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Austin, TX (PRWEB) April 29, 2014
Builders Digital Experience, Inc. (BDX) announced that members of the California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS) in Los Angeles now have access to new home data via a new integration agreement with New Home Source Professional (http://www.NewHomeSourceProfessional.com), the premier web site for real estate professionals to get all of the information that they need about new homes for their clients.
Designed specifically for real estate agents, New Home Source Professional has the largest collection of new homes available anywhere. CRMLS is part of a growing list of multiple listing service (MLS) organizations across the country that are working with New Home Source Professional to bring this new home data to the MLS membership. As part of the agreements, these MLSs have a turnkey, branded "new home channel" on their MLS interface. MLS members can then search and view builders' new home inventory directly from their MLS dashboard through a customized version of NewHomeSourceProfessional.com.
MLS integrations will debut soon for members of the following MLSs:
MLS integrations are already active and available for members of the following MLSs:
With nearly 50 percent of home shoppers considering new construction when they start their home search, New Home Source Professional allows agents to serve buyers in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.
"In the Los Angeles area, 48% of agents prefer selling new construction homes and our relationship with CRMLS allows them to bring an unprecedented level of new home information directly to their members," said Tim Costello, chief executive officer, Builders Digital Experience.
MLSs interested in adding new home community and plan listings to their member dashboard should contact Gary Bush at GBush(at)thebdx(dot)com or 512-651-8919.
About Builders Digital Experience
Builders Digital Experience, LLC (BDX), a joint venture between Move, Inc. (NASDAQ:MOVE) and Builder Homesite, Inc., was founded to combine the industry's leading new home resources under one roof and offer builders innovative online marketing options, streamlined customer service and support, and greater value. Capitalizing on over 14 years of building industry experience, BDX operates http://www.newhomesourceprofessional.com, the leading new home website for real estate agents, while also providing other services to builders, including advertising and online listings, video production, rich media rendering, mobile search, custom website production and more. For more information, visit http://www.thebdx.com.
About CRMLS
California Regional MLS is the nation's largest Multiple Listing Service, providing products and services to over 70,000 subscribers from 34 REALTOR® Associations. California Regional MLS, located at 180 Via Verde, Suite 200 in San Dimas, California, provides access to listing data throughout the State of California. California Regional MLS has been a regional MLS for over 30 years and is dedicated to making a REAL Difference in the day-to-day business of Real Estate Professionals. For more information on California Regional MLS, contact communications(at)crmls(dot)org.


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Designer: Enzo Mari
Made in Japan
Materials: oak wood and tempered glass
coffee table 16"H with 53"L x 24"W glass top
dining table 28"H with 91"L x 28.5"W glass top
Lead Time: 2-3 weeks
One of the most thoughtful and intellectually provocative Italian designers of the late 20th century, ENZO MARI (1932-) has proved as influential to younger generations of designers as to his peers as a writer, teacher, artist and designer of products, furniture and puzzle games. - Design Museum
Hida Sangyo was founded in 1920 and is one of the leading wooden fruniture makers of Japan, based in the Takayama region. This part of Japan is known for its excellent wood craftsmanship, originating back to the 7th Century Nara period. Craftsmen from Hida-Takayama were responsible for constructing the magnificent wooden temples of Kyoto and Nara such as the World Heritage Horyu-ji, which still stand today after 13 centuries. This collection is made predominately of the beautiful Japanese sugi wood, realized with state-of-the-art industrial technology of wood compression.

subset: commoncrawl


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Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides ( (pronunciation), Greek: Ἀλκιβιάδης Κλεινίου Σκαμβωνίδης, transliterated Alkibiádēs Kleiníou Skambōnidēs) meaning Alcibiades, son of Cleinias, from the deme of Skambonidai; c. 450–404 BC), was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in the second half of that conflict as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician.
During the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades changed his allegiance on several occasions. In his native Athens in the early 410s BC, he advocated an aggressive foreign policy, and was a prominent proponent of the Sicilian Expedition, but fled to Sparta after his political enemies brought charges of sacrilege against him. In Sparta, he served as a strategic advisor, proposing or supervising several major campaigns against Athens. In Sparta too, however, Alcibiades soon made powerful enemies and was forced to defect to Persia. There he served as an advisor to the satrap Tissaphernes until his Athenian political allies brought about his recall. He then served as an Athenian General (Strategos) for several years, but his enemies eventually succeeded in exiling him a second time.
The Sicilian Expedition was Alcibiades' creation, and scholars have argued that, had that expedition been under Alcibiades' command instead of Nicias', the expedition might not have met its eventual disastrous fate. In the years that he served Sparta, Alcibiades played a significant role in Athens' undoing; the capture of Decelea and the revolts of several critical Athenian subjects occurred either at his suggestion or under his supervision. Once restored to his native city, however, he played a crucial role in a string of Athenian victories that eventually brought Sparta to seek a peace with Athens. He favored unconventional tactics, frequently winning cities over by treachery or negotiation rather than by siege. Alcibiades' military and political talents frequently proved valuable to whichever state currently held his allegiance, but his capacity for making powerful enemies ensured that he never remained in one place for long; and, by the end of the war he had helped rekindle in the early 410s, his days of political relevance were a bygone memory.
Alcibiades was born in ancient Athens, the son of Cleinias and Deinomache. His mother was the daughter of Megacles, and could trace her family back to Eurysaces and the Telamonian Ajax. Alcibiades thereby, through his mother, belonged to the powerful and controversial family of the Alcmaeonidae; the renowned Pericles and his brother Ariphron were Deinomache's cousins, as her father and their mother were siblings. His maternal grandfather, also named Alcibiades, was a friend of Cleisthenes, the famous constitutional reformer of the late 6th century BC. After the death of Cleinias at the Battle of Coronea (447 BC), Pericles and Ariphron became his guardians. According to Plutarch, Alcibiades had several famous teachers, including Socrates, and was well trained in the art of Rhetoric. He was noted, however, for his unruly behavior, which was mentioned by ancient Greek writers on several occasions.
Alcibiades took part in the Battle of Potidaea in 432 BC, where Socrates was said to have saved his life; he repaid Socrates at the Battle of Delium in 424 BC. Alcibiades had an intimate but (according to idealized ancient accounts) chaste relationship with Socrates, whom he admired and respected, and Socrates was in turn drawn to his beauty but refused to succumb to his youthful attractions. According to Plutarch, Alcibiades "feared and reverenced Socrates alone, and despised the rest of his lovers".
Alcibiades was married to Hipparete, the daughter of Hipponicus, a wealthy Athenian. According to Plutarch, Hipparete loved her husband, but she attempted to divorce him because he consorted with courtesans. She lived with him until her death and may have given birth to two children, a daughter and a son, who also was named Alcibiades.
Disputes over the interpretation of the treaty led the Spartans to dispatch ambassadors to Athens with full powers to arrange all unsettled matters. The Athenians initially received these ambassadors well, but Alcibiades met with them in secret before they were to speak to the ecclesia (the Athenian Assembly) and told them that the Assembly was haughty and had great ambitions. He urged them to renounce their diplomatic authority to represent Sparta, and instead allow him to assist them through his influence in Athenian politics. The representatives agreed and, impressed with Alcibiades' foresight, they alienated themselves from Nicias, who sincerely wanted to reach an agreement with the Spartans. The next day, during the Assembly, Alcibiades asked them what powers Sparta had granted them to negotiate and they replied, as agreed, that they had not come with full and independent powers. This was in direct contradiction to what they had said the day before, and Alcibiades seized on this opportunity to denounce their character, cast suspicion on their aims, and destroy their credibility. This ploy increased Alcibiades' standing while embarrassing Nicias, and Alcibiades was subsequently appointed General. He took advantage of his increasing power to orchestrate the creation of an alliance between Argos, Mantinea, Elis, and other states in the Peloponnese, threatening Sparta's dominance in the region. According to Gomme, "it was a grandiose scheme for an Athenian general at the head of a mainly Peloponnesian army to march through the Peloponnese cocking a snook at Sparta when her reputation was at its lowest". This alliance, however, would ultimately be defeated at the Battle of Mantinea.
Somewhere in the years 416–415 BC, a complex struggle took place between Hyperbolos on one side and Nicias and Alcibiades on the other. Hyperbolos tried to bring about the ostracism of one of this pair, but Nicias and Alcibiades combined their influence to induce the people to expel Hyperbolos instead. This incident reveals that Nicias and Alcibiades each commanded a personal following, whose votes were determined by the wishes of the leaders.
Alcibiades was not one of the Generals involved in the capture of Melos in 416–415 BC, but Plutarch describes him as a supporter of the decree by which the grown men of Melos were killed and the women and children enslaved. The orator Andocides alleges that Alcibiades had a child by one of these enslaved women.
In 415 BC, delegates from the Sicilian city of Segesta (Egesta) arrived at Athens to plead for the support of the Athenians in their war against Selinus. During the debates on the undertaking, Nicias was vehemently opposed to Athenian intervention, explaining that the campaign would be very costly and attacking the character and motives of Alcibiades, who had emerged as the supporter of the expedition. On the other hand, Alcibiades argued that a campaign in this new theatre would bring riches to the city and expand the empire, just as the Persian Wars had. In his speech Alcibiades predicted (over-optimistically, in the opinion of most historians) that the Athenians would be able to recruit allies in the region and impose their rule on Syracuse, the most powerful city of Sicily. In spite of Alcibiades' enthusiastic advocacy for the plan, it was Nicias, not he, who turned a modest undertaking into a massive campaign and made the conquest of Sicily seem possible and safe. It was at his suggestion that the size of the fleet was significantly increased from 60 ships to "140 galleys, 5,100 men at arms, and about 1300 archers, slingers, and light armed men". Philosopher Leo Strauss underscores that the Sicilian expedition surpassed everything undertaken by Pericles. Almost certainly Nicias' intention was to shock the assembly with his high estimate of the forces required, but, instead of dissuading his fellow citizens, his analysis made them all the more eager. Against his wishes Nicias was appointed General along with Alcibiades and Lamachus, all three of whom were given full powers to do whatever was in the best interests of Athens while in Sicily.
One night during preparations for the expedition, the hermai, heads of the god Hermes on a plinth with a phallus, were mutilated throughout Athens. This was a religious scandal and was seen as a bad omen for the mission. Plutarch explains that Androcles, a political leader, used false witnesses who accused Alcibiades and his friends of mutilating the statues, and of profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries. Later his opponents, chief among them being Androcles and Thessalus, Cimon's son, enlisted orators to argue that Alcibiades should set sail as planned and stand trial on his return from the campaign. Alcibiades was suspicious of their intentions, and asked to be allowed to stand trial immediately, under penalty of death, in order to clear his name. This request was denied, and the fleet set sail soon after, with the charges unresolved.
|"Men do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a superior, but often strike the first blow to prevent the attack being made. And we cannot fix the exact point at which our empire shall stop; we have reached a position in which we must not be content with retaining but must scheme to extend it, for, if we cease to rule others, we are in danger of being ruled ourselves. Nor can you look at inaction from the same point of view as others, unless you are prepared to change your habits and make them like theirs."
|Alcibiades' Oration before the Sicilian expedition as recorded by Thucydides, (VI, 18]); Thucydides disclaims verbal accuracy
As Alcibiades had suspected, his absence emboldened his enemies, and they began to accuse him of other sacrilegious actions and comments and even alleged that these actions were connected with a plot against the democracy. According to Thucydides, the Athenians were always in fear and took everything suspiciously. When the fleet arrived in Catana, it found the state trireme Salaminia waiting to bring Alcibiades and the others indicted for mutilating the hermai or profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries back to Athens to stand trial. Alcibiades told the heralds that he would follow them back to Athens in his ship, but in Thurii he escaped with his crew; in Athens he was convicted in absentia and condemned to death. His property was confiscated and a reward of one talent was promised to whoever succeeded in killing any who had fled. Meanwhile the Athenian force in Sicily, after a few early victories, moved against Messina, where the Generals expected their secret allies within the city to betray it to them. Alcibiades, however, foreseeing that he would be outlawed, gave information to the friends of the Syracusans in Messina, who succeeded in preventing the admission of the Athenians. With the death of Lamachus in battle some time later, command of the Sicilian Expedition fell into the hands of Nicias, whom modern scholars have judged to be an inadequate military leader.
|"Our party was that of the whole people, our creed being to do our part in preserving the form of government under which the city enjoyed the utmost greatness and freedom, and which we had found existing. As for democracy, the men of sense among us knew what it was, and I perhaps as well as any, as I have the more cause to complain of it; but there is nothing new to be said of a patent absurdity — meanwhile we did not think it safe to alter it under the pressure of your hostility."
|Alcibiades' Speech to the Spartans as recorded by Thucydides, (VI, 89]); Thucydides disclaims verbal accuracy
Alcibiades served as a military advisor to Sparta and helped the Spartans secure several crucial successes. He advised them to build a permanent fort at Decelea, just over ten miles (16 km) from Athens and within sight of the city. By doing this, the Spartans cut the Athenians off entirely from their homes and crops and the silver mines of Sunium. This was part of Alcibiades's plan to renew the war with Athens in Attica. The move was devastating to Athens and forced the citizens to live within the long walls of the city year round, making them entirely dependent on their seaborne trade for food. Seeing Athens thus beleaguered on a second front, members of the Delian League began to contemplate revolt. In the wake of Athens' disastrous defeat in Sicily, Alcibiades sailed to Ionia with a Spartan fleet and succeeded in persuading several critical cities to revolt. In spite of these valuable contributions to the Spartan cause, Alcibiades fell out of favor with the Spartan government at around this time, when it was discovered that he was having an affair with the wife of the Spartan king, Agis II. Leotychides, the son born by Agis' wife Timaia shortly after this, was believed by many to be Alcibiades' son. Alcibiades's influence was further reduced after the retirement of Endius, the ephor who was most friendly to him. It is alleged that Astiochus, a Spartan Admiral, was sent orders to kill him, but Alcibiades received warning of this order and defected to the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, who had been supporting the Peloponnesian forces financially in 412 BC.
On his arrival in the Persian court, Alcibiades won the trust of the powerful satrap and made several policy suggestions which were well received. According to Thucydides, Alcibiades immediately began to do all he could with Tissaphernes to injure the Peloponnesian cause. At his urging, the satrap reduced the payments he was making to the Peloponnesian fleet and began delivering them irregularly. Alcibiades next advised Tissaphernes to bribe the Generals of the cities to gain valuable intelligence on their activities. Lastly, and most importantly, he told the satrap to be in no hurry to bring the Persian fleet into the conflict, as the longer the war dragged out the more exhausted the combatants would become. This would allow the Persians to more easily conquer the region in the aftermath of the fighting. Alcibiades tried to convince the satrap that it was in Persia's interest to wear both Athens and Sparta out at first, "and after docking the Athenian power as much as he could, forthwith to rid the country of the Peloponnesians". Although Alcibiades' advice benefited the Persians, it was merely a means to an end; Thucydides tells us that his real motive was to use his alleged influence with the Persians to effect his restoration to Athens.
These officers of the Athenian fleet formed a group of conspirators, but were met with opposition from the majority of the soldiers and sailors; these were eventually calmed down "by the advantageous prospect of the pay from the king". The members of the group assembled and prepared to send Pisander, one of their number, on an embassy to Athens to treat for the restoration of Alcibiades and the abolition of the democracy in the city, and thus to make Tissaphernes the friend of the Athenians.
Phrynichus, fearing that Alcibiades if restored would avenge himself upon him for his opposition, sent a secret letter to the Spartan Admiral, Astyochus, to tell him that Alcibiades was ruining their cause by making Tissaphernes the friend of the Athenians, and containing an express revelation of the rest of the intrigue. Astyochus went up to Alcibiades and Tissaphernes at Magnesia and communicated to them Phrynichus's letter. Alcibiades responded in kind, sending to the authorities at Samos a letter against Phrynichus, stating what he had done, and requiring that he should be put to death. Phrynichus in desperation wrote again to Astyochus, offering him a chance to destroy the Athenian fleet at Samos. This also Astyochus revealed to Alcibiades who informed the officers at Samos that they had been betrayed by Phrynichus. Alcibiades however gained no credit, because Phrynichus had anticipated Alcibiades's letter and, before the accusations could arrive, told the army that he had received information of an enemy plan to attack the camp and that they should fortify Samos as quickly as possible.
Despite these events, Pisander and the other envoys of the conspirators arrived at Athens, and made a speech before the people. Pisander won the argument, putting Alcibiades and his promises at the center. The Ecclesia deposed Phrynichus and elected Pisander and ten other envoys to negotiate with Tissaphernes and Alcibiades. At this point, Alcibiades's scheme encountered a great obstacle. Tissaphernes would not make an agreement on any terms, wanting to follow his policy of neutrality. As Kagan points out, Tissaphernes was a prudent leader and had recognized the advantages of wearing each side out without direct Persian involvement. Alcibiades realized this and, by presenting the Athenians with stiffer and stiffer demands on Tissaphernes' behalf, attempted to convince them that he had persuaded Tissaphernes to support them, but that they had not conceded enough to him. Although the envoys were angered at the audacity of the Persian demands, they nevertheless departed with the impression that Alcibiades could have brought about an agreement among the powers if he had chosen to do so. This fiasco at the court of Tissaphernes, however, put an end to the negotiations between the conspirators and Alcibiades. The group was convinced that Alcibiades could not deliver his side of the bargain without demanding exorbitantly high concessions of them and they accordingly abandoned their plans to restore him to Athens.
After a time, Thrasybulus persuaded the assembled troops to vote Alcibiades' recall, a policy that he had supported since before the coup. Then he sailed to retrieve Alcibiades and returned with him to Samos. The aim of this policy was to win away Persian support from the Spartans, as it was still believed that Alcibiades had great influence with Tissaphernes. Plutarch claims that the army sent for Alcibiades so as to use his help in putting down the tyrants in Athens. Kagan argues that this reinstatement was a disappointment to Alcibiades, who had hoped for a glorious return to Athens itself but found himself only restored to the rebellious fleet, where the immunity from prosecution he had been granted "protected him for the time being but not from a reckoning in the future"; furthermore, the recall, which Alcibiades had hoped to bring about through his own prestige and perceived influence, was achieved through the patronage of Thrasybulus.
At his first speech to the assembled troops, Alcibiades complained bitterly about the circumstances of his exile, but the greatest part of the speech consisted of boasting about his influence with Tissaphernes. The primary motives of his speech were to make the oligarchs at Athens afraid of him and to increase his credit with the army at Samos. Upon hearing his speech the troops immediately elected him General alongside Thrasybulus and the others. In fact, he roused them so much that they proposed to sail at once for Piraeus and attack the oligarchs in Athens. It was primarily Alcibiades, along with Thrasybulus, who calmed the people and showed them the folly of this proposal, which would have sparked civil war and led to the immediate defeat of Athens. Shortly after Alcibiades' reinstatement as an Athenian general, the government of the Four Hundred was overthrown and replaced by a broader oligarchy, which would eventually give way to democracy.
Presently Alcibiades sailed to Tissaphernes with a detachment of ships. According to Plutarch, the supposed purpose of this mission was to stop the Persian fleet from coming to the aid of the Peloponnesians. Thucydides is in agreement with Plutarch that the Persian fleet was at Aspendus and that Alcibiades told the troops he would bring the fleet to their side or prevent it from coming at all, but Thucydides further speculates that the real reason was to flaunt his new position to Tissaphernes and try to gain some real influence over him. According to the historian, Alcibiades had long known that Tissaphernes never meant to bring the fleet at all.
Alcibiades was recalled by the "intermediate regime" of The Five Thousand, the government which succeeded the Four Hundred in 411, but it is most likely that he waited until 407 BC to actually return to the city. Plutarch tells us that, although his recall had already been passed on motion of Critias, a political ally of his, Alcibiades was resolved to come back with glory. While this was certainly his goal, it was again means to an end, that end being avoiding prosecution upon his return to Athens. The next significant part he would play in the war would occur at the Battle of Abydos. Alcibiades had remained behind at Samos with a small force while Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus led the greater part of the fleet to the Hellespont. During this period, Alcibiades succeeded in raising money from Caria and the neighboring area, with which he was able to pay the rowers and gain their favor. After the Athenian victory at Cynossema, both fleets summoned all their ships from around the Aegean to join them for what might be a decisive next engagement. While Alcibiades was still en route, the two fleets clashed at Abydos, where the Peloponnesians had set up their main naval base. The battle was evenly matched, and raged for a long time, but the balance tipped towards the Athenians when Alcibiades sailed into the Hellespont with eighteen triremes. The Persian satrap Pharnabazus, who had replaced Tissaphernes as the sponsor of the Peloponnesian fleet, moved his land army to the shore to defend the ships and sailors who had beached their ships. Only the support of the Persian land army and the coming of night saved the Peloponnesian fleet from complete destruction.
Shortly after the battle, Tissaphernes had arrived in the Hellespont and Alcibiades left the fleet at Sestos to meet him, bringing gifts and hoping to once again try to win over the Persian governor. Evidently Alcibiades had gravely misjudged his standing with the satrap, and he was arrested on arrival. Within a month he would escape and resume command. It was now obvious, however, that he had no influence with the Persians; from now on his authority would depend on what he actually could accomplish rather than on what he promised to do.
After an interlude of several months in which the Peloponnesians constructed new ships and the Athenians besieged cities and raised money throughout the Aegean, the next major sea battle took place the spring of 410 BC at Cyzicus. Alcibiades had been forced to flee from Sestos to Cardia to protect his small fleet from the rebuilt Peloponnesian navy, but as soon as the Athenian fleet was reunited there its commanders led it to Cyzicus, where the Athenians had intelligence indicating that Pharnabazus and Mindarus, the Peloponnesian fleet commander, were together plotting their next move. Concealed by storm and darkness, the combined Athenian force reached the vicinity without being spotted by the Peloponnesians. Here the Athenians devised a plot to draw the enemy into battle. According to Diodorus Siculus, Alcibiades advanced with a small squadron in order to draw the Spartans out to battle, and, after he successfully deceived Mindarus with this ploy, the squadrons of Thrasybulus and Theramenes came to join him, cutting off the Spartan's retreat.
The Spartan fleet suffered losses in the flight, and reached the shore with the Athenians in close pursuit. Alcibiades's troops, leading the Athenian pursuit, landed and attempted to pull the Spartan ships back out to sea. The Peloponnesians fought to prevent their ships from being towed away, and Pharnabazus's troops came up to support them. Thrasybulus landed his own force to temporarily relieve pressure on Alcibiades, and meanwhile ordered Theramenes to join up with Athenian land forces nearby and bring them to reinforce the sailors and marines on the beach. The Spartans and Persians, overwhelmed by the arrival of multiple forces from several directions, were defeated and driven off, and the Athenians captured all the Spartan ships which were not destroyed. A letter dispatched to Sparta by Hippocrates, vice-admiral under Mindarus, was intercepted and taken to Athens; it ran as follows: "The ships are lost. Mindarus is dead. The men are starving. We know not what to do". A short time later Sparta petitioned for peace, but their appeals were ultimately rejected by the Athenians.
After their victory, Alcibiades and Thrasybulus began the siege of Chalcedon in 409 BC with about 190 ships. Although unable to attain a decisive victory or induce the city to surrender, Alcibiades was able to win a small tactical land battle outside of the city gates and Theramenes concluded an agreement with the Chalcedonians. Afterwards they concluded a temporary alliance with Pharnabazus which secured some much needed immediate cash for the army, but despite this Alcibiades was still forced to depart in search for more booty to pay the soldiers and oarsmen of the fleet.
In pursuit of these funds he traveled to the Thracian Chersonese and attacked Selymbria. He plotted with a pro-Athenian party within the city and offered the Selymbrians reasonable terms and imposed strict discipline to see that they were observed. He did their city no injury whatever, but merely took a sum of money from it, set a garrison in it and left. Epigraphical evidence indicates the Selymbrians surrendered hostages until the treaty was ratified in Athens. His performance is judged as skillful by historians, since it saved time, resources, and lives and still fully achieved his goal. From here Alcibiades joined in the siege of Byzantium along with Theramenes and Thrasyllus. A portion of the citizens of the city, demoralized and hungry, decided to surrender the city to Alcibiades for similar terms as the Selymbrians had received. On the agreed upon night the defenders left their posts, and the Athenians attacked the Peloponnesian garrison in the city and their boats in the harbor. The portion of the citizenry that remained loyal to the Peloponnesians fought so savagely that Alcibiades issued a statement in the midst of the fighting which guaranteed their safety and this persuaded the remaining citizens to turn against the Peloponnesian garrison, which was nearly totally destroyed.
Responsibility for the defeat ultimately fell on Alcibiades, and his enemies used the opportunity to attack him and have him removed from command, although some modern scholars believe that Alcibiades was unfairly blamed for Antiochus' mistake. Diodorus reports that, in addition to his mistake at Notium, Alcibiades was discharged on account of false accusations brought against him by his enemies. According to Anthony Andrewes, professor of ancient history, the extravagant hopes that his successes of the previous summer had created were a decisive element in his downfall. Consequently Alcibiades condemned himself to exile. Never again returning to Athens, he sailed north to the castles in the Thracian Chersonese, which he had secured during his time in the Hellespont. The implications of the defeat were severe for Athens. Although the defeat had been minor, it occasioned the removal of not only Alcibiades but also his allies like Thrasybulus, Theramenes and Critias. These were likely the most capable commanders Athens had at the time and their removal would help lead to the Athenian surrender only two years later after their complete defeat at Aegospotami.
With one exception, Alcibiades' role in the war ended with his command. Prior to the Battle of Aegospotami, in the last attested fact of his career, Alcibiades recognized that the Athenians were anchored in a tactically disadvantageous spot and advised them to move to Sestus where they could benefit from a harbor and a city. Diodorus, however, does not mention this advice, arguing instead that Alcibiades offered the Generals Thracian aid in exchange for a share in the command. In any case, the Generals of the Athenians, "considering that in case of defeat the blame would attach to them and that in case of success all men would attribute it to Alcibiades", asked him to leave and not come near the camp ever again. Days later the fleet would be annihilated by Lysander. After the Battle of Aegospotami, Alcibiades crossed the Hellespont and took refuge in Phrygia, with the object of securing the aid of Artaxerxes against Sparta.
Much about Alcibiades' death is now uncertain, as there are conflicting accounts. According to the oldest of these, the Spartans and specifically Lysander were responsible. Though many of his details cannot be independently corroborated, Plutarch's version is this: Lysander sent an envoy to Pharnabazus who then dispatched his brother to Phrygia where Alcibiades was living with his mistress, Timandra. In 404 BC, as he was about to set out for the Persian court, his residence was surrounded and set on fire. Seeing no chance of escape he rushed out on his assassins, dagger in hand, and was killed by a shower of arrows. According to Aristotle, the site of Alcibiades' death was Elaphus, a mountain in Phrygia.
Even today, Alcibiades divides scholars. For Malcolm F. McGregor, former head of the Department of Classics in the University of British Columbia, Alcibiades was rather a shrewd gambler than a mere opportunist. Evangelos P. Fotiadis, a prominent Greek philologist, asserts that Alcibiades was "a first class diplomat" and had "huge skills". Nevertheless his spiritual powers were not counter-balanced with his magnificent mind and he had the hard luck to lead a people susceptible to demagoguery. K. Paparrigopoulos, a major modern Greek historian, underlines his "spiritual virtues" and compares him with Themistocles, but he then asserts that all these gifts created a "traitor, an audacious and impious man". Walter Ellis believes that his actions were outrageous, but they were performed with panache. For his part, David Gribble argues that Alcibiades's actions against his city were misunderstood and believes that "the tension which led to Alcibiades' split with the city was between purely personal and civic values". Russell Meiggs, a British ancient historian, asserts that the Athenian statesman was absolutely unscrupulous despite his great charm and brilliant abilities. According to Meiggs his actions were dictated by selfish motives and his feud with Cleon and his successors undermined Athens. The same scholar underscores the fact that "his example of restless and undisciplined ambition strengthened the charge brought against Socrates". Even more critically, Athanasios G. Platias and Constantinos Koliopoulos, professors of strategic studies and international politics, state that Alcibiades' own arguments "should be sufficient to do away with the notion that Alcibiades was a great statesman, as some people still believe".
Despite his critical comments, Thucydides admits in a short digression that "publicly his conduct of the war was as good as could be desired". Diodorus and Demosthenes regard him as a great general. According to Fotiadis, Alcibiades was an invincible general and, wherever he went, victory followed him; had he led the army in Sicily, the Athenians would have avoided disaster and, had his countrymen followed his advice at Aegospotami, Lysander would have lost and Athens would have ruled Greece. On the other hand, Paparrigopoulos believes that the Sicilian Expedition, prompted by Alcibiades, was a strategic mistake. In agreement with Paparrigopoulos, Platias and Koliopoulos underscore the fact that the Sicilian expedition was a strategic blunder of the first magnitude, resulting from a "frivolous attitude and an unbelievable underestimation of the enemy". For his part, Angelos Vlachos, a Greek Academician, underlines the constant interest of Athens for Sicily from the beginning of the war. According to Vlachos the expedition had nothing of the extravagant or adventurous and constituted a rational strategic decision based on traditional Athenian aspirations. Vlachos asserts that Alcibiades had already conceived a broader plan: the conquest of the whole West. He intended to conquer Carthage and Libya, then to attack Italy and, after winning these, to seize Italy and Peloponnesus. The initial decision of the ecclesia provided however for a reasonable military force, which later became unreasonably large and costly because of Nicias' demands. Kagan criticizes Alcibiades for failing to recognize that the large size of the Athenian expedition undermined the diplomatic scheme on which his strategy rested.
Kagan believes that while Alcibiades was a commander of considerable ability, he was no military genius, and his confidence and ambitions went far beyond his skills. He thus was capable of important errors and serious miscalculations. Kagan argues that at Notium, Alcibiades committed a serious error in leaving the fleet in the hands of an inexperienced officer, and that most of the credit for the brilliant victory at Cyzicus must be assigned to Thrasybulus. In this judgement, Kagan agrees with Cornelius Nepos, who said that the Athenians' extravagant opinion of Alcibiades's abilities and valor was his chief misfortune.
Press argues that "though Alcibiades can be considered a good General on the basis of his performance in the Hellespont, he would not be considered so on the basis of his performance in Sicily", but "the strengths of Alcibiades' performance as a general outweigh his faults". Professors David McCann and Barry Strauss attempt a comparison between Alcibiades and Douglas MacArthur, pointing out that "both men stood out as military leaders to whom a mystique attached itself".
Long after his death, Alcibiades continues to appear in art, both in Medieval and Renaissance works, and in several significant works of modern literature as well. He still fascinates the modern world, doing so most notably as the main character in historical novels of authors like Anna Bowman Dodd, Gertrude Atherton, Rosemary Sutcliff, Daniel Chavarria, Steven Pressfield and Peter Green. He is also a central character in Paul Levinson's time travel novel The Plot To Save Socrates, in Kurt Giambastiani's time travel novel Unraveling Time, in Erik Satie's Socrate, a work for voice and small orchestra (the text is composed of excerpts of Victor Cousin's translation of works by Plato), and in Joel Richards' Nebula award-nominated short story The Gods Abandon Alcibiades. Alcibiades also figures in the satirical Picture This by Joseph Heller and in William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens.


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Global warming and climate change present humankind with one of the greatest challenges in the history of our species. While there is now broad acknowledgment of this fact, for those of us in the world's most developed countries, our awareness is often abstracted: We see climate change as just an environmental problem that will somehow be solved, or our view is shaped by the kind of horrific disasters that make for sensational headlines and gripping news footage. Then we forget all about it until the next disaster flashes across our screens.
What shouldn't be overlooked is that the effects of climate change are cumulative. They do not always take the form of extreme natural disasters. Climate change is already having a profoundly adverse impact on poorer communities around the world, as they experience, for example, a heavy rainfall that destroys a farmer's entire crop during the normally dry season. The people most affected – women, children, and the most vulnerable – are the least responsible for causing climate change, and also the least able to cope.
Putting aside the worst-case scenarios of a much hotter world, we need to face the present reality that climate change is already disproportionately affecting the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people in a way that jeopardizes their fundamental human rights.
I've become increasingly aware of this during my years traveling to many of the world's poorest and most underdeveloped countries, where I've seen how climate change is threatening food supplies and sabotaging development goals.
Climate change is an issue of both human rights and fundamental justice. Developing countries' fossil-fuel consumption is undermining the life chances of very poor people, and, unlike those of us in developed nations, those people are largely helpless in response to the climate shocks of severe droughts, catastrophic storms, and floods. They don't have insurance, and their governments don't have the means to provide climate adaptation strategies.
Considering climate change from a human rights and justice perspective compels us to recognize our own responsibility to support poorer populations in their efforts to adapt and become resilient. It lends greater urgency to the need for a true partnership of nations to limit global warming.
Fortunately, this human rights perspective is increasingly being embraced. The U.N. Human Rights Council first recognized the impact of climate change on human rights in 2008, and last year appointed John Knox, a distinguished American academic, as its first independent expert on human rights and the environment.
More recently, the U.N. High-Level Panel charged with advising the secretary-general on an agenda for global development beyond 2015, the original target date for the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals, released its report, "A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development." The report clearly links human rights and development, as well as development and the environment.
The climate agenda must be achieved by 2015. This agenda can only be truly effective if it's seen to be fair and equitable, recognizing the legitimate development aspirations of developing countries and supporting the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy.
Developing countries will not embrace an agenda that does not recognize climate change's disproportionate impact on them. Climate change jeopardizes food and water security, limits access to resources, and exacerbates the effects of poverty. Poorer countries thus end up being more affected.
In order to achieve the climate agenda, we need to focus on the poor and most vulnerable, and recognize the importance of a rights-based approach. People's rights must be protected. We must make sure nobody is left behind.
I'm infused with a sense of urgency. We must act now, or the world we pass on to our children and grandchildren will be almost unimaginably troubled. What will they think of us? We have the awareness, the knowledge and the expertise to do something about climate change. Let us not be accused of failing to act while there was still time.
Mary Robinson was president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and U.N. high commissioner for human rights from 1997 to 2002. In July 2009, she was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor. In 2010, she established the Mary
Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice, and last March, she was appointed U.N. special envoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa. This commentary originally appeared at The Mark News (www.themarknews.com).
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Time to fight racism with action, not words


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Diabetes – high glucose level
Diabetes (increased blood sugar level) is a widespread chronic disease manifested in elevated levels of blood sugar, but it also contains a large number of disorders which are directly or indirectly related to the use of the nutrients (metabolism) in the body.
Insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas, is very important for the development of diabetes, because its absence or reduced secretion are the foundation of all forms of diabetes. If the blood glucose level in the morning (before breakfast), measured in two different days, is over 7 mmol/l , it is sufficient cause for alarm and diagnosis of diabetes. The number of patients with diabetes has been increasing rapidly, and it is estimated that it will soon exceed 300 million worldwide!
Diabetes is a silent killer!
Herbal Teas
Thanks to many years of experience and professional work in all areas of knowledge of medicinal plants, we decided to establish "Herba Prima International" and give our contribution to the areas we know best: diabetes, high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, as well as diseases related to the liver.
We created two top dietetic products: Antidiabet plus tea and Hepavit plus tea which are used as additional therapy for these diseases. From the very beginning, these products have justified our expectations and hard work in finding the right dosage to achieve optimal effects for users of our tea.
Traditional medicine and modern research
All the necessary technical research and classification of the products are done at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Belgrade. By focusing on these two diseases which have grown in direct proportion with the level of development of modern urban life worldwide, the company "Herba Prima International" is giving its full contribution to the traditional method of treatment (traditional medicine) and tries to use certain herbs in order to improve the health of the consumers of our teas, with great success.


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UN Security Council to Discuss Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's opposition has called for help from the UN as the Security Council meets for its first discussion of the country's post-election crisis, reports the BBC.
Police freed more than 180 opposition activists without charge four days after their arrest after a Zimbabwean human rights group accused the government of using violence in rural areas to rig a possible presidential run-off.
Allies of President Robert Mugabe say the violence is being exaggerated, reports the BBC.
According to a BBC contributor in the southern town of Masvingo, "the bodies of two opposition activists have been found after they were abducted."
Tendai Biti, Secretary-General of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said he hoped the UN Security Council meeting would lead to a resolution of the country's crisis.
"We're also hoping that as soon as possible the Secretary General can dispatch an envoy to Zimbabwe," he told Reuters news agency.
Kucaca Phulu, chairman of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, said hundreds of people had been forced from their homes.
The MDC says this has often been in rural areas which Zanu-PF lost in the parliamentary elections.
"If there is a run-off, what is of grave concern to us is that all these displaced people will not be able to go back to their home areas to vote," Phulu said.
President Bush says Robert Mugabe has "failed his people.The violence and intimidation is simply unacceptable" and called on Zimbabwe's neighbours to increase pressure on Mugabe.


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October 3, 2005 3:31 PM PDT
Microsoft to support PDF in Office 12
- Related Stories
Office 12 makeover takes on 'feature creep'September 20, 2005
Microsoft adding XML files to Office 12June 1, 2005
Microsoft gunning for Adobe's PDF format?May 3, 2005
Office 12, which is expected to be completed by the second half of 2006, will let end users take an Office document and convert it to PDF, Brian Jones, a program manager for Microsoft Office, said in a blog posting. People will not be able to actually read PDF files from within Office applications; a PDF viewer will still be required, he noted.
The PDF support will be built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, OneNote, Visio and InfoPath, Jones said.
"We've really heard the feedback that sharing documents across multiple platforms and long-term archiving are really important," Jones said in his blog. "People now have a couple options here, with the existing support for HTML and RTF, and now the new support for open XML formats and PDF."
Microsoft's XML-based document formats will be the default setting for Office 12. The advantage of having an XML-based format is that information from documents can be more easily shared and archived, according to Microsoft executives.
The importance of multiple document formats came into sharp focus last month when Massachusetts decided to mandate the use of the OpenDocument format in desktop productivity applications used in the state's executive branch agencies. Adobe's PDF is considered an "open format" under the state's policy. Microsoft's Office 12 does not support OpenDocument.
Even as Microsoft adds PDF support, the company is working on a document format, called Metro, that offers many of the same features as PDF. Metro will be delivered in late 2006 with Windows Vista.
Metro is designed to enable people to view Office documents without needing Office applications. The format also uses the graphics engine in Windows Vista to have a consistent way of displaying data on a screen and sending document data to printers, according to Microsoft.
At a meeting with Microsoft partners Saturday, Microsoft's senior vice president of Microsoft Office, Steven Sinofksy, demonstrated the PDF support. A beta test version of Office 12, which will include the PDF feature, is expected to be released this fall.
In an interview on Monday, Sinofsky said that Microsoft has been getting 120,000 requests a month that it add an option to save files in PDF. He said the decision to add the support was made some time ago.
"It's been a feature area that has been under development for the whole product cycle; we just chose to announce it this past week," he said.
An Adobe executive said that the company welcomes Office's support of PDF.
"Microsoft's announcement is really a validation that PDF is the basis for customer critical workflows," Pam Deziel, Adobe director of platform strategy, said in an interview.
At the same time, Deziel acknowledged that the company is seeing increased competition from Microsoft in a variety of areas.
"Yes, we see them encroaching into areas where Adobe has long delivered products," she said, adding that Microsoft is both a key partner and a formidable competitor. "There is healthy 'co-opetition'...That's the way the game works in this industry."
Deziel said that Adobe might see lower sales of its low-end Acrobat Elements program, but that the majority of the Acrobat business comes from higher-end products whose abilities stretch beyond Office's PDF-handling features.
It is less clear, Deziel said, how Office's new PDF capabilities will dovetail with Microsoft's plans for Metro. The ability to save and share Metro documents from any program will be built into Vista and available as an add-on to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Sinofsky declined to say what built-in Metro abilities Office 12 will have.
"We're curious about that," she said. "I don't think they've answered that question very well."
CNET News.com's Ina Fried contributed to this report.
31 commentsJoin the conversation! Add your comment
- About time . . .
- The next step should be to add the ability to generate PDFs from
any app, something that Mac OS has had built-in for several years.
- Like Reply Link Flag
- Big Deal!
- Mac users can generate pdf files directly from the MacOS for
ages. Still, good news for the MS users, I think.
- Like Reply Link Flag
- PDF = "standard"
- Sadly, the PDF format is a "standard" in the same way that .doc or .xls are "standards", and so it makes sense for Office to support those files.
It's such a PITA to use them, though. PDFs have their place, but they are used WAY more frequently than they should be.
Funny, though, to listen to the Massechusets people sheepishly stumble though their explanation of why PDF is "open enough" for the state to use, but Office metro docs aren't, even though neither support OpenDoc. Almost like the plan started with an agenda BESIDES money or "transparent file formats", and then formulated a course of action to fit that agenda.
Anyway, it's pretty clear my shop will continue to rely on Excel (and Office), given the feature set coming in Excel 12. I think OpenOffice has about 4-6 years worth of HARD work to do to catch up, 2.0 is woefully behind the times, and will feel like Excel 5.0 when Excel 12 ships. (Yes, I think OO is great if it does what you need, it just isn't for everybody.)
- Like Reply Link Flag
- PDF is usefull because you can get a reader for just about every platform. I don't believe Microsoft intends to publish the specs for Metro so it can be used on any platform. I also believe that Microsofts XML file format won't validate as standard XML.
There is always WordPerfect which I find to be way ahead of Microsoft Office in many area's and sadly behind in others. Microsoft know that if they use open document standards they will actually have to create a better program. And that goes against their business practices.
Most everybody I know buys Office because that's the most wildely used document format and is used in many schools and offices, not because they like using office. Some do, but many don't. Many I know switched from WordPerfect and have regretted it.
- Like Link Flag
- PDF is an Open Standard!
- It totally makes sense why the State of Massachusetts is
including PDF in their mandate; PDF is an open (hence
published) standard. It is also cross-platform, meaning that all
computer users have access to documents created in the PDF
format, which is the best approach for maintaining universal
accessibility for information made available to the public.
In regards to OpenOffice versus Microsoft Office...
I use both office suites and your analysis is biased and off the
mark. I would venture to say that OpenOffice (and StarOffice) is
probably more comparable to MS Office 2000 and higher, which
since most of the MS office using world is probably using either
Office 2000 or Office XP, then switching to OpenOffice or
StarOffice would not be a problem for 95% of Office users out
there today.
- Like Link Flag
- doesn't make sense
- why is microsoft supporting formats other than their own? If "metro" is a pdf killer, then why give life to pdf? I'm confused. Unless by pdf, they meant metro based, but pdf compatible. imagine the file size needed to accomodate both.
- Like Reply Link Flag
- Because...
- ...PDF is a standard, and customers are asking for it to be supported. Don't think for a second that MS doesn't hope to define that market itself, but for now, they are choosing to give customers what they're asking for.
I'm sure they'd love to get rid of it just like they'd love for .wk1 and other old competitor formats to go away.
- Like Link Flag
- Actually, it's no big deal....
- ... Office 12 is not going to be adopted by most users. It doesn't
offer enough improvements to warrant the cost. PDF capabilities in
Office 12 are nothing more than a massive yawn
- Like Reply Link Flag
- Office 95 can produce PDF files...
- All that is needed is a printer driver that 100 websites provide for $35. You can also find a free one out there if you dig hard enough.
This is hardly news worthy stuff...
- Like Reply Link Flag
- catching up?
- One more reason to use a Mac; saving any document, including those generated with Office, as a PDF has been part of the standard Print menu in OS X since 10.3.0.
- Like Reply Link Flag
- One more what?
- Try reading some of the other posts. You have been able to produce PDF's on Windows from anything that can print since long before OSX was around (I like PDFCreator). Maybe that is one more reason to use Windows?
However, I think if you look around, you have been able to do the same on Mac's, again long before OSX. Once again, MS copies the same folks that Apple copied from.
- Like Link Flag
- I like...
- I thought it was interesting that you will apparently need Vista to use and view Metro files. Since it uses the Vista display engine. Now I could be wrong but that seems to leave out a great number of computers and users that simply won't be able to use those files. Seems to me like Metro is already a dead and worthless format. PDF still rules and I am guessing that Microsoft doesn't like that.
- Like Reply Link Flag
- You're right
- considering that WindowsXP is still battling to unseat Windows2K (I think that it just surpassed Win2K a few months ago), making software that only runs on Vista will be an uphill battle.
It has taken years for XP to surpass 2K and it will take years for Vista to unseat both 2K and XP.
As someone else has said, Office2000/XP/2003 are already good enough for most people (not everyone, but for most). Microsoft will have to offer something really wonderful to make those people shell out money to pay for something they belive they already have in their current version. Tying the wonderous features to Vista only serves to increase the cost of the upgrade (and yes, one may even have to upgrade their hardware) and suddenly, the great feature may not be as compelling as it looked initially.
- Like Link Flag
- Mac version has it already
- 'Print to PDF' has been in OS X since at least 10.3
Reason #576 to get OS X, or to buy a Mac :-)
- Like Reply Link Flag
- Print to PDF not OS/X specific...
- Print to PDF on the Mac is not peculiar to
Office nor is it Mac-specific. Mac OS/X uses the
same CUPS print system that has been used for
years in most Linux distributions (predating Mac
OS/X, but not its predecessor NeXTStep) and is
also popular in Solaris.
The advantage of an application generating PDF
directly is that it can frequently produce a
more terse PDF file (smaller one). Running
OpenOffice on a Mac or Linux you can both export
a file as PDF and print to PDF. The results are
visually identical, but the application
generated output is generally smaller.
- Like Link Flag
- Microsoft OpenOffice.org
- Well I actually posted a reply like this at Blogma.... but since all over this site there is a reprint of likewise articles, I will reply here as well!
Since OpenOffice 1.1 came out, I use this PDF feature already, and now Microsoft finally reaches the state of being able to do the same? It seems to me like Microsoft is just beating Google in acquiring OpenOffice implementations. Maybe that's part of their deal with SUN they made last year?
However in the meanwhile the MS Marketing Department convinces the rest of the world, including IT Media like C|Net that this new feature in their office product is so advanced, as well as the same media copies Microsoft press releases stating that OpenOffice is outdated, backwarded and way not as advanced as their Office product! Seems to me to be one great FUD, and a big disappointment.
It not as such a complaint against Microsoft, they do a great and smart marketing job. But in my opinion, the media does have to beef up their quality and stop publishing these kind of nonsense stories without critical comments. It shouldn't be the readers to state the Sun and OpenOffice.org connection, C|Net and likes should have done that!
- Like Reply Link Flag
- The Mac had it before 10.3
- I remember printing to pdf in OS 9.
- Like Reply Link Flag


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Adding It All Up: Nonprofit CFO Study
This survey of 906 nonprofit finance professionals reveals some surprises about these crucial-but-often-overlooked staff, looking at questions ranging from educational backgrounds, workload, board and CEO understanding of finance, and CEO compensation:
Nonprofit finance scandals make for eye-catching headlines: whether about misused public funds, egregiously high salaries, constituents not served, or reserves squandered. But while nonprofit finance scandals make the headlines, the people who manage the funds -- nonprofit finance professionals -- are largely overlooked. And while studies have looked at the tenures and experiences of executive directors (CEOs) and development directors, few have looked at the finance professionals in our nonprofits.
Despite the occasional and highly-publicized problem, the very fact that such problems make the news testifies to the infrequency of such occurrences. Nonprofits are relatively free of financial scandal and abuse, demonstrating both professional expertise and a strong sense of values. But today even the best-managed nonprofits are working not only to steward charitable funds, but to manage earned-income operations, to re-invent their business models, to strengthen the leadership functions of governance, and to maximize the use of funds for mission and values.
Finance professionals are at the core of these efforts.
This study was conducted by Steve Zimmerman and Jan Masaoka under the auspices of American Nonprofits with data analysis assistance from Kristen Wolslegel. More than 900 individuals responded to survey notifications through Blue Avocado and American Nonprofits. For job and career-related questions, only those respondents who characterized themselves as staff CFOs or equivalents were analyzed; this represented 557 professionals. Different screens were used for various questions. Percentages reported are percentages of those answering a particular question. (Results from each segment of respondents is being used to inform planning efforts at Blue Avocado and American Nonprofits.)
The study reports findings in four areas:
- CFO Profiles: educational and job backgrounds
- Staffing the finance function: how nonprofits of various sizes and business models staff finance activities
- Concerns: stressors and areas presenting challenges
- Miscellaneous: some questions were added to the survey touching on financial health, CEO compensation, and other miscellaneous areas.
CFO profile
Nonprofit finance professionals have strong educational backgrounds and average tenures that are considerably longer than executive directors and development directors.
Despite the stereotype of the nonprofit finance person as untrained, 47% of nonprofit finance professionals have college degrees in finance-related majors. All segments of the CFO population reported high usage of books, articles, non-degree training programs, counsel from auditors and board members, and other on-the-job learning opportunities.
More than 70% of finance professionals have been in their positions for more than six years. These tenures compare very favorably with those reported for development directors of two years and executive directors of three to five years.
Three distinct profiles of nonprofit finance professionals emerged correlating to the financial sizes of their organizations.
For larger organizations with revenues over $3 million, the finance professional:
- Frequently has more than six years of experience: 43%
- Studied finance in college: 56% studied finance or accounting in college
- Is likely to handle government contracts as part of their work: 45% rate government contracts as "very important" to their organizations
- Has an engaged board and/or finance committee that understands the business model of the organization: 51% responded that the board has a general understanding of the organization's financial health
- Has an executive who understands the business model and strategy: 81%
- Has an average salary of $97,764
For mid-sized organizations with revenues between $500K and $3 million, the finance professional:
- Learned about nonprofit finance from other nonprofit finance professionals and books and articles, although 31% reported having learned about nonprofit finance in college
- Is somewhat likely to handle government contracts as part of their work: 39% rate government contracts as "very important" to their organizations
- Is less likely to have an engaged board and/or finance committee that understands the business model of the organization: 36% responded that the board has a general understanding of the organization's financial health
- Has an executive who understands the business model and strategy: 72%
- Has an average salary of $62,274
For small organizations with revenues of below $500,000, the finance professional:
- Is more likely to be a volunteer or part-time staff: 62% of respondents from small organizations were board members, contrasting with 4% for large ones. 38% of respondents from small organizations were employed part-time, contrasting with 9% for large ones.
- Is more likely to have less than one year of experience: 43%
- Learned about nonprofit accounting and finance from the board treasurer, books and articles, and a technical assistance provider
- Is unlikely to have an engaged board and/or finance committee that understands the business model of the organization: 13% responded that the board has a general understanding of the organization's financial health
- Is unlikely to handle government contracts as part of their accounting: only 16% rate government contracts as "very important" to their organizations
- Is less likely to have an ED who understands the business model and strategy (46%)
- Has an average salary of $13,403
While there can be resilience and competence among all nonprofit finance professionals, these results imply that larger organizations offer a more supportive environment for the finance professional. In turn, larger organizations are often rewarded with a longer tenured finance staff.
Staffing the finance function
For nonprofit staff in many positions, it can seem that there is never enough time to get the job done. The finance function is no different. Almost 80% of respondents said that having enough time to do their jobs was at least somewhat difficult; almost half of those said it was very difficult. This isn't surprising given that smaller organizations are more likely to have volunteer or part-time finance staff. Strikingly, over 80% of all respondents are also responsible for functions other than finance.
In fact, regardless of revenue size, about 80% of finance staff has responsibilities beyond finance. The most common area of responsibility other than finance was human resources with most also engaged in technology, legal and office management. There were also a wide array of answers including facility management, program evaluation, administrative tasks such as insurance and risk management, and earned revenue enterprises.
Small finance departments
To do all this work, organizations with less than $1 million in revenue generally rely on one person, whereas between $1 and $3 million have two staff people in finance. Between $3 and $5 million, the average moves to 3 people in the finance department. Given the complexity of nonprofit financial transactions and management, no wonder so many feel they do not have enough time. Organizations do outsource some of their financial work with almost 60% outsourcing payroll.
Their backgrounds, continuing study and long tenures contribute to a strong sense of confidence among nonprofit finance professionals. When asked about a series of challenges, nonprofit finance professionals view themselves as capable and confident:
Given their strong academic backgrounds and experience, the technical aspects of the job are not seen as difficult for finance professionals. However, those aspects that introduce greater uncertainty such as forecasting for year-end and preparing budgets create more difficulty. Similarly, finance professionals tend to enjoy non-difficult relationships with their peers and supervisors including the board, executive directors and auditors, but are challenged by staff who may not be complying with financial procedures such as timesheet submission.
Financial knowledge of other staff
We asked two questions to see how finance professionals perceive the degree to which their CEOs and their co-workers understand the organization's financial health and business model. Nearly half of respondents -- 48% -- say that staff understand the financial health of their own programs, but not the overall organization's financial health; only 22% reported such an understanding.
Finance professionals from small organizations were less likely to say that staff did not understand the financial health of the organization. This could be because smaller staffs lead to greater transparency or that the finances are easier to understand. Either way, it suggests that staff from small organizations have a better grasp of the financials than their counterparts at mid-size and large organizations:
Staff understands financial
health "not very well"
Likewise, the staff of small and medium-sized organizations were somewhat more likely to understand the business model and strategy of the organization:
Staff understands the business
model and strategy "not very well"
Financial knowledge of the executive director
For nonprofit financial professionals, few partnerships are as important as the one with the executive director or CEO. This partnership is often the foundation for financial success or turmoil within an organization. We asked financial professionals if they felt the CEO understood the organization's financial health. Given the importance of the question even a response of half having in-depth knowledge seems low. In organizations with larger budget sizes, the CEO generally had a better understanding of the financial health and business model of the organization:
In contrast, there were virtually no differences among organizations of different sizes in terms of the degree to which the executive understands the business model, and executives appear to have strong understanding; as a result averages are shown here:
How well does the executive understand the business model?
- Not very well: 4%
- A general understanding: 23%
- In-depth knowledge: 74%
Financial knowledge on the board
We also asked to what degree the board understands the financial health and business model of the organization. While the financial expertise of board members is often descried, respondents in many cases gave board members higher marks than they gave their CEOs.
Government contracts
Larger organizations are more likely to have government contracts, which typically come with new challenges for finance departments. Of those with such contracts, 91% of respondents found government accounting and reporting to be challenging. The delays in payments from government agencies can explain why 80% of agencies that have government contracts rate having enough cash on hand to meet payroll as difficult. But managing cash flow was not the only difficulty that government contracts cause. The survey also found that if you had significant government contracts you tended to have:
- More difficulty finding trained staff to hire (70% vs. 30%)
- More difficulty getting staff to comply with accounting procedures (69% vs. 31%); and
- More difficulty working with contracts (73% vs. 27%)
Each of these becomes more important for government reporting and is under increasing scrutiny by public auditors as funds become scarce.
Restricted funds
Although 77% of organizations reported having restricted funds, few appear to be borrowing from them: only 14% reported having a negative net worth in unrestricted funds "sometimes or often," while 86% said this is the case "never, almost never, or rarely." This is worth noting because there is often the perception that organizations are using cash for purposes other than its restricted purpose.
CEO compensation
Because nonprofits CFOs are likely to know the salaries of all or most of the staff, we took the opportunity to ask them about their opinions about the salaries of the CEOs in their organizations. Large organization CFOs (65%) are much more likely to believe that the executive makes too much than their counterparts in either mid-size organizations (28%) or small ones (7%):
"The CEO at my organization makes too much"
At the same time, about a third of organizations, regardless of budget size, said that the CEO makes too little:
"The CEO at my organization makes too little"
Tellingly, CFOs do not believe that boards understand the full extent of CEO compensation:
Closing comments
When we asked respondents about their next jobs, almost 40% said that they will stay until they retire and leave the work force. This finding may reflect an older cohort or a group of professionals who stay put once they find the right job. Some implications from this study about hiring finance professionals:
- Invest in your search for finance professional: good finance professionals who are supported will stick around for a long time.
- Invest in professional development for your finance staff: most finance professionals reported significant learning on-the-job and through taking workshops and classes. Both CEOs and board members can support these efforts.
- When hiring finance staff, expand the areas where you might look beyond CPAs and accounting majors. Individuals who have finance degrees and/or significant experience at other nonprofits may be excellent candidates.
If you are a CEO or a board member, this study can serve to spark a conversation with your CFO about how better to educate staff and the board about the organization's financial health and business model. Ask your CFO and finance staff about their workloads and non-finance responsibilities, what areas of work they find the most difficult, and what professional development they would like that would impact their job performance.
If you are a nonprofit board member, do you understand all the components of your CEO's compensation? Does the board discuss the executive's compensation, not just in terms of a raise, but in terms of whether the compensation is appropriate for both the scope of responsibilities and for performance?
If you are a CFO, which results reported here resonate with you? Are your experiences similar or different? How can you make use of this study to help you choose professional development activities for you and your staff?
Nonprofit finance staff are key to sound financial management and accountability, and important partners in business model analysis and evolution. This study shows them to be well-trained, long-tenured, and confident. They deserve our respect and support.
See also in Blue Avocado:
- Accounting Procedures Manual Template
- Nonprofit Bookkeeping Test
- A Board-Staff Agreement for Financial Accountability
About the authors and the sponsors
Steven D. Zimmerman, CPA, MBA is the principal of Spectrum Nonprofit Services where he provides training and consulting in finance and strategy for community-based organizations throughout the Midwest. Steve writes the Finance and Strategy column for Blue Avocado, an online nonprofit magazine, and has also written for Nonprofit Quarterly and spoken nationally on these subjects. With Jeanne Bell and Jan Masaoka, he co-authored Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability (Jossey Bass, 2010).
Jan Masaoka is CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits), a statewide alliance dedicated to "bringing the full power of California's nonprofits to strengthening communities." Jan also founded and publishes Blue Avocado, to which 64,000 people have subscribed online, and which has been described as the second-best read publication in the nonprofit sector.
American Nonprofits is a membership organization open to U.S. nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organizations and their staff, stakeholders and volunteers. Members can participate in a range of educational, research, discussion, and collaborative opportunities in the broad area defined by finance and strategy.
American Nonprofits exists to:
- Create a platform for research, dialog, and debate among nonprofit finance professionals and thought leaders on topics related to finance, accountability, capital, and strategy
- Create a democratically governed financial institution -- a federal credit union -- owned by the nonprofit sector to which nonprofits, foundations and individuals can move their deposits, and see their deposits and fees used to support the nonprofit sector.
Blue Avocado is an online magazine written for nonprofit staff and volunteers to address issues real nonprofits face on a daily basis. Published six times a year and sent to 64,000+ subscribers (opt-in!), each issue provides at least one informative, one thought-provoking and one fun article. Blue Avocado operates under the sponsorship of American Nonprofits. To subscribe for free, visit www.blueavocado.org or send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com with "subscribe" in the subject line. Blue Avocado depends on your donations to keep us going!> Read more
Insightful article, thanks. I can't agree more that a capable and valuable CFO should be compensated well for their efforts. Often times the problem lies with the donors and the archaic notion that nonprofit personnel should work for peanuts. As long as we are slaves to the 20% or under indirect cost paradigm (which is easily fudged for those that are less than transparent by nature) and the fact that many donors will not pay for support salaries, our hands are tied. In fact, I would add that ALL good staff should be compensated well. They are hard to come by and it is frustrating when the really good ones move on because some larger multi-national has a bigger overhead budget to pay them out of. Everyone deserves increased pay when they can get it so no blame is placed on the employee when they grab good opportunities. Thanks. Janeen Simon, ED WINGS Guatemala
As a former Finance Director I can testify to the unbelievable problem of people refusing to turn in timesheets, demanding to be reimbursed without reciepts, and "forgetting" to give me CRUCIAL information. I also don't know why this makes me so insanely irritable.
Aw, well - I (and others I imagine) feel your pain. It is a mystery - I think there may be something about being asked that makes some folks feel they are being interrogated and are under suspicion. That may be due to their actually feeling guilty because they are guilty of wrong-doing, uncomfortable being on the spot about money, or whatever. I like a Blue Avocado reference that noted importance of integrity from the top down so luckily our ED goes by the same rules as everyone else. No ticket, no laundry. I'd say make rules clear, make consequnces clear and then stick to both. If that means someone's paycheck is run with the next batch or the non-profit doesn't cover expense without a receipt - then so be it. Just remember to be even and fair to all and consistent. People learn. You can always blame it on the audit; I do.
Great article. I plan to use it in my graduate nonprofit finance course this spring. Financial management is so much more than auditing and compliance. Nonprofits that value the CFO position know that it is equally as important to look forward as back.
Found article/survey on Finance Staff to be very good and accurate.
Thank you so much for the CFO article. I've been working in a non-profit for over seven years and have never seen this level of focus or clarity dedicated to a position which is incredibly important to the stability and success of our organization. I forwarded it to our Board chair, Finance committee members and, of course to our CFO. So glad to have received it.
Hi Jan, I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that I just read the your survey of CFOs with great interest. It seems like several things are coming together right now—nonprofit fraud reports, an indirect cost report, and now this.
It has started me thinking about how they are related. Nobody wants to pay for indirect costs, but they still expect impeccable financial accounting. Perhaps they need to rethink their positions on adequately paying for this—not just the CFO, but also allowing for enough accounting staff to have a proper separation of duties as well.
During my life as an ED of a provider organization, I always felt that the CFO position was the most difficult to fill because of the lack of training colleges provide about nonprofit (fund) accounting. One of the criteria I always used in hiring for the position was that the person had to have nonprofit accounting experience. I just found that too often, even CPAs simply just didn't get it if they had always been in the for-profit world.
And, when I did organizational development consulting with small nonprofits who depended on volunteers and board members, it was even worse. I cannot begin to tell you the number of times I had to tell the accountant on the board (who was usually enlisted because of this background) they were wrong in how they were advising the organization.
I am not sure why the differences between for-profit and nonprofit accounting seems so difficult for finance people, but I have found it to consistently be the case. It makes you realize how rare and vital a good nonprofit CFO truly is. You can be sure I will be using the information included in your report about contracting in my efforts. Congratulations on a timely, needed report. --B.
Good material from Bridgespan for people interested in becoming nonprofit CFOs:


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NY cable dispute blacks out Knicks, 4 NHL teams
MSG has sponsored viewing parties at bars to ease fans' pain.
Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black appreciates the viewing parties and said MSG "is doing a lot in our community." He believes it's Time Warner that's stalling and wishes the two sides would get back to the table.
"This is a real hockey town, and to take away something that everyone loves is cruel and unusual punishment," Black said.
MSG also shows nearly 150 college basketball games a season.
Josh Culpo, 27, of Boston was in New York on Wednesday to watch his brother Mike play for Long Island University Brooklyn, which beat St. Francis, 86-77. Culpo said his parents are Time Warner subscribers and would like to watch Mike's games, most of which are on MSG.
"They have to watch on a computer," he said. "It's not as good."
Bair said fans should switch from Time Warner to another provider such as DirecTV, RCN or Verizon FIOS, and he said some are doing so.
"The distribution of other services is broader than you might think," he said.
Huff said an "insignificant" number of Time Warner customers have left.
Those who have changed providers, or who have tried to, say it's not that easy.
Rangers fan Desmond Lim switched to Verizon. "The install date was a month from when we placed the order," he said.
Karl Stanton tried to switch but learned that FIOS isn't available in his Manhattan building. He'll shop for a FIOS-friendly building when his lease is up.
The Associated Press


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We hope that many local artists will be submitting entires in the Wilmington Through Art Contest. Please click the above link for contest rules. Artists may bring their work to the library with the completed entry form by September 15.
We hope that many local artists will be submitting entires in the Wilmington Through Art Contest. Please click the above link for contest rules. Artists may bring their work to the library with the completed entry form by September 15.
Join us for the 2012 Community Fair on Saturday, September 22 from 10 am-1 pm on the Swain Green!
Local Organizations
Looking for services or looking to get involved? A variety of local organizations will be on hand to answer your questions about joining or volunteering.
Gift Basket Raffles
Raffle tickets will be sold for a variety of gift baskets put together by the non-profit organizations.
Local Venders
Select vendors from the Farmer's Market will be on hand to sell their wares.
Shredding Truck
Clean out your files and have them shredded for free. You simply drive up to the truck and shredding is done on site. The shredding truck will be there rain or shine.
Joe Ferranti, strolling magician and Wilmington resident, will be on hand to perform magic tricks.
Face Painting
Visit the MOMs Club table for free face painting.
Barbara Raab, Children's Librarian, will present storytimes at 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, and 12 noon.
Henna Tattoos
Henna artist, Nimmi Sehgal, will be giving free henna tattoos. Traditionally, henna tattoos are part of Asian-Indian celebrations such as weddings and festivals, but have become a fashion item in the West. The tattoos are temporary.
Wilmington Through Art Contest
In celebration of Wilmington's 282nd anniversary of incorporation on September 25, 1730, the library is sponsoring "Wilmington Through Art Contest." Entries must be hand produced art work and must represent Wilmington. Click here for applications and contest details. Paintings will be on display at the library the week of September 17 through September 22.
Wilmington Town Crier Digitization Project
Want to know what was happening in Wilmington in 1969? Doing research on Whitfield School? Curtis Wyant, Technology Librarian, will demonstrate how to access the Town Crier archives back to 1955 at 3 pm in the library's Banda Room.
Wilmington Stories: Times Gone By
The library will be capturing and preserving personal and historical memories of Wilmington. Residents are invited to stop by the library from 10 am to 1 pm to talk about their memories of growing up in Wilmington. Library staff will record these stories and post them to share with others.
Wilmington Coloring Book
Hot off the press….the first and only coloring book depicting the Town's history will on sale for $5 per copy at the Friends of the Library table.
View this item in the catalog.
Iris Dupont is a new student at Mariana Academy, a prep school located in the Berkshires. Her only friend is the ghost of Edward R. Murrow, who drives her desire to be a journalist. While working for the school paper, Iris learns of a secret society called Prisom's Party, and she is determined to uncover who is behind the society and its pranks. Told from multiple viewpoints spanning over ten years, Year of the Gadfly tells not only the story of Iris but also of her science teacher Jonah Kaplan's experience at Mariana. Fans of The Secret History by Donna Tart or Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld will enjoy Jennifer Miller's fast-paced and suspenseful Year of the Gadfly.
The library catalog for the Merrimack Valley is in the process of getting both a new look and some new features.
Some of the new features are:
Click here to try out the beta version. Love it or hate it, please submit your feedback through the "Patron Catalog Survey" link in the top right corner of the new catalog! Or, talk to any library staff person - and ask us questions, too!
|Release Date
|Bringing Down The Giant
|Saving Abel
|Channel ORANGE
|Ocean, Frank
|Hypnotic Nights
|Jeff The Brotherhood
|Grace & Lies
|Family Band
|Gaslight Anthem
|Sparkle (OST)
|Radin, Joshua
|Chapter V
|Songz, Trey
|The Midsummer Station
|Owl City
|Havoc And Bright Lights
|Morissette, Alanis
|Release Date
|Community: The Complete Third Season
|Dexter: The Complete Sixth Season
|Glee Complete Season 3
|The Hunger Games
|A Separation
|God's Ears
|House: Season Eight - The Final Season
|La Tigra, Chaco
|The Dictator
|Boardwalk Empire: Season 2
|Five-Year Engagement
|Monsieur Lazhar
|The Lucky One
|Think Like a Man
|Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season
The following kids were lucky winners this week. There is only one week left to be a lucky reader or library lover. Log your reading and visit the library!
Lucky Readers
Julia Archer
Jimmy Bimbo
Nicholas Morad
Jonathan Morad
Lucky Library Lovers
Mantvydas Benevicius
Mallory Brown
Anuj Gandhi
The library is now offering an assortment of eReaders that have been preloaded with some of this summer's hottest titles: Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, Gone Girl, The Next Best Thing, Wild, Calico Joe, and more! eReaders may be checked out for one week at a time and can be found at both the Check Out and Information Desks.
The following kids were lucky winners this week!
Lucky Readers
Brady Gavegnano
Corinne Forcina
Michael Doherty
Madison Wright
Lucky Library Lovers
Griffin Carr
Ryan Garrant
Ryann Walsh
Congratulations to Jaimee Vassallo and Andrea!
Jaimee and Andrea both won a tote bag and a $10 gift certificate to Starbucks.
Interested in participating? It's easy. Click here to enter your reading to win! Each submission earns you a chance to win the weekly and grand prizes. Grand prize is a Barnes & Noble Nook and will be announced on Friday, August 17.
Wilmington Memorial Library
175 Middlesex Ave.
Wilmington, MA 01887
Main Phone: (978) 658-2967
Youth Services: (978) 694-2098
Hours & Directions
M-Th 9am-9pm, Fri 9am-5pm
Sat 9am-5pm (closed Saturdays during summer)


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Mount A campus
SACKVILLE, N.B. – At Mount Allison's spring board meeting on May 13, the university's board of regents voted unanimously to extend president Robert Campbell's current contract by a period of two years.
With this extension, Campbell will serve as university president through June 2018.
"I am honoured to acknowledge the board's ongoing trust and look forward to continuing to lead this great university," said Campbell.
Following the board meeting, Jim Dickson, chair of the board stated: "This extension reflects the board's complete confidence in president Campbell's leadership and in the direction he, along with his senior team, has set for the university.
"The Board also recognizes that Mount Allison's strength lies in the contributions of everyone in our diverse community – our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents, as well as the residents of Sackville and the province of New Brunswick. This gives the board great confidence in the university's ongoing ability to thrive."
At the same meeting, the board of regents also approved the 2014-15 operating budget. This is the university's 23rd consecutive balanced operating budget.
Tuition for full-time Canadian students will increase by $219, as per the tuition cap allowed by the New Brunswick government, to $7,464 for full-time Canadian students.
"Mount Allison will continue to offer one of the most generous scholarship and bursary programs, per capita, in the Maritimes, with $2.6 million allocated to assist students this year," said Campbell.
"Mount Allison is committed to fulfilling its academic mission and providing high-quality programming in a sustainable manner with no long-term debt. This allows us to focus our resources on a compelling student experience, an accomplished faculty engaged in teaching and research, and one of the lowest student-teacher ratios in Canada."
The university's 2014-15 operating budget is available online at http://www.mta.ca/Community/Administrative_departments/Financial_Services/Financial_reports/Budget/Budget/.
The board also received a presentation from the Mount Allison Students' Union (MASU), requesting the university reconsider its decision not to offer a tuition rebate following the three-week strike earlier this year.
Board members – including representatives from student, faculty, and administration – discussed the topic in detail.
"The discussion was frank and open," said Dickson, "with a wide range of views expressed. "
The board reconfirmed there would be no university-wide tuition rebate; however it agreed to create a working group with membership from the board, students, and administration. This group has been tasked to thoroughly review and assess what other approaches might be warranted to support students most adversely affected as a result of the work stoppage.


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Ollie Jones is the Manager of Janae Designs, LLC and inactive roles in one additional company .
Janae Designs, LLC filed as a Florida Limited Liability in the State of Florida filed on Friday, November 7, 2008. This corporation is approximately seven years old according to documents filed with Florida Department of State.
Ollie Jones's additional active roles include:
Ollie Jones is connected to other officers through these corporate roles. One of the top connections is Tracy Jones .
Ollie's past corporate interests include the Secretary of Driveshaft Power Inc. .
Hope 4 Mobility, Inc. also lists Tracy Jones as Treasurer, in addition to Ollie's role of Secretary. This corporation was registered two years after Janae Designs, LLC as a Domestic Non Profit Corporation in the State of Florida on Wednesday, October 27, 2010.
Key roles for Ollie Jones
Janae Designs, LLC
Hope 4 Mobility, Inc.
Secretary, President Director
Driveshaft Power Inc.
Secretary, Vice President


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Massimo Bontempelli was a modernist writer of novels, short stories, plays, and poems, and is perhaps most noted for being the first to use the term Magic Realism (realismo magico) in literature and for being its main proponent in Italy during the 1920s and 1930s. Born in 1878 in Como, his childhood was spent moving to and from various Italian cities due to his father's employment with the national railroad. While in high school in Milan, Bontempelli studied under the writer and humorist Alfredo Panzini and later was a student of literary critic Arturo Graf at the University of Torino, where he graduated in 1902 having written two theses: one for Literature on the hendecasyllable, and the other for …
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Moser, Amelia. "Massimo Bontempelli". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 January 2013
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12676, accessed 02 July 2015.]


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Santa paid it forward to help kids in the Wichita Falls Children's Home and Teen Shelter.
Kell House is once again hosting Santa House this year.
You can take the children to go see jolly ol' Santa and help those in need at the same time.
Man's graphic Christmas decoration offends neighbors.
Kids skate with Santa and the WF Wildcats
Dangling foot inside Florida home's chimney reveals would-be burglar.
Warning: If you believe in Santa, he doesn't want you to read this story.
If your mental image of Old St. Nick is of a jolly fat man sitting on his duff for hours on end, it's safe to say you've never been to Samnaun, Switzerland.
A wealthy Missouri man posing as "Secret Santa" stunned New Yorkers, handing $100 bills to many in Staten Island who had lost everything to Superstorm Sandy.
If you're looking for a unique gift idea this holiday season, how about reindeer poop?
Santa, Mrs. Claus, and all the elves are also making a special trip to Wichita Falls.
If you want a letter postmarked from the North Pole your window of opportunity is still open, but not for long.
If your kids think they've been extra good this year and deserve something they really want from Santa, now's the time to start writing that letter to jolly ole Saint Nick.