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Pentagon: Afghan commitment long
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said on Tuesday it is offering no "zero option" for the number of troops that would remain in Afghanistan after the U.S. combat mission ends in December 2014. It said in a report to Congress that substantial long-term military support will be needed to ensure that Afghans can hold off the Taliban insurgency.
The White House has not ruled out leaving no troops behind after 2014, although officials say the most likely option is a residual training force of roughly 9,000.
In its twice-a-year report to Congress on war progress, the Pentagon said Afghanistan's military is growing stronger but will require a lot more training, advising and foreign financial aid after the American and NATO combat mission ends.
The Pentagon's assessment was an implicit rejection of the "zero option." Zero is considered an unlikely choice by President Obama, not least because his administration has pledged to stand with the Afghans for the long term. But Obama has grown frustrated in his dealings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Peter Lavoy, the Pentagon's top Afghan policy official, told a news conference that a number of post-2014 options have been developed, taking into account the Afghans' need for additional training and advising, as well as what the Pentagon views as a longer-term requirement for counterterrorism forces in Afghanistan.
"In none of these cases have we developed an option that is zero," Lavoy said.
It remains possible that the administration will be left with no option other than zero if it cannot successfully negotiate a security deal with Kabul that gives the United States a legal basis for having forces in Afghanistan after 2014.
Talks on a security deal began last year but have made little recent headway. Karzai suspended negotiations following a disagreement this month over a Taliban political office in the gulf state of Qatar that was to host peace talks. The office, which has the support of the United States and other countries, infuriated Karzai because the Taliban opened it with a display of the name and flag it used when it ruled Afghanistan.
Relations between Afghanistan and the United States plunged as a result of that incident.
In its report to Congress, which is required by law every six months, the Pentagon made no recommendation on the number of troops to keep in Afghanistan after 2014. There are about 60,000 U.S. troops there — down from a 2010 peak of 100,000 — and the total is to shrink to 34,000 by February.
The report said it will be difficult to judge whether Afghanistan can keep the upper hand against the Taliban until the exact size of a post-2014 U.S. military presence is determined.
The report painted a largely positive picture of progress in strengthening the Afghan army and police, but it offered cautionary assessments of the economic and political elements of its strategy for stabilizing the country.
"Effective government, the rule of law and sustainable economic development are all necessary for long-term stability in Afghanistan, but multiple factors continue to hinder them, including widespread corruption," it said.
The report said that the amount of Afghan territory held by the insurgents has continued to shrink. It called the Taliban "less capable, less popular and less of an existential threat" to the Kabul government. And it said the number of "insider attacks" by Afghan forces against their U.S. and other coalition partners has declined.
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A record of the creation of a large size watercolor on rough-grain Arche paper, of a house.
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The Ever Evolving work of art 2015 Published April 13, 2015
PORTFOLIO Marina Kulik 2002-2014 Published December 01, 2014
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- Filed Under
President Obama welcomed the release of the lone U.S. soldier held in Afghanistan, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
During an appearance Saturday in the Rose Garden, Obama said that while Bergdahl was gone, "he was never forgotten." The president was joined at the White House by the soldier's parents, Bob and Joni Bergdahl.
Bergdahl was turned over by the Taliban earlier Saturday in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees who were held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Obama said the U.S. "does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind."
Bergdahl's father thanked all those who took part in his son's recovery, saying it was difficult to put his feelings into words.
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Town Square
Marian Wright Edelman comments on diversity issue in Menlo Park City School District
Original post made on Jun 1, 2010
Read the full story here Web Link posted Saturday, May 29, 2010, 4:21 AM
Comments (3)
a resident of Menlo Park: Linfield Oaks
on Jun 1, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Interesting article from Ms. Edelman. In the discussion of whether to suspend the enrollment of students under the Tinsley program to help balance the district budget, Mr. Ranella did not also suggest the suspension of the enrollment under the Allen Bill. Allen Bill Transfers allows for the enrollment of the children of district employees in MPCSD schools even if those employees do not live with in the school district boundaries. Surely if suspending the Tinsley program would help MPCSD balance its budget, suspending the Allen Bill transfers would also help.
Why didn't Mr. Ranella also suggest suspending Allen Bill transfers?
a resident of Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park
on Jun 1, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Actually, he did. Check your facts.
a resident of Atherton: West Atherton
on Jun 2, 2010 at 11:59 am
The key difference with the Allen Bill transfers is that program is a key perk for attracting and retaining the best possibl teachers to the district. The ability to have ones kids on the same campus or at least in the same district helps draw great teachers from all over the Peninsula, so it is a possible net add to the overall school environment despite the added cost that these students represent.
The Tinsley program is a net drain on the system, with no benefit for the district to offset the added costs. It is a relic and should be ended immediately.
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Deputy Judge Daniel Alexander said the dispute between London & Medway and Sunley Holdings over a block of student flats had arisen because emails discussing the terms of the deal were informal and "ambiguous".
In one, Simon Maine-Tucker, director at London & Medway, said he would contemplate an offer from James Sunley while drinking a Chateau Montrose 2000, a Bordeaux which generally retails for more than £100.
Mr Maine-Tucker, 45, took legal action against Sunley Holdings over the development of a piece of land in Fulham Palace Road in London.
He had brought the development opportunity to the attention of Sunley and said he was entitled to a 20 per cent share of the profits because of an "informal agreement" between the two firms made in 2008. He claimed the profits exceed £8 million.
Sunley argued however that Mr Maine-Tucker had "relinquished his right" to any share of the profits in a second agreement in 2010.
After examining email exchanges between Mr Maine-Tucker and James Sunley, 50, Judge Alexander ruled in favour of Sunley Holdings.
In a written judgement, he said: "The dispute has arisen because of the high level of informality in the contractual dealings between the parties".
He added: "The style of the interchanges is chatty and there is use of shorthand phrases, some of which are ambiguous.
"The correspondence is more precise about the provenance and vintage of claret to be enjoyed while considering the terms of one of the proposals than about the terms themselves.
"This is explained by the fact that the parties have had cordial business dealings with each other going back some years.
"It is regrettable because the Fulham Palace Road development is now said to be significantly profitable and is therefore potentially a large sum at stake."
James Sunley ran the Sunley Holdings a "substantial and well-known" family property company based in Mayfair, alongside his father John until his death in 2011, aged 74.
Mr Maine-Tucker was said to have had a "good personal relationship with John Sunley" and regarded him as "something of a mentor". His relationship with James Sunley was "less cordial" however.
In the agreement in 2008, it was said that London & Medway would introduce development opportunities to Sunley in exchange for a 20 per cent share of the profits.
One of the development opportunities was for the student accommodation in Fulham Palace Road, which Mr Maine-Tucker initially had "high hopes" for.
However planning permission was initially refused twice and another firm involved in the construction went into liquidation.
Judge Alexander said the upshot was that "both parties were less than enamoured with the other's handling of aspects" of the scheme and by November 2009, Mr Maine-Tucker had "had enough" of working as a part of the Sunley group and terminated the 2008 agreement.
Mr Maine-Tucker argued he still had a claim of the profits but Judge Alexander said that in an email in April 2012 - when he said he would "walk away from any profit share in FPR", he had "made it clear that there was no intention to make a claim in respects of the profits.
Afterwards Mr Maine-Tucker said: "Given our intention to appeal I don't think it would be appropriate to comment at the moment".
Sunley said the two firms were no longer working together.


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Network: TNT
Episodes: Ongoing (hour)
Seasons: Ongoing
TV show dates: August 13, 2014 — TBD
Series status: Has not been cancelled
Performers include: Sean Bean, Ali Larter, Morris Chestnut, Amber Valletta, Mason Cook, Tina Majorino, Rob Mayes, and Steve Harris.
TV show description:
This suspenseful crime drama is based on the award-winning book Legends: A Novel of Dissimulation by spy novelist Robert Littell.
Martin Odum (Sean Bean) is an undercover agent working for the FBI's Deep Cover Operations (DCO) division. He has the ability to transform himself into a different person for each of his cases but a mysterious stranger causes him to start questioning his sanity.
His Agency workmates include Crystal Quest (Ali Larter), a fellow operative who has a history with Martin; Tony Cimarro (Morris Chestnut), a smart, quick-witted and charming DCO agent; Maggie Harris (Tina Majorino), the newest member of the DCO team; and Nelson Gates (Steve Harris), the director of the DCO Task Force.
Sonya Odum (Amber Valletta) is Martin's ex-wife and they have a pre-teen son, Aiden (Mason Cook).
Episode #TBD
This TV series has not ended yet.
First aired: TBD
What do you think? Do you like the Legends TV show? Do you think it should be cancelled or renewed for another season?


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Cave has a mega collection of shooting games according to Amazon Japan, which is taking reservations for the Cave Shooting Collection. This bundle includes 10 games plus downloadable content on seven DVDs.
(Akai Katana, Deathsmiles, DeathSmiles IIX, DO-DON-PACHI Resurrection, Dodonpachi Resurrection Black Label, Espgaluda 2: Black Label, Guwange, Muchi Muchi Pork, Mushihime-sama Futari, Mushihime-sama HD, Xbox 360)


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Welder Matt Davies uses an acetylene torch at Sims Brothers Recycling Company on Wednesday. / James Miller/The Marion Star
Michael Brown wrangles a load of aluminum scrap dropped of at Sims Brothers Recycling on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. / James Miller/The Marion Star
MARION — Editors note: Focus on Jobs is a series of articles looking at the job availabilities at local employers. The employers do not necessarily have job openings. The story focuses on the requirements for employment and the variety of jobs at this particular employer.
Sims Brothers Recycling started in 1938 after Don Sims and his brother Carl as youths collected scrap around town and sold it to businesses.
Seventy-five years later, Sims Brothers Recycling has about 160 employees, Gary Sims, the companys president/chief executive officer, said, and operates as the middle man that prepares scrap for end users. The company purchases scrap, including iron and steel scrap, nonferrous scrap and household recyclables, processes it, packages it and sells it to end users such as steel mills, paper mills and aluminum smelters.
The business operates a full first shift and three part-time shifts while its drivers work around-the-clock, servicing companies such as Whirlpool Corp. and Honda, said Sims, son of the companys co-founder.
Jobs at Sims Brothers Recycling range from manual labor, which involves sorting scrap, to equipment operation, which involves the running of tow motors, Bobcats, shearers, balers and other equipment.
Sims said his company looks for an employee who has a good attitude, whos going to be reliable and show up. A college education is not needed; we just want someone whos willing to work with a good attitude.
Don Harper, the businesss vice president of human resources, agreed, saying, The primary thing is a fit, an attitude, someone that comes in positive that can present themselves well. Thats kind of the opener. Then it goes down to skill sets.
Harper said for a crane operator position he prefers someone who has experience on that piece of equipment, but the company will train new operators. If a set of job applicants display identical skill sets, the job likely will go to the individual with the desired attitude and fit. Truck drivers must be certified.
The hourly pay range at the business is about $9 to $17 depending on the nature of the job, he said. Drivers and mechanics are the two highest-paid positions, while physical labor is the lowest-paid job. The company offers full medical benefits, dental, vision, short-term disability, life insurance, health reimbursement account, flexible spending, 401k, a profit-sharing plan and vacation.
We provide all uniforms and safety equipment on our dime, Harper said.
Currently, Sims Brothers Recycling is looking for Class A drivers, and our needs change.
The company uses Marion Connections to screen employees quite a bit. Theyre a great asset to this town.
Anyone interested in a job can obtain an application at Marion Connections, 622 Leader St., 740-382-0076, or Sims Brothers Recycling, 1011 S. Prospect St., 740-387-9041.
The company keeps applications for 90 days.
We do train people for jobs depending on what the job is, Harper said. We have extensive safety training as part of our orientation process. We do background checks and a drug and alcohol screen, as well as a motor vehicle registration check. The company also does pre-employment physicals after the employee starts work, and offers use of a workout facility for wellness open 24 hours a day.
Its a great place to work, he said. The owners are great people. Selfishly, Ive enjoyed my time here. ... They encourage people to get involved in the community. Garys big in community service, and I believe in it, too. If you want to get, youve got to give.
Sims said he wants his employees to like their work.
Its important to enjoy what youre doing, he said. We try to do things that make it enjoyable for them, too. Hopefully, we treat our associates well. We have a workout facility next door that we lease. We try to encourage them for healthy lifestyles. On a quarterly basis depending on the companys performance, employees can receive a bonus check. We try to communicate and let them know how the company is doing. We hear their concerns, and we encourage their participation and suggestions on making their jobs better and more efficient.
firstname.lastname@example.com 740-375-5154 Twitter: @jmwjarvis


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Here are some ideas about activities and places for your visits. If you have any suggestions - or have found anywhere very good (or very bad!) please let us know.
You can also check out Groupon for deals on activities.
If you like stuff for free then try forfreezone.com where you will find a range of offers including entertainment activities.
Remember, if you are unsure whether insurance would cover the activity you would like to take your young person to, please check with us beforehand. Guidelines can also be found in our risk assessments in the guidelines section.
- Countryside, nature and animals
- Adventure and sport
- Museums, galleries, theatre and cinemas
- Useful websites
Games library
In addition to other activities, you can borrow items from our games library to use with your young person.
If you would like to borrow a game please contact us for a list of available games.


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SEEING FOR MILES: Jim Cottrell flies a powered parachute over his Casco Township home in this 2005 photo. Cottrell said his aircraft runs on unleaded fuel and is invisible to radar.
- Filed Under
The aircraft in Jim Cottrell's barn weighs about 400 pounds, runs on regular unleaded fuel and is invisible to radar.
It's a powered parachute, also known as an ultralight, or, informally to people on the ground, a flying go-cart.
"That's swearing," Cottrell said of that last term. ...


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2 Light 120W Semi-Flush Ceiling Light with Medium Bulb Base and Honey Alabaster Glass from Home Basics Series
Product Features:
- Glass Type: Honey Alabaster
- Dimensions: 13" Dia. x 7.5"H
- Product Weight: 6 lbs.
Additional Livex Lighting Links
- View the Manufacturer Warranty
- Browse All Livex Lighting Products
- Livex Lighting Home Basics Collection
This Livex Lighting item can also be referenced by the following color/finish specific model #:
- Livex Lighting 4164-07*
- Livex Lighting 4164-91
Brushed Nickel
*Discontinued model or finish
More Than Just a Store - Your Reasons to Shop
Discover the best online deals for the 4164 and everything else for your home from the leading online home improvement store.
We're committed to providing you with the best assortment of Livex Lighting products with over 400 warehouses across the country.
Our knowledgeable product specialists work to bring you the best prices on every product and provide unmatched customer service. Your satisfaction is our highest priority!
Installation Resource Center
Whether you are installing the product yourself or hiring a professional, our installation Resource Center has everything you need to get your project done. Visit the Installation Resource Center to get started.


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ok, this is probably the wrong place the post this incase I mess it up :lol:
id like to get some interaction between mac and bmw ibus, however there doesnt appear to be anything like ibuscomm for windows available..
now im definetly no programmer, however I do have experience with writing html, some basic (a while ago) and some older languages that have probably long since disappeared!..
now before i go off and start learning a programing language thats no use, or working with programs which are going to hinder more than help, I wondered if you mac guys could point me in the right direction.
any recommendations or pointers what would be best to use? I have a copy of ibuscomm, with a few mods made by some of the guys on this board (I think darthtater wrote some of it) which appears to be in VB, so something that would be suitable for porting that across to mac. I was looking today, and it seems there are applications out there which could port to a mac/linux/windows format in one go which would be a bonus (unless its going to be harder work, in which case f-it, I dont need to make it any harder than it already will be!..)
Im probably going to be back to bug some of you when Ive got this done for testing, or maybe asking for answers if I get totally stuck, and dont expect this to be done this side of xmas; given the depth of the task for someone with my meager abilities its probably going to take me quite a while, but its something id like to do and will make it available for anyone else who wants it once its done..
b :)
ps.. any resources or publications that might help me out in this project, please let me know here too!...


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There are several cotton programs in the world working to create awareness about the use of chemicals and about optimal use other inputs, including energy and irrigation water. The BetterCotton Initiative (www.bettercotton.org ) is one of the array of programs. Leading apparel brands are part of this 6 year program to help transform the cotton market and make sustainable cotton a commercially viable commodity.
The BCI aims to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment it grows in and better for the sector's future. The BCI plans to initiate global change in the mass market, with long-term benefits for the environment, farmers and other people dependent on cotton for their livelihood. The BCI's philosophy is to develop a market for a new mainstream commodity: 'Better Cotton' and thereby transform the cotton commodity to bring long-term benefits for the environment, farmers and other people dependent on cotton for their livelihood. It is intended also to ensure that water use is optimized (both irrigated and rain-fed) and obtained legally without adversely affecting groundwater or water bodies. Minimum tillage of soil and the use of cover and rotation crops will also be addressed. The BCI has a target to produce 300,000 tons of cotton by 2012.
No certification or label will be required and the cotton will not sell at a premium to conventional cotton. Unlike organic cotton, the BCI allows the minimal use of pesticides and biotech cottons can be grown and BCI will ensure they are used safely and responsibly. The general assumption is that the market for organic cotton will remain very small and there is a need for initiatives that will lower the impact of conventional cotton production.
The BCI charter was developed through a collaborative multi-stakeholder approach involving global buyers of cotton products to grow the demand for larger amounts of 'better cotton'. These components will complete a Better Cotton System that BCI will start implementing in the 2010 growing season. Cotton projects in India, Pakistan, West Africa, and Brazil are part of the current program. Key dates and goals:
2009 - Better Cotton Production Principles and Minimum Production Criteria Agreed
2010 - First Better Cotton harvest (Oct 2010 onwards)
2012 - Full evaluation of the Better Cotton System and results
2015 -- Production of one million metric tons of BCI Cotton -- BCI has an objective of accounting for 300,000 t of cotton production by 2012 and expand its membership to include firms representing 1,000,000 t of retail level cotton consumption by 2015.
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04.29.13 Ben Harper records song with The Innocent Criminals to benefit family of late Australian skateboard legend Lewis Marnell
Ben Harper is helping to raise money for the family of Australian pro skateboarder Lewis Marnell, whose untimely death in January at the age of 30 left his family in dire financial straits. A lifelong skateboarding enthusiast and friend to skaters around the world, Harper has reunited with the Innocent Criminals for the first time since 2007 to re-record the song "Jah Work" from his 1997 album, "The Will to Live." The song is now available on iTunes, with all proceeds going to the Lewis Marnell family memorial fund.
"Lewis was a brilliant artist and athlete not to mention a truly beautiful soul. We loved him and his contributions to skating, and we thought a song would be a wonderful way to celebrate his life and help his family." said Harper.
Marnell died Jan. 18 from complications of diabetes, a disease he lived with from the age of 10. He did not allow his condition to impede his meteoric skateboarding career. He skated with such passion and style that can't be replicated, he made all his tricks look effortless and his love for life was infectious. In 2008 he made his mark when he went pro for Almost Skateboards and he was named Skater of the Year from Australian skateboarding magazine slam. Marnell got married in late 2012, and died only a few months later, leaving his family with a large debt. Global efforts to help the family financially ensued, with Harper's being the latest.
Not what I was expecting but just as good.
Nice to see Ben, Juan, Leon and Oliver back together again and for a good cause. For many of us who have been around for many years this is where it all began.......
Maybe the topic came up of a tour while they were all hangin and shootin the shit
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Very Cool Stuff
It felt better than I expected to see the boys playing together again. Still love the boys in Relentless7 but there is something about Juan on stage with Ben. "There are bass players and then there is Juan Nelson."
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We want more !!!!
I like so much of Relentless7 too , but The Innocent Criminals is the most perfect and magic band on this planet , with no doubt , and like you remember and Ben said : "There are bass players and there is Juan Nelson."
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Rangers Photos
Rangers minor league report: Joey Gallo, Alex Gonzalez jump to Double-A
Photo: Louis DeLuca/Staff Photographer
A LOOK AT HOW 10 OF THE RANGERS' BEST PROSPECTS FARED THIS SEASON — The minor league season is over. Outside of the September call ups the Rangers' prospects are done for the year. Here's a look at how 10 of the organization's best fared this season.
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Mrs. Norton died Wednesday, May 7, 2014, at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Born Jan. 21, 1932, in Habersham County, she was a daughter of the late Jesse Johnathan "John" Burrell and Frances Maybelle Loudermilk Burrell. In addition to her parents, she was also preceded in death by her husband, Melvin Norton; brothers, Lloyd and Bill Burrell; and sisters, Senna Starr and Minnie Shore.
Mrs. Norton retired from Clarkesville Mill with 27 years of service. She was an active member of Camp Creek Baptist Church and enjoyed gardening and spending time with her family.
Survivors include her sons and daughters-in-law, David and Marsha Norton of Mt. Airy and Douglas and Sue Norton of Alabaster, Ala.; grandchildren, Christopher (Karen) Norton, Charles (Lisa) Norton, and Eric Norton; great-grandson, Chase Norton; brother, Garnett Burrell of Clarkesville; sisters, Monteree Norton of Toccoa, Irene Poole of Chamblee, and Wilma Mullinax of Mt. Airy.
An online guest register is available and may be viewed at mcgaheegriffinandstewart.com
McGahee-Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home, Cornelia, was in charge of arrangements.
The Northeast Georgian
Wednesday, May 14, 2014


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Income Protection
Income Protection protects against the loss of one of your most valuable assets - your ability to earn money. If you become disabled due to illness or injury, our Income Protection cover can provide you with a monthly income. It provides you with the financial security you need to concentrate on recovering without having to worry about your bills.
Assess Your Insurance Needs
Use this calculator to work out how much cover you may need.
Find an adviser near you
If you would like to talk about your life insurance needs, we can put you in touch with an adviser in your area
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Income Protection
Why it's worth considering
If something happened to you and you were unable to work, would you have enough money set aside to cover your day-to-day bills and look after your family? It is estimated that one in three Australians will be unable to work due to illness or injury for a three-month period, or longer, during their working life*.
Confronted with this situation, many Australian families experience significant financial difficulty, sometimes with no income for more than three months. AIA Australia's Income Protection allows you to receive a monthly payment of up to 75% of your pre-injury or illness income.
Benefit overview:
- Income Protection – Lump Sum benefit
- Claim Escalation
- Advantage Optional
- PLUS Optional
- Day 1 Accident
- Carer's Allowance
- Retirement Optimiser
- Income Protection Essentials
- Business Expenses
*Source: Australian Disability Table IAD89-93 Class 2
Making the most of your income protection
Carer's Allowance
The Carer's Allowance benefit will provide a benefit of 25% of their Income Protection benefit up to $2,000 per month, where the life insured under the Income Protection or Accident Only Income Protection benefits is required to give up work to care for an ill child.
Retirement Optimiser
Retirement Optimiser provides a benefit of 5% of the life insured's Pre-disablement Income as superannuation contributions, paid to the policy owner's nominated superannuation account.
Complimentary Interim Accidental Death and Income Protection Cover
While your application is being assessed, we will provide Complimentary Interim Accidental Death and Income Protection Cover.
Benefit Indexation
The Sum Insured on your policy will automatically increase each year by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 5%, whichever is higher.
Agreed Value
Your monthly benefit is agreed with you at the time of application and is based on your income at that time.
Indemnity Value
Your monthly benefit is calculated at the time of your claim and is based on your income at that time.
HIV / AIDS Cover
You are covered if you become disabled directly or indirectly due to HIV or AIDS (except for Accident only cover).
Waiver of Premium
If you become totally disabled, you won't have to pay premiums from the end of the Waiting Period, until the end of the Benefit Period, or until the total disablement ceases.
Rehabilitation Expenses
If you have attended a rehabilitation program to get you back to work, we'll pay the costs up to a maximum of 12 x your monthly benefit.
Recurrent Disablement
If you have returned to work on a full-time basis following payment of a disablement benefit and the same or related disablement recurs within 12 months, we will waive the waiting period.
We will treat the claim as a continuation of your most recent claim. We will continue to pay your claim up to the end of your benefit period.
Severity benefit
This pays an additional 1/3 of your monthly benefit if you are on claim for over 6 consecutive months and then become totally disabled to the extent that you are unable to perform at least 2 of the Activities of Daily Living, up to a maximum of $30,000.
Death Benefit
In the event of your death, your nominated beneficiary will receive 6 x your monthly benefit, up to maximum of $60,000.
Worldwide Protection
If you travel overseas, full cover is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, anywhere in the world.
Needlestick Injury Benefit
For Occupation Category AA only.If you receive a needlestick injury or a splash injury while performing the duties of your normal occupation and become infected with HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C and experience a reduction in your earnings as a result. (Not applicable for the Accident Only cover)
Advantages of IP Advantage Optional:
- Specified Injury benefit – Pays a monthly benefit up to 60 months for a listed event under paralysis, loss or partial loss of various limbs and fracture of various bones due to injury.
- Total and Partial Disablement: Multi definition - If the life insured becomes Totally Disabled or Partially Disabled, they will be assessed under the 3 tiered 'Multi' definition of duty, time and / or income.
Advantages of IP PLUS Optional:
All of the above benefits in Advantage Optional are available as well as;
- No Claim bonus – If a claim is not made for at least three years after purchasing the PLUS Optional benefit, the life insured will be rewarded in the form of an increased insured monthly benefit, at no additional cost. The following table outlines the increase to the insured monthly benefit according to the number of claim-free years.
Claim-free years Bonus 3 5% 4 10% 5 15%
The increased benefit will be paid for up to 12 months while claim payments are being made. AIA Australia will only pay this benefit once during the life of the policy.
- Crisis Recovery benefit - Upon diagnosis of any of the 41 listed crisis events in terms of the policy definition by a medical practitioner, AIA Australia will pay a lump sum benefit equal to six times the insured monthly benefit.
- Guaranteed Future Insurability benefit - Whenever the life insured's salary package increases, the Guaranteed Future Insurability benefit provides an option to increase the insured monthly benefit, without medical underwriting. This is restricted to employees only, i.e. a self employed person is unable to exercise this benefit.
- Cosmetic or Elective Surgery Benefit
We will pay your monthly benefit if you become Totally Disabled as a result of Cosmetic Surgery or Elective Surgery or transplant surgery of an organ from you into the body of another person.
- Terminal Illness
If you are on claim and diagnosed with a terminal illness we will pay you a forward payment of the death benefit.
|Income Protection and Income Protection Accident Only
|Income Protection Essentials Benefit
|Occupation Categories
|Entry Ages
|Entry Age
|16 and 60
|16 and 50
|16 and 55
|16 and 50
|16 and 50
|16 and 50
|Home Duties
|Not available
|16 and 50
|Expiry Ages
|Expiry Ages
|Home Duties
|Not available
Brendan's story
Brendan is a 32-year-old plumber who earns $98,100 gross income per annum. He and his wife have a $400,000 mortgage, with repayments of $2,800 a month. Brendan is healthy and leads an active lifestyle. With a child on the way, he wanted to ensure his family would be protected if something happened to him that made him unable to work.
Together with his financial adviser, Brendan decided that having an income protection policy would give him with the peace of mind he required. He applied for an Income Protection policy which would provide 75% of his salary in the event that illness or injury prevented him from being able to work.
While walking home from work one evening, Brendan slipped and severely twisted his knee. He underwent a knee reconstruction and was unable to work for four months while his knee healed.
His income protection policy enabled his income stream to continue which meant that he was able to concentrate on recovering, safe in the knowledge that his mortgage, car loan and family's lifestyle would be taken care of during this period he was unable to work.


text:
The pyspf Python module has been released as version 2.0. pyspf 2.0
was the first SPF implementation to fully conform to RFC 4408. This
release has also added IPv6 support. pyspf is the library behind
several of the open SPF project's SPF record testing tools.
Currently part of the pymilter project: http://pymilter.sourceforge.net
WWW: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyspf
To install the port: cd /usr/ports/mail/py-spf/ && make install cleanTo add the package: pkg install py27-spf
cd /usr/ports/mail/py-spf/ && make install clean
pkg install py27-spf
PKGNAME: py27-spf
NOTE: FreshPorts displays only information on required and default dependencies. Optional dependencies are not covered.
This port is required by:
No options to configure
python shebangfix
Number of commits found: 27
- Allow concurrent installation (USE_PYTHON=concurrent)
- Bump PORTREVISION for package change
- Update to 2.0.12
- Add NO_ARCH
Changes: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pymilter/files/pyspf/pyspf-2.0.12/README.txt/view
Switch PYTHON_REL from a 3 digits number to a 4 digits number to handle
python 2.7.10
Differential Revision: https://reviews.freebsd.org/D2639
Reviewed by: sunpoet, mva
- Update to 2.0.11
Changes: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pymilter/files/pyspf/pyspf-2.0.11/README.txt/view
- Update to 2.0.10
- Remove DOCS option
Changes: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pymilter/files/pyspf/pyspf-2.0.10/readme.txt/view
- Convert PYTHON_FEATURES to USE_PYTHON (which was landed several hours ago)
Notified by: koobs, wg
- Use USES=python
- Update to 2.0.9
Changes: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pymilter/files/pyspf/pyspf-2.0.9/README/view
- Allow build with Python 3.x
- Bump PORTREVISION
- Use PYDISTUTILS_AUTOPLIST
- Simplify Makefile
- Fix shebang
- Support STAGEDIR
- Update WWW: use https:// instead of http://
Add NO_STAGE all over the place in preparation for the staging support (cat:
- Update to 2.08
- Cleanup pkg-descr
Changes: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pymilter/files/pyspf/pyspf-2.0.8/README/view
- Add LICENSE
- Fix OPTIONSFILE issue
PR: ports/177796
Submitted by: Yasuhiro KIMURA <email@example.com>
- Convert to new options framework
- Update to 2.07
- Remove DIST_SUBDIR
- Do not silence installation message
Note that there are two source tarballs (pyspf-2.0.7.tar.gz).
One is 46,283 bytes from CHEESESHOP and the other is 46,281 bytes from SF.
Since the former has a wrong entry in pyspf.spec, we choose the latter and
suspend adding CHEESESHOP to MASTER_SITES.
- Allow for timeouts to be global for all DNS lookups instead of per DNS lookup
to allow for MAY processing time limitsin RFC 4408 10.1. See README for
- Use openspf.net for SPF web site instead of openspf.org
- Extend query.get_header to return either Received-SPF (still default) or RFC
- Update to 2.0.6
- Take maintainership
- Reassign to the heap
- remove MD5
- Switch SourceForge ports to the new File Release System: categories starting
with M
- Update to 2.0.5
Submitted by: Yi-Jheng Lin <yzlin___cs.nctu.edu.tw>
- Update to 2.0.4
Submitted by: Koen Martens<gmc___sonologic.nl>
- Make Python 2.5.1 the default Python version
- Add significantly better support in bsd.python.mk for working with
Python Eggs and the easy_install system
Tested by: pointyhat runs
Approved by: pav (portmgr)
Most work by: perky
Thanks to: pav
Add SHA256
Update my email
Approved by: pav (mentor)
- Fix dependency line
- Use PLIST_FILES
PR: ports/83744
Submitted by: Marcus Grando <email@example.com> (maintainer)
Add py-spf, a python implementation of SPF.
PR: ports/75521
Submitted by: Marcus Grando <email@example.com>
Servers and bandwidth provided byNew York Internet, SuperNews, and RootBSD
27 vulnerabilities affecting 58 ports have been reported in the past 14 days
* - modified, not new
All vulnerabilities


text:
1). We ship by EMS, DHL,UPS,HongKong Post Air mail /China Post air mail.
The below are some express company delivery time
DHL shipping usually takes 5-7 working days dependent on the country delivered to.
EMS shipping usually takes 8-12 working days dependent on the country delivered to.
UPSshipping usually takes 8-10 working days dependent on the country delivered to.
HongKong post air mail:shipping usually takes 25-30 working days dependent on the country delivered to.
China Post Air Mail:shipping usually takes 30-35 working days dependent on the country delivered to.
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If you want to exchange the items received, you must contact us within 7 days of the receipt of your order. And you should pay the additional shipping fees occured and the items returned should be kept in their original status. Thanks!
We will check every details before our shipping, so usually we don`t accept return. If you are sure about that you get a wrong item due to our mistake or a defective product, we will exchange them for free. Above all, any problem, contact us within 3 days after you got them and keep them in good condition.
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text:
Source: Waters | 30 Aug 2012
Categories: Industry Issues & Initiatives
As Knight teetered on the brink of collapse, Victor says the lessons from the financial crisis guided the response.
A lot has been postulated and written about Knight Capital's recent fight for survival, and I'm happy to admit that for the time being at least, it appears as though the Jersey City-based market-maker is out of the woods. I use the words "for the time being at least" intentionally, given that in recent years the capital markets landscape has morphed into an almost exclusively electronic realm, presided over by omnipotent black boxes and algorithms, rendering the outcome of any fight for survival anything but a certainty.
In the immediate wake of Knight's staggering losses, resulting from a trading algorithm executing a large quantity of orders in under an hour on August 1 instead of spread across a number of days, it appeared that the $440 million pre-tax loss would ultimately prove terminal, and that the relative newcomer to the brokerage community, founded in 1995, would be consigned to the industry's bone yard.
Contemplating the media reports of the Knight fiasco took me back to September 16, 2008, while I was at one of sibling publication Buy-Side Technology's industry conferences in Manhattan, the day after Lehman Brothers announced that it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. I remember my ambivalence at the time, feeling, on the one hand, that the laws governing capitalism and survival of the fittest should be observed, while on the other, knowing intuitively that the loss of Lehman would have a deep, long-term psychological effect on not only the capital markets, but on the collective psyche of those living in the West. And while the economics aficionados on Bloomberg, CNBC and C-Span nodded sagely and hypothesized regarding the breadth and depth of the impact of Lehman's failure, none was particularly convincing, given the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the investment bank's demise.
This is why I was happy to learn that the cavalry, rounded up by Jefferies and Co., came to Knight's rescue on August 5. That move, some would argue, flies in the face of capitalism, but recent history has taught us that such initiatives are the lesser of the two evils. After all, now that the dust has settled on the Lehman collapse, it has become patently obvious that when it comes to the scenario where it is touch-and-go as to whether a major financial institution will survive or not, the cure often turns out to be worse than the disease. You don't need to look past Lehman for proof of that.
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Victor: I enjoyed the perspective you provided in your article, Sanity Prevails. One observation however. Jefferies and other investors coming to Knight's rescue DEFINES capitalism. These investors risked their OWN capital based on a percieved opportunity for substantial ROI. The critical distinction is that Knight was NOT bailed out by the US Government with taxpayer's money. Washington bureaucrats did not pick winners or losers on the Knight deal, market participants did. All the best, Rob Wands
Posted by: Robert Wands Aug 30 2012
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When Apostle Ezra Taft Benson toured Europe in 1946, reestablishing contact with the Saints and establishing relief channels, he visited the site of the Dachau concentration camp.
Commenting on this trip to Dachau, President Benson wrote: "The things we saw and the statistics which were given us made us sudder to realize how far men will go in the direction of evil and sin when they fail to accept the eternal truths of the gospel.
"We vistited the human crematories, saw the gallows, the trenches in which innocent victimgs were machine-gunned, and the kennels in which prisoners were thrown to be torn to pieces by the ferocious dogs kept there. I this camp alone over 238,000 persons were exterminated.
"Persons were thus systematically and brutally killed in this and the other some 300 such camps established by the Nazis. The fiendish bestiality that was here related to us made us sick at heart.
(European Mission History)
Comment by Steve C. — April 29, 2010 @ 7:23 am
Wow — what a striking photo. The loss is hard to comprehend 60 years later. Elder Benson appears to have been appropriately sobered by the then relatively-recent events.
Comment by Hunter — April 29, 2010 @ 9:35 am
Ardis, do you know if that is Fred Babbel with him?
Comment by Kristine — April 29, 2010 @ 10:21 am
Kristine: Fred Babbel was with Benson as they toured Dachau. Babbel comments on the conditions at Dachau in his book, On Wings of Faith. His account is pretty much based on the comments in the European Mission History as quoted in my earlier post.
Comment by Steve C. — April 29, 2010 @ 10:27 am
Am I the only one who sees the irony in marking the death of a quarter million Jews with a cross?
Comment by Clark — April 29, 2010 @ 10:47 am
Thanks for the background, Steve. You can always be counted on when the subject strays anywhere near World War II-era Germany, and I appreciate that.
Kristine, I assume that's Frederick Babbel with him, but the only picture of FB I have easy access to is on the dustjacket of his book. He's a much older man there,and it's hard to see any resemblance. Steve, do you know?
Hunter, I'm with you. By this point ETB had seen so much destruction and want in the first part of his travels, yet if we can judge by a single photo the immensity of what Dachau stood for does seem to have sobered him despite all he had seen.
I'm stuck that someone thought so quickly to preserve this site. I think it would have been totally understandable for any Allied unit to come in and be so horrified that their first instinct would be to destroy all trace of the evil.
Comment by Ardis E. Parshall — April 29, 2010 @ 10:48 am
Clark, I thought that too at first — but then realized that the cross wasn't the memorial and wasn't intended itself to refer to the Jews. The cross was there for Allied soldiers, to signal "this is special" and to restrain them from bulldozing the site. A cross spoke to them, got their attention, which was what counted at the moment.
Comment by Ardis E. Parshall — April 29, 2010 @ 10:51 am
Actually, Dachau was not primarily a camp for Jews–the data are incomplete, but some estimates were that about one-third of the prisoners who died there were Jews.
And, Dachau wasn't a "Vernichtungslager–"extermination camp." Though people were executed there, most died of disease and malnutrition.
Comment by Mark B. — April 29, 2010 @ 10:54 am
A couple of years back, Bergera had a nice piece in the JMH about Benson's 1946 mission, that I found quite moving.
This image is striking.
Comment by J. Stapley — April 29, 2010 @ 11:03 am
I noticed that lds.org's page on Ezra Taft Benson identifies the other person in the photograph as an "unidentified survivor."
Comment by Justin — April 29, 2010 @ 11:11 am
Well, then, Mark, a cross is much more applicable than I guessed. We — at least I — forget how many non-Jews were also imprisoned. When this many people die, though, I'm not sure there's much point in distinguishing between an extermination camp and some other kind.
I'd forgotten about that, J. (I shouldn't have forgotten — Gary is such a good writer, and the piece was moving). I need to look that up again.
Thanks, Justin. Speaking of "always coming through …"
Comment by Ardis E. Parshall — April 29, 2010 @ 11:20 am
#5: Sorry if this veers too much into unrelated, but the idea that a cross isn't appropriate for honoring Jewish dead is "an outrageous conclusion," according to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. (!)
Comment by sister blah 2 — April 29, 2010 @ 11:24 am
I found a photo of Babbel from the same time period.
Comment by Justin — April 29, 2010 @ 11:29 am
To be fair, we only said it was "ironic," not "inappropriate."
Monuments are so tricky, aren't they? So the guy in your link gets his way by getting a statue of a soldier in place of a cross — if he's a white soldier, does that devalue the service of black soldiers? If he's Army, does it discredit Navy participation? If he's a male soldier, then are we ignoring the female nurses as well as the uniformed women in every branch? And on and on …
Comment by Ardis E. Parshall — April 29, 2010 @ 11:34 am
Justin, I can see a definite resemblance between that photo and the one of Babbel as an old man.
What am I going to have to do to get you signed on as Keepa's guru in chief? Double my last offer? Consider it done.
Comment by Ardis E. Parshall — April 29, 2010 @ 11:35 am
Here's another photo: Pres. Benson (right) and Frederick Babbel (left).
My oldest daughter recently had to read Elie Wiesel's Night and was understandably quite disturbed. The Holocaust is so tragic and horrifying, and I find it sad that teachers feel the need to expose young children to such horrors.
Comment by Researcher — April 29, 2010 @ 11:47 am
To be sure, Ardis, there's nothing about starving people to death, while working them beyond their meager strength, to recommend it over simply gassing them by the trainload. And if shedding the blood of one innocent is unforgivable, talking about numbers–especially the horrific numbers at Dachau or Buchenwald or Auschwitz or Treblinka–is just so much quibbling about different degrees of infinity.
But, as a matter of historical accuracy, Dachau opened shortly after the Nazis came to power, it housed political dissidents and other political prisoners, as well as German Jews, from then until 1945. After the war began, those political prisoners came from the conquered nations as well. During those twelve awful years, approximately 200,000 inmates died.
By contrast, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most well-known of the Vernichtungslager, opened in 1941. Whereas some of the prisoners transported there were put to work, and actually survived (two prominent examples: Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi), huge numbers were killed immediately upon arrival. In just over three years that the camp was in operation, over one million were murdered there.
Comment by Mark B. — April 29, 2010 @ 12:58 pm
RE. #6: Eisenhower was so disturbed by the concentration camps and the death camps that he didn't destroy them. He wanted the German people to see for themselves what had gone on.
It is sad that teachers have to expose children to this sort of evil. However, there is danger if they don't. Tomorrow, in my Modern Germany class, I am going over the Holocaust. Yes, these are college students, but I feel it's essential to lecture on the Holocaust. And from what I've seen some of my students write in their term papers, it is something they need to learn.
Comment by Steve C. — April 29, 2010 @ 2:02 pm
Steve C.–I know, that's why I asked about the picture. One of my brothers is married to a granddaughter of FB, so I know the story pretty well, but despite having seen many family photos, I'm not sure I recognize this one.
Comment by Kristine — April 29, 2010 @ 2:11 pm
I haven't gotten very deep into Holocaust studies, beyond Anne Frank and some general history, but I spent much of my late teens mired in the horrors of Vietnam POW accounts. It wasn't that I enjoyed the horror or sought out the evil — it was the contrast between that evil and the heroism and personal virtue of individual captives that I responded to. Forget "generals in the war in heaven" — when I hear that someone was a prisoner in Hanoi, and survived it with his mind and humanity intact, I *do* feel like falling to my knees.
There must be similar stories associated with the history of the Holocaust. I think before I taught WWII history to children the age of Researcher's daughter, I would be armed with several relevant narratives. There is a need for everyone to know what happened so that "never again" has meaning, but rather than "harrow up tender souls" for the sake of making them abhor the evil, I would want to give them hope to cling to, that when man is at his worst, he can also be at his best.
Comment by Ardis E. Parshall — April 29, 2010 @ 2:19 pm
Great thought, Ardis.
Last year we had Terry Waite, the Anglican envoy who was taken hostage in the Middle East in 1987 while trying to negotiate the release of several western hostages. While his ordeal was not quite that of those in the concentration camps, his story and how he rose above his captors was very inspiring.
Comment by Steve C. — April 29, 2010 @ 4:19 pm
Clarification: Terry Waite spoke on our campus last year.
Comment by Steve C. — April 29, 2010 @ 4:20 pm
Ardis, that's very well said. And I think Babbel's book is perhaps a good example of the kind of complementary narrative you describe. I read it after spending my eighth grade year in Germany, obsessed with Holocaust history, and while living in Los Alamos and navigating a whole other kind of collective guilt–it was helpful.
Incidentally, the family says it is not Fred Babbel in the photo.
Comment by Kristine — April 29, 2010 @ 9:03 pm
So, does anyone really think that we should limit exposure to the Holocaust in our schools.
The book Night has impacted my life more than any other book, including the scriptures and the works of Rawls.
The Holocaust Museum is like unto the temple for me.
Comment by Chris Henrichsen — April 29, 2010 @ 9:08 pm
"The Holocaust is so tragic and horrifying, and I find it sad that teachers feel the need to expose young children to such horrors."
Researcher, I would love an explanation of what you mean. I have been reading student papers all week and this may be one of the more baffling things I have encountered all week.
Comment by Chris Henrichsen — April 29, 2010 @ 9:14 pm
Let's not forget the other democides of the 20th Century. In terms of raw numbers, Hitler's Germany came in 3rd place (including fatalities of the Holocaust and all other civilian and military casualties), behind the Soviet Union (#2), and the People's Republic of China (#1).
Bottom line: After WWII, communists killed 5 times more people than did Hitler. I think that also needs to be part of "Never again!"
Comment by Bookslinger — April 29, 2010 @ 11:01 pm
A very quick response for Chris H:
First, if I understand correctly, you are working with college students. I am not talking about college students. I would personally prefer to keep selections like Night for the older high school student or college student. A more age-appropriate book on the topic for students of my daughter's age would be Anne Frank's Diary.
Second, my response was actually more to the entire selection of materials by the teacher over the course of the year. If the teacher is using depressing and horrifying materials, she should also be using funny and interesting and uplifting selections. She is not. Bad idea for any course in literature. A constant diet of rape and brutality and racism is as inappropriate as avoiding the topics altogether would be.
Comment by Researcher — April 30, 2010 @ 6:57 am
Thanks. The larger context does clarify things. I read Night in the 9th grade. Anyways, I am glad that your daughter has a parent who is so engaged is her learning. A lucky kid indeed.
Comment by Chris Henrichsen — April 30, 2010 @ 7:14 am
At what age do you believe children should be exposed to the holocaust? And to which books? Diary of Anne Frank is not nearly as disturbing as Night. Or perhaps I should say they are disturbing in different ways. I would never have my 7 year read either one. I am interested in your opinion.
Comment by Bruce Crow — April 30, 2010 @ 7:24 am
I like _Maus_ as a child's introduction to the holocaust. The story is real, and disturbing, but the animal faces keep it from being too real.
Comment by Eric Boysen — April 30, 2010 @ 7:58 am
Bookslinger, you're right about absolute numbers, and those other 20th century atrocities should not be forgotten.
There is, I think, a special horror for those of us in the West, including the US, about Hitler's regime that raises it for us above all the others. The perpetrators of that are more "like us" than anyone else — and I'm not referring chiefly to race. So very many of us had parents or grandparents who came from the Germanic countries. Germany was, perhaps even more than England or France, the cradle of modern intellectualism — the artists and scholars and philosophers and mathematicians and thinkers who made Western civilization what it was at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century were largely German. Unlike Russia and China, Germany had, along with the rest of the West, gone through the Enlightenment with its emphasis on the value and rights of the individual. Germany was supposed to know better and do better. If they could sink to Hitler's level so quickly and easily, didn't we have the seeds of murderous fascism in us, too? Those are likenesses that Western civilization just didn't share with the Russians or the Chinese.
Just my thoughts on why Hitlerism looms so much larger than the other genocides in the minds of most of us in the West.
Comment by Ardis E. Parshall — April 30, 2010 @ 8:21 am
Night is written from the perspective of a 15-16 year-old, which is how old Wiesel was during his experiences.
Anne Frank is great, particularly as a lead up to Night. However, here diary is not really about the Holocaust. This is not to say that it is not important.
I have recorded the new BCC movie of the Diary of Anne Frank. I hope to show it to my kids (8 and 10) soon.
My mother is Dutch (we visited the Attic in a trip to Holland after my 7th grade year). My Dad had strong interests in European history. So, none of this was new to me when I came to it in school.
Ardis, your comment #31 is well said.
I now feel a need to blog on this topic. Thanks for the inspiration.
Comment by Chris Henrichsen — April 30, 2010 @ 8:38 am
One more thing about Germany, which I found out yesterday in a conversation with Douglas Tobler: the German Missions had tremendous success in the years right after World War I–particularly in the east–East Prussia, Pomerania, Silesia, Prussia, Saxony, Brandenburg. In fact, there were more members of the church in Germany during that period than in any other country outside the U.S.–including Canada.
The fall of a people that produced such missionary success, a people who, as Ardis points out, had made extraordinary contributions in the arts (music, anybody?–where would music be if not for the Germans?) and the sciences (even in the 1960s I would hear, from my chemist father, that a person who was serious about keeping up with the latest scholarship in the field had to know German–when he was in grad school in the 1950s, German was required) into such depths of depravity was and continues to be a shock.
Comment by Mark B. — April 30, 2010 @ 9:16 am
Mass murder is mass murder regardless of who carries it out. We should always be aware of such atrocities. I teach about the Holocaust. I also discuss Stalin. We should, however, avoid getting into a sort of macabre ranking system regarding mass murder.
There are some troubling aspects about the Holocaust beyond just the notion that a "cultured" people could do such a thing. First, Hitler's intense hatred toward Jews. He killed Jews not because they were some sort of political opponent, but simply because they were born Jewish. That goes for all other cases of ethnic genocide. Second, the mechanized, industrialized method of the killings. The last thing I find so troubling about the Holocaust is what would any of us do if we were in the same situation? Christopher Browning's book, Ordinary Men, makes me wonder what I choices I would have made given the intense propaganda and peer-pressure. I hope I would not have cracked. Even Church members were confused by the rhetoric. I sure hope that we can remember that all people are children of God.
Comment by Steve C. — April 30, 2010 @ 11:51 am
In #32, that should be BBC and not BCC. I spend way too much time on the bloggernacle.
Comment by Chris Henrichsen — April 30, 2010 @ 11:54 am
More random thoughts on Hitler and Jews:
Hitler was a political genius for his time, and one reason to persecute the Jews was that he needed to focus public anger against a scapegoat. The depression of the 1930's was world-wide, and Germany went into it still suffering after-effects of World War I.
He used hatred against Jews as a means of uniting the populace, and he put forth himself and his party and his ideas as the "answers" to the "Jewish problem." In other words, he used the Jews as the foil in a the "Hegelian Dialectic", they were the 'problem' for which he and his party were the 'solution'. And, he could have not implemented his 'solution' without there first being a 'problem' that demanded to be solved.
And, for Aryans to be the uber-menschen, there had to be an identifiable under-menschen. And he needed the idea of Aryan superiority to fuel the populace to go along with his design of kingdom-building and subjugating the rest of Europe.
And I believe his motives were Satanically inspired, though I am ignorant of whether Hitler was cognizant of it.
Comment by Bookslinger — April 30, 2010 @ 5:25 pm
Please stop.
Comment by Chris Henrichsen — April 30, 2010 @ 6:15 pm
I didn't know what to expect by posting a picture without any real commentary — it has been fascinating to watch this thoughtful conversation develop in so many relevant directions.
Rather than ranging any farther afield in ranking atrocities or placing blame or explaining/guessing how things came to be, I'd appreciate hearing more of the personal response to learning about evil in recent history.
Comment by Ardis E. Parshall — April 30, 2010 @ 6:43 pm
The problem is that the evil has become too banal. It doesn't shock me that it occurs.
My first exposure to the holocaust was staying up way too late and sneeking the TV on late at night finding footage from the Nuremburg trials sometime around 1970.
Pol Pot and Rwanda didn't suprise me at least in the matter of mass murder of one group by another. It is much easier to find a single murder more shocking because it is easier to map the experience on to ones own life.
Comment by Eric Boysen — May 1, 2010 @ 1:53 am
Along with any discussion of the Holocaust should come a discussion about the "Righteous Gentiles" such as the Dutch woman, Corrie Ten Boom, the Swedish diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg, or the Danish people, who managed to spirit away the vast majority of Danish Jews to neutral Sweden. We should not forget our own Helmuth Hubener, who spoke out against Hitler and was beheaded at age 18. There were many others, less known, who also did their part as well to protect the innocent. Some paid with their and/or their family's lives for their courageous stand.
Two other points, General Eisenhower, himself of German descent, remarked that he was never so ashamed of his heritage as he was on the day he toured the death camps. As to Hitler, I believe that there is documented evidence that Hitler was 'inspired' by the mass slaughter that took place during the Russian Revolution and thereafter. Around the year 2000 the Library of Congress had an exhibit of Ulyanov's (a.k.a. "Lenin") orders to the various leaders of the "Cheka" rebuking them for not killing enough priests, university professors, kulaks (supposedly 'rich' peasants), and bourgeoise. I believe that the documents, (on loan from the Russian State Library), also included some of Dzhugashvili's (a.k.a. "Stalin") monthly orders to the NKVD, lists of hundreds, sometimes thousands of people to be executed for mostly trivial and arcane reasons. The Russians, to this day, are still uncovering mass graves all across the country of these victims. For those who might want to read an account of how these mass murders can be brought about, Google "Ukrainian famine". It was an artificial famine that was created to destroy all resistance to the collectivization of agriculture. Men, women and children in whole villages and towns were starved to death while the local Chekist hooligans looked on in indifference. This event occurred from the mid-1920's through the first half of the 1930's, if my memory serves me correctly. Incidentally, it was used as an excuse to loot all of the treasures from all of the Russian Orthodox churches, (and other churches, too), across the former empire to pay for 'famine relief'. The only real relief, however, came from the west, and that was only allowed in at a trickle. I still don't understand why these atrocities, (the count of the victims ranges from 16 to 22 million people), have never captured the attention of the world. I suppose that the dead can't speak, and the survivors were too terrified to speak lest they themselves end up in the gulag or a mass grave.
Comment by Velikiye Kniaz — May 1, 2010 @ 1:58 am


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Palin To Appear At World Premier Of "The Undefeated"
Posted By News On June 26, 2011 @ 6:29 am In Today's Local News | Comments Disabled
Sarah Palin will be in attendance for the premier of her new movie in
Pella next week. Pella Police Lt. Paul Haase tells
KNIA/KRLS the department is working with the Palin camp to ensure
things run smoothly. He says the department is well versed in
handling appearances of political figures, as the area tends to be a
popular destination during campaign season. He says to expect a
sizeable crowd and plenty of media coverage for the screening which
takes place Tuesday at 5 pm at the Pella Opera House.
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At the recent Distributed Sun New Energy Conference in Washington, D.C., Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, spoke of the need to extend the 30% solar investment tax credit (ITC) to help the fledgling solar market achieve price parity with such legacy generation sources as oil, natural gas, and coal. [...]
Extending Tax Incentives Just One Bright Move for Solar
Energy Storage Is Essential for Grid Efficiency
Utilities have always strived to balance electricity production with demand using traditional generation. Primary sources are coal and nuclear power plants along with natural gas turbines, including the inefficient and costly "peaker" plants that are used only during periods of unusually high demand, typically a few dozen hours per year. To help make the grid [...]
The Foundation for Reliable Power? A Reliable Power Grid
Power outages in the U.S. have been on the rise for the past three decades, according to one recent article. The U.S. power grid today loses power 285 percent more often than it did in 1984, costing billions of dollars every year. Weather-related power disruptions are particularly costly—a concern as the Atlantic hurricane season is [...]
Removing the Hurdles to Energy Storage Adoption
It seemed no small coincidence that the Energy Storage Association's 2014 annual conference took place the same week that the U.S. EPA announced new proposed rules to reduce carbon emissions. Energy storage will play a significant role in reducing carbon emissions. Consider some of the ways that energy storage can help: It makes it practical [...]
Planning for More Renewables? We Need to Plan for More Energy Storage, Too
You likely heard the biggest news in our industry last week—namely, that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Under the proposed rules, states would have some choice in how they meet the proposed rules. But it seems certain that renewables will be a big [...]
Microgrids: Threat or Opportunity for Utilities?
Microgrids are not just mere hype. They are indeed gaining traction globally, as more electricity customers—particularly businesses that comprise a large percentage of utility revenues—look for new alternatives to reduce costs and increase reliability. In Germany—which is currently undergoing an expensive program to phase out nuclear electricity generation while also integrating more wind and solar [...]
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President Obama holds a championship ring as he poses with the Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, at an event on the South Lawn of the White House in March 2011. / File photo by H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY
Never missing an opportunity to talk sports, President Obama thanked the people of Sweden on Wednesday for exporting a few of their countrymen to his hometown Chicago Blackhawks.
Blackhawks center Marcus Kruger as well as defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya are originally from Sweden.
Viktor Stalberg, another Swede who recently signed with the Nashville Predators, was also on the 2013 Stanley Cup winning Blackhawks.
"I should mention on behalf of hockey fans back home in Chicago, I have to say how grateful our championship Blackhawks are for their several teammates who hail from Sweden," said Obama during a joint news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on Wednesday. "So that's been an excellent export that we gladly accept."
Obama, who is making the first bilateral visit by a U.S. president to Stockholm, noted his city's large Swedish population. The Swedes of Chicago brought to the Midwest the log cabin, they built Wrigley Field, and they founded the Walgreens drugstore chain.
Obama was asked by a Swedish reporter if there was anything else he admired about the country that he wished to import to the USA.
The president noted that Sweden outpaces the USA in the development of its clean-energy sector, and he praised Sweden for maintaining a robust market while making investments in education, infrastructure and research.
Obama, who has spent much of his 4½-years in the White House butting heads with GOP lawmakers, said he appreciates the respectful tenor of the political debate in Stockholm.
"I'm sure Fredrik doesn't feel this as he's engaging in difficult debates here," Obama observed. "I do get a sense that the politics in Sweden right now involve both the ruling party and the opposition engaged in a respectful and rational debate that's based on facts and issues."
Copyright 2015 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: Obama thanks Sweden for NHL hockey exports


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Midway through a video dedicated to his fallen daughter, Sgt. Isela Rubalcava, 56-year-old Ramon Rubalcava used a red handkerchief to wipe away tears.
The video was a tribute filled with pictures that spanned the life of Sgt. Rubalcava, 25, who was killed in a mortar attack in Mosul, Iraq, 10 years ago and is believed to be the first El Paso County woman to die in combat.
The video at Stolleys Riverwalk Center, 311 W. Borderland, ended with Luke Bryan's song "Drink a Beer" and then every table toasted her with a Tecate beer — her favorite.
The video was part of a 10th anniversary memorial dinner that featured photos, military mementos and a table filled with her favorite things — volleyball, cheesy fries and chocolate cakes with vanilla icing.
The dinner was hosted by LULAC Council No. 4457, which carries Rubalcava's name. Some 300 people took part in the celebration.
Reflecting on the decade since her daughter was killed, Maria Isela Rubalcava, 53, said she is learning to find closure.
"I've made peace with it because I know she's gone, but I'm sad of course because she's no longer with me, only in my memories," Maria Rubalcava said.
For Ramon Rubalcava, letting go has not been easy.
"I sometimes think I might be wrong," Ramon Rubalcava said in Spanish. "Because a lot of people are telling me to find closure, but I can't ... I've thought of a lot of things. I picture her being married with kids ... Every day I remember her."
Despite the pain that lingers, Saturday's event was a cheerful one. Friends, family and fellow soldiers who served with Sgt. Rubalcava remembered her as a person who was "feisty" and always had the right attitude.
Kurt Pittsenbargar and Robert Kinard both served with her 10 years ago. Both remembered her as upbeat.
"She had a way of cheering you up. Her smile could make people just relax," Pittsenbargar said.
During his remarks, retired Col. Dennis Thompson offered a heartfelt apology to Rubalcava's parents.
Thompson, a former battalion commander, oversaw 650 soldiers and civilians, including Sgt. Rubalcava, in Iraq.
"I'm sorry and I will always regret not coming home with all my soldiers," Thompson said looking at Ramon and Maria Rubalcava.
Rubalcava graduated from Canutillo High School in 1996. She joined the Army in 2000. She was deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom in November 2003. Rubalcava was killed May 8, 2004, three days shy of her 26th birthday.
During the memorial, guest speaker Rear Adm. Samuel Perez said the military photo of a smiling Sgt. Rubalcava spoke volumes and "said it all."
"Although I never met Isela Rubalcava, I immediately knew who she was. Her smile and confidence that she radiates in that picture tells you that she was a young lady who wanted more out of life than the average person. I think she was the type of young lady who always said 'ponle un poquito más'— 'Give it just a little more,' " he said.
Perez, also from Canutillo, borrowed a line from Ramon Rubalcava that Sgt. Rubalcava had the courage to meet difficult challenges.
LULAC volunteer Veronica Landry, who was a contract morale, welfare and recreation coordinator in Iraq, helped organize the memorial. She shares a special bond with Sgt. Rubalcava in that she was there when she died.
She said facing her parents and telling them she did everything she could to save their daughter offered her closure.
"Through that, I realized that God's purpose for me was to be there for them and to keep her legacy alive. And so, since I didn't keep her body alive. I'll keep her memory and legacy alive," Landry said.


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Wouldn't it make more sense to set this sort of thing up at a location with a paranormal history. I am certain there are plenty of places in you area with this kind of background, you could even run it as a Ghost Hunters sort of thing. Stay all night/day and look for whatever....
I recommend dragons.
Hi there! I'm not going to get into major specifics but to give you an idea, I enjoy and am getting fairly competent at event organizing. I'd really like to do something that gives UFO enthusiasts, paranormal fans etc the chance to "celebrate" the field.
But the events that do occur don't really seem very celebratory. You have clubs, that run like any other clubs I presume - a night a month in a village hall. You have conferences which seem extremely serious (and that's fine) and typically run with the theme of "We are pushing for disclosure" every time. And some book sellings
4) What kind of activities would you want from such a festival/event? My ideas include:
- Skywatching, astronomy tuition, live IR feeds
- Live music, face painting, mystics and palm readers
- Daytime trips by specially arranged coach to Avebury and any current crop circles
- Food, drink (and bar) toilets, parking, fireworks, etc
- What else? Quadcopter demonstrations? Chinese lantern lighting? (activities to help people stop mis-idenfifying UFOs )


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Burton may have named the TWC Smalls Kids' Snowboard after legendary pipe rider Shaun White, but it's designed for all levels of budding riders. The V-Rocker profile is catch-free and forgiving so your little ripper can spend less time falling and more time learning to love snowboarding.
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Shaun White Pro Model for the under four foot crowd
V-Rocker allows for catch-free continuous rocker and freedom for fun. For those who dream of being along side Shaun White on top of the podium.


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Knuckles VA champ - Beat'em Down (Official Video) shot, directed and edited by BCMusic1st (First Single Off Knuckle Up!!!! Mixtape Vol 1) Track downloadable ...
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The Desert Terminal Lakes Program
The Desert Terminal Lakes Program began with Public Law 107-171, enacted 5/13/02. The legislation provided $200 million to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation "to provide water to at-risk natural desert terminal lakes." Another $175 million was provided in Public Law 110-246 enacted 6/18/2008. The funds are available until expended and Reclamation has the authority to enter into grants and cooperative agreements. More...
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text: Publications Search Results Your query returned 2 citations. Results 1 - 2 Per page: 25 50 100 Sort by: Pub Date (newest) Title Recent Additions Author 1 Clear All Pub. Year Citation 2012 Yang, Q., Bailey, L., Clarke, R., Flanders, W.D., Liu, T., Yesupriya, A., Khoury, M.J., Friedman, J.M. . Prospective study of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) variant C677T and risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality among 6000 US adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Full Text Options: DOI Worldcat Google Scholar Export Options: RIS EndNote XML 1996 Williams, T.R., Bailey, L. Compensating for Missing Wave Data in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). American Statistical Association Meeting, Section on Survey Research Methods. . Export Options: RIS EndNote XML Results 1 - 2 1


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The Earth Institute would like to invite you to two upcoming information sessions on its graduate programs, which train students to address the very real environmental challenges that are a consequence of climate change.
Monday, September 16, 2013 from 6:30-8:00Pm (On- Campus). RSVP here.
The most flexible degree, the program integrates management training and an interdisciplinary study of sustainability. Separate certificates in Sustainability Analytics and Sustainable Water Management are also available. Watch the video. Application deadline for all programs: Nov. 1 for January 2014 enrollment; May 15 for September 2014 enrollment.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013 from 6:00- 8:00PM (On-Campus). RSVP here
The emphasis is on science and practical policy analysis and management skills. Students are part of a cohort of 60-70 students who work together and learn from each other. Watch the video. Application deadlines: Nov. 1 (early decision); Jan. 15 (fellowship consideration); Feb. 15 (final)


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TOP PHOTO: Barbara Symons and other manor residents pet Navidad while Ann-Marie Isenburg holds on tight. ABOVE PHOTO: Echo, dressed as a pumpkin, looks to his partner for direction.
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The Marilyn Park Pups and Pals provided a dog show for residents and guests at Highland Manor Friday afternoon to the joy of the seniors.
The dogs and their partners arrived in costume, putting on a parade and showing off.
The group, who practice obedience and agility five days a week at Marilyn Redd Park, decided that they wanted to share the joy of dog ownership with their neighbors at the manor. ...


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FSU starting pitcher Luke Weaver had initially committed to Central Florida.
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He doesn't know where the power comes from. Honestly, he has no clue.
Florida State sophomore starting pitcher Luke Weaver certainly doesn't have the typical build of a flamethrower. He is listed at 6-foot-2, 170 pounds. Teammate Gage Smith says he's more like "160 pounds soaking wet ... and not an ounce of muscle on him."
And yet Weaver has a thunderbolt for a right arm, routinely blowing away Division I hitters with major-league-type velocity. ...


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News Board
Two events, including an all-day symposium and a film shot on location at his house, will celebrate the anniversary of Galileo's discoveries through the use of the telescope and reflect upon the significance of his discoveries to the development of our culture and to science. Galileo's home in Florence is shown at the left.
Two events celebrating the 400th anniversary of Galileo's achievements and discoveries will take place on Thursday, November 19th.
Challenging the Paradigm: The Legacy of Galileo
The Human and Scientific Tale of Galileo


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India's academic institutions have slipped down the rungs in global rankings but the university that once led the order of excellence at home has taken the worst tumble.
Calcutta University, the 157-year-old institution that counts Meghnad Saha, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Rajendra Prasad, Subhash Chandra Bose and Nirad C Chaudhuri among its alma mater, has dropped 100 places in world rankings to below 700. Not a single Indian university figured among the top 200 in the QS World University Rankings.
The ranks were given on four key parameters: research , teaching, employability and internationalization. The methodology has six indicators : academic reputation (40%), employer reputation (10%), and facultystudent ratio (20%), citations per faculty (20%), international students (5%) and international faculty (5%). CU was among the worst performers in all parameters, showing its precipitous decline as a world-class institution. The ranking was a wakeup call for the Mamata Banerjee government, which has vowed to restore the state's academic institutions to their old glory. Education minister Bratya Basu, however, said the parameters for rankings were not always applicable to Indian institutions.
IIMC among top 20 B-schools
C alcutta University's dismal performance has somewhat been mitigated with the Financial Times Global Rankings for Masters in Management programs putting IIM-Calcutta among the top 20 in the world. At 19th, the IIM-C is placed above the prestigious London School of Economics.
'Didn't participate in rankings'
They award points on international faculty, students from abroad and number of Nobel laureates, which are obviously very few in Indian universities. CU is performing very well and has received accolades from all over the world. So, I don't see any reason to panic or fret," Basu said.
CU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das said the university didn't participate in the rankings. "They had asked for data but we didn't provide it to them. Some of the parameters included were not applicable for CU, like international faculty, international students, student-teacher ratio. We function under a different paradigm. On the other hand, the methodology for assessing excellence which should be applicable for India is the input-output ratio. What should be considered is the number of graduates we produce with the limited funds that are allocated to us. That our university has still got a rank despite the severe constraints is indeed commendable," said Das.
In 2012, the University of Kolkata – students of which included Nobel prize winners was ranked around 600 among the world's top colleges and universities. Pro VC (academics) of CU Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay termed the drop in rankings as 'unfortunate'. "While the other universities and institutes have made considerable progress, we have lagged behind. We have not been pro-active enough to stay ahead. This is a wake-up call for us and let's hope it ensures an all-out effort to turn things around," said Chattopadhyay.
The QS World University Rankings published last week featured 11 Indian institutions in the top 800 with the highest ranking going to IIT Delhi, placed 222 on the list. Two other institutions made it to the top 300 – IIT Bombay (233) and IIT Kanpur (295). IIT Madras was ranked 313 while IIT Kharagpur stands at 346, the only Indian institute that has gained ranking from 349 in 2012. (TOI)
Tags: Calcutta University, London School of Economics, QS World University Rankings