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Private Members' Business. - Youth Policy: Motion (Resumed).
Wednesday, 11 May 1977
Dáil Eireann Debate
Debate resumed on the following motion:
That Dáil Éireann condemns the Government's neglect of young people as exemplified by its failure to provide adequate employment opportunities for them and by its lack of concern for youth organisation and development generally.
Mr. O'Kennedy: Last night I said that one cannot deal with youth in isolation, that one must tackle the youth unemployment problem as part of the overall national programme or plan to create opportunity. Secondly, I said that one cannot deal with youth unemployment in isolation, that it is part also of the educational programme and I instanced, as effectively as one could in the circumstances, how we in Government, had tailored the direction of education at primary, post-primary and third level towards the opportunity there would be at the end of technology, the National Institution of Higher Education and the National Council for Educational Awards, that young people with third-level qualifications would make the maximum contribution to the development of our society. I noted with regret that, for one reason or another, the Government had changed all that at every stage of the line. Those are fundamental decisions that must be corrected and that hopefully we will correct in the very near future.
Having said all of that, people always tend to ask: What precise plan do you have? I regard the overall plan as being more important but one must have also precise plans to deal with what one might call the immediate emergency of young unemployed [709] people. Perhaps I might be allowed to refer to a written reply given yesterday to a question tabled by Deputy Brennan to the Taoiseach. On the face of it the question might not seem to have much to do with youth unemployment because it asked the Taoiseach the present estimated population of County Donegal. The reply was that reliable information on the population of individual counties is available only for years in which censuses of population had been taken. Therefore the population of County Donegal in April, 1971, was 108,549. There is no reliable information on the population of any county since 1971. If we want to plan for our future economic development we must be able not simply to count heads in Counties Donegal, Tipperary, Kerry, Dublin or Limerick, but to look at the structure of our society—agricultural and industrial—and ensure, as any businessman or farmer must do, that when we plan for the future we know about the present. The Taoiseach, on yesterday's admission, acknowledged that we do not even know the number of people in each county on any reliable basis. He was asked only for the estimated population.
First of all, that regrettable decision would have to be changed and a census taken. I know the political consequences which no doubt were in the Taoiseach's mind—that there would have to be a review of constituencies. If we are to think simply in terms of our narrow interests in this House and ask our economic future, and young people in particular, to suffer because we want to secure our positions on one or other side, it is shameful, and it seems to be the only reason. I am talking of one precise area alone. Let us assume £500,000 for administration, and that is very high—£1 million would employ 1,000 young people at £1,000 per annum for one year. Did someone suggest that we do not need that? Did someone suggest there was any more appropriate activity in which our young people could be involved at present than that of taking a census of this nation, the consequences of which would be a plan for their future? Could there be anything more appropriate? About three times the cost of [710] that advertisement by the Minister for Labour—and I do not know what the cost of that nonsense would be—would have given employment directly to our young people, on the undertaking of a census, if there was any sense of direction or commitment.
If we say it will take six months, then they have £2,000, or 2,000 young people at £1,000. How vital it is that this plan be undertaken because they are the people who will be involved in our future and it would be important to give them even some short-term hope. That is the number one, short-term, emergency proposal shamefully overlooked. I suppose, because of the rather buoyant receipts from the inflationary VAT returns, at present the Government are sorry they did it because they now recognise how important it was. For the sake of that small amount they killed it.
Our young people have a commitment to our society. Fianna Fáil have stated their commitment in relation to our Garda Síochána to maintain order and peace in our society. I carefully avoid using the phrase "law and order" because that has been a term abused from South Africa to the North of Ireland. Perhaps in some people's minds it means what we would all like it to mean but it has been abused to represent, sometimes, the State controlling, directing and disciplining all of us in every aspect of our lives. But I do say the "peace and security" of every citizen in their individual homes. That is a constructive contribution our young people can make, and there are thousands of them at present waiting to get into the Garda Síochána. An extra 500 of them are to be taken into the force to be able to contribute to the welfare of our society and pay taxes accordingly. I know that in Templemore, in my constituency, where these people should be trained they are not being trained. We are still waiting for them. The position of Fianna Fáil is quite clear on that: we will, as a matter of emergency—because it is an emergency—correct that.
Then there were the emergency economic proposals we made—and I am including them all in the context of my general comments—[711] which would be related to community youth projects. We have the example of Canada and what they have achieved there. When we stated this in our economic emergency document we had studied the Canadian precedent. Young people are at present creating opportunities for themselves in projects, such as those going on in this city under which our young boys and girls, through the Catholic Youth Council, are providing off-the-street employment, if one wishes to term it as such, in 124 clubs. They must be supported through a State agency. They do not qualify for the goodies of the Minister for Labour who will give them £20 for nothing. They have a little more intelligence than to respond to that type of thing.
Mr. Bruton: Is the Deputy trying to undermine the employment incentive scheme?
Mr. O'Kennedy: I am trying to underline that kind of undermining of our young people. It is shameful. If I hear any more of that advertisement it will turn me against the kind of society it represents. It is dreadful to think that our young people especially should be subjected to it at present.
Mr. Bruton: The Deputy is mistaken.
Mr. O'Kennedy: If I have a sense of urgency, I am entitled to have it. If I have a sense of shame that that is being done in our name, I am equally entitled to have it. There are so many young boys and girls at home, having finished their education, waiting for work. We will all meet them. Why should they have to come to me or to any Deputy but if they have to one thing should be acknowledged: it is no fault of theirs that they are being kept in their parents' homes while they await work. They should not be assessed in a manner as if what their parents provide for them in the way of food and clothing were income. They are entitled at least to the independence of thinking that for two years they will not be drones on their parents. That is the saddest part of it all. We pay unemployment assistance [712] to others but we put an estimate on the value of upkeep of young people who have to be maintained in their parents' homes and we say: They have a comfortable bed, a good suit, they get their breakfast, dinner and tea and that is estimated as being at least £14 a week and, therefore, they do not qualify for assistance. That is sad and regrettable.
This is a debate that could continue for a long time. At least I hope it will have aroused something. I started last evening by saying I did not attach any personal blame to the Parliamentary Secretary. However, I do question a Government who will ask any man to be responsible for everything from consumer prices to industrial promotion, to a fair trade commission; to be assistant to a Minister in all of those spheres, and take him from the responsibility we created when the need was much less than it is now—a responsibility I was glad to shoulder—of full-time Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for youth out of school. If the Government want to show an earnest of their commitment they will restore some responsibility to that position so that young people will be rendered a focal point in Government they do not have at present.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce (Mr. Bruton): I intend to curtail my remarks to the extent necessary to allow the Minister for Labour to contribute to the debate. I intended to deal firstly with the preparation which takes place in the educational system of young people for work and to the improvements made in that area in recent years. Secondly, I will deal with some general measures taken to improve the economic performance, and thirdly I will deal with out-of-school education.
As Deputy O'Kennedy said, it is very important that young people should be properly guided in choosing the right careers. For too long young people have tended to go into academically oriented jobs. Clearly there exists other opportunities in the skilled trade area and in business, and it is therefore necessary to provide the right [713] kind of advice for young people to make this most important and difficult decision. It is for that reason that the Government have significantly in-increased the number of guidance teachers in our schools. In 1973-74 there were only 214 guidance teachers, of whom three were in community schools. In 1977 the number has been increased to 370 of whom 30 are in community schools. This is of great value to our young people in making career decisions.
It is very important also, and here I am in agreement with what Deputy O'Kennedy said, that there be an emphasis on technological education because it is in that area that the greatest opportunities exist, because there we can develop entrepreneurs and we need youthful entrepreneurs to provide initiative in our economy. It is people with technical education who are best fitted to meet this need.
I should like briefly to outline the expansion that has taken place in this area in the past four years. The most apt figure to quote in this connection would be the number of young people who have had whole-time student enrolment in technician courses in the regional technical colleges, Carlow, Letterkenny, Waterford, Limerick, Sligo, Athlone and Galway. In 1973, the number taking technical subjects at leaving certificate level was 13,051 and in 1977 the figure was 25,900. Further expansions are planned and it should be remembered that in these schools there is a commitment of Government resources amounting to more than £8 million. Therefore, there has been a massive increase in the number of young people with employment potential.
From the figures I have just given it will be noted that the number of young people with these skills has practically doubled in the past four years. That is the result of increased financial provision, more teachers, more woodwork rooms and more rooms for the various technical subjects being taught in these various schools.
It is also important—and I have spoken of this before in similar debates —that before leaving school young people should if possible have an opportunity to work for short periods [714] in a variety of different jobs. In this connection I mention particularly Navan, in my own constituency, where a pre-work year has been laid down for pupils as an experimental measure. The pupils can go out to work in various factories in Navan while still at school. I am proud that this initiative has been taken in my own constituency. In 1975-76, 139 pupils took part in this sort of pre-employment, mixed study-work programme. In 1976-77 this number had been increased to 390.
In regard to performance, and in particular to the provision of job opportunities for young people. I should like to indicate some of the measures taken by the Government. In 1972-73 as a result of IDA grant commitment of £30 million, a figure of 12,455 new jobs was aimed at. As against this, in 1976, when it was less easy to get firms to agree to set up a grant commitment of £66 million led to the sanctioning of projects with a job potential of over 18,000. This was an increase of 50 per cent in the number of jobs being created in 1976 as against 1973 with the aid of the IDA. This is the result of increased assistance and powers given by the Government to the IDA through various legislation in this House. Approximately 25 per cent of the new jobs created by the IDA go to young school-leavers. The President of the Irish Management Institute said that in his opinion the opportunities for business in this country were never as good as at present and he felt that the ball was now firmly in the court for business to respond to the opportunities provided.
Another indication of an improvement in our economy has been an increase in 1976 of 11 per cent in productivity in manufacturing industry. This compares with an average annual increase in that field of only 6 per cent. That increased productivity has enabled us to increase exports vastly. If we are to increase exports still further and avail of the opportunities presented to us by the devaluation of sterling, it will not be enough just to increase productivity. There must be increased employment. The indications are that production in 1977 [715] in manufacturing industry will go up by approximately 10 per cent, and that must mean more jobs. This will be assisted by the new measure announced by the Minister for Finance to provide corporation tax relief in relation to certain manufacturing companies as an incentive to raising employment. This provides for a reduced rate, namely, 25 per cent, of corporation tax on profits for manufacturing companies who achieve in the coming year an increase of 5 per cent in volume of sales and 3 per cent in employment. This tax incentive to an increase in employment will accelerate the growth which is already taking place, and is one of the most important features in the Finance Bill currently before this House.
In the very few minutes that remain to me as a result of my intention to ensure that the Minister for Labour has an opportunity of speaking, I will outline the measures which have been taken in the out-of-school provision for youth. Since this Government came into office the amount of aid to youth organisations in the form of grants-in-aid has been increased by 225 per cent from 1973 to 1977. That is a very substantial real increase which far exceeds the increase which has taken place in costs which had of course affected these organisations. This is a real increase in the resources available to youth organisations. We have not satisfied ourselves solely with increasing the money for their general programmes. I would like——
Mr. G. Fitzgerald: What was the increase from 1976 to 1977? The Parliamentary Secretary interrupted me last night and said I was wrong.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: This is not in order. The Parliamentary Secretary must be allowed to make his own speech in his own way.
Mr. G. Fitzgerald: The Parliamentary Secretary interrupted me and today found that I was right.
Mr. Bruton: It was 12 per cent.
Mr. G. Fitzgerald: It was not.
[716]An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Order.
Mr. Bruton: There was an increase this year as against last year. In addition to the general increase since 1973—a very substantial increase in aid of youth organisations—there have been a number of specific new initiatives which I would like very briefly to recite. First of all, we have given aid to the provision, which was not made before, of holiday activity centres for young people in County Westmeath and County Kerry. We have provided a special counselling service for young people in Dublin through the Agency of CONTACT which will assist them with the problems which face young people coming to a large city for the first time. We are providing too, through the recently-announced Youth Encounter Projects—and these projects have initiated in Cork, Dublin and Limerick—for youth organisations to assist other young people who have school attendance and other problems which involve them in conflict with the law. We have introduced a new training programme for the various leaders in the uniformed organisations such as the scouts and guides. We are introducing a training programme also for full-time youth workers in the various organisations. Furthermore, an instruction is being issued to the vocational education committees to ensure that in their adult education programmes a special place is given to training for volunteer youth leaders.
Another very important measure which has been adopted in the youth field has been a young achievers' programme in Macra na Tuaithe which is again substantially aided by the Department. The emphasis in this programme is on encouraging young people to develop a spirit of initiative and entrepreneurship. In the long run I believe that the prospects of employment for young people will be greatly enhanced by young people developing such a spirit themselves. The educational system can provide them with the skills but they alone can take the risks and the initiative in the business field which will create jobs for themselves and for other young people. The type of programme being developed by [717] Macra na Tuaithe and also by other youth organisations in this context is the type of programme we wish to encourage, with young people helping themselves. In any endeavour that young people may make to help themselves, particularly in the employment field, I can assure them of my Department's and the Government's full support.
Mr. G. Fitzgerald: It will take some assuring now.
Mr. Andrews: One can only be appalled at the contribution by the Parliamentary Secretary. He has outlined studies, schemes, programmes, circulars but no work. That is what this motion is all about:
"That Dáil Éireann condemns the Government's neglect of young people as exemplified by its failure to provide adequate employment opportunities for them and by its lack of concern for youth organisation and development generally."
The Parliamentary Secretary tends to treat this motion very lightly. We on this side and many thousands of young people also would like to know what programme the Government have for immediate employment. Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that in addition to those school-leavers who will come on the labour market after the next Leaving Certificate examination, school-leavers who have left school in the past two or three years are still in the unemployment queue? Are those people in the unemployment queue meant to be fobbed off with studies, schemes, programmes and circulars? This Government seem to be absolutely subsumed with the idea that if you give people studies, schemes, programmes and circulars you are doing something for them. It is very shattering to hear the Parliamentary Secretary in a cynical fashion pretending that the Government are taking care of one of the most grave social problems confronting this nation of ours.
We are talking about the next generation. The future and the continuity of the nation depend on the generation coming after the present generation. If the Parliamentary Secretary [718] thinks for one moment that by providing the various matters he has outlined he is engaging in some achievement he should examine his record. What young people want is hope, not based on false promises but on realisable, deliverable promises. I concur with what Deputy Fitzgerald says, that the Parliamentary Secretary is a decent and honourable man. Nobody can gainsay that, but we are talking about the Parliamentary Secretary's contribution to this very serious motion. If this is the best that the Government can offer, God help the future generation of this country. Their job prospects will be poor. It is not my intention to embarrass either the Parliamentary Secretary or any other Members of this House, but I hope the Minister for Labour will give the needed injection of hope to young people who are listening to and who read the contributions to this debate. Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware of the situation in a family where there are one or two young people finishing school having sat for their leaving certificates? These young people when looking for jobs will almost invariably find that five, six or seven hundred people are applying for the same job. That is my experience in the Dublin area and I believe Dublin is representative of the whole country. Many young women seek careers in the nursing profession but there is a very limited number of jobs available and all the applicants cannot be catered for. Is the Parliamentary Secretary and the Government aware of the frustration and disappointment that results in that hopeless situation. I do not want to inject a sense of hysteria into this debate, because as Deputy Fitzgerald said, we wish to achieve a solution to the problem. There is no point in introducing an element of panic but this problem is serious and it must be recognised as being serious.
I described rising prices as a recipe for revolution among the housewives. That is a fairly adequate description of the lack of job opportunities for young people. Young people with too much time on their hands, who look to the established institutions for guidance and leadership, are not getting that leadership. This could turn [719] them against the established institutions. That is a really dangerous aspect of the lack of job opportunities. Young people are subjected to pressures all through their school years while taking examinations but now they have the added almost insurmountable problem of seeking employment. There is pressure on the family unit because of this. A family unit may be attacked from within or without. In the case of a widow whose husband has died recently where there is a child of school leaving age, there is considerable pressure on that person to get a job. It would have cost the parents a considerable amount of money to put the child through school but the widow must now do the best she can for herself and the remaining younger children. If there is no employment for the child of school leaving age, she must endeavour to find employment for that child and she must also look after the remainder of the family and there will be considerable financial pressure. Such a situation was outlined to me no later than yesterday where this constant strain and worry are placed on young people and on families. That person may find a job that is not suitable to his or her talents but, due to financial and other pressures, he or she must take up employment which may last for the rest of his or her life. This in turn causes frustration and the person may work in a cul de sac type of job to the detriment of the nation and to the detriment of his or her physical and intellectual development. That is a tragedy which is almost worse than not having any job. When one is out of work there is an aim to get into a suitable job and there is some degree of hope but a dead-end job offers no hope. The Parliamentary Secretary has not dealt with that problem to any great degree. In addition to the pressures on families living in urban built-up areas trying to exist on a day-to-day basis against crushing price increases and the other challenges that arise living in modern-day society, we now have the added ingredient of young families with no job prospects. The Government have a lot on their conscience.
[720] The Parliamentary Secretary told us that the recession is easing off. Since this Government came into power we have been hearing that. The Minister for Industry and Commerce came back from America recently and amidst all the usual Government propaganda we were treated to a cacophony of the prospects of new jobs. I am pleased the Minister came back with these jobs under his belt. Hopefully, they are there and the opportunities which the Minister says will arise will arise. Can the Parliamentary Secretary say what type of training is being given now to equip people for those jobs? Is it a continued haphazard development plan? Have the Government any development plan in relation to the type of education young people require to fulfil those job opportunities?
Mr. Bruton: There are more young people under AnCO training courses than ever before.
Mr. G. Fitzgerald: Training for what? The Parliamentary Secretary should not be so silly. We had an example of the true position earlier today in relation to welders.
Mr. Bruton: Deputy Andrews asked if the training was being given for the jobs that are coming and I gave him an answer.
Mr. G. Fitzgerald: We have the situation in Cork where we have to bring in trained welders from other countries because of a lack of proper planning by the Government.
Mr. Andrews: The Parliamentary Secretary spoke of AnCO, an excellent organisation. He should also bear in mind the local authorities, the IDA and the regional development bodies who are all doing excellent work and going about training young people in their own way but where is the co-ordination? Where is the cohesiveness that is required? Clearly, the Government have no plan as far as youth employment is concerned. They are clutching at straws and that, for the future of this nation, is not good enough. The Department of Labour is allegedly engaged in programmes for young people while the Department of [721] Social Welfare pay unemployment benefit to young males; we know that unemployed young females are not catered for by the Government.
I do not want to submerge youth employment with the need for job opportunities for all our people irrespective of age. The Government have an obligation to create an economic climate which will give everybody the right to a job but they are not creating such a climate. The Parliamentary Secretary made reference to an organisation for which we have great respect, Macra na Tuaithe. As far as Fianna Fáil are concerned, young people who embark on a programme of self-help will receive all the financial backing and encouragement they require from us. Macra na Tuaithe is one of the leaders in the field of self-help and encouraging young people to help themselves. Members of that organisation are not like the Labour councillor in a part of rural Ireland who said that the young people never had it so good, they had the dole. That appears to be symptomatic of a certain element in the Government; they think young people never had it so good because they have the dole. That was a Labour councillor's solution to youth unemployment and it seems to be the general attitude of the Government as far as young people are concerned. The Government are more interested in propagating themselves personally at the expense of the taxpayer than in providing employment.
The Minister for Labour spoke about the cost of the advertisement in which he propagandised himself under an employment scheme to ensure his re-election in the next general election. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach told us that that advertising programme cost £20,000. How many young people could be employed by a proper deployment of that money? The Minister for Labour must, as a matter of urgency and in order to prove his sincerity, introduce a youth employment programme. Under that programme he must ensure that all the agencies I have mentioned co-ordinate their efforts and that all the information goes to one area. The difficulty is [722] that these well-intentioned organisations, while appearing to be doing an excellent job, do not appear to be achieving the results they were intended to. It is possible that I am being unfair to them because in the final analysis the buck rests with the Government.
While all these programmes are good if at the end of the day there are no jobs all the programmes the Government may start and all the schemes and studies they set in motion are worthless. In an economic recession— we are experiencing one of the worst ever to confront this country at present —the first to suffer are the young men and women, those who are attempting to contribute to the economic life of the country for the first time. We want to give these young people hope. Fianna Fáil have outlined their policies on many occasions and suggested many schemes. One suggestion was that the retiring age in some areas of employment be reduced on a project basis from 65 to 60. This could be done on a voluntary basis. The Minister for Labour should give our young people some hope. He should give hope to the thousands of schoolgoers who are about to sit for the leaving certificate and to the thousands who sat for the leaving certificate in the last two years.
According to the magazine, the Young Citizen, dated April, 1977, a National Manpower survey revealed that of the young people who left school in June, 1975, 9,300 did not find employment in Ireland by January, 1976. Of that figure, 1,200 emigrated, 4,600 continued to look for work while 3,500 returned to school. Many stay at school to improve their employment prospects but do not succeed in doing so, according to a comment in that magazine. The most serious aspect of this is that if these people were taken into account some say the job shortage for young people would be in the region of 15,000 rather than the suggested figure of 9,000 per annum. These are appalling figures. While the Parliamentary Secretary came in here with programmes and schemes, he did not suggest any hope for the immediate future for young people. If this motion did nothing else than provide [723] a message of hope for the future for these young people, it would certainly achieve a great deal.
We hear of the brain drain of academics in other countries due to greater awards offered because of their intellectual or scientific attainments. There is a very serious brain drain here, with the compliments of the Government. It begins when the last word is put to the examination papers by the school leavers taking their leaving certificate. In addition to the young school leavers who find themselves without the prospect of a job, there is also a brain drain where the young school leavers find themselves in jobs which are not suited to their talents.
These are some of the worrying features we on this side of the House see. Much has been made of the crime figures in the recent past and the breakdown in law and order. It would be very easy and, indeed, very wrong to charge young people with responsibility for those figures. I do not agree with blaming the young for everything that happens in our society. Quite the contrary. There has been a noticeable trend in the recent past, particularly in the centre city areas, to have quite large groups of young people roaming the streets and literally accosting people and demanding money. In the main, these young people are unemployed. They have nothing to do and nowhere to go. Apparently they have no prospects.
In a city towards the south of the country, I came on such a scene minutes after it had happened. Young people had just accosted a friend of mine and demanded money with menaces on a bright afternoon. That is the type of legacy lack of job opportunities may create. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Praise the young and give them hope in the future, but do not give them false promises. A young person in the sensitivity of his or her intellectual development, if let down once, will become distrustful. We would like to get from the Minister for Labour this evening hope based on real promises, not hope based on schemes which may or may not come to fruition. We want schemes and programmes which can be put into effect [724] for the betterment of the individual— that is what this discussion is all about —and for the economic betterment of the nation.
During the course of this debate we have been discussing the future of this country. If we let this opportunity go past us, if we let the future go astray on us, there is every prospect that the Government will be accused of losing a generation, and one can only say the country must look out for its future. This is the real crisis: a young person with a lack of identity, with a lack of hope, with a lack of respect for his or her family, and these lacks brought about by an indolent Government. The message is quite clear from the contributions made in this debate. We look to the Government for the time being to assure the young people of Ireland that not tomorrow or the next day but today they will get the opportunities which are so badly needed.
Minister for Labour (Mr. M. O'Leary): The last speaker was right to pitch his comments in the serious vein in which he did, because undoubtedly unemployment has been and continues to be a problem. It is fair to say that the unemployment figures show signs of improving. The rate of unemployment and the numbers out of work are falling. Compared with last year, in absolute terms there are 2,500 people fewer out of work. We can say of an economy which recorded a growth rate last year of 3½ per cent, and which this year is confidently predicted to record a growth rate in excess of 4 per cent, that the stagnancy of the recession is over and people, if not back at work, are in prospect of an early return to work. We can point to other demonstrable indicators of an economy returning to a permanent growth path. We can look at the volume of exports in the first four months of this year and see they are up 40 per cent on the comparable period in the previous year, that year in itself recording very substantial export gains.
It must be conceded that with unemployment figures at the level experienced here, no one can exult and say our problems of unemployment are over. They are not. Nor are they [725] over in any of the larger economies of the industrial west. Without being excessively partisan, I want to make the point that the leaders of the leading western economic nations at a meeting in London last week-end stressed the importance of obtaining an adequate answer to the problems of the unemployed young in all their economies. I make that point briefly because sometimes the point is made somewhat unfairly by commentators that we are alone in facing the problem of unemployment. We are not alone, but the dimensions of unemployment faced in this country have always been extremely high by contrast with other economies with whom we trade. If our economy is returning to a growth path, if our economy is moving out of the stagnation of 1974 and 1975, itself part of the world stagnation and recession, it could be said that to meet the full dimensions of the Irish problem of unemployment our efforts will have to be that much better than those of even stronger economies. Our economy has never measured up adequately in its performance to the task demanded of it in the context of the size of our unemployment. I would like to quote The Economist, which ran a special issue on this country in April. It is not a partisan publication but I think it fairly expresses the kind of problem we have always had in relation to unemployment in our economy, even in our best performance period. The Economist of the 9th April under the heading of "A question of Numbers" stated:
In the 1960's, when economies throughout the developed world were experiencing an unprecedented boom, Ireland's gross national product grew by an average of 4 per cent a year. Yet, at the same time, 135,000 people, or roughly 8 per cent of the then labour force, were forced to emigrate. They went because new employment opportunities in the Republic grew at a net rate of only 250 jobs a year. New jobs created in the manufacturing and service industries were only just enough to absorb the continuing drift from agriculture—a trend that [726] began in the previous century. The surplus population, swollen each year by school leavers, was effectively exported through emigration.
That is The Economist of April this year talking about our economy which still, after this period of recession, understandably enough, suffers from this problem of unemployment, which we have always had with us. If I were to say one thing to some Opposition speakers it is that I am astonished at the note of discovery which enters their remarks, but when they come to this question of unemployment one would not think that theirs was the Administration that presided over this period in the 1960's when all economies were doing well and which presided over a picture which was as dismal as that painted by The Economist of the employment situation over that period. They failed to create sufficient employment for our population at that period.
The question before us now, just coming out of that recession, is: "what must be our approach to the problem now and in the future?" I believe we can say with confidence that unemployment will drop below its present figure, that it will drop below 100,000 in the coming months. The trend shows a continuing improvement over this year. There will continue to be a necessity for the creation of so great a number of new jobs over the next few years that the size of the task before the economy can be described thus. If we are to halve the present unemployment rate by the middle 1980's we will require to create each year 35,000 new jobs. That would require roughly double the rate of growth achieved in our best years repeated year on year continuously. We have never succeeded in doing that. If we are serious about providing employment for our population, young, not so young and all those capable of working in the country, those are the kind of jobs we will need to create.
We must, first, discard the idea that there are any easy slogans for the creation of sufficient jobs for those in our economy who are looking for them, because there are not. We do not have time in this short debate, which [727] addresses itself exclusively to the present unemployment problems created for young people, to go into the requirements of the kind of planning that will be necessary in our economy over the next few years if we are to come anywhere near those necessary targets in job creation. We can say, however, that as an Administration we have, in our management of the economy over a very difficult period, pursued a policy designed to maintain employment at its maximum in a period when it was in greatest peril from forces to a great extent outside our control. At this point of recovery going back to a definite 4 per cent growth in the economy we have as a Government attempted to channel as much of public funds as possible into the area of job creation.
I am sure other speakers on the Government side have referred to the public capital programme for this year, which represents a very large increase over that for 1976, which was historically high, in an effort to create conditions in which a maximum number of jobs would be created for those looking for them. In our budget programme we set aside an extra £56 million for job creation. Of that sum £36 million is to be spent under the public capital programme on such items as the construction of schools, hospitals, office buildings, training centres, harbour and telephone development, and £14 million in current expenditure is to be spent on creating additional jobs in health, teaching services, roads and so on, all areas calling out for this kind of investment.
We announced, as part of that programme, the details of an employment incentive scheme, which has been receiving some attention in the House this week. I believe that the attention it has been receiving in the House will be of assistance in publicising the advantages and the provisions of that programme. It is important that as many employers as possible in the community should know its provisions and that as many as possible should answer our appeal to participate in the provisions of that [728] programme. Our target in the employment incentive scheme is the return of 11,000 people to work, 6,000 adult workers and 5,000 under the age of 20. It is only a start if unemployment will drop this year below the 100,000 figure.
It is a move in the right direction, but there is no cause for exultation in seeing unemployment drop from its present figure of 113,000 to below 100,000 in the next few months. It is better than the contrary tendency, seeing it increase, which we have seen during the height of the recession. Our employment incentive scheme will mean that any person under 20 years of age, who has left full time education for at least seven months and has not yet succeeded in finding permanent employment, will from the 1st January, 1977 qualify under the scheme. A premium of £10 per week will be paid to employers in manufacturing industries and in agriculture who employ such workers who qualify in this fashion.
I should explain that for the first time we have extended this scheme to school leavers in an effort to help that category of workers. I believe that our answer to our employment problems must be a total answer rather than one that can be described as answering the needs of particular categories of workers. I do not deny that young people have found themselves without sufficient work in this period of recession. They have never had sufficient work in the Ireland I have known. During the fifties and sixties large numbers of our young people had to emigrate to Britain. However, the exodus to Britain and other places in search of work has come to an end with the result that for the first time this State is faced with a great challenge, and if that challenge has a political aspect—the sort of challenge we have dealt with successfully—there is an even more serious challenge. I would agree with those people on the opposite side who have said that the real challenge is not to democracy as we know but relates to our ability to meet this demand for employment on the part of our people. This is the real economic challenge to the continuation [729] of our democratic state. For the first time the demand is for sufficient work at home.
In this Bill we are making provision for direct employment creation in the capital area of between 7,000 and 8,000 jobs. Under the Employment Incentive Scheme, a scheme that has been the subject of much comment here in recent days but comment which I expect will at least draw attention to the scheme's features, we hope to see 11,000 people returned to work. The amount of money set aside for the purpose of the scheme is £4.1 million. It operates from February of this year to February of next year. All employers, either in manufacturing or in agriculture, are eligible for participation in the scheme. To each employer engaging an extra adult worker who is over 20 years of age the State will pay £20 per week for the duration of the scheme and, in respect of school-leavers, the figure is £10 per week. This is in addition to the 11,000 workers we hope to put back to work. In addition, provision was made in the budget, under the community youth project programme, for the return to work of 1,800 people. This year, also, we have provided for record sums of money for AnCO, the bulk of whose trainees are under 25 years of age. These, then, are the responses of a concerned Government, but I would join with other Deputies in admitting that for the State to answer this problem of continuing unemployment in the years ahead will require a better arrangement of our resources. I submit that we are acting on the matter.
Mr. Tunney: When we realise that as we speak here there are 44,000 teenage boys and girls who, removed for the moment from what can be regarded as the normal pursuits of citizens who are young and free, are applying themselves, in a spirit of self-sacrifice, to their leaving certificate examination, we realise the seriousness of the problem we are discussing. We realise, too, the tragedy of those young people, a tragedy which has been dismissed rather cursorily by the young Minister for Labour who says that this [730] problem cannot be treated in isolation, that we must talk about the totality of unemployment. In this I would venture to differ with him and to say that this generation owes as much to the coming generation in respect of employment as we owe to the adults. Regarding the scheme referred to so often by the Minister, we have a perfect example of the contrast in what he is saying, even on the point of taking the whole matter of unemployment in its totality. That scheme, ab initio, discriminates against the young person, since for those under 21 the amount payable to an employer is £10 per week or half of the amount payable in respect of an adult.
Two years ago when this matter was not regarded with the same urgency as is the case now, I recall referring to what I described as the outstanding failure of this Coalition. I do not mind repeating what I said then, which was that this Government have shattered the dreams of so many of our young people. Of the 44,000 sitting for the leaving certificate there will be the average failure rate of 10 per cent, which leaves a figure of about 40,000 young people with the leaving certificate either coming on the market for employment or going on to third-level education. The maximum that can be absorbed in the third-level area is about 10 per cent. In other words, there will be at least 30,000 with leaving certificates seeking employment. I am disregarding for the moment those who will opt out at intermediate certificate or group certificate stage, but we may take it that up to 15,000 in that category will be available for employment.
I noted that during the Minister's 15-minute contribution the only reference to these young people was a mention of young and not so young persons. I do not wish to be personal, but I am wondering whether the Minister, by reason of his not having been subjected to the normal and traditional anxieties of parents in watching their children pursuing education which is supposed to lead to their being fitted for jobs but seeing them at the end disillusioned, frustrated and disappointed, is in a position to appreciate the problem. In [731] many cases the pursuit of education is taken so seriously by the children that it can injure their health. Yet, the Minister thinks that we should not concern ourselves with young people alone. That is more indicative of the attitude of old people.
I am grateful that the teenage members of my family have been fortunate enough to find accommodation at third level education and I am not thinking of the chance or good fortune which allowed them in this extraordinary type of examination to get the adequate number of points to entitle them to enter university. I am thinking of the other less fortunate students who, with two or three honours in their leaving certificate, could not get into a third level institute and, even if they could, their parents could not affort the expense. These students, with a great ambition realised, with this great leaving certificate in their hands, in their pockets or on the wall—wherever they keep it—cannot get employment behind shop counters. We have employed by Dublin Corporation a graduate emptying bins.
What is it all in aid of? As far as the Minister for Labour is concerned, it does not seem to rate in his priorities. Here, I would criticise slightly the attitude of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education whose only contribution apparently is that he will help young people who help themselves to get employment. What exactly does that mean? He boasts of a scheme he has for adult youth leaders. In heaven's name, what will these people live on while being trained as apparently adult youth leaders? Is this the attitude of the Parliamentary Secretary? I know he is not to be blamed for the fact that he was forced out of an area where he could have been gainfully employed whole-time and was obliged to take upon himself duties in Industry and Commerce. I am not blaming him for that. I blame his Taoiseach. Whatever one may say about the Fianna Fáil Party, they saw the need for the appointment of a person whose total and absolute responsibility would be in the field of youth. I am not going to indulge now in any [732] criticism of the holder of that office. I will not, as I could, castigate him for the fact that as yet we have no youth policy but neither he nor the Government can deny in the matter of the importance of the office that they are treating it with only half the importance with which the previous Government treated it in so far as they ask the holder of this office to apply himself to another office in another ministry.
Schemes are attractive. I accept there is need for planning but I am motivated by the realities of what I see around me. In anticipation of this debate, knowing the scene as I do, wondering whether or not the area in which I live has been singularly unfortunate in respect of an utter inability on the part of leaving certificate students to find employment, I made some general inquires. I inquired from Bord Fáilte, from Bord Iascaigh Mhara, from Bord na Móna, from the ESB, from CIE and from Aer Lingus as to how they saw the scene this year and in every case they told me it would be worse than last year in the matter of employment for young people. Aer Lingus are going to recruit 13 or 14 air hostesses. There are 4,000 or 5,000 applicants. CIE, contrary to their giving any hope of employing young people, have advised that the position there is they will be reducing their numbers.
What is all this talk then from the Minister and the Parliamentary Secretary about the new day dawning and what will happen? What is all this talk about the provision in the Estimates? Where is the proof? Where are the jobs that are supposed to have been created? What hope can one hold out to the successful leaving certificate student? I use the word "successful" advisedly. I do not accept that there is any great virtue in giving to a student who has sat his leaving certificate and who did not reach the required standard—in passing, may I say I abhor the whole idea—a certificate as to his failure. And that is what we are doing. However, that is by the way.
I am concerned with the successful, with those who for 13 or more years have been travelling hopefully [733] towards a point at which they believe they will have a guarantee of gainful employment. What has the Minister for Labour, and the Parliamentary Secretary and this Government—it must be admitted that whatever other failings they have they do not fail in the matter of promises—to hold out to those students? What promises have they, what prospects, what hopes for these children? As I said initially, the answer is "None". That is quite obvious from the attitude of the Minister for Labour. He did not indicate one single area where a group certificate student, an intermediate certificate student or a leaving certificate student could get employment. He reflected. He said he knew when times were as bad. I suggest to him he is entirely wrong. I am quite familiar with the educational scene of the 1960s and early 1970s when, if one had a leaving certificate, it automatically guaranteed employment. Out in the vocational school in Blanchardstown students with a group certificate could select apprenticeships in the ESB, in Posts and Telegraphs and many other areas of employment. There was an [734] availability of employment then. There is no employment available now. The pattern in the 1960s and early 1970s completely contradicts the attempt by the Minister to relate present circumstances to those which obtained in the 1960s and early 1970s.
I recollect meeting the present Minister for Foreign Affairs outside this House—I was concerned too—with a group of graduates who had been successful in their H.Dip. and because there was some fear that the Minister for Education, Deputy Faulkner, could not guarantee them positions there were scenes outside this House. Actually the Minister found employment for every one of them. I am citing that episode to show the appalling change that has occurred. I am not blaming the Government for creating these circumstances but I am blaming the Minister for Labour who has nothing to offer. He should at least hold out some hope we could take from this House to the many children who are waiting for some guidance. Apparently there is none and, equally apparently, the Minister for Labour could not care less.
|Allen, Lorcan.
Andrews, David.
Barrett, Sylvester.
Brennan, Joseph.
Breslin, Cormac.
Briscoe, Ben.
Browne, Seán.
Brosnan, Seán.
Brugha, Ruairí.
Burke, Raphael P.
Callanan, John.
Calleary, Seán.
Carter, Frank.
Colley, George.
Collins, Gerard.
Crinion, Brendan.
Cronin, Jerry.
Daly, Brendan.
Davern, Noel.
de Valera, Vivion.
Dowling, Joe.
Fahey, Jackie.
Farrell, Joseph.
Faulkner, Pádraig.
Fitzgerald, Gene.
Fitzpatrick, Tom (Dublin Central).
French, Seán.
Gallagher, Denis.
|Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
Gibbons, Hugh.
Haughey, Charles.
Healy, Augustine A.
Hussey, Thomas.
Kitt, Michael P.
Lalor, Patrick J.
Leonard, James.
Loughnane, William.
Lynch, Celia.
Lynch, Jack.
McEllistrim, Thomas.
MacSharry, Ray.
Meaney, Tom.
Molloy, Robert.
Moore, Seán.
Murphy, Ciarán.
Noonan, Michael.
O'Connor, Timothy.
O'Kennedy, Michael.
O'Leary, John.
O'Malley, Desmond.
Power, Patrick.
Timmons, Eugene.
Tunney, Jim.
Walsh, Seán.
Wilson, John P.
Wyse, Pearse.
|Barry, Peter.
Barry, Richard.
Begley, Michael.
Belton, Luke.
Belton, Paddy.
Bermingham, Joseph.
Bruton, John.
Burke, Joan T.
Burke, Liam.
Byrne, Hugh.
Clinton, Mark A.
Collins, Edward.
Conlan, John F.
Coogan, Fintan.
Cooney, Patrick M.
Corish, Brendan.
Cosgrave, Liam.
Costello, Declan.
Coughlan, Stephen.
Crotty, Kieran.
Cruise-O'Brien, Conor.
Desmond, Barry.
Desmond, Eileen.
Dockrell, Maurice.
Donegan, Patrick S.
Dunne, Thomas.
Enright, Thomas.
Esmonde, John G.
Finn, Martin.
FitzGerald, Garret.
Flanagan, Oliver J.
|Gilhawley, Eugene.
Governey, Desmond.
Griffin, Brendan.
Halligan, Brendan.
Harte, Patrick D.
Hegarty, Patrick.
Hogan, O'Higgins, Brigid.
Jones, Denis F.
Keating, Justin.
Kelly, John.
Kenny, Enda.
Kyne, Thomas A.
Lynch, Gerard.
McLaughlin, Joseph.
McMahon, Larry.
Malone, Patrick.
Murphy, Michael P.
O'Brien, Fergus.
O'Connell, John.
O'Leary, Michael.
O'Sullivan, John L.
Pattison, Séamus.
Reynolds, Patrick J.
Ryan, John J.
Ryan, Richie.
Spring, Dan.
Staunton, Myles.
Taylor, Frank.
Timmins, Godfrey.
Toal, Brendan.
White, James.
Question declared lost.
|Last Updated: 14/09/2010 16:20:00
|Page of 43


text:
Artist: Great Northern
Album: Sleepy Eepee
Label: Eenie Meenie Records
Genre: Rock, Cinematic Pop
Comments: Big sweeping pop sound with a slightly dark tinge. Sounds like night layers like Postal Service or Death Cab.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Great Northern
Posted by Clara at 6:56 PM
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subset: commoncrawl


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Beethoven's LettersItem #: AL.06-227693
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Written by Ludwig Van Beethoven.
Music History Book. 410 pages. Published by Dover Publications. (AL.06-227693)
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457 letters to fellow musicians, friends, greats, patrons and literary scholars reveal Beethoven's musical thoughts, quirks of personality, insights and daily events. 15 plates. 410 pgs.


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Inside a cold storage bunker at Kew Garden's Millennium Seed Bank in Ardingly, West Sussex, UK sn.im/sidzb The bank contains seeds from 10% of the Earth's wild plant species, providing an insurance policy for the planet's plant life. The next goal is to collect 25% of the world's plant species by 2020. Du...
Icicles hanging from Healthy Plants
- Pt Vicente Lighthouse & Catalina Island - Palos Verdes_CA December 23-2011 John Post G91 - nearbynature by John Post
View shows whale watchers looking towards Pt Vicente Lighthouse & Catalina Island. The Pt Vicente Interpretive Center has some of the last remaining natural environment on the Palos Verdes Peninsula of Los Angeles. Nikon coolpix P5100, 91 images - ©John Post
Explore the inner workings of the University of St. Thomas Greenhouse in St. Paul, Minnesota
Here's what I do while riding out the flu
image by Mike Andree This is a panorama of an observation hive that was put together by research technicians at the Pennsylvania State University for a bug camp held on campus. The camp is aimed at education for students in elementary and middle school. Behind the observation hive is a pollinator garden that exhib...
Looking south the view of the Japanese Garden and one of the parks buildings to the right. Chicago Botanic Garden located on Lake-Cook Road at the northern end of Cook County has a range of services and information at their website: www.chicagobotanic.org Many people stroll through the park which extends from ...
Honolulu has a number of community gardens in which people grow food, flowers and weeds. This image will become a large print that will be used to test some ethnobotanical hypotheses.
This particular greenhouse is located inside the Floriculture Greenhouse on the Cook Campus at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. This 360 degree gigapan only shows one of the many green rooms that this greenhouse currently has.


text:
Recycle and Help Bozeman Earn A $100,000 Grant
Bozeman is a very recycle conscious town. The Environmental Protection Agency found that American's recycle less than half of our daily waste. I would guess that Bozeman is above this average and we can still do even better. If we do increase our recycling, our town will see a $100,000 grant from SC Johnson!
Bernie Madoff's Pants Recycled Into iPad Cases
Back in June, possessions belonging to the notorious Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff were auctioned off, with the proceeds going towards his victims. Among the books, chairs, and Rolex watches were his pricey clothes, many of which were purchased by entrepreneur John Vaccaro, who has turned Madoff's cashmere sweaters and designer pants into iPad cases.


text:
From guest blogger Sean:
About Chicago's recent weather—today the temp in Oneida is expected to hit 36°C (97°F). Some areas will likely see 38°C (100°F) or more. I don't think I've ever seen it this hot in this area before, not in almost 36 years. But after last summer, which was the hottest average summer yet, we really don't want more heat here.
At least we aren't merely baking, though; we're broiling: July finished with an official monthly precipitation total of just over 10 inches. In one month. My tomato garden is now a rice paddock. The water table around my house has risen to just below the two-foot mark. And yet the NWS is telling President Bush the evidence for global warming is "inconclusive?" Excuse me, when upstate NY has already seen over a dozen 32°C (90°F)-plus days this year as of August 1st and this much rain, and the Midwest is another Dust Bowl, and the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica continues to erode at an alarming rate, I think there's more than enough conclusive evidence for global warming. How much is human-caused and how much is a larger natural global cycle, now that's the real question, but come on, I think we can draw some very clear conclusions here.
On another and unrelated note, we picked almost 9 gallons of blueberries last week and we've just started harvesting blackberries from the pasture—over 2 gallons there yesterday and we can expect many, many more over the next month. The apple trees—which I aggressively pruned—are bearing a nice harvest of fruit. Too bad my tomato plants are flowering at less than half size and speaking Vietnamese. Well, that means next year we create raised beds with better drainage. And dig out the pond as planned.
Sean is a teacher and farmer in Oneida, N.Y.
Update, 18:00 UTC: You can see more of Sean's agony at the experimental Weather Now history page.
As threatened, it hit 37°C (99°F) in Chicago today, making it possibly the hottest July 31st on record. We won't know for sure until tomorrow.
From July 1st until today the average high temperature in Chicago was 29.6°C (85.3°F), modestly above normal, but not quite like those in Jamie's and Angela's home cities, which were 32.2°C (90°F) and 32.4°C (90.4°F), respectively. As Angela pointed out, this is much more normal for Atlanta than it is for here, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant in either city.
Last year, despite an all-time July high of 38.2°C (102°F) in Chicago, the average July highs for Atlanta, Chicago, and Raleigh were 30.4°C (86.7°F), 30.2°C (86.4°F), and 33.8°C (92.8°F), respectively, which were much closer to normal for all three.
But let's review. The average daily high temperature for June in Chicago was 25.9°C (78.6°F), which I think we can all agree was much more pleasant. And, moreover, we chose to live in Chicago, not anywhere South of the 40th parallel, for precisely this reason.
Oh, and another thing: at this writing, it's 34°C (93°F) in Raleigh, 33°C (91°F) in Atlanta, but 37°C (99°F) here. So, yes, my dear Southern friends, it's really quite warm in Chicago right now.
The National Weather Service had this to say three hours ago:
It was 29°C (85°F) by 9 this morning. The temperature may possibly fall below 25°C (77°F) before sunrise Tuesday, but not likely before then.
Last night, my buddy from Washington remarked about the 30°C (86°F) evening and said, "back home, this is delightful July weather."
Bleah. I want frost.
Anne is stuck in Washington because of storms in Chicago...sort of:
O'Hare International Airport was experiencing [hour-long] delays, she said, but the airport's flight schedule also had been interrupted by technical problems at a Federal Aviation Administration facility in Elgin.
[Chicago Transportation Dept. spokeswoman Wendy] Abrams said the delays were expected to continue throughout the early evening.
The National Weather Service in Romeoville issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch, which will remain in effect until 11 p.m., for northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana.
I may see her tonight. I hope.
Why did the only government we have approve a deal to give nuclear materials to one of only two nuclear-armed countries that rejects the Non-Proliferation Treaty? (Possible answer: because the other one is Pakistan?)
Yes, Congress voted 359-68 to give India nuclear technology:
For Bush to implement his accord with India, lawmakers must first exempt New Delhi from U.S. laws that bar nuclear trade with countries that have not submitted to full international inspections.
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) [said] that "at this time of great crisis in the world, we should be looking for nuclear disarmament, nuclear abolition—saving the world, not ramping up for Armageddon by nuclear proliferation."
"We're going in the wrong direction here," he said.
As Tom Lehrer once sang: "We'll try to stay serene and calm/When Alabama gets the bomb./Who's next?"
I am sad to report that Illinois' own nuclear material Henry Hyde sponsored the bill, though how this will help DuPage County is beyond me. Also troubling is my own representative's vote for it. Congresswoman Schakowsky: why? Why? Why?
ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) posted a $10,360,000,000 profit last quarter:
The earnings figure was 36 percent above the profit it reported a year ago. High oil prices helped boost the company's revenue by 12 percent to a level just short of a quarterly record. Exxon Mobil's report comes a day after another large U.S. oil company, ConocoPhillips, said it earned more than $5 billion in the quarter and at a time when many drivers in the U.S. are paying $3 for a gallon of gas—increasing the likelihood of further political backlash in Washington.
I wonder, does this have anything to do with the secret Cheney energy-policy meeting in 2001? I wonder. I also wonder who's getting that money. Are you an ExxonMobil shareholder? Do you know anyone who is, whose annual income is below $500,000? I wonder.
Just for giggles, you might want to know that their profit works out to $1,317 per second. In the time it's taken for me to write this entry, they've earned almost $400,000.
As we say in Chicago: "Where's mine?"
One more thing: Temperatures in Chicago should hit 32°C (90°F) every day for the next week, so it's possible my estimate of their earnings was low.
That's what Molly Ivins suggests this week:
Do I think Bill Moyers can win the presidency? No, that seems like a very long shot to me. The nomination? No, that seems like a very long shot to me.
Then why run him? Think, imagine, if seven or eight other Democratic candidates, all beautifully coiffed and triangulated and carefully coached to say nothing that will offend anyone, stand on stage with Bill Moyers in front of cameras for a national debate … what would happen? Bill Moyers would win, would walk away with it, just because he doesn't triangulate or calculate or trim or try to straddle the issues. Bill Moyers doesn't have to endorse a constitutional amendment against flag burning or whatever wedge issue du jour Republicans have come up with. He is not afraid of being called "unpatriotic." And besides, he is a wise and a kind man who knows how to talk on TV.
Sounds good to me.
The ACLU's case over AT&T sharing its phone records with the government got dismissed:
"The court is persuaded that requiring AT&T to confirm or deny whether it has disclosed large quantities of telephone records to the federal government could give adversaries of this country valuable insight into the government's intelligence activities," U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said.
Any adversary of this country who can't figure out what phone records went to which agency is probably too stupid to be much of a threat, in my opinion.
I was all set to rant that Kennelly was a Bush (either flavor) or Reagan appointee, but no, he's one of ours. Still, the whole thing smells bad, not least because the judicial branch really ought to stand up to the executive, since the legislative isn't.
I don't know whether this is funny or sad. The Italian government is using the frequent-flier records of several CIA operatives to build their prosecution:
It is unclear whether the operatives intended to take advantage of the free flights garnered at government expense—CIA personnel on such assignments are permitted to fly expensive international business class—or whether they simply were attempting to bolster their covers as private-sector executives.
So keep this in mind, all you road warriors: Someday someone may track your movements based on your quest for Executive Platinum.
Yesterday I rode 80 km (50 miles) in some of the most beautiful weather Chicago can have. It started off cool and got pleasant but not hot, with a light breeze and low humidity. If every day were like this, I thought, we'd be in Santa Barbara.
It rained a little last night (here, anyway; a collossal thunderstorm charged through the Western suburbs), so new we have even better weather than yesterday, if such is possible. If my legs were not still rubbery right now I would go for a bike ride.
Stupid post, I know, but that's what this weather does to me.


text: John - How do you handle when who/about/date are different types? For instance, I think 'who' on some objects is a refList of EmailAddresses but on other objects (Note?) it is a EmailAddress object.. or I could imagine it eventually being a string too. One solution I could imagine is putting separate, localized 'who' attributes on a per-Kind basis (so that e-mail addresses could have its own 'who' that is a refList of EmailAddresses and Notes could have just a single EmailAddress object.) But if we're talking about a scheme like this, it seems like it would make sense to just bake this into the schema layer, rather than implement onValueChanged on each of the respective PIM Kinds. Maybe pje can shed some light here? Alec John Anderson wrote: > I'm planning on getting rid of redirect attributes to handle the Who, > About and Date attributes in the Summary Table. Instead I plan to add > an explicit Who, About and Date attribute. By noticing when attributes > that affect the value of Who, About or Date change (using > onValueChanged), I'll update Who, About and Date as necessary. > > This is simple to implement and eliminates the current problem where > Who, About and Date sometimes doesn't display the correct value. It > also doesn't require a special "computed attribute" that isn't stored > in the repository, so you can always search for Who, About and Date > like any other attribute. Finally, it allows Andi to get rid of > redirect, which simplifies the repository design. > > John > > _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ > > Open Source Applications Foundation "Dev" mailing list > http://lists.osafoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/dev


text:
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Along with just about everyone else, I've found that I have a weird relationship with time during this part of the year. I thoroughly enjoy the holidays; everything from the festivities and seasonal treats to spending time with family and friends makes the last few weeks of the year great (not to mention all the paid time off I receive from my employer). Part of me wants to think of nothing but these days that are filled with good food, fun, and plenty of time to relax and decompress from a year's worth of working hard and trying to get ahead.
But while I'm loving the present, I find myself dwelling on the past and future in equal measure, too. I look back at the last 12 months, and I feel happy and grateful for all that I accomplished and gained. I'm also amazed at how fast everything flew by. Simultaneously, I look ahead to the new year and start planning to make 2014 even better than the awesome 2013 I had. It makes for a weird feeling, trying to look forward and behind all while wanting to make time to not think and simply enjoy the present.
But one thing I have learned this year is that setting goals and having a clear idea of where I want to go is really helpful. It makes it that much more likely that I'll actually accomplish what I want to do. So let's take a quick look back at my December goals before I share some of my big plans for 2014:
Review Our Budget:
Review our finances to find more savings, and cut more expenses if possible. PASS We were able to cut $200 out of our discretionary spending, and that amount will be added to savings each month. For 2014, our budgeted savings rate is at 40%. I'm hoping the actual rate will be higher (by creating budget surpluses and putting that extra in to savings) and I'd love to add any freelance income I make into savings, too.
No-Spend Week, Part II:
Do another no-spend work-week in December. PASS This actually ended up being way easier than I thought. The whole month ended up being extremely low in discretionary spending – that, along with our car maintenance bills being a couple hundred cheaper than anticipated, made for a huge budget surplus this month. As always, it'll get pushed into savings.
Save Money out of Our Bonus Checks:
Save a percentage of our year-end bonuses. PASS
This was another easier-than-I-thought goal to accomplish, as our bonuses were much more generous than I anticipated. We came in right on budget for our Christmas gifts, so everything else went straight to savings.
Pick Up a New Freelancing Gig:
Expand my work as a freelancer and pick up a new job in December. PASS
I picked up a new position as a staff writer and a position as a contributing writer, which is really exciting! I hope to continue to expand my freelancing work in 2014. I would absolutely love to have the ability to transition into full-time freelancing by the end of next year (stretch goal, perhaps?).
I loved finishing off the year with a successful set of monthly goals. Makes me pumped up and even more motivated to keep that momentum going in 2014! I'd love to make progress and improvements in several areas in the new year. And while some may poo-poo the idea of making resolutions, I'm actually quite excited to establish some goals for the year and to be able to look back in 12 months to see what kind of progress I made. Plus, I enjoy reading up on what others have planned and want to accomplish, so I figure a few folks out there may actually be interested to read my own Goals for 2014 (I'll try to make everything nice and pretty and organized to make it even more pleasurable for your eyeballs):
- Continue to save like nobody's business. We're starting the year with a 40% savings rate. I'd like to see us get to 50% by the end of the year.
- Share discretionary expenses. I know lots of folks do "bust our budget" posts or net worth updates, and that's not for me – but I think it might be fun to do a monthly share session on the spending we did on the fun or not-strictly-necessary purchases. I think this would help me better understand what I value beyond what we need, and what's important to us.
- Make more. Plain and simple, I want to see my side income become more and more viable in 2014. (Eventually, I'd love to make the leap to self-employment, but I want to manage my freelancing work along with my "day job" for as long as possible to maximize the amount of income we can save and invest.)
- Back to working out. At least 20 minutes of strength training via bodyweight exercises 5 days per week.
- Continue running March-ish through November-ish (in other words, when the weather isn't gross here). I want to do a minimum of 3 days per week/45 minutes per run.
- Ride my bike at least 2 days per week (even if it's just around the neighborhood).
- From Memorial Day to Labor Day – when our neighborhood pool is open – swim at least 1 day per week, at least 1 hour per workout.
- Go for an after-dinner walk 3 days per week.. dare I add regardless of how cold it is?
- Cut the crap food, especially sweet treats. I do not want to keep food products with added sugar in the house (foods that naturally contain sugar, like fruit, are acceptable.. cookies are not). Because I know I will go insane if I don't get any form of chocolate, I will allow myself 1 piece of dark chocolate per day.
- Continue to grow. I had no expectations for Common Sense Millennial when I started the blog in July, and the growth I've experienced so far has been incredible. I'd love to keep that going.
- Set up a few passive income streams via advertising, affiliate programs, and sponsored posts.
- Get to FinCon14!
- Figure out how to make the stupid navigation links be not-red.
- Continue to expand my freelancing work. I am loving everything about my freelance business and I want to continue to make progress in 2014. I'd love to take on at least 1 new project/client every month in the new year.
- Finish setting up my portfolio site, KaliHawlk.com and keep it up-to-date.
- More-optimistic-than-realistic goal: have my freelance income equal half my take-home pay from my day job by the end of the year.
- Super-duper really-stretching goal: have my freelance income equal 100% of my take-home pay by the end of the year.
- Read 1 book per month.
- Let my artistic side have room to grow. I am a creative, crafty, and fairly talented person art-wise, and I should spend more time cultivating that side of me. Allow myself to indulge in some Pinterest projects and DIY things around the house.
- Keep in mind my 2014 mantra: By believing passionately in something that does not exist, we create it.
There you have it – that's my big fun list of stuff to make 2014 even more brilliant than this past year. I'm really eager to see what the new year has in store for me and excited to figure out where I'll find myself. One thing is for sure: it's going to be another incredible, fantastic ride.
What do you want to see happen in your life in 2014? Are you feeling motivated to set some big goals to work toward in the new year? Let me know in the comments (or direct me to your own blog post if you've written one)!


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Celebrity etiquette
Whether you're a facelift fan or not, it pays not to stretch the truth over Botox.
Comment & features p7
Spoiler friends
This modern life: How to 'mute' TV addicts who give away the plot.
Rising star
Annette Russell, music manager
Comment & features p9
Robert Downey Jr
Actor, 40, Los Angeles
Comment & features p10
Super size me
She should have been easy to pigeonhole. The funny fat girl hiding a sad heart. But that would be far too ordinary for Dawn French. In a remarkably frank interview she talks to Chrissy Iley about marriage, adoption, careers, best friends, suicide, infidelity... oh, and being a 'little round dumpling'.
Comment & features p14
Chernobyl 20 years onMeet the helicopter pilot who spent months flying through radioactive dust; the engineer who saw the first three men die; the family evacuated with 40 minutes' notice... Two decades after the world's worst man-made disaster, Adam Higginbotham enters the 30km exclusion zone.
Comment & features p20
Rhymes of passion
Take a bohemian Old Etonian descended from a family of famous actors. Add in a colourfully unconventional marriage, a pair of penetrating blue eyes and a battered typewriter, and you have all the raw ingredients of a prize-winning poet. As Hugo Williams's latest collection is published, Rachel Cooke has all her best preconceptions confirmed.
Comment & features p32
Looking for brogues for women
Ask Jo: Where to buy women's brogues? | Reviving stained leather bags | Looking human after having given birth
Comment & features p43
The chairleaders
Vintage Japanese silk, retro prints, sequined satin... upholstery has never been so funky. Lucy Siegle meets two designers who have got it covered.
Comment & features p44
How to make home lighting more atmospheric
Ask Oliver: Atmospheric lighting | What colours work with terracotta carpet
What would you save if your house was burning down?
Brian Dowling, TV presenter
Comment & features p51
From Russia with love
Savoury cushions topped with smoked salmon and creme fraiche, blini are the sort of food you cannot help but make with affection, says Nigel Slater.
Comment & features p52
One giant leap
Inspired by the Fat Duck and feted by Michelin, the Vineyard at Stockcross offers Hollywood stardust and mandarin spacedust. Jay Rayner savours the cooking of a gastronomic galactico
Comment & features p56
Chardonnay, the great white, is back with a bite
Tim Atkin: It's come to something when the world's greatest white grape is confused with a soap-opera character who accidentally sets fire to her silicon implants.
Comment & features p57
Time for a new start in life?
The death of her partner has left her flat and lonely. Mariella Frostrup rekindles her passion for life.
Comment & features p59
The love CV
Jack Vettriano, 54, artist
Libido disappeared after getting married
Sebastian Horsley and Marion McBride: 'Last year, study and work were demanding. I had a summer wedding, but then lost interest in sex. I'm relaxed now, though my sex drive shows no sign of reappearing'
Comment & features p61
How can I overcome my fear of flying?
Health panel: She used to fly around the world for work, but after 9/11 and an air-rage incident she now can't board an aeroplane. Can our experts help her prepare for takeoff?
Comment & features p62
The green gaugeFrom compost to styrofoam
Should I replace my old cooker and fridge?Don't make your old appliances redundant. Get your spanner out and you'll save more than just money, says Lucy Siegle.
Comment & features p65
Mrs Frumpbag's big day
It was love at first sight for Lynn Barber ... But the super-luxe Lexus sportscar wasn't so sure.
Kidnapped by a taxi driver
Tom Templeton on the perils of taxi-napping in Cairo.
Comment & features p67
March 26: Neil Spencer on your astrological week ahead.
Comment & features p69
Moving the clocks forward
Euan Ferguson: There are a very few things I can understand better than can my dad - selfishness, rock music, my mum - but the hour changing is not one of them.


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Lee Arthur Morris, 75, died on Saturday, June 14, 2014, at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa.
Lee was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Feb. 16, 1939, to Arthur L. and Thekla C. Morris. He graduated high school in 1957 and enlisted in the Navy that same year. He married the late Dorothy L. Morris on Sept. 2, 1960. Lee entered the U.S. Coast Guard in 1960, retiring in 1979. He then owned and operated Morris TV in Unionville. He earned his B.S.E. and Master's in Business Education and taught at Tipton High School from 1986 until retiring in 1997. He married Marcia North Eilers on Oct. 4, 1991. Lee was a member of the Chief Petty Officers Association, Coast Guard CW Operators Association and the Missouri Retired Teachers Association.
Lee is predeceased by his mother, Thekla Charlotta Nelson Morris; his father, Arthur Lee Morris; and his first wife, Dorothy Lee Newell Morris.
Lee is survived by his wife, Marcia; two daughters; Cindy (Chris) Cox of Knoxville, Tenn., and Susan (Steve) Chronister of Des Moines, Iowa; step-daughter; Susan (Jimmy) Hoffman of Marshall; sister; Carol (Ron) Muecke of Bellevue, Washington; and two grandchildren, Clara Cox and Seth Chronister.
Lee's visitation and memorial will be held on Sunday, June 22 at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 3820 S.W. 9th Street in Des Moines. A military funeral will be held at Springfield National Cemetery, Springfield, Mo., on Wednesday, June 25.
Memorial contributions may be directed to The Wounded Warrior Project or Mayo Clinic Dementia Research.
Local arrangements by Heckart Funeral Home.


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Natural gas is one of our most versatile and valuable energy resources. Here are just a few examples of how natural gas is used in America.
One of the largest growth areas for natural gas is electric power generation. The demand for electricity is expected to expand by 250GW between 2008 and 2035. Natural gas is expected to be the energy source of choice for 46 percent of this added capacity.


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Article ID: 933311 - View products that this article applies to.
On This Page
When you start Microsoft LifeCam, the video preview is blank. This may only occur with better quality or higher resolution video or pictures.
Or, you receive one of the following error messages:
Error message 1
Initialization error
Error message 2
There is no camera connected to the computer.
Step 1: Connect to a different USB portConnect the LifeCam to a different USB port on your computer to eliminate any problems with the specific USB port. Bypass any port replicators, USB hubs, KVM switches, and similar devices, and connect the receiver directly to the USB port on the computer. If you previously connected your LifeCam to a USB port on the front of the computer, try to connect the device to a USB port on the back of the computer. (The USB ports on the back of the computer usually have better bandwidth.) If connecting to another USB port does not resolve the issue, go to the next step. Older USB 1.1 ports do not have the bandwidth for better quality images and video. Therefore, make sure that the camera is plugged into a USB 2.0 port.
To resolve this behavior, follow these steps:
If you do not have a USB 2.0 controller, the LifeCam may only work at reduced resolution.
Step 2: Verify the minimum system requirementsMake sure that the computer that you are using meets or exceeds the minimum video, processor, and memory requirements to install and run LifeCam.
To do this, follow these steps:
Step 3: Download and install the latest softwareTo download the most recent version of the LifeCam software, visit the following Microsoft Hardware website:
Microsoft Hardware - Software and Driver Downloads
Step 4: Install the latest video driver for your video adapterContact the manufacturer of your video hardware for information about how to obtain and install the latest version of the video driver for your video hardware. To see whether applicable driver updates are available, please visit the following Windows Update website:
http://update.microsoft.comTo determine the name and manufacturer of your video hardware, follow these steps:
Step 5: Adjust display settingsLifeCam software requires a video card and monitor that can run a resolution of at least 800 x 600 at High Color. Set the Windows display resolution to 800 x 600 at High Color, and then test the software.
To do this, follow these steps:
Step 6: Reduce the hardware acceleration setting (Windows XP only)To determine whether there is an issue with the video adapter or the video driver, reduce the graphics hardware acceleration setting. To do this, follow the steps:
Step 7: Perform a clean boot procedureFor more information about how to perform a clean boot procedure, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796/ )How to perform a clean boot procedure to determine whether background programs are interfering with a game or a program that you currently use
Step 8: Test on a different computerIf the issue persists, test the device on a second computer to see whether you can replicate the problem. If the LifeCam does not work on the second computer, visit the following website to contact Microsoft Hardware Technical Support:
Step 9: Verify certain Windows registry keys (Windows 7 x64 only)Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756Follow these steps, and then close the Registry Editor:
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ )How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
For information about how to contact your video adapter manufacturer, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
Article ID: 933311 - Last Review: June 21, 2014 - Revision: 10.0
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- Be the first to Review
Your rating for Eagle Falls Hike
Expert Review of Eagle Falls Hike
Family Review of Eagle Falls Hike
FamilyExpert Tips & Helpful Hints
- Try Lower Eagle Falls for easy access
- Fun for toddlers who can swim
(at Emerald Bay)
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Telephone Number: +1 530 525 7277
Neighborhood: South Shore
The details, dates, and prices mentioned here were accurate at the time of publication.
Review by Away Copyright © 2010 Away.com all rights reserved.
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Kayak.com - Life's a trip.


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Universal Fit
Atomic Floyd SuperDarts
"Atomic Floyd are a relatively small British based company that not many people have heard of. They continue to sell their products through as few authorised dealers as they feel necessary which means that the £200 price rage for these is pretty much what you're going to have to pay if you want to have your socks blown off by these little gems. First Impressions: As I opened the parcel..." --smithamb
JVC Kenwood Victor Inner year Headphone HA-FX3X
" After having sony mdr ex50's I decided I needed headphones with a little more punch for my electronic music. After listening to it once, I feel like there is nothing better in this price bracket with this much bass to offer. You can feel your chest tremble sometimes(it actually doesnt shake it), and it can sometimes be overwhelming for some. Overall, great headphones. Only downsides are the..." --Snyper0012
Atomic Floyd Twistjax
Build to provide max bass and max treble the twistjax were intended to replace my battered Sony ex75 in ears. They are the same build with a plug in ear with an acoustic bass chamber for hammering the soft tissue of the outer ear. The bass chamber is made of "acoustic steel" which gives a very solid look. At first the highs and lows are amazing and you hear pumpy basses with sparkling...
Atomic Floyd HiDefDrum
In-ear stereo headset Introducing HiDefDrum +Microphone™ by Atomic Floyd™ HiDefDrum are the headphones for music lovers with something to say. These mini works of art pair World Class acoustics with dual-filter technology, so every note you hear and every word you speak is pitch-perfect. Good looking, great sounding, clear talking. Welcome to the New State of Sound.


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By Anne-Marie Botek, AgingCare.com Editor
A good night's sleep. For many people, the thought of getting a solid eight hours may seem like a pleasant pipe dream.
And you're not alone. The National Center for Sleep Disorders estimates that between 10 and 15 percent of American adults suffer from chronic bouts of insomnia.
Yet studies linking inadequate sleep to a number of physical and mental ailments continue to pile up, begging the question: Can anyone really afford to skimp on their snoozing?
Coffee can help you compensate for the occasional all-nighter you have to pull for work, but chronic sleep deprivation can take a serious toll on your health. There are a multitude of reasons why you should make it your mission to consistently get a solid amount of shut-eye.
How to Help Cure Insomnia
Restless Leg Syndrome and Other Sleep Disorders
What is Sleep Apnea?
Top 6 Reasons Caregivers Need Sleep originally appeared on AgingCare.com


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- Organization
- Leadership
- Reports
Economic Division staff is meeting with Kevin Schmiegel, executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Hiring Our Heroes, to discuss the upcoming American Legion national convention job fair.
Find out what else we are doing for veterans »
|© 2015 The American Legion. All Rights Reserved.
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Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Social Computing Guidelines | Job Openings


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Police: Body found in desert that of missing woman
PHOENIX — A body found in the desert near Gila Bend is that of a missing 78-year-old Valley woman, police said Monday.
The body was discovered in the same general area where the
missing woman's grandson had led detectives to find evidence in the case,
Goodyear police spokeswoman Lisa Kutis said. Jason Eric Howell, 40, is considered the prime suspect.
Authorities have provided no additional details.
Helen Jean Lee was reported missing Wednesday when police responded to her home
after receiving a call from her daughter who lives in Tucson and was concerned
she wasn't able to reach the woman.
Investigators have said Lee might have been killed after they found indications
of foul play at her home.
The body was discovered in roughly the same area where police
previously indicated they found evidence related to the woman's disappearance.
They declined to elaborate.
The same day Lee was reported missing, her grandson was arrested on multiple
charges, including assaulting a police officer and kidnapping. Howell remained
jailed Monday on $300,000 bond.
Chandler police said Howell stole an SUV that was idling outside an elementary
school. A 12-year-old girl who was in the backseat managed to escape the moving
vehicle and suffered minor injuries, according to a police report. Howell then
led police on a chase that ended after he rammed an officer's patrol car, the
report states.
He was arrested after first telling police to "shoot him," according to the
Detectives said Howell told police he was drunk and high on methamphetamine. It
wasn't clear if he had been appointed an attorney. He is set for a court
appearance Thursday.
The KTAR Newsroom contributed to this report.


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Application Information
Scholarship Overview
This grant is for Iowa residents who are members of an Iowa Army or Air National Guard unit for each term they receive benefits. To qualify, applicants must satisfactorily complete required Guard training and maintain satisfactory performance of Guard duty. Applicants must pursue a certificate or undergraduate degree at an eligible Iowa college or university (students with BA degrees are not eligible to participate even if pursuing a second BA degree) and maintain satisfactory academic progress. The Iowa Financial Aid Application fall priority deadline is July 1, but the application is available through December 1.
How easy is it to apply?
Not too bad
This scholarship's application process may have items such as essays that could take a couple hours.
How much competition is there?
Not much
This scholarship won't have as many applicants as most.
Class Year: Is this you?
- High school senior
- College freshman
- College sophomore
- College junior
- College senior
Home State: Is this you?
- Iowa
Employer: Is this you?
- Military - United States National Guard
More Requirements:
Must attend an eligible Iowa college or university.


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Salary Survey 2014 – Part II – Regional variations
I must flag the latest Salary Survey article we have just published – see Salary Survey 2014 – Part II – Location, location, location
As its name suggests, it is a look at some of the regional variations to be found. We were very glad to get more than one thousand UK respondents, and this let us drill down in more geographic detail with some reliability…
Richard Wilson begins:
Consistently increasing salary levels across the country is a reflection of the increase in business confidence in the electronics sector in the last 12 months, with salaries in the industry are rising at above the annual rate of inflation.
However, the survey indicates definite regional variations in average salary levels. Some regional differences in salary have reduced in the last three years, but some have widened.
|GET THE FULL RESULTSA copy of the full survey results is available free-of-charge. Go to: www.electronicsweekly.com/salary-survey-results-form/
Tags: richard wilson, salary survey, Salary Survey 2014


text: [ Girls Hockey Results; Stormin' Sabres Win By Jay Caldwell January 12, 2011 Sartell-Sauk Rapids 6, River Lakes 0 (Lexi Holman scored 2 goals and added an assist for the Stormin' Sabres) Read More|Comment Category: Sports Tags: Sartell-Sauk Rapids Girls Hockey, St. Cloud Icebreakes Send to a friend! Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pin it! Reddit This! Share on Tumblr!


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Kimberly G Weddings is about helping wedding couples organize and manage their wedding day agenda through assistance and encouragement. I have heard too many stories of family and friends being more involved with the setting up, overseeing, and cleaning up for the event they should have been enjoying. A wedding is a time to celebrate and enjoy one each others company in honor of the wedding couple.
What started out as creating wedding invitations and wedding decor and projects, has bloomed into a beautiful and enjoyable opportunity to help wedding couples enjoy their special day. So much money, time and energy goes into planning your wedding, it is so important to have the right person there to oversee and coordinate all your hard work.
The Little Details
It is important to help
wedding couples
remember all the details
when planning a wedding
Even the smallest details
are as important as the larger ones!
Finding balance when
organizing your wedding day agenda
between your needs and
what your wedding vendors are providing
is as important as balancing
your wedding budget and timeline
Not only is a wedding
an event to celebrate
two people uniting
but weddings have become
a way to express
the couples personalities
Photographs by Robyn Blasi Photography :)