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Big East Presidents Meet; Decide to Bide Time: also I have turned today's events into a bar metaphor enjoy it
Greggory Williams Makes Intentionally Meaningless Statement About Bearcats Future In The Big East
Down the Drive August 2nd Jump Off: UC tabbed 5th, CBJ interview, Bennie Coney to UC thoughts, Big East infighting, and more!
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As the Big East turns
daily Cincinnati Bearcats news and notes
daily cincinnati bearcats links and news
This will surely do that trick
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Overview of Cardiac Perfusion Careers:
Cardiac Perfusionists are not doctors, or nurses. Cardiac perfusion is an allied health career. A cardiac perfusionist, also known as a Certified Clinical Perfusionist (CCP), is a specialized medical professional who operates what you may know as the "heart-lung" machine.
The heart lung machine keeps a patient's blood pumping, and basically takes the place of the patient's heart, while open-heart surgery is taking place. The heart-lung machine circulates, oxygenates, and purifies the patient's blood while the patient is in surgery. Cardiac perfusion is needed for a variety of surgeries including organ transplant, heart bypass, and other cardiac surgeries.
Education and Training Requirements for Cardiac Perfusionists:
According to the American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion, (AACP), an effective training program for cardiac perfusion requires a bachelor's degree (four years of college). There does not appear to be any specific type of undergraduate degree required, but probably a biology or science degree of some sort would be most conducive to this field.
A prospective perfusionist must also complete a training program that is affiliated with an academic medical center, requiring completion of a minimum of 150 procedures as a trainee. After completing the course, one must successfully pass a certification exam to become a Certified Clinical Perfusionist. This exam is offered by the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion (ABCP).
Job Responsibilites of a CCP:
According to the AACP, the cardiac perfusionist assists the surgeon in the operating room of a hospital during cardiac surgeries. Although the surgeon is primarily responsible for the patient, the perfusionist is responsible for operating the heart-lung machine, keeping records of the perfusion, and for consulting with the surgeon regarding the patient's cardiac history and general medical history.
The CCP is solely responsible for the condition of the heart lung equipment, and as such the CCP will perform tests of the equipment to ensure that it is operating properly. Any errors on the part of the CCP, or defects in the machinery, could cause severe damage to the patient including organ damage, brain damage, or, in some cases, death. Therefore, for more complex surgeries, two perfusionists may attend, to ensure the safety of the patient and successful outcome of the patient.
Salary Information for Certified Clinical Perfusionists (CCP):
According to the American Medical Association, starting salaries for perfusionists is about $60,000-75,000. The average salary across the board for perfusionists is about $70,000-90,000, and 2012 data from Monster.com's Salary Wizard calculates the average salary for perfusionists at $110,000. Those who work in a management role, such as the Director of Clinical Perfusion of a hospital, could earn well over $100,000.
What's to Like:
Besides the fact that the medical field is one of the best industries in which to work, and health careers offer a great deal of job security, and financial stability, cardiac perfusion is one of the more lucrative non-nursing and non-physician clinical medical careers.
What's Not to Like:
Cardiac perfusionists may have to be on-call as a physician would, which can affect quality of life. The impact of the call schedule on your personal schedule depends on the size of the program and the number of perfusionists available at the hospital, so be sure to investigate this when applying for positions.

subset: commoncrawl


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11th Jun 2006, 13:55
I bought my 1999 Tahoe in 2003 with 53,000 miles. I had taken it to an oil change establishment at around 63,000 miles. Normally I do it myself. They failed to replace the rear differential plug causing a fluid leak and burned out the rear end while out of town. Had to replace the intake gasket at 83,000. Other than normal maintenance have had no problems. It gets 17-19 mpg. It is a great family vacation vehicle. I would buy another when this one wears out.


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Inver Grove Heights fire chief Judy Thill confirmed Monday afternoon that a "small drip" of anhydrous ammonia was coming from a leaky tank inside Pomp's Tire Services.
Pomp's is located at 3134 117th Street East, which is adjacent to the Flint Hills Resources Minnesota headquarters building and within a half mile from the Pine Bend refinery.
Anhydrous ammonia is a colorless, highly irritating gas with a sharp, suffocating odor.
Chief Thill also confirmed that—apart from a sour smell—there was never a danger to the public during Monday's incident. She speculated that the drip was coming from a leaky valve or extra pressure built up inside the tank.
IGH FD will continue investigating the cause of the leak.
"This is an extremely minor situation," Chief Thill told Patch. "We're just here to mitigate the leak as much as possible before we leave."
According to the University of North Dakota health department, immediate effects of exposure to anhydrous ammonia include:
Burning of the eyes, nose, and throat after breathing even small amounts. With higher doses, coughing or choking may occur. Exposure to high levels of anhydrous ammonia can cause death from a swollen throat or from chemical burns to the lungs.
Eye exposure to concentrated gas or liquid can cause serious corneal burns or blindness. Generally, the severity of symptoms depends on the degree of exposure.
Despite the presence of the Dakota County Special Operations Team (DCSOT) at the scene, no injuries or individuals with symptoms were reported.
According to its website, the DCSOT specializes in incidents involving hazardous materials, weapons of mass destruction, technical rope rescue, confined space rescue and trench rescue.
Inver Grove Heights Patch will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.


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Phew, what a week it as been for my boss, Professor Bob Hill – Executive Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Adelaide and his team. It is an absoulute thrill to be part of his very bold experiment in reforming the way science is taught at one of the nation's top tertiary institutions. A major lever in this broad reform project is the provision of a free iPad to every first year student enrolling in the Sciences next year. This blog will try to keep track of information about this project as it emerges and provide links to source material wherever possible.
(mid year break, prior to second intake of students receiving free iPads)
A dynamic list of some of the online material related to the iPad ELFS trial at the University of Adelaide. Feel free to add your contributions by using the tag "uofaipad" in pinboard.in or other social bookmarking tools.
Faculty website:
- Project page on the official faculty of sciences at the university of Adelaide website. Includes information on the 10BigQuestions and eligibility with terms & conditions.
- Additional info for teacher information evening
- Podcast from teacher information evening
Mainstream Media Coverage:
- Sat Advertiser article that started it all
- ABC radio Sat a.m.
- Sunrise 7 tv Mon a.m.
- ABC 891 breakfast radio Wed a.m.
- Syndicated stories [google news alert or search or something for the collection]
- Tue Advertiser front-page 'scrap exams'
- 7pm Project tv Tue 26/10
- Prof Bob Hill at CEBIT Web Forward 2011 (slides)
- Apple Education Consortium June 2011 national roadshow (references).
- SASTA annual conference keynote speech (Scientists for the future – training professionals for a brave new world)
- AISSA iPad event.
- DECS SA "Scientists for the Future:
- December 'information night'.
- October 'information night'.
- Prof Bob Hill at "switching on to science"
Social network buzz:
- Phew, there have been so many tweets, facebook updates and more that I cannot link to them all. Will try to get some sense of overview in the coming weeks.
- Snapshots of a few of my favourite tweets.
- There have been over 50 comments on the adelaidenow webpage for the "Sat Advertiser that started it all" listed under mainstream media coverage
- The portable prof at iPad academy looks interesting
Blogs and stuff:
- between the buttons: podcast with more detailed interview of Prof Bob Hill
- Learning with Angst: Notre Dame University (an excellent blog by Corey Angst who is teaching the first pilot class with iPads – an inspiration to my attempts to document our efforts)
- Mobile learning blog – early analysis.
Interesting responses:
- 'Wunder-Flunder' german tweet (twitter for iPhone translated a reference to the iPad as "Wunder-Flunder" to "Miracle-Flounder" which I found so amusing that I decided to code-name the project after it and to weave the word flounder into the title of this post)
- RSB-accessibility
- Schools: a couple of schools have already offered partnership & preparation
- Research staff: a range of responses including an individual rant based on mis-information. That staffer has been seconded to the project team for their sins and has already made significant positive contribution
- Teaching staff: lots of reactions both +ve and -ve. Most of the people with -ve comments warm to the larger strategy
- Professional staff: excited but have not had time to catch breath yet!
Quotes and soundbytes:
- "open source textbooks"
- "Anyone coming in on this trial is in for a very intersting ride"
- "This will be the first cohort of students who really saw the revolution in how education is going to be in the future"
- The iPad is seen rather as the catalyst for a wholesale paradigm shift in the nature of science education at the university, as connected, interactive, collaborative students explore the workings of science, and its real world applications, in a radically reconceived way – betweenthebuttons
technorati tags:seyfang, mikeseyfang


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Stephen Harner, Contributor
'Whither Japan'
Was Japan's so-far disastrous nationalization of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands a "miscalculation" of
China's likely response, or was it a deliberate, desperate, almost kamikaze-like lunge to save the U.S.-Japan security alliance?
I believe that it was the latter. That Japan—and here I mean not just the Japan Democratic Party (DPJ) Noda cabinet, but also the ministry of foreign affairs (MOFA) and self-defense forces (SDF) bureaucracies, and, particularly, the factions within the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (DPJ) and nationalists allied with former Tokyo major Ishihara Shintaro—did not expect a ferocious response from China, including shows of naval force and threats of occupation, is not credible.
On June 6, Japan's ambassador to China, Niwa Uichiro, went public in the Financial Times, warning that the nationalization would be spark an "extremely grave crisis" in relations, causing "decades of past effort to be brought to nothing." Niwa, a former CEO and Chairman of Itochu Corporation, certainly had been raising the alarm in even starker terms internally to the Noda cabinet and the MOFA, as well as to Japan's politically powerful big business establishment.
And there was not the least ambiguity or diffidence in China's position, stated publicly and through diplomatic channels over the past several years, including the day before the September 12 nationalization decision when Hu Jintao and Noda stood face-to-face on the fringe of the APEC meeting in Vladivostok.
That the ensuing crisis would be particularly destabilizing and dangerously unpredictable in its ultimate costs to Japan was ensured by the contemporaneous decennial leadership change in China, extending throughout both the Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army, of which only the vaguest picture is being revealed in the 18th Party Congress which begins today, November 8, in Beijing.
The nationalization decision has so far fueled an explosion of anti-Japan sentiment, demonstrations like the one I witnessed in Shanghai, wide-spread vandalism against Japanese businesses, and popular boycott of purchases of Japanese products, particularly automobiles. Officially directed anti-Japanese actions have included stalled customs clearances, cancelled or deferred commercial contract negotiations, cancelled exhibitions and delegation exchanges.
Japan's auto industry has been the most damaged, particularly Nissan for which the China market accounted for 26% of total global vehicle unit sales in FY 2011, and Honda which sold 20% of its cars in China (the figure for Toyota is 12%). Nissan's Chief Operating Officer on November 6 that this fiscal years' operating profit forecast was being cut by JPY 60 billion (USD 750 million) because of a drop in China sales. It could get worse.
But what is more worrisome that the impact on any specific industries, is the inherent intractability of a territorial issue like Senkaku/Diaoyu between two countries once the issue is inflamed, and the longer term obstacles this creates for continued integration of Japan's economy with that of Asia's other major power, China, an imperative for Japan's future growth and prosperity. As tensions and the frequency of dueling Coast Guard patrols in the Senkaku/Diaoyu area have increased, so have combative diplomatic exchanges, slights and insults, and—on both sides—a torrent of books and articles whose themes recall the nightmarish era of Japan-China war.
What could, from Japan's perspective, possibly have justified and motivated such a hugely costly and dangerous course?
The answer I think is fairly clear: it was the course most likely to block and forestall what the prevailing conservative establishment sees as a greater threat: That the U.S. and China have been moving toward a new, shared East Asian power paradigm in which the U.S.-Japan defense alliance is abandoned and Japan is forced to defend itself alone or to abandon defense and rely on "soft power" to defend its interests.
As I have presented in this blog before, reviewing recent books by Australian strategist Hugh White (see my post) and Professor Yabuki Susumu (here), the interests of both China and, particularly, the U.S. are now clearly to forge such a "new strategic architecture" in Asia. What Professor White points out in The China Choice: Why America Should Share Power is an agreement between the U.S. and China to share power would require that the U.S. decouple its military resources from Japan's, ending the alliance. He correctly states that Japan, of all the affected countries, will find the new order the most unwelcome and difficult to accommodate.
Japan's Senkaku/Diaoyu island nationalization gambit eloquently speaks to this difficulty, and the lengths to which Japan may think it must go to keep the U.S. engaged in supporting the alliance against a "China threat." Of course, there is a huge vested interest in the U.S. Department of Defense in maintaining the status quo, expressed inter alia through studies like the CSIS Armitage-Nye report.
This week the SDF and U.S. Navy and Air Force launched a massive 16-day joint exercise off the southern islands of Kyushu and Okinawa involving 47,000 men (10,000 Americans), 30 ships, a U.S. carrier, and 240 aircraft. The exercise is simulating an attack on Japan's islands from an "unknown power," but the unspoken target is clear.
The problem with this, as Professor Yabuki has written, is that the U.S.-Japan "alliance" has lost any positive relevance for Japan's security, and in fact is inimical to Japan's interests. Could there be any more eloquent testimony to this reality than consequences of the Senkaku/Diaoyu crisis? Nor, for reasons presented clearly by Professor White, is the alliance in the U.S.'s long term interest.
What we have witnessed in this dispute is a historical mistake and tragedy. But history is moving on, and is likely to accelerate following Obama's re-election and the China's 18th Party Congress. Japan is going to have to accept that its world has changed.
You seem to be ignoring the fact that it was not "Japan" which set the scenario in motion, and led to the purcuase of the Senkaku Islands. In fact, the initial move was made by the right-wing demagogue Governor of Tokyo, Mr. Ishihara, who was very publicly preparing to buy the islands. You could even argue that Ishihara was responding to recent provocation by China, which included a deliberate attack on Japanese coast gurard vessels by a Chinese ship, a year earlier (though those who know Mr Ishihara realise that he needed no "provocation").
The Japanese government was faced with only two choices: let Ishihara purchase the islands on behalf of the Tokyo Government – a move that the Governor himself said would be followed up with the establishment of self-defence installations on the island – or step in and purchase the islands itself. It does not take an expert on international relations to see which of these two options would be least provocative.
By perpetuating the Chinese propaganda line that this is "a historical mistake" by Japan, you are simply adding tinder to the potential bonfire. The only safe way to proceed now is to accept that Japan was trying – no matter how clumsily they might have done so – to chose the course of action that would be LEAST provocative towards China.
The Chinese (and the US as well) ought to treat this as a signal that Japan would prefer to find a mutually agreeable solution on the islands. Even if that was NOT Japan's intent, at this point threats and criticisms merely ensure that Japan will dig its heels in deeper, and that a solution will be even harder to reach in the future.
Are you not aware that Ishihara has retired and will run for Diet?
Or that his support arises mainly from his ties to other local politicians like Osaka Gov. Hashimoto?
To assume that the LDP had something to do with the plans of Ishihara is not too far-fetched. But how could that have anything to do with the decision to purchase the islands, which was conducted by the DPJ, and with the calculated, clearly telegraphed NON-participation of other parties.
("I see NOOOOOO-ssinnngggg!" )
Yes, there are probably some Ishihara bedfellows in the LDP ranks. But their collaboration or non-collaboration with Ishihara has no bearing on the issue of how the Japanese government responded.
More importantly, though, to assume that the DPJ had anything to do with the actions of Ishihara is ludicrous. If you suggest that they were in any way "plotting a course of action" on the islands, you would have to ignore how little the main DPJ characters can coordinate their actions even on the most basic things – like holding town hall meetings about nuclear power, or giving accreditation to newly built universities.
Ive never been one for conspiracy theories – not that I dismiss the desire of powerful people to manipulate others for their own benefit. I simply dont think politicians are clever enough, or faithful enough to one another, to formulate and carry out conspiracies.
That relates to "normal" politicians.
When you extrapolate the same principle to the DPJ . . . seriously . . . these people wouldnt be able to conspire successfully to spike the punch bowl at their New Year's Eve party.
You seem to be suggesting that someone within the DPJ (if not the Cabinet itself) conspired to do all of the following:
1. Analyze the US/Japan alliance closely, and determined after careful deliberation that the best way to "preserve" the Japan-US alliance is (for reasons not stated) to antagonize China by exerting visible control over islands which they had no reason to "visibly" control since "actual" control was already a de facto reality.
2. Somehow manipulated Chinese security agencies into conducting the "fishing boat incident" last year, so the public would notice the issue and support efforts to exercise sovereignty.
3. Somehow manipulated, or else colluded with Ishihara to get him to float the idea of Tokyo buying the islands (this from a party that Ishihara sneers at publicly, and which he hopes to help destroy in the next election cycle)
4. Strongarmed the landowners – who have never shown any inclination to sell the islands prior to this year – into first agreeing to accept Ishihara's bid, and then just six months later to reject his bid and accept the government's. (and all the while, they somehow ensured that the owners would not go public with any comments that might expose this meddling, or reveal to China the extent of the DPJ's collusion with Ishihara)
yet at the same time
5. Took extreme care not to tip their intentions, outlined in section 1, to either Ishihara, or the landowners – both of whom are rabidly ANTI-American and would have nothing to do with a plan whose ultimate goal was to strengthen (as opposed to weaken) the Japan-US alliance.
Stephen . . . . come on. Even you must realise that this is tinfoil-hat territory.
The unfortunate truth is that Japan stumbled into this situation, with no planning or forethought. And China's response has been at least as stumbling and poorly thought out.
Regardless . . . the important thing now is to stop trying to ascribe deliberate provocative intent to either side. I cant imagine either Japan or China DELIBERATELY seeking to upset and annoy the other. By suggesting that this was a "plot" rather than a bungle, you merely embolden the hawks on both sides, and make negotiation even less likely.
Perhaps the Japanese government shouldn't allow their foreign policy hand to be forced by a xenophobic, insane mayor. You'd think that preserving Japanese exports to China in a time where Japan Inc. is suffering greatly would surely convince the government to come up with any solution to prevent Ishihara from going through with his crazy plan.
I refuse to believe that, knowing the possible consequences, the national government had to resort to such a Plan B of purchasing the islands themselves. Noda could've mentioned his plan to Hu when they met in Russia, but made no mention of it and blindsided Hu the next day. If you're going to go about this plan, make sure China has enough advance warning and for goodness sake's, tell Hu in advance so he doesn't look like a fool. Huge loss of face for Hu and after that you just knew that there was going to be a big Chinese response.
Matsushima-san, what you have laid out is a somewhat typical response to conspiracy; think of all the people who have to be a part of the plan who have to keep their mouths shut. Indeed, it seems incredible to believe such a plan could escape detection. And, yet, the government's initial and ongoing response to Fukushima (and the heavy US and nuclear industry influence on many of the actions of the government) would seem to show that large groups of people in power can conspire – either pro-actively or simply to protect their own interests – to deceive the public.
All it takes, apparently from the Fukushima experience, is for the government to take action based on what they desire or on a predesigned outcome and for the media to ask few questions or even act as press agents for the government. The press club in Japan is perfect for this task. The government is under little to no pressure to change their actions.
This is true in Japan about the massive debt, the Okinawa issue, the nuclear issue, the economy, and a host of other government failures. The government would seem to rather apologize than ask permission or respond to public outcry.
When Hatoyama proposed his East Asian Community plan at the UN, both the US government and bureaucrats and politicians in the Japanese government acted to oust Hatoyama. The media played along and Hatoyama was dumped under the cover of public disapproval. Yet, public outrage has not worked for issues related to Okinawa and Fukushima. Please explain the disconnect.
Mr. Matsushima,
The least provocative thing to do would have been to maintain the status quo. Clearly, both countries were content to leave the issue as temporarily unresolved, and move forward with their economic relations while allowing a certain degree of ambiguity to remain on the issue.
Japan's recent actions in trying to "nationalize" the islands is a clear assertion of sovereignty. It is not surprising that China would react the way it did.
The whole issue with Ishihara is simply a sideshow, little more than an effort to make the "nationalization" efforts seem more palatable. Why should China have to accept the lessor of two evils?
Just so that we are clear on this, Japan renounced any claims it may have had to these islands by operation of the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam declaration. As spoils of victory from its earlier conflicts with China, it was REQUIRED under the terms of those treaties to return them to the rightful owner.
The argument that the islands were not previously under Chinese jurisdiction is also of little merit, given the wealth of historical documents (including many Japanese maps from the Meiji era) all holding the islands to be Chinese territory pre 1895.
As to your accusation of "deliberate" Chinese attacks of Japanese Coast Guard ships a year earlier by Chinese fishermen, have you seen the whole video? Clearly, the instigators were the JCG. As a general rule, unarmed civilian fishing vessels are not in the habit of challenging armed state-of-the-art patrol vessels.
Where to even start?
First of all, I am no expert on international law, nor on the specifics of the respective claims. However, I do know that the original claimant to the islands in that area was the Ryukyu Kingdom, which voluntarily (OK…. Stockholm-style voluntarily) became a part of Japan. Therefore any discussion of "spoils of war" would be moot even if one were to assume that there are no questions WHATSOEVER regarding Chinese claims to the other significant state in that area during the 1700-1800s – Formosa. Beyond that point there is little to argue. If China's case is so strong, then why will they not submit it to international arbitration, which would give BOTH sides a far easier basis to climb down from an extreme position?
As for the Chinese "fishermen", I wont waste your time with the 2ch-style rumours about his past curriculum vitae or the detailed specifications of the boat. These are points on which nobodu may ever know the truth. One issue, however, is clearly documented on film, and even the Chinese authorities have not tried to dispute it:
Somehow, these "fishermen" managed to sail all the way from somewhere near Guangzhou to a point inside the . . . . well . . . lets call it the "disputed area" . . . . yet failed to catch a single fish. Even the food stores in their galley contained little more than rice, instant noodles and chicken – no fish.
Are the fish stocks REALLY that bad in the South China Sea these days? And if so, isnt that an even more serious issue to address?
@Feiyang Sun,
I think our positions on this issue are not that far apart. I dont think that the majority of Japanese citizens want Ishihara driving Japanese foreign policy, and I most certainly do not. The problem is that – as China surely knows – local politicians can often get elected based solely on local issues and not on their international policy stance. I cant imagine Ishihara accomplishing much at the national level, even if he does manage to get himself elected to the Diet. But he does seem to be more adept at planning and implementing strategies than the national government. I have to admit that his move on the islands was quite well contemplated and executed, even if it was "insane", in my opinion.
Where we diverge is on the issue of Noda's response. I have a hard time taking seriously the objection about "informing Hu", when the fact is that the plan was discussed in detail for nearly six months, prior to the APEC meeting.
Even if we accept Hu's word that Noda did not mention it in private conversation (something Noda says he did, albeit in an indirect way so as to avoid causing offence), it is somewhat deceitful to suggest that China was "blindsided" by the purchase.
drama queen using all the tricks but we never give up sacred islands start buildings soon because of threats
Napoleon in preparing for his coronation was told that they could not find 12 vestal virgins in Paris. Today I reflect on how none of the leaders in any stripe in Japan seems to have the innocent ideal that politics is service for the good of the nation, period. They all seem to be so boxed in by the intricate conventions of their boxes, or their sand boxes that they fail to reach out a little bit longer than medium term to a land where there is betterment for Japan. Only Hatoyama tried to engage with other Asian countries but was shot down. It is a sad state of a nation if for decades no statesmanship can rise up to simply and directly do the things that are beneficial long term to Japan and her neighbours.
Whose to say what kind of political maneuverings are really going on behind closed doors either China or Japan? Politicians are well known for say one thing and making backroom deals with each other. Although improbable, the scenario presented in this article is not implausible. And presents another intriguing view of socio-political drama in the Far East.
keep it real not fantast
This article, while thought provoking, completely disregards a number olf realities. First and foremost is that China is currently playing the same game wth the Phillipines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and hey have openly declared an intent to take control of all the East and South China Seas. All of Asia, including India, Singapore and Australia consider China to be the biggest threat to peace in the region. The United States has collective and bilateral defense agreements with these allied nations. This is not an isolated case of " Japan and China" and the U.S. role. Secondly the notion of " sharing" is rather surprising since China has never suggested "sharing" hegemony in East Asia, rather they have specifically stated their intent to oust and replace the United States as the dominant strategic power in East Asia. And while the United States is far from unwilling to consider "sharing", to do so wth a authoritarian one-party communist dictatorship
with a declared millitary and territorial expansion agenda is mind boggling to say the least.
THe Senkaku crisis was effectively manufacured by China. When Tokyo Governor Ishihara made moves to purchase the islands and deveopl them. the Japanese government bnout the islands to pre-empt Mr Ishihara, and thereby maintain the relationship with China as status-quo. That 3 of the islands passed ownership from Japanese nationals to the Japanese government made no material difference to China at all; they were still under Japanese administration and China was still claiming them. In fact, the Japanese government owebed one of the five islands from decades ago and that has no bearing on Sino-Japanese relations.
As outgoing Hu Jing Tao made clear today, China has a mountain of domestic problems from the wealth gasp to corruption, and the anti-Japan frenzy, ingrained through the forced "Patriotic Education" ie; hate Japan theme, in the Chinese schools (which incidentally, Hong Kong is resisting calling it "brainwashing"), played it's usual role in keeping the Chinese people focused elsewhere.
While all parties concerned would obviously prefer peace and rational settlement of diplomatic issues, China continues to send it's non-military vessels to the islands for the sake of harassment and provocation.
China's aim to securing the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands is to secure the entire South China sea with an articulate goal of gaining naval and military superiority over the United States as well as controlling the entire region with its submarine Naval forces. The economic benefits such as oil, gas, fishing and other minerals, is secondary.
President Obama's administration provided 1.6 billion dollars to Indonesia while turning its back to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Philippines over Scarborough Shoals, which is even more strategic than the Senkaku islands. The Scarborough Shoals can and most likely will be used by China to monitor all American ships arriving at Manila bay. Indeed, in any conflict the shoals can be used to target the Filipino and American fleets. Scarborough Shoals was used as a target range by our Naval forces up to 1990 and are easily found on the Spanish-American maps when we inherited the Philippines from Spain. In effect the shoals are former American territory. The Philippines was granted independence from the United States, "so long as it can defend itself". What exactly does that mean?
The present administration continually turns a blind eye over the obvious Chinese incursions and claims in the South China sea which in reality compromises our future military defenses and presence in the region.
The absurdity of Chinese claims of ancient
China's aim to securing the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands is to secure the entire South China sea with an articulate goal of gaining naval and military superiority over the United States as well as controlling the entire region with its submarine Naval forces. The economic benefits such as oil, gas, fishing and other minerals, is secondary.
President Obama's administration provided 1.6 billion dollars to Indonesia while turning its back to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Philippines over Scarborough Shoals, which is even more strategic than the Senkaku islands. The Scarborough Shoals can and most likely will be used by China to monitor all American ships arriving at Manila bay. Indeed, in any conflict the shoals can be used to target the Filipino and American fleets. Scarborough Shoals was used as a target range by our Naval forces up to 1990 and are easily found on the Spanish-American maps when we inherited the Philippines from Spain. In effect the shoals are former American territory. The Philippines was granted independence from the United States, "so long as it can defend itself". What exactly does that mean?
The present administration continually turns a blind eye over the obvious Chinese incursions and claims in the South China sea which in reality compromises our future military defenses and presence in the region.
The absurdity of Chinese claims of ancient possession is tantamount to Mexico reclaiming California or the Islamic world claiming Europe or Germany claiming portions of Poland etc. Next China will claim regions that Genghis Khan seized during his conquests. One Chinese commentator even referred to the Philippines as being Chinese. Was this an accident or a future intent? The Philippines, a Christian value nation is our only natural friend in the region.
Japan is not our natural friend but rather an alliance based upon the results of World War 2 and our decision to defend that nation in exchange for its surrender. These islands at the entrance of the South China Sea are as important to the United States as the Rock of Gibraltar is to control free access of the Mediterranean Sea.
If we compared Japan to the nations of Islam (Ummah Islam) where Japan killed 2400 Americans at Pearl Harbor versus 2977 citizens on 9/11 when Islam declared war on the United States we would find America has been very tolerant of Islam by attacking the wrong nation (Iraq) and not attacking Saudi Arabia. Nor did we intern American Muslims like we did the Japanese. Islam admits they want to bleed America financially and indeed is doing so by giving us all of their political and ideological problems and threats, demanding we apologize to them for burning a Koran in America while they burn Bibles by the thousands, murder Christian converts, burn churches, in a never ending war against everyone who is not Muslim. There is no more economic value to the Middle East for America as we get our oil from Canada and Venezuela. Therefore we should disengage as well as have reciprocal civil rights visas, and deny residency or citizenship to those who refuse to renounce their citizenship to "Ummah Islam".
By President Obama's declaration that he is relocation the American fleets and military to the Pacific – it is my opinion that this is his long term goal – ie: to disengage from the Middle East and address China's secret intent by redeployment of our navy and the most opportune time.
But in the meanwhile, he is affording China unreasonable concessions by remaining neutral on these island issues that is going to place the Chinese Naval forces in strategic positioning that in the future will cost America heavily.
Therefore, Japan is not risking war to maintain the American alliance anymore than the Philippines or Vietnam is. Japan is standing up for what they believe is theirs just like the Philippines is – but both are much weaker than China in the arena of a Naval power. However, China is leery of Japan because of both Japan's American alliance as well as Japan's aircraft-helicopter carriers. Leery should be defined not as afraid of, but respectful of the consequences, while with the Philippines, unless America stands up and puts an aircraft carrier or destroyer next to the Philippine coast guard, instead of a blind eye, China now has eyes looking into what happens in Manila bay.
Sneaky Japan, as usual.
I have posted many times my experience dealing with Japanese corporations and they are extremely well prepared with research and data-gathering beyond what I speculated. So Stephen is right to observe that they could not have been unaware of how hard China's warnings to Noda were. In Ambassador Niwa's case, for them to public insult a gentleman like the former head of Itochu, one of the blue-blood Zaibatsu clusters, showed something very unusual. They didn't want him to rock their boat. What boat? A very deliberate, long-view option within and without their box thinking. At this juncture, I would love to go inside Professor Yabuki's mind to know who could have drafted this schematic for Noda. That "expert(s)" must have made a judgemental call in two aspects. 1. What China may be willing to go back to status quo if the hardline does not bring out America. 2. What tangible evidence did they have of a promise of US stepping up onto Japan's side once dispute escalated? No one in top decision circles in large nations like Japan and China ever make precipitous moves without a lot of modeling and plan Bs. Yes I am getting very curious too on the critical "pivots"
Looking back When Japan launched the Pearl Harbour attack war against US and Britain, the Militarists of both the army and the navy probably put a lot of weight into their own forces which had up to then had a string of winnings, in War against Qing 1895, in Korean, in Russo-Japanese war, in capturing Northern China. Like Napoleon they were taken by their own momentum to over-reach.
The mililary sage Sun Zi "the Art of War" cautioned that any general who plans to start a conflict should 1. Only start it as the last resort, 2. Be thoroughly prepared for all eventualities because the starter is just as likely to suffer defeated as the target. 3. Quick victories and resolutions are most unpredictable and so always calculate the costs of long conflicts to make yourself face cold reality. Before.
Youre kidding, right?
For Japanese businesses, you probably are right, they do prepare thoroughly for any action. But one only has to open a newspaper in Japan to see how little forethought goes into anything the government does. The bureaucracy used to be competent enough to prevent politicians from making fools of themselves, but in recent years as the bureaucrats become less savvy and more apathetic, politicians are making fools of themselves on a daily basis.
Just witness the efforts the govt made to hold "town hall meetings" to discuss nuclear power. Not only did they clearly rig the selection of "question-askers", but they did so with such utter incompetence that every one at the meeting caught on in less than 30 minutes after the meeting started. Furthermore they hadnt covered their tracks, or even taken care to use surrogates to "invite" pro-nuclear speakers. As a result the govt's point man on nuclear power had to publicly lambaste the organizers and fire a few people just to maintain credibility. It was a clusterfuck of proportions that make the Three Stooges look like masterminds of strategic brilliance.
As for Sun Tsu (not "Zi"), I cant imagine that Noda has ever read the Art of War – or any other Chinese classics either. He got into his position by being a grey, uncontroversial pol who did favours for everyone. If you are looking for conspiracy theories, you ought to consider why Noda would behave as if he is deliberately trying to help the LDP destroy the DPJ from the inside. Your comments about the failure to heed the advice of their own Chinese ambassador merely reinforces the view that the current cabinet members are incompetent, and have been put there specifically to discredit the DPJ, whose original masterminds and policy developers (Hatoyama, Kan, Ozawa, Matsui, Naoshima, Ren Ho…) were all forced into the shadows, or out of the party altogether, by Noda.
Go take a look at the party's original "Manifesto", and compare it to the actual measures being taken by the Noda govt.
It should be clear that the current people in power in the DPJ are polar opposites of the policies that got that party elected. You even have former LDP icons like Makiko Tanaka and Azuma Koshiishi!!! How did this happen, and why?
THAT is where any conspiracy-seeking attention ought to be focused. Not on the blundering errors made in the East China Sea.
Ken. May be they have a high level Go gamer in their advisory board, spinning intricate spider's web? Win, Canada.
I have just linked my comment to this NYT
"Read Stephen Harner of Forbes Magazine an old Japan-China Banker who has consulted experts on Sino-Japan issues extensively. He was extremely puzzled by Noda starting the latest round of ruckus with China in the face of obvious strong opposition from China. This is what he concluded and your article has just added to Harner's credible suspicion. Noda started the dispute with China to draw US away from rapproachment with China and cooperation between the two largest future growth partners. It is a cynical plan and their crying to US for revision of their pact shows the wolf's tail here."
Please get the facts right. '… deliberate attack on Japanese coast gurard vessels by a Chinese ship…' It was a Chinese fishing boat, small in size compare to Japanese ; If Japanese cut infornt and cause a collision is Chinese fault, than what can I say. Japan right wing is very good in fabricating false facts.
First of all, if these island belong to Japan, then why it was put into the Sino-Japanese war treaty in 1895 to give it to Japan along with Taiwan?
Secondly, Comfort women did not exist, they were all paid and made more then Japanese generals ( latest ad in NJ ).
Japan, as a country, never 'acknowledge' crimes they committed in China – Poison gas in battlefields, live human experiements , mass murders and just plain criimes against humanity.
The mentality of Japanese Right Wingers have not changed in 60 years, if they have the chance, they will again cause wars in Asia.
Oh, about Ishihara , I think he is just the 'front man' .
An excellent article to read. With incisive view on this matter, this article brings the most likely intention of Japanese Government into light.
However, as you could find the sentiment clouded in the comment section. Nationalism are quite strong in Japan and some Southeast Asian Countries. The interests those nations got during U.S. 'China Containment' policy is so huge, hence, that make it much harder for these nation to forsake these interests. Long time recession in Japan also made this matter worse.
Meanwhile, I must point out, I do think these Hardliners in US also try to ferment this harsh environment for China, since Ishihara announced his purchase plan in US.
This is as good as any consciousness to bring up again the scholarly UNCLOS expert opinion of Professor Gavan Mc Cormick which gives credence to Ishihara being part of an open plan to claim massive swatches of the ocean from Tokyo alone extending 2000km. It is a big detailed article….
"In a major examination of the Senkaku controversy, Gavan McCormack locates the issues within the broader terrain of the 1982 UNCLOS transformation of the Law of the Seas which has transformed a world of open seas into one in which the major colonial powers, notably the United States, Great Britain, France and Japan, receive huge bonanzas in terms of 200 nautical mile exclusive economic rights that flow from their colonial legacies, while China comes up short. The result is to raise fundamental questions about the premises of the UNCLOS order."
As Mr.Harner believes, Noda the digital perpetrator, was so desperate at that time, but personally I'm not sure if the matter he was desperate for, was like what this article suggested, maybe just I have no further clue to believe so but the things I've got as an ordinary Japanese.
It seemed, in my eyes, that Noda was just nailed down into it, or running DPJ's ruling and his Cabinet were prior to everything in his narrow term or capacity in what he could actually do.
Certain other powerful parties including bureaucrats but DPJ, might have deliberated something, it's possible and capable, former ambassador Niwa addressed like this recently, on CSTV program which he invited to, that he has a hunch that there was someone to tip Noda just before the normalization, right after a short meeting with Hu Jintao, even though I'm still not sure if the tipping people were actually taking care of alliance with US, for trying not to be abanedoned.
So far, I'm rather doubting it, more likely with it to happen by "patriotism", not patriotism, such "patriotism".
US has practically got benefit from the dispute, that they can now bring in Osprey with no jitters, the chopper which is banned from flying over most of the place in US because of its safety.
It will be happy if I'm allowed to talk about what happened after this article written, in China-Japan civilian level relationship, as I was going to tell before, it seems that we're much vulnerable to hatred, as to think how delegate Matsuoka couldn't have standed to bear with it on League of Nations 80 years ago, even he was always scared on his way back home, regretting what he had done, that how hard would he had got accused of his demeanor by people of homeland, but actually, he was surprised by a lot of people wagging Hinomaru to welcome him on the station, praising him screaming "Well done Matsuoka", what a joke.
As I experienced recently, it just happened when I was posting on some English forum saying "As long as Yasukuni was nothing but a war accomplice, worshipping Yasukuni means justifying the war, never appropiate with our poiticians to do so", somehow a Chinese man was going to talk to me like this, "Japanese and Chinese have more than 3000 years friendship, we simply should keep it that way", then "China and Japan have such deep tie that no one can cut it. I believe that both Japan and China have the wisdom to handle the dispute.""We are always together""Chinese always have brother and sister loves toward to Japanese.""The current situation breaks my heart. How could Japan and China have such tense distrust toward to each other after so many years hard earning love among people ?", hard earning love, I never expected to hear such words from any of Chinese people, it was my first time recognizing of ourselves still being loved by China, since I have no idea we're still loved by them till he told me so, as well as most of my co-nationals do.
Also which was a very moment for me to get convinced that I'm always nothing but just one of typical Japanese, weak in hate and love.
The footage video of such Chinese demo happened in last year, which has been broadcasted again and again in here, was deeply moved us into a bad direction toward our vulnerable point, "liked or disliked", or "loved or hated", which is a quite common phrase frequently seen all among on Japanese internet or TV, especially with younger people, but it's actually the same with Japanese 80 years ago, even they don't know it.
Younger people, who're always much taking care of whether we Japanese are loved or not, were much scared to know that we're hated not only by Koreans, but also Chinese people that far.
Unfortunately, though I'm afraid and ashamed to say, what always available with "scared Japanese", is nothing but a word of love, to tell us or make us understood that "Don't need to be so devastated since you people are still loved" just like what the man who taught me said.


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THIS IS AN ARCHIVE OF THE FIRST AMAPCEO "NO" PAGE. PLEASE GO TO THE NEWEST PAGE at http://www.timelessfinance.com/NO. Please comment on the new site; I will approve comments on this page but recommend you comment where it'll be most publicly seen! — October 4th, 2012
October 3rd — 9:30PM Update
1. We need our Fixed Term Members to speak up and be heard. This deal really does throw FTs under the bus. They already get an inferior deal: tenuous employment with essentially no benefits. AMAPCEO's willingness to let the Government cut their vacation down to 5.5 days a year is disgusting. For what? Job Evaluation?
Our Colleague Jennifer Backler is standing with us to be counted among the "NO" vote. She's prepared a poster to help Fixed Term Colleagues make an informed vote. We need Members to share this poster. If you're not on Fixed Term, please show compassion for our friends who are.
2. Please sign the petition! We've got 61 "NO" signatures. You are not alone in thinking this is a rotten deal. It's been half a day and we've got half a percent of the entire Membership. Speak up and be heard:
Almost 50 members are promoting the "NO" vote on Twitter. There are dozens of mostly "NO" comments on this post. Why should Members sign the petition? To tell AMAPCEO to get ready, because we're sending them back to the table.
3. If you hadn't heard: AMAPCEO's leadership predicts that, if we speak truth to power by voting "NO", the results will be cataclysmic for us. Let's rise above fearmongering and THINK — that's what AMAPCEO Members are good at doing, right? We're strategists and tacticians.
As our Colleague Mike S. pointed out yesterday, this government is experiencing massive labour strife with teachers. It's only going to get more intense when they negotiate with OPSEU.
If we, the Members of AMAPCEO, resoundingly reject this deal — which is predicated on a "pay freeze" lie that only protects union dues with merit and the Pet Project (JE) — could there be a positive outcome? Yes.
If AMAPCEO represents Members by protecting our entitlements and benefits, is willing to give up on JE, and offers to suspend ATBs/Merit/P4P for two years, then there's a chance for the Government and the Union to save face.
Does McGuinty and his tenuous minority — facing defeat on any number of issues — really have the political capital to lock out a core group of important workers because the workers demanded a real pay freeze?
If Gary Gannage had brought us a pay freeze deal, even with a few unpaid days, I would have been angry. At who? The Employer. I would have continued to angrily tell McGuinty and his lackies what I thought in emails, phone calls, Tweets, and blog posts. But I would have voted "yes".
Instead, we got a garbage deal that gives up COC days for two years (if not forever), sacrifices job security, dumps 3.5 vacation days, completely screws Fixed Term employees, red circles many Colleagues, and slashes head room for many more. And it paints a target on our backs for the next round of bargaining. Why would the Employer ever bargain in good faith again? They'll know they can leave the table, come back with a hardball offer, and the AMAPCEO Negotiators will fold. As JCR said, "What did our reps think the government would do, come back with roses and chocolate?" Then, the AMAPCEO Board will foist the terrible deal on a naive membership and tell them horror stories to make them implement it.
The Union Leadership is trying to divide and conquer by pointing out our individual interests. Let's stand up together and send our negotiators back for a fair deal.
October 3rd — 1:00PM Update
Colleague Ken Smith has shared a petition we can sign to tell our AMAPCEO Leadership that we're voting NO on their garbage agreement:
Please sign it, send it to your Colleagues, Tweet it — get the word out. Let's get enough signatures to tell our Union we're sending them BACK to the table and that, this time, they'd better protect our entitlements and rights above all, not their pet project JE and a measly few percent for some.
October 3rd — 1:00AM Update:
Amapceo Member shared a brilliant piece called "Losers, bigger losers, and biggest losers (and a few winners)" that is reproduced here:
"There are always going to be winners and losers."
- Gary Gannage, responding to members at the Toronto meeting who raised valid points about how the tentative agreement singles them out for especially harsh punishment (yes, our Union's President called members, who pay his salary, "losers").
It shouldn't be this way. We are friends and colleagues. We should be making gains and taking losses together. We deserve an equitable contract.
- ALL MEMBERS, for losing 15.5 days off over the next two years.
- Members who don't have a JE category yet and have to vote without knowing how the contract affects their salary.
- All members, who may find themselves in a toxic work environment thanks to a contract that pits worker against worker.
- Everyone who may get sick more than 6 days in a given year and will now get paid ⅔ of their salary instead of ¾ of their pay for those extra sick days [unless the employer, in its renowned grace and wisdom, labels the illness critical or catastrophic].
- People who lost "head room" thanks to JE.
- Everyone who was classified unfairly low in JE and will have to appeal and live with uncertainty re: whether their job will be successfully re-classified [again, dependent on a decision that is ultimately made by the employer].
- Members with less than 8 years seniority, who are less likely to have vacation and COC days saved up, will be left with just 11.5 vacation days – 1.5 more than the ESA minimum, and much less than what any other large employer in Canada offers non-entry level workers.
- Everyone who's red-circled as of year 2 – their salaries will be completely frozen, with no pay-for-performance.
- Junior members, who will LOSE job security due to stronger bumping rights under JE.
- Fixed-term employees, who are left with just 5.5 days vacation a year – less than what's allowed by law (except the government is exempt).
- The Union, which has ensured it maximizes the amount of dues it collects.
- Members who were previously re-circled and aren't anymore, thanks to JE.
- Members with high seniority and the appetite to bump junior workers out of their jobs.
- The few Members who currently earn less than the bottom of their new JE category – they're getting a raise.
October 2nd — 9:30PM Update:
Colleague Lisa Levac shared some thoughts on Twitter and then expanded on them in the comments section of this page:
AMAPCEO is claiming that they did not trade away anything for JE [Gary specifically said this at today's meeting in Peterborough]. If you read their own news release, 4th paragraph from bottom, you will see their own words saying that if they resisted, they would have lost JE. And then during first teleconference, they admitted that 1 per cent bad faith ruling bargained away for further JE benefits/commitments.
[Other comment:] this deal is terrible and punitive and takes away what matters most to us. JE was the union's hidden agenda – that much seems clear to me. They bargained away the 1 per cent bad faith ruling for it. They sacrificed our precious time off for it. They screwed contract employees every which way. All for JE. Any headroom promised under JE cannot be counted on – the employer will likely freeze merit when next round of bargaining comes, or they will keep making us pay for that headroom with our vacay days – next time they will probably give us a choice – merit or time off. And so that so called headroom will never be achieved. Promises made today, will be "temporarily suspended" tomorrow…
October 2nd — 5:00PM Update:
1. Patrice Cloutier, an AMAPCEO Colleague from MCSCS is running for President of the Association in the upcoming election. He asked that I share this message about our Union's governance:
"The first thing i'm going to challenge is how the executive gets voted in. If we can ratify this bad deal via phone why can't all dues-paying members not vote directly for the Association's leaders? Countries vote that way and change their constitutions online; we can certainly do the same at AMAPCEO or via phone. Why should a few dozen delegates or a couple hundreds decide for thousands of members? It's simple ! you pay your dues, you get to vote… a very simple principle of representative democracy. It's really time for openness and transparency at AMAPCEO."
2. Please keep in mind our fellow AMAPCEO Colleagues who are Fixed Term. This agreement would cut their vacation to 5.5 days a year. I can not condone that; it is NOT proper representation to approve a deal that slashes employees' vacation entitlements to 45% UNDER the Employment Standards Act minimum.
3. One of our Colleagues tidied up the Job Evaluation Analysis PDF that was posted yesterday.
4. This page has a new, shorter address to make sharing easier: http://www.timelessfinance.com/NO
So far today, this page has received over 1,600 hits. That means that, today alone, as many as 15% of the Membership has seen this page. Please keep sharing the facts and engaging in the comments — people are reading your comments.
5. Thoughts from a Colleague, Mike, from MGS Toronto about how JE could ruin upward mobility:
"JE puts a stop on getting a better paid job. For example current level ASY19, ASY20 and ASY21 are all in Category 6. The maximum salary for this band is below the current maximum for ASY21 and very close to the current ASY20. This basically means that the ASY21 is eliminated, the best you can do in this band is to get a job that was formerly ASY20. On top of that, once you reach maximum in the band there is no P4P. Moving to next band (7) is very unlikely since the jobs there are just a few. Even if you are lucky to get to level 7, its maximum salary is actually below ASY21 today. Level 8 is beyond of any reasonable reach."
October 1st — 11:00PM Update: Tonight I received some shocking analysis of the Job Evaluation (JE) Project from a Colleague who wishes to remain anonymous.
The Member superimposed the new "Category" salary ranges on AMAPCEO's chart of current salary maximums. Click here to see the results for yourself (this PDF is sideways and rough-looking — if anybody has the technology and time to make a tidier version please do so and email it to me).
Based on the Member's analysis:
- It appears that 2500 Colleagues (one in four) will have their earning potential immediately slashed upon JE implementation, resulting in a permanent compounded loss of income.
- It appears as many as 4000 members may be out of headroom by the end of the tentative agreement (if ratified). Keep in mind that many under JE exceed the new max and won't get ATBs whenever they are reinstated.
I haven't verified these numbers but it's increasingly evident that AMAPCEO's leadership has left important questions unanswered. They claim that many Members stand to gain headroom — but how much headroom? Give us the per capita dollar amount of headroom gained for each Member under JE. Is the new maximum for each category just a weighted-average of the old maximums that fall under each category? When we take into account the loses from red circling, how much does our Membership gain?
I want to be clear: regardless of the answers, my 7% gain as a Category 5 isn't worth throwing 1 in 4 Colleagues under the Red Line bus. It's also not worth giving up two weeks of vacation next year, nor is it worth the loss of Surplus Factor 80. But I'd like to know the amount of Union dues that it took for AMAPCEO to throw us all under the McGuinty bus.
Please forward this to your Colleagues ASAP so they can demand accountability at the ratification meetings (a.k.a. the Rat Roadshow).
The AMAPCEO negotiating team has reached a tentative agreement with the employer. I'm voting NO to this garbage deal on October 16th or 17th, and I hope you do, too. Send them back to the table with a message for McGuinty: we won't be bullied.
- This garbage deal will destroy work-life balance — AMAPCEO's sacrifice of 9.5 days in the first year is disgusting. If we vote "NO" there's little to lose for Members with seniority of 8 years or less — the "deal" would cut our vacation to almost the Employment Standards Act minimum.
- The union defended and – in many cases – increased our salaries. I stand to get an extra 7% in headroom. But I was OK with an ACTUAL wage freeze, if work-life balance was protected. Why would the union sacrifice so much for a measly few percent? Is it because they'll get more union dues?
- Dalton McGuinty's pay freeze is, quite simply, a lie. A lot of us stand to make more money. None of us stand to lose salary. Yet so many AMAPCEO Members are standing up against this deal. Could it be that AMAPCEO Members are protecting the public against our employer's pathological lies and our union leadership's money-grab?
- Job Evaluation consolidates 200+ categories into 8. The administrative efficiencies benefit the employer, not you and I. Why should I sacrifice so much to save more money for the employer?
It's an unfair deal regardless of seniority:
- All employees — including employees with more seniority who stand to gain NOTHING from Job Evaluation — are being forced to subsidize merit progression by giving up 3.5 vacation days.
- Job evaluation makes it easier for employees with more seniority to bump employees with less seniority. Employees with more seniority, all things equal, make more money (a.k.a. MORE DUES). The Union should represent all of us, but it's sacrificing its most vulnerable members.
- The agreement sacrifices Surplus Factor 80, which can be the difference between dignity and poverty for public servants after a long, distinguished career.
Not to be cynical, but do you see how union dues are protected at every turn, in every possible scenario?
People are concerned about infighting and it's understandable. But we can't let our union remain unaccountable. It's a ridiculous deal that protects Union Dues and little else. Please stand with your colleagues and, on October 16th and 17th, vote NO to the ratification of this garbage deal.
What can you do?
- Politely tell your Workplace Rep that you don't support the deal. Many don't like this garbage deal. If they don't understand why, explain the problems.
- Print off an analysis like this one, or the analyses listed below, and share the information among your Colleagues. Email this article, or even just a link, to your Colleagues.
- Attend the AMAPCEO Dis-Information Sessions and tell your Union what you think of this garbage deal.
- Tweet your disgust using the #AMAPCEO hashtag. Tweet this article using the button on the left or at the bottom of this article. Tweet your thoughts at the Union's account @AMAPCEONews.
- Post this article on your Facebook if you have friends who are in AMAPCEO. It's easy using the social button at the bottom of this article.
Lots of AMAPCEO Colleagues have spoken out against this garbage deal:
- Calling All AMAPCEO Members
- Lets not be accomplices to betrayal … vote NO !
- Dignity matters in the OPS
Jennifer Backler
- Why I'm voting "no" to #AMAPCEO (and maybe you should too)
- Losers, bigger losers and biggest losers (and a few winners)
Margaret Kipp, a Founding Member of AMAPCEO, had this to say:
@cehenne This is a really bad deal and Ialong with many ofmy colleages will be voting against it. I am disgusted.
— Margaret (@MargaretKipp) October 1, 2012
(Please comment below with any related link and include the name/pseudonym of the author.)
- Joe Wood (Twitter / email), AMAPCEO Member, MGS Chapter, Toronto


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CMI announces partnership with Church & Dwight
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CMI helped 10 more trainees pave the way for future success.
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We are over the half way mark in 2013 with Cleaning Management Institute's (CMI) Train the Trainer events.
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These five expert tips on janitorial/custodial training are just a fraction of what you'll learn from the Cleaning Management Institute's (CMI) three-day Train the Trainer course on September 10-12 in Philadelphia.
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Sustainable Education Programs
Information gathering and distribution is evolving as quickly as the role of custodial professional.
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December 6, 2012 in Orlando, Florida, will mark CMI's second session of the Sustainable Cleaning for Educational Facilities program held in partnership with Cleaning Consultant Services Inc.


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Christmas comes a little late for WWE Diva fans - over the past few years we've become a headquarters for WWE Diva nudity. We've featured multiple posts on Mickie James' porn past, another favorite has been former Diva Candice Michelle getting naked in all sorts of girl on girl scenes, and we even featured a post on current RAW Diva Maryse nude. Sadly, we've never uncovered much on RAW Diva Melina Perez....that is until now. Right now Melina is the happy good girl on RAW but when she first debuted with the team "MNM" years ago, she got everybody's attention with her split leg entrance that gave us a couple years worth of ass and crotch shots every time she got in the ring and she was usually in a little mini skirt to boot! Well now WWE is PG and Melina is the good girl, but we've uncovered some pics that remind us what the bad Melina was all about. It seems in her early days prior to WWE, like many divas, Melina did some modeling....including these great topless pics, with her boobs covered in body paint but completely visible, nipple and all. Melina has a Christmas theme going on fittingly enough, and her boobs have some festive paint going on to fit the theme.
These pics have been debated as to whether there is actual body paint on her tits, or if the paint was photoshopped on after, considering her big fake boobs are completely visible. The pics were probably taken not long before Melina's WWE debut, as many of the girls get their boobs done to meet WWE Diva standards. This may be the first and only look we get at Melina's boobs, since WWE doesn't have their divas posing nude in Playboy anymore, but we can now say we've at least seen her tits, perfect for the holiday season.
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Make the first gift to yourself by savoring the Season's Bounty as you shop.
What to call a giant octopus?
Cutting excursions are fun for the family; plus, fresh-cut Christmas trees are safer and smell better
Endurance Racers John Crandell and Heraldic
It's time for the big guys
Ancient lava and endless impacts color our natural satellite
It's easy to like green in this light-hearted tale
A father loses paradise but finds his family in this touching drama
In December, lots of people do
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Hotel Guide
Touristic Hotels & Investors Association (TUROB)
TUROB was founded under the title of Marmara Region Tourist Hotelkeepers Association (TOD) in the year 1971and with 13 persons. This Association which had been showing activities until the year 1983 now continues to work as the Association of the Tourist Hotelkeepers and Hotel Managers (TUROB) at present upon the change of the Associations Law.
Click here to vist TUROB for a full list of Hotel List
Historical & Boutique Hotels of Turkey (OZBI)
Historical Hotels of Turkey (OZBI) is an official association representing a group " hotels with distinct features" in Turkey. Member hotels are unique properties all independently owned and managed. The Ozbi hotels are usually small hotels offering guests a personal and intimate feeling.
Ozbi hotels are usually located in the city centers – within walking distance to city's landmarks. They may be remodeled mansions, reconstructed Turkish houses, or may exhibit distinctive architectural /design features that blend in with the surroundings they are a part of. They all possess exquisite character. Within this website, you will find hotel information, photographs of the member hotels as well as direct links to their websites.


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First impression of Clemson
CLEMSON — Monday afternoon, an already-scheduled press briefing with new Clemson assistant head coach James Johnson took on major intrigue.
Virginia Tech fired head coach Seth Greenberg after nine years at the Hokies' helm, making Johnson's decision to take a lateral move and join Brad Brownell's staff seemingly far clearer.
Johnson was Greenberg's third assistant to make a lateral or downward move this offseason, and a fourth, John Richardson, was hired by Old Dominion Monday night, making the exodus complete.
So, did instability play a factor in Johnson's move to Clemson, or was it strictly a chance to work with Brownell, a longtime friend from the pair's Colonial Athletic Association days?
"I think in this business, coaches have to do what they think is best for their careers," he said. "Guys make moves for different reasons, whether it's family, location or league or familiarity with the head coach. Guys make moves for different reasons. My situation was an isolated situation with James Johnson."
Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver confirmed Monday that he offered Johnson the same salary that he'll make at Clemson – $190,000 annually – but Johnson wasn't interested in staying. Weaver said that the staff departures played a role, but weren't the only factor in Greenberg's firing.
Johnson said he was "very surprised" by Monday's events.
"Coach Greenberg's done a great job at Virginia Tech, put his stamp on that program and moved that program forward," he said. "I'm a Virginia native, known Virginia Tech for a long time. Basketball for many years was not relevant there. He came and took that program from little-known to a national level on the toughest conference in the country."
Several Virginia media outlets suggested Monday that Johnson could be a candidate for Greenberg's old job. Johnson said he has "goals and aspirations to be a head coach one day" but said he was excited about his position here.
"I'm sure (rumors) may be out there, but I'm here, I'm happy to be here at Clemson and I'm very fortunate that Brad saw the things he saw in me to offer me the position as an assistant coach on his staff and have the opportunity to work with him," he said.
Would he listen if the Hokies called?
"There's a situation I'd need to sit and talk to Brad and see what his thoughts are," Johnson said. "I have a great deal of respect in Brad and the way he's done things, and how he's come up in this business and positioned himself where he's a very good coach in the ACC. I would rely on him for a lot of help in that situation."
Brownell's reputation for developing head coaches appeals to Johnson, too. He is replacing Rick Ray, who spent two years as the Tigers' associate head coach before being hired as Mississippi State's head coach. Johnson said he developed a respect for Brownell during their CAA days, which carried over to his Clemson tenure.
Brownell allows his assistants to get hands-on experience in all areas of the program and in-game coaching, something that Greenberg wasn't exactly known for.
"I want to be a head coach," Johnson said. "You have to do everything, have to have hands-on, and that's what I want. It did appeal to me to be involved with speaking engagements, scouting reports, on the floor coaching and recruiting."
For now, recruiting will be Johnson's biggest responsibility. He hit the road last weekend, and will do so again this weekend for the spring evaluation and recruitment period.
Johnson is known as a talented recruiter, and he hopes to slip right into Ray's proverbial shoes as the Tigers' lead recruiter.
He coached at Penn State, George Mason and College of Charleston and Old Dominion before landing at Virginia Tech in 2007.
"Recruiting is one of my strengths," he said. "I've been coaching college basketball 19 years and coached at a lot of different levels, coached under a few head coaches. My experience in the ACC, that'll help. I think recruiting up and down the East coast, some of the areas Rick recruited, I can move right in and take over some of those areas."


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Friedman, Dazzio, Zulanas & Bowling offers a wide array of services to its clients. While our primary focus has always been civil litigation, Friedman also offers business counseling and transactional expertise. Friedman clients are diverse and include large publicly held corporations, insurance companies, small and medium sized local businesses, and individuals. We work in the areas of commercial litigation, products liability, personal injury defense litigation, medical malpractice defense litigation and other professional liability, trucking litigation, insurance coverage litigation, employment litigation and other matters. We work with our business clients and provide day to day counseling to help our clients navigate in today's complex business world. Our members are active in state, local and national professional activities and associations in which its clients are active. Firm members participate as faculty in continuing legal education programs and seminars and participate in and support civic work.
Click the practice areas below to read more detailed information about our services.
Litigation is the broad term used to encompass any process of dispute resolution between two parties. Friedman attorneys confidently navigate their clients through any dispute process and have done so in numerous courts, arbitrations, venues and locales. We believes in zealous advocacy on behalf of our clients. We are proud of our record of representation of our clients in disputes played out in federal and state courts not just in Alabama, but throughout the country. Further, we have represented clients in practically all alternative dispute resolution forums available.
Friedman is recognized for its expertise in the area of insurance law. It numbers among its clients some of the largest insurance carriers in the world. For these clients, we provide detailed coverage opinions and file declaratory judgment actions for the determination of insurance coverage. Friedman, Dazzio, Zulanas & Bowling has defended numerous breach of contract and bad faith claims against insurance carriers. Its attorneys are equally adept at fighting for its business and corporate clients when insurance coverage becomes an issue.
Friedman has represented clients through the negotiation and closing of large commercial transactions, including sales and purchases of businesses, joint ventures, licensing agreements, franchising agreements, and other transactions. If disputes arise for our clients, we combine our knowledge of complex commercial transactions with our expertise in litigation. Friedman attorneys are equally adept at pressing our clients' contractual claims or defending against such claims.
Friedman offers its business clients guidance and support in dealing with employment issues. Our attorneys advise clients on policies and procedures, employee handbooks, how to avoid employment litigation and any other area necessary to prevent employment problems or litigation. If litigation arises, Friedman combines its expertise and employment law with its litigation speciality to provide our clients with an aggressive defense.
Friedman attorneys travel nationally defending professional liability claims. Our attorneys have an extensive practice consisting of the defense of medical malpractice claims brought against hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers and facilities. Friedman, Dazzio, Zulanas & Bowling has defended such claims in at least nine different states.
In addition to medical claims, Friedman specializes in claims made against other professionals including architects, engineers and attorneys. The architects and engineers liability section lists among our clients some of the largest and most prominent firms in the State of Alabama. Friedman is also panel counsel for several professional liability insurance carriers.
Friedman attorneys represent commercial carriers in matters arising out of catastrophic accidents, freight and contract disputes, employment and regulatory compliance matters. Friedman, Dazzio, Zulanas & Bowling lists among its clients regional and national commercial carriers and its attorneys participate actively in the American Bar Association's Trucking Law Committee and the Trucking Industry Defense Association. Our attorneys counsel commercial carriers in all aspects of their businesses, provide risk management and defend our clients vigorously in state and federal courts throughout Alabama should litigation arise.
Friedman attorneys have extensive experience in the areas of alternative dispute resolution. Firm members have participated in the mediation process on behalf of clients in hundreds of instances. Friedman, Dazzio, Zulanas & Bowling offers attorneys trained in conducting mediations and arbitrations. Our attorneys have appeared in numerous arbitrations conducted under the auspices of the American Arbitration Association and other national organizations and have obtained significant arbitration awards on behalf of our clients.
|In accordance with Alabama State Bar requirements, no representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services
performed by other lawyers. © 2012 Friedman, Dazzio, Zulanas & Bowling, P.C.


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Last Updated: Sunday, December 22, 2013, 16:27
Nepal`s former monarch Gyanendra Shah Sunday left on a three-week visit to India, where he enjoys close relations with members of the erstwhile Indian royalty.
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 24, 2013, 16:53
A call to political parties by a breakaway faction of Nepal`s Maoist party to forge an alliance with deposed king Gyanendra Shah "to protect the country`s nationality" has alarmed many in the Himalayan nation.
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 23, 2013, 19:39
CPN-Maoist, the breakaway faction of Nepal`s Unified CPN-Maoist, on Tuesday said that it could join hands with former monarch King Gyanendra for the sake of protecting "nationalism".
Last Updated: Thursday, January 03, 2013, 21:26
A 46-year-old man living in Britain was arrested Thursday on suspicion of committing acts of torture during the period of insurgency in Nepal between 1996 and 2006, a British daily reported.
Last Updated: Saturday, November 17, 2012, 11:42
Ailing Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray`s health figured in international media, especially in Pakistan and Nepal. His health was highlighted by BBC, New York Times and Pakistani newspapers.
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 22:05
Nepal`s former king Gyanendra is headed to Europe for a three-week long private trip.
Last Updated: Thursday, July 12, 2012, 21:00
Dismissing the possibility of revival of monarchy in Nepal, former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal today said ex-king Gyanendra Shah should take part in politics rather than making "anti-people" remarks.
Last Updated: Monday, April 16, 2012, 00:55
Madhav Kumar Nepal warned the Gyanendra that he would be sent to jail if he tried to disrupt the 2006 peace process and drafting of a new constitution.
Last Updated: Sunday, March 04, 2012, 20:52
Nepal PM Baburam Bhattarai
has accused dethroned king Gyanendra of conspiring
against the landmark peace process.
Last Updated: Sunday, February 12, 2012, 00:39
This is the third visit to India by Gyanendra after the
monarchy was abolished in Nepal in May 2008.
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 19:20
Nepal`s deposed king Gyanendra
was prevented from attending an ancient religious function to
honour the `Living Goddess` at his former palace on Tuesday.
Last Updated: Thursday, August 19, 2010, 20:00
Former king Gyanendra`s son-in-
law Raj Bahadur Singh is part of a delegation from Nepal Janta
Dal, a close ally of Maoists, that left for New Delhi on Thursday to
meet Indian leaders.
more videos >>


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James Coburn
The Edmond Sun
Anxious Americans hold on to a sliver of hope to avoid the fiscal cliff set for Jan. 1 while Congress and President Barack Obama remain at odds for a strategic solution. A slow to moderate economic recovery following a major recession is at stake.
Families wonder how sequestration will empty their wallets if a compromise is not reached.
"People will have less money to spend if their money is going to the government. It will slow down the economy," Congressman James Lankford said Friday. The nation is like a bickering family divided over the economy, he said.
"We will not fix our position as a country until we solve our debt problem," said Lankford, R-Edmond.
Obama met with top Senate and House leaders Saturday after the White House issued a statement that it has no new fiscal plan. After the meeting, Obama said he is "modestly optimistic" that a deal will be made before Tuesday.
"Whatever we come up with is going to be imperfect. Some people aren't going to like it, some people are going to like it less," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday, according to CNN. Speaker Boehner has been on the phone with the president reiterating his same position to say the House has acted, Lankford said.
"It's time for the Senate and the president to actually act and respond to something. Create a proposal that will pass," Lankford said.
Obama's latest proposal to help pay down the federal debt has been to tax people who earn more than $400,000 or more, while continuing the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, Lankford said.
"There's no spending cuts in it. That doesn't solve anything," he said.
Republicans have also rejected Boehner's proposal to limit the tax increases to people earning more than $1 million. The proposal was never voted on, Lankford said.
"The key of it is, is there a place to be able to resolve this? Yes," he said. "But it has to actually solve the problem." Lankford said Obama is focused on how to get beyond the fiscal cliff.
"That's not the solution," Lankford said. The U.S. is spending $1 trillion more than it did five years ago, he said. "That cannot be sustained."
The president initially asked for more than $1 trillion in tax increases with unlimited debt ceiling increases and to delay sequestration for one year, Lankford said.
"Republicans aren't about to write a blank check for anything Senate Democrats put forward just because we find ourselves at the edge of the cliff," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, according to CNN. Sequestration is set to cut up to $1.2 trillion during the next 10 years.
Economic Pain
now or later
It doesn't fix a fiscal cliff to create another fiscal cliff, Lankford said.
"If we can't find a way to do what's strategic then it cuts $120 billion a year," Lankford said. "You just delay sequestration for a year, then next year you have to find $240 billion."
Beginning Jan. 1, the Affordable Care Act will increase taxes for people earning $200,000 or more a year in interest, dividends, capital gains and payroll tax.
Obama's recommendations for a tax increase coupled with the Affordable Care Act tax increase calls for $86 billion of additional spending a year, Lankford said. In addition, everybody's tax rates go up from smallest to largest if a solution is not reached to avert the fiscal cliff, Lankford said. Thirdly, the across-the-board spending reduction Congress demanded in the budget deal will begin.
Lankford said the House passed all the documents it needed to pass for sequestration in May, and the tax policy in August.
"We have waited for the Senate to answer back," Lankford said. "We are determined but the Senate isn't doing its work. You can't just have the House perpetually sending things over to the Senate until the Senate decides what they like."
Reid has been frustrated that the House isn't doing what he wants, Lankford said. The House functions with a majority rule. The role of the Senate is to form compromises between both parties to move anything forward, Lankford said. Reid wants the House to continue sending a bill over for a vote, Lankford said.
"We think there is a responsibility for the Senate to actually do its work as well," Lankford said. "That is the legislative role out there that has to be settled."
There will be economic slow down, Lankford said.
"We can either have the pain now or we can have the pain later," Lankford said. "And, we think the pain later is even worse."
email@example.com | 341-2121, ext. 114


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Before we get started, let's state some assumptions and also cover WHY I wanted to do this for myself:
First, assumptions:
- You already have SCons installed and working on Windows and know the basics of using it. I'm excluding the details in this post because I'm sure SCons own site will do a better job of getting you started with that: http://www.scons.org/
- You don't have MinGW installed yet (you can, but you'll need the specific version linked in this tutorial).
- You don't have SFML installed yet (see above parenthesis).
Now, why bother doing this:
The main reason is that I LOVE USING SCONS. I have no quantifiable reason other than I've used it, and I love it. So instead of using Visual Studio or Code::Blocks, I've based my programming environment around using SCons. I like to program in a unix environment much more than a Windows environment. However, I want to program Windows games because for all the Microsoft hate you want to spew, Gaming on Windows > Gaming on Mac. At least it is for the type of gamer I am. Windows gamers are just 'my kind of people' and I want to make games that they might enjoy.
After attempting some fairly elaborate setups with VirtualBox running Windows on OSX and using the OSX terminal I found there were just too many gotcha's when it came to diving into bare bolts OpenGL and that while VirtualBox is pretty amazing, the full end-user experience for testing your game just isn't there. Instead, I decided to try developing on Window's native and do my best to make programming in Windows as 'unix-like' as possible. Of course there are about a million more gotcha's in trying to do this than running a game in a virtual machine but the most important thing to me is having the most accurate depiction of what my end-users will see when they play my game. I deal with the gotcha's so they (who don't actually exist yet) won't have to. So there you have it, there's my lame justification for doing things this way, if this doesn't make any sense to you, don't bother reading any further!
So what's the first step? Download MinGW, but not any old MinGW, SFML provides one in their setup with Code::Blocks tutorial located here under the 'Install SFML' header. Extract it to C:\MinGW so that it ends up looking like this:
Now add C:\MinGW\bin to your PATH environment variable. For those of you who don't know what that means (you should if you have already gotten SCons working) here are some incredibly detailed images on how to do so:
First, go to Start -> Computer.
Click System Properties near the top.
Click on Advanced System settings at the bottom of the menu on the left.
Click on the Advanced tab and go to Environment Variables.
In the System Variables box, scroll down until you find Path, select it and click Edit…
Click inside the Variable Value textbox and go all the way to the end and type in 'C:\MinGW\bin' and make sure you separate it from the previous last entry with a semi colon ';'
This will ensure SCons can find it later. You'll then want to download the MinGW (Code::Blocks) version of SFML. The only difference between their tutorial for Code::Blocks and this one is that I'm replacing Code::Blocks with SCons. Save your SFML files to C:\SFML\SFML-1.6. For those that seem to always have problems unzipping files into just the right place, make sure it ends up looking like this:
We'll be able to point SCons to these directories directly so there is no need to add any more paths to your path environment variable. The trick here is that this version of SFML comes already compiled to be compatible with the version of MinGW we also downloaded from them, so everything is going to work out great.
Once you have all that setup you can start your project. If you haven't worked with SCons before, the basics work like this: You make a file named 'SConstruct' in a directory, you fill it with instructions of what you want to do, like which files to compile and which libraries to link, etc. Then, using a command prompt, you type 'scons' in the directory where you made the SConstruct file, it will read it, do what you told it to do and exit. The example here will be very basic but SCons is a highly flexible tool that makes it easy to manage different builds on different platforms, even wrangling all the 32bit/64bit flavors of things, etc. All powered by Python which you also have at your disposal any time you want. I won't be going into depth on that here, though. Here's our SConstruct file for this sample. I've purposely sprinkled explanations in between the code in order to encourage people to type it out rather than just copy/paste and see if it works. It may seem unnecessary but I believe there's value in typing things out yourself when working with a new tool.
import SCons
All we're doing here is telling Python that were going to be using SCons.
env = Environment()
Now we create an environment object that we're going to configure to build our application for us. This is where SCons becomes very flexible, allowing you to create multiple environments for different configurations.
By default on a Windows platform, SCons assumes you're working with the Visual Studio compiler. This line will tell SCons we want to use the MinGW compiler instead. This part relies on the MinGW compiler being in your PATH environment variable, so don't forget that step! If you have multiple instances of MinGW in your PATH, I'm not sure what will happen. More than likely one will just take priority and if it's the wrong one, you're gonna have a bad time until you fix it.
Here, were getting rid of another assumption SCons made. On Windows, it will assume you want to pass /nologo to the Windows compiler. However, MinGW will think thats a file name, so here we're replacing the CCFLAGS environment variable with nothing.
env.Append(CPPPATH=['C:\SFML\SFML-1.6\include']) env.Append(LIBPATH=['C:\SFML\SFML-1.6\lib'])
Here we tell SCons where to find the SFML headers for the compiler, as well as where to find the libraries we'll be specifying to the linker.
EDIT: This will remove dependencies on some stdlib stuff MinGW uses, so you won't have to require your users to have MinGW or redistribute MinGW's dll's. (Not pictured in the screenshot of the final output as I added this step after publishing this post, but see if you can guess where it will show up!)
env.Append(LIBS=['glu32', 'sfml-graphics-s', 'sfml-window-s', 'sfml-system-s'])
Now we're telling SCons about the libraries we want to use. My dirty secret here is I don't remember where I got 'glu32′ but it's needed for the sample C++ code I'm about to get into. I'll need to update this in the future. You'll notice I've specified the '-s' flavors of SFML, which is the statically linked versions. If you want dynamic, you'll also need to add '-DSFML_DYNAMIC' in the step above where we replaced CCFLAGS with nothing. But then of course, you're program will either need those .dll's adjacent to the executable, or somewhere on your PATH variable.
env.Program('SFMLSample', ['main.cc'])
Last line of the SConstruct file here, this tells SCons to make a program named 'SFMLSample' and hands it a list of source files, which in this case is only main.cc. This is another place SCons can be useful since it has a Glob function that can be used to create a list of all *.cc files in a directory so when you add a new file to your project, it will automatically be picked up by SCons without any additional effort on your part.
Next, we need our actual C++ code, if you'll notice the last line in the SConstruct file, you'll see were going to be putting this into main.cc which needs to be adjacent to the SConstruct file. This is an example pieced together from SFML's tutorials located here. It's just an OpenGL window that spins a white cube around. The details of the code are better explained on SFML's website. You can basically put in any of the SFML's samples that you want, so I'm not going to bother splicing in explanations here.
#include #include #include void openGLInit() { // Set color and depth clear value glClearDepth(1.f); glClearColor(0.f, 0.f, 0.f, 0.f); // Enable Z-buffer read and write glEnable(GL_DEPTH_TEST); glDepthMask(GL_TRUE); // Setup a perspective projection glMatrixMode(GL_PROJECTION); glLoadIdentity(); gluPerspective(90.f, 1.f, 1.f, 500.f); } void render(float delta) { glClear(GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT); glMatrixMode(GL_MODELVIEW); glLoadIdentity(); glTranslatef(0.f, 0.f, -200.f); glRotatef(delta * 50, 1.f, 0.f, 0.f); glRotatef(delta * 30, 0.f, 1.f, 0.f); glRotatef(delta * 90, 0.f, 0.f, 1.f); glBegin(GL_QUADS); glVertex3f(-50.f, -50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, 50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f( 50.f, 50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f( 50.f, -50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, -50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, 50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f( 50.f, 50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f( 50.f, -50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, -50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, 50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, 50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, -50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f(50.f, -50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f(50.f, 50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f(50.f, 50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f(50.f, -50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, -50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, -50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f( 50.f, -50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f( 50.f, -50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, 50.f, 50.f); glVertex3f(-50.f, 50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f( 50.f, 50.f, -50.f); glVertex3f( 50.f, 50.f, 50.f); glEnd(); } int main() { sf::Clock clock; sf::RenderWindow app(sf::VideoMode(800, 600, 32), "SFML Window"); openGLInit(); app.SetFramerateLimit(60); const sf::Input& input = app.GetInput(); while (app.IsOpened()) { float framerate = 1.f / app.GetFrameTime(); sf::Event event; while (app.GetEvent(event)) { if (event.Type == sf::Event::Closed) { app.Close(); } if (event.Type == sf::Event::Resized) { glViewport(0, 0, event.Size.Width, event.Size.Height); } app.SetActive(); } render(clock.GetElapsedTime()); app.Display(); } return EXIT_SUCCESS; }
Now if you just open a command prompt, cd into your project's directory and type 'scons' you should have a working SFML application for Windows, statically linked and built with SCons! You can also run the program by typing SFMLSample.exe. If you've done everything right you should be looking at something like this