reform changes.
When health reform is fully implemented in 2014, older people not yet eligible for Medicare will have guaranteed access to health insurance regardless of any preexisting conditions, at rates that are held down by rules limiting age-based premium hikes. These benefits will be delivered in large measure through new state-based insurance exchanges. These exchanges are supposed to be set up in 2013 so they can be fully operational before the end of the year. However, most states have decided not to build their own exchanges but to let the federal government do it for them. Odds of this work being done in time, let alone being done well, are seen as very small.
In 2014, health reform would provide expanded healthcare to currently uninsured, lower-income Americans through a massive expansion of Medicaid at the state level. The federal government would pay all added expenses for three years and states would never pay more than 10 percent of the expenses from the expansion. Still, many states have spurned the act's offer of expanded coverage, saying they do not like the potential for higher state expenses and the rules that come with the expanded services.
In a 1997 law, Congress tied Medicare's payments to physicians to the growth of the economy. Medicare cost increases, including physician expenses, regularly exceed overall economic growth. Under the law, Medicare payments to physicians would have to be cut each year were it not for periodic Congressional action to override the cuts. Without another fix, doctors will see a 27 percent cut in their Medicare payments next year, and an unknown number of them would stop taking Medicare patients. Like much else in Washington, the doc fix has become part of the broader fiscal-cliff debate.
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Statement Disclosure
The following disclosure pertains to estimated annual income (EAI) and estimated current yield (ECY) figures displayed on Pershing LLC's investment account statements.
The EAI and ECY figures are estimates and for informational purposes only. These figures are not considered to be a forecast or guarantee of future results. These figures are computed using information from providers believed to be reliable, however, no assurance can be made as to the accuracy. Since interest and dividend rates are subject to change at any time, and may be affected by current and future economic, political, and business conditions, they should not be relied on for making investment, trading, or tax decisions. These figures assume that the position quantities, interest and dividend rates, and prices remain constant. A capital gain or return of principal may be included in the figures for certain securities, thereby overstating them.
The EAI figure for U.S. government, corporate, and municipal securities is computed by multiplying the coupon rate by the quantity of the security and then dividing that figure by 100. The resulting figure is reflected on the investment account statement in the EAI field.
The EAI for equity, mutual fund, unit investment trust and exchange traded fund securities is computed using either a historical methodology (HM) or projected methodology (PM), depending on the information from the issuer. The PM annualizes the latest regular cash dividend. The HM accumulates the regular cash dividends over the past twelve months. If there is less than one year of dividend history, the accumulated dividends are annualized. The EAI for preferred securities is computed using the PM. The HM or PM figure, whichever is calculated, is then multiplied by the quantity of the security and the resulting figure is reflected on the investment account statement in the EAI field.
The following are important caveats to the HM figure and PM figure.
- The figure is denominated in the same currency as the dividend announcement.
- The figure does not contemplate special or extra dividends.
- When a security pays its first dividend with no specificity as to dividend frequency, the initial dividend will be the reported figure.
- If a security announces a stock split and does not announce a new dividend rate, the figure will be adjusted on the ex-distribution/dividend date.
- For a called security, the figure will remain unchanged until the payment date, at which point it will revert to zero.
- The figure for Canadian securities is calculated the same way as for U.S. securities.
- The figure for mutual funds only includes dividends treated as income.
- The figure will be zero under the following scenarios: a security that has only paid capital gains during the preceding year; a security that has only had stock splits, stock (not cash) dividends, or reverse stock splits during the preceding year; a security other than an open end mutual fund (excluding a money market fund), ADR preferred, or exchange traded fund which rescinds or omits a dividend payment; and a security from an issuer which is in arrears and uncertain about its ability to make a dividend payment.
The ECY figure is computed by dividing the EAI figure by the current market price of the security, which may be higher or lower than the purchase price, and then the figure is multiplied by 100. The resulting figure is reflected on the investment account statement in the ECY field. With specific regard to a fixed income security, the initial purchase confirmation oftentimes reflects yield to maturity, yield to call, and/or yield to worst figures which are more relevant figures from the point of purchase.