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ESB products and techniques
An enterprise service bus (ESB) is a software architecture for middleware that provides fundamental services for more complex architectures. Learn about the products and techniques for ESBs. ESB does for distributed heterogeneous back end services and applications and distributed heterogeneous front-end users and information consumers what middleware is really supposed to do: hide complexity, simplify access, allow developers to use generic, canonical forms of query, access and interaction, handling the complex details in the background. Find the latest news and technology information regarding vendor specific ESB products and techniques.
Why application integration matters
04 May 2012
Tip - Application integration may hold much more benefit than most Java development shops realize.


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Quick View
Lioni Latticini
Fresh MozzarellaThe Lioni family has been perfecting their whole cow's milk mozz for generations - it's delicate and moist with a clean milky flavor. Made nearby in New Jersey of fresh, pasteurized milk from a herd in upstate NY. Read More
Cave Aged
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Old Chatham Sheepherding Company
Hudson Valley CamembertSquare Camembert? Sheep Camembert? American Camembert?!? Oh yes, the upstate flock behind this dense and creamy tile bucks convention with delicious results. Toast them with California Sparkling.
2011 American Cheese Society Winner Read More
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Delice de BourgogneWant to make sure that all the sweet, decadent triple creme is gone by the time the party's over? This tidy little format should do the trick. Otherwise, get two and hide one in the crisper for personal use. Read More
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MalvarosaThis farmhouse cheese from Valencia, Spain is one of the most ''snackable'' I've had in quite some time, and part of my job is to eat cheese all day, so that's saying something. Buttery, rich, and sweet, with a compliant texture. Made with pasteurized Guirra sheep milk. Read More
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Robiola BosinaThis luscious little slab of mild, creamy goodness is made from a blend of milks for the perfect balance of salty and milky sweet. Its tender rind is good eats - resist that uncivilized urge to bite it like a pastry. Read More

subset: commoncrawl


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Layout selectors
Melissa Harris-Perry 06/15/14
OJ Simpson case deeply revealed our divisions
In the days following OJ Simpson's "not guilty" verdict, black and white Americans responded very different to whether or not they agreed with the jury's conclusion. Melissa Harris-Perry's panelists look at race as the story in the trial. ... more Duration: {{video.duration.momentjs}}
OJ Simpson case deeply revealed our divisions
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Man on death row appeals to CA governor
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Best of MSNBC
Politics of the vote that caused chaos
Pres. Obama: 'We don't have time for bigotry'
UK roots deep in 'United States of Europe'
The Brexit Boys: Boris, Nigel and David
The Brexit Boys: Boris, Nigel and David
Sanders: I'll vote for Clinton in November
How Brexit could affect 2016 election
Global repercussions of Brexit
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Obama names Stonewall a Natl. Monument
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Rep. Himes: Xenophobia drove the Brexit vote
Turmoil after Britain votes to leave EU
At least 4 dead in West Virginia flooding
Brexit vote raising intl. security concerns
DOW plummets after Brexit
Dow Jones futures down 500+ points
Rattner's charts: Assessing the Brexit
Rachel Maddow
UK roots deep in 'United States of Europe'
British media project Brexit vote succeeds
Short-handed Supreme Court crisis deepens
Trump skips politics on UK trip (good idea)
House Democrats electrify gun debate
A 10 pound news day in a five-pound bag
Rep Lewis addresses supporters as sit-in ends
Democrats protest Paul Ryan with song
Booker: Congress feeling pressure on guns
Democratic sit-in draws protesters outside
Democrats hold House floor to demand gun vote
Rep John Lewis: The time for silence is over
The House does sometimes go crazy
Britain votes to leave European Union
New bipartisan gun bill might actually pass
Energy builds for idea to reject Trump at RNC
Trump gets a little scammy in new money pitch
Trump campaign a cover for moneymaking scheme
Gingrich a model for moneymaking campaigning
Trump FEC filing: stunningly weak war chest
Morning Joe
'This will have tremendous ripple effects'
Sanders: I will vote for Hillary in November
US Conference of Mayors convenes in...
The undercurrents of the Brexit vote
Dow Jones futures down 500+ points
Rattner's charts: Assessing the Brexit
Sanders, Trump and the Brexit vote
Sanders smiles, laughs watching impressionist
Sanders: Donald Trump is a 'pathological...
Sanders reacts to Brexit vote
'I need a minute': Panel reacts to Trump...
Is Boris Johnson trying out for PM role?
How new technology allows genetic code...
Lupica: GOP has 'stomach problem' on gun...
Dem congressman: We have to pass legislation
New technology fights online extremism
Joe to Rep. Cole: You can fix terror watch...
Why Trump can't tweet his way to ground game
Young impressionist does Trump on Fallon
Numbers show how Sanders supporters could...


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2001Season: Academic All American
2000 Season: Academic All American, first place in B figures and 2nd in trio and team at Collegiate Nationals.
High School: Graduated with highest honors, received award for Academic excellence in all subjects, received coach's award for high school swim team, athlete representative for club team.
Personal: Born in Morristown, NJ. Parents: Robin and Chris Ensign. Majors: Economics and Public Policy and plans to attend law school after graduating. I enjoy baking, reading, and any water activity in warm, sunny weather.


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Register with us or sign in
Thank you. Really appreciate your help.
Thanks for the advice. I am an amateur, what would i mulch with?
Hi, I am new to gardeners world. I am in the process of trying to re-design a garden that was neglected by its previous owners. I have a peony which I planted when I brought the house four years ago. I now want to move the peony about 2ft into my raised border, i have heard rumours that you shouldn't move them is this true? I wondered whether it could be done now whilst it is dormant? Please advise...


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We've already heard her on Jay-Z's new track, "Glory," but fans might already be wondering just when we might get to see the rapper's firstborn with his pop star wife, Beyoncé.
On Tuesday morning (January 10), Blue, B and Jay had left Lenox Hill hospital in New York City, E! News confirms. E! reports that high security was taken to ensure that no photos were snapped as they left the hospital and headed home.
There are several ways that days-old Blue might be introduced to the world, and MTV News talked to experts to get the lowdown on how they think the first photos of her will debut. And they even suggested how much they think the whole business might be worth.
"I think they're terribly private about it," HuffPost celebrity columnist Rob Shuter explained. "I think if they do anything, they'll take the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes way that they did with Suri and they'll do it on the cover of a monthly like Vanity Fair. But I don't even think they'll do that. They'll definitely, in my opinion, not be selling a picture to the highest bidding weekly magazine. That's just not their style."
With editors scrambling for the authorized photos of the newborn and her parents, there are also tabloids scrambling to get some image of Blue, whether or not B and Jay have anything to do with its release.
"In the case of unauthorized photos, they're typically not the best quality. So if it was sort of your average photo, there's always people who will pay up to a million dollars for that type of photo," said David Caplan, who has worked at celebrity magazines like Star and People. "Again, it really depends on the quality, and typically it's the hard-core tabloids who will buy that because they won't be in the running for the real baby photos, which will likely go to either sort of like a People or even a monthly.
"I think with Beyoncé there's no guarantee she'll sell her photo to a weekly magazine, I can see her choosing to do it in Vogue and Vanity Fair," he added, noting that going that route ensures she can control the entire rollout.
How do you think Beyoncé and Jay-Z will release photos of their baby girl? Leave your comment below!


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Related pages
Economic and Social Council Substansive Session, 2011 High Level Segment
4 Jul 2011 - 8 Jul 2011The Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) will focus on "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to education".
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland
Eleven countries will make National Voluntary Presentation (NVPs) and present an assessment of progress made towards the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals (IADGs), including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);
The Thematic debate on ?Current global and national trends and challenges and their impact on education? is based on inputs from the entire UN system, with special contributions from UNESCO and UNICEF. It links the assessment of education progress to current global vulnerabilities. Specifically, it discusses the potential risks to educational access and quality posed by the uneven global economic recovery, rising food prices and climate change. As a result, the report includes recommendations for managing the impacts ? both short- and long-term ? of these trends, and highlights opportunities for advancing progress on the education related MDGs and the broader Education for All goals.
At the High-level policy dialogue, the Executive Heads of the international financial and trade institutions will discuss the state of the world economy and its implications for the achievement of the United Nations development agenda.
A series of special policy dialogues focusing on education challenges will be organized during the segment. Among them, the dialogues on ?Accelerating education for all (EFA): mobilizing resources and partnerships?; ?Education for sustainable development?; and the ?Education challenges in Africa and LDCs?.
More Information


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Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
The 2014 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is a Wrap! Congratulations to the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival for another record-breaking season. Lasting 22 days and showing 70 films and 119 screenings, this year's AJFF seated approximately 31,000 moviegoers!
Founded in 2000, AJFF ranks as the largest film festival in Atlanta, and second largest Jewish film festival in the United States. AJFF has attracted audiences of more than 30,000 moviegoers, and features an international collection of more than 65 narrative and documentary films (in both feature and short form) that connect with the Jewish experience. Screenings are enhanced by guest appearances with filmmakers, actors, authors, academics and other experts who discuss the movies and answer audience questions.
The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is a production of the Atlanta Regional Office of American Jewish Committee, an international advocacy organization that works to build bridges of understanding between ethnic, religious and national groups. It is the enduring belief of American Jewish Committee that understanding grows out of shared experiences, and stories are often the best way to foster such experiences. More than just "a night at the movies," film is contemporary storytelling with the ability to impact the way audiences feel, think and behave after leaving the theater.
AJFF is the past recipient of prestigious grants from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and National Endowment for the Arts, and generously supported by more than 120 other corporate, foundation, government and individual sponsors.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival's official website.


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Open and Affirming Accepted
On May 15, 2005 our congregation accepted our Open and Affirming (ONA) statement. It was an important day for this church as it helped us understand more clearly where we are as a congregation on this topic.
As we are now an ONA church, we must decide on how we live this out and what steps are appropriate for this church family. The ONA facilitators have met and made some recommendations to church council on possible actions to be taken. These include additions to our letterhead, brochures and other printed material, an update to our website and a possible addition to signage.
The ONA facilitators are trying to get a sense of what discussions may be of value in the future. We are also available to individuals who would like to discuss this topic. Please contact any of the facilitators listed below.
|Brian McGovern
|Jeanine Hanewicz
|Walt Fisher
|Olivia Quinsland
|Robin Murphy
Questions, Comments or Concerns regarding Open & Affirming, please submit to: email@example.com
Testimony from CCB Members:
This page was last updated on
Please send any feedback, updates, corrections, or new content to .


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Here are the highlights from the 5/17 – 5/23 Giant Eagle ad provided by Lady Savings. Check your local ad to confirm deals and the coupon doubling policy in your area. Make sure you load all eOffers on your card before you go. Prices below are after coupons doubled, instant savings, eOffers, and catalinas.
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For more great deals, sign up for the Inspiring You 2 Save daily newsletter. **This post may contain affiliate links which helps support the site at no cost to you.


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Chess Media Group
Twitter: @jacobm
Jacob is widely regarded as a thought leader in social business. A key to his success is his strategic vision for both the industry and client projects. Jacob frequently spends his time experimenting, researching, and developing ideas and concepts around social business.
Jacob co-founded Chess Media Group with the goal of helping companies understand the business value of employee, partner, and customer collaboration (Enterprise 2.0 and Social CRM). Jacob leads social business strategy at Chess Media Group and provides the vision for how companies can boost productivity, cut costs and foster business agility from their social business initiatives. Jacob also develops partnerships, business opportunities, and focuses on long term growth and strategy for Chess Media Group.
Jacob's book, Twittfaced – Your Toolkit for Understanding and Maximizing Social Media was published in September 2009. Entirely co-authored through online collaboration, the story of how his book came to fruition demonstrates the power of social media and how online communities and collaboration can yield business successes.
Jacob's blog is ranked among the top 100 most influential marketing blogs in the world by AdAge, he has contributed to Marketing Profs, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Inc. Magazine, KRON 4 (NBC's San Francisco station), Read Write Web, LCI France (a national TV news network), Search CRM, and Zdnet.
Previously, Jacob ran another social media startup, an SEO consultancy, and worked for an online marketing agency. Jacob has worked with brands such as Adobe, Conde Nast, New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, Salesforce, Sandisk, The U.S. Department of State, and Coremetrics.
No Research Reports have been listed for this Fellow.
Jacob Morgan 5 min 25 sec ago
What Is The No. 1 Thing Keeping Us At Our #Jobs? #FutureofWork t.co/t7G5QIZR9J t.co/wul0thajMu
Jacob Morgan 55 min 18 sec ago
@ldavidmarquet will do!
01.30.15 Why You Should be Paying Attention to "Wearables"
01.29.15 Turning the Ship Around–Breaking Traditions to Redefine Leadership at Work


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Ellicott City man charged in another groping incident, days after pleading guilty to past crimes
An Ellicott man who was awaiting sentencing for "a series of groping incidents" was charged again for a similar crime last week, according to a release from Howard County police.
Jeremy Kaho Ng, 27, was charged with second-degree assault, stalking and fourth-degree sex offense, the release states. Ng was convicted on July 15 of groping no less than three women last year.
RELATED: Howard County police charge man with multiple counts of sex offense, assault
On July 17, a woman shopping at a Target in Columbia told a police officer that she was being followed and that a man had grabbed her sexually.
"The woman told police she was being followed in the store by an unknown male suspect and that at one point the man walked behind her and grabbed her buttocks," the release states. "The man was also seen standing near the woman's vehicle as she exited the store. The woman also noticed a white Dodge Ram truck, later determined to be registered to Ng, followed her vehicle as she left the parking lot."
Ng turned himself in for the July 17 incident on July 19. Ng is being held at the Howard County Detention Center on $175,000. He was released after pleading guilty to the three incidents last year on bond just days before.
In 2013, Ng touched three women in the parking lots of a Best Buy, The Mall in Columbia and a Columbia apartment complex.
"Police urge anyone who may have experienced similar incidents since January 2014 to contact police at 410-313-STOP," the release states.


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Telus to launch Garmin nuvifone in Canada
Telus might be the first Canadian mobile carrier to launch a phone made by Garmin.
Mobile Syrup reports that the carrier is readying the release of a Garmin nufivone – but it's not clear yet if this is the same device that AT&T launched in the US in the autumn of 2009. Hopefully, it isn't, because AT&T's nuvifone was nothing short of a disaster when it comes to sales (being too expensive and offering a rather unpleasant user experience).
Reportedly, the Telus-bound nuvifone has a 3.5 inch touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, Garmin GPS navigation, 3MP camera, and MicroSD card support. These features resemble the ones of AT&T's nuvifone G60 (seen below), but also the ones of T-Mobile's Android-based Garmin smartphone.
It's said that Telus plans to introduce its Garmin phone in early June, so we'll find out more about it then.


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Third Degree with… Anthony Bourdain
The Editors | Photo: Courtesy of CNN | July 30, 2014
When the chef, author and TV personality isn't traveling the world in search of the most exciting undiscovered meals for his hit show, CNN's Parts Unknown, the Emmy- and Peabody-winner can often be found at his home in Montauk with his wife and daughter. In anticipation of Bourdain's appearance at Guild Hall's Stirring the Pot: Conversations With Culinary Celebrities on Aug. 10, here's a sampling of his sharp-tongued wisdom.
Which six iconic figures would be at your dream dinner party?
Orson Welles; actress Louise Brooks; British intelligence officer Kim Philby, who was actually a KGB spy; Ava Gardner; Iggy Pop; and movie director John Houston
What's in your home refrigerator right now?
Almost nothing. Meat—my wife's a [mixed martial arts] fighter, so she's always in training—so, basically, meat, bottled water and a half-eaten birthday cake.
Dish you prepare best?
My boeuf bourguignon's pretty good.
Spice you can't live without?
French sea salt and Kampot black pepper from Cambodia. If I have good salt and pepper, I'm happy.
Favorite music to dine by?
Curtis Mayfield
Worst job you ever had?
Brunch cook. I have a pathological hatred of brunch. To me, it's the smell of all the low points of my career, when I was unemployable anywhere respectable but could always get a job as a brunch cook. To this day, if I smell French toast I start twitching uncontrollably.
Favorite thing about the Hamptons?
The North Atlantic and steamer clams, local tomatoes, corn on the cob—they're the flavors, smells and sounds of my childhood.
Least favorite thing about the Hamptons?
I manage to avoid everything heinous about the Hamptons—I stay completely under the radar. I don't go to parties, I don't go to benefits, I don't go to restaurants—my daughter and I cook together, and she's become very good for a 7-year-old.
Favorite word?
F**k. I use it as a comma. You can really use it in 30 different ways, depending entirely on context and inflection.
Last thing you Googled?
Chris Blackwell, the chief of Island Records, who signed Bob Marley. I was just in Jamaica doing a show and was looking up his family history and career—it's fascinating.
Best advice you were ever given?
'Show up on time.' Those are defining, life-changing words I still live by 30 years later. I worked for a guy who, if you showed up only 14, not 15, minutes early for your shift, sent you home and you lost the shift. The second time it happened you were fired. I make a lot of decisions about who I like and who I can do business with based entirely on punctuality. If you can't show enough respect for your co-workers and the people you deal with to at least show up on time, it just says so much about you. You can teach skills, but you can't teach character.
What's the farthest you'd travel for an amazing meal?
I'd fly the 18 to 20 hours to Tokyo, Japan, right now just to eat at Jiro Ono's restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, which is one of the greatest sushi restaurants in the world.
Favorite Hamptons meal?
A big pot of steamers, boiled lobster, corn on the cob with lots of butter. I'll make a tomato salad and keep it really simple—we just roll newspaper out on the table and throw the shells everywhere—that's perfect happiness.
Who would play you in your film biopic?
Christopher Walken. That would be cool.
What does no one know about Anthony Bourdain?
How happy I am to be the father of a 7-year-old. It's really the central pleasure of my life.


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As a diehard city girl, I'm way more comfortable in stilettos than stirrups. Yet there is something oddly alluring about going off the grid for several days and slowing down to enjoy life far away from the urban jungle—especially when chosen locay is in close proximity to wine country! So when I was invited to join a group of city slickers for a jaunt to Solvang's Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort, there was no way I could resist.
Located just two hours from LA, this sprawling slice of paradise sits just outside downtown Solvang and is actually a working cattle ranch. Though it's tempting to go into town and experience everything from Danish pastries to mouth-watering wines, it's easy to visit Alisal and never want to leave. Horseback and hiking trails, on-site spa and golf course, tennis courts, a heated pool, and sweeping scenic views abound...not to mention free wi-fi for those who shudder at the thought of going *totally* off the grid. (However, there is zero cell phone reception at the Alisal, so be sure to fire up the Skype for all of your dialing needs!)
After a miraculously traffic-free trip, I arrived at Alisal early on a Monday afternoon—just in time for a 1:30 spa treatment. Don't let the spa's no-frills exterior fool you, as prime relaxation and pampering await within its confines. Strains of soft country music greet those waiting in the spa's lounge, which is dotted with Southwestern accents and all the issues of "Cowboys and Indians" a girl could ever want to read. I sat transfixed by the lounge's crackling fireplace until I was greeted by a fresh-faced young aesthetician named Kira, who would be administering my "Trailblazer" treatment for the next 90 minutes.
Part scrub, part massage, the Trailblazer is one of the spa's signature treatments and will run you $200. It starts off with an organic peppermint salt exfoliation for the skin, followed by a custom massage designed to relieve stress. For the first several minutes, I found myself wishing I'd opted for a full-on massage, as my writerly shoulders have been barking for weeks, and the somewhat vigorous scrub was less than relaxing at first. Yet the longer I lay there, I found myself melting into the bed, and once the warm eye pillow doused with hypnotic lavender and rose scents was placed on me, I was a goner.
After about 50 minutes of being scrubbed, I was guided to the spa's shower to rinse off, and emerged pleasantly surprised by how quickly my skin had transformed to seriously touchable. Upon my return to the treatment room, I got a 30-minute massage with just the right amount of pressure to kill those pesky kinks. (And as a deep tissue massage wimp, it's tough not to make me wince... Bravo, Kira!) At treatment's end, I left the spa relaxed, renewed, and ripe for some lounging.
Hence, next stop was the heated pool, where I curled up in a beach chair with a juicy read, my Kate Spade shades, and a chilled Diet Coke. (Sure, I *could've* checked out one of the spa's yoga or Pilates classes, but my spa-induced laziness won out.) After about an hour of sunnin' and funnin', I headed back to my home for the next three days—-an inviting ranch-style cottage replete with wood-burning fireplace, refrigerator (or Diet Coke repository, in my case), and a porch overlooking Alisal's creek. No TV or phone anywhere in sight, making Operation Off the Grid officially complete! I loved the little touches too, like the "Shoe Shine Mitt" included in the bathroom toiletries, you know, just in case your cowboy boots need a bit of a touchup.
As evening descended on the Alisal, I met up with my group for drinks at the ranch's Waggin' Tongue lounge, followed by dinner in the Cottonwood Room—-where gingham prints, sunflowers, and cowboy-style paintings carry on the down-home motif that permeates the ranch. Much gorging commenced on the Cottonwood's buffet-style barbecue setup with offerings like salmon, steak, cornbread, coleslaw, and beets. After dinner, fellow getaway girl Shana Ting Lipton and I hit up the ranch's Oak Room bar, where Michael Shelton was playing sing-along acoustic tunes by everyone from Oasis to Backstreet Boys. (No one can accuse this crooner of not having range!) A little vino nightcap and the chance to sing and play tambourine—now that's what I call a fun way to end the day.
Sated and satisfied, I headed back to my room amongst a deafening chorus of ribbiting frogs to reflect on a delicious—-in every sense of the word—Day One of the trip. And it was just beginning: wine tasting, golf, horseback riding and more were still to come! Part Two coming soon....
For more information: Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort, 1054 Alisal Road, Solvang, CA 93463; 1-800-4ALISAL


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Health center governing boards are comprised of individuals who volunteer their time and energy to create a fiscally and managerially strong organization for the purpose of improving the health status of their communities. Since the intent is for board members to give substantive input into the health center's strategic direction and policy, a majority of members of the board must be people who are served by the health center and who, as a group, represent the individuals being served in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender. Since health centers are complex organizations working in dynamic environments, the board should be comprised of members with a broad range of skills and expertise.
Klamath Health Partnership Inc is looking for interested and involved people to join us in our mission to serve the people of Klamath County and surrounding area.
Thank you for entrusting your healthcare to the medical and dental professionals of Klamath Health Partnership. Our commitment to you is that you will receive care that is timely, safe, effective, and affordable.


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The San Diego Sheriff's Homicide Unit is revisiting a murder investigation that went cold in 1990. The victim, pictured at left of this article, went by the name Laura. Laura was born Felix Patricio Abarca and at the time of death this individual was undergoing gender reassignment surgery. The cause of death revealed during autopsy was asphyxiation, according to the San Diego Medical Examiner at the time.
October 17, 1990 was the last time anyone saw Abarca. She was reported missing on November 18, 1990. It was November 23, 1990 when her body was found in Mount Laguna. She was discovered off the Sunrise Highway at mile marker 33.5.
Anyone with information about Laura (Felix) Abarca's murder is asked to contact Crime Stoppers by calling the anonymous tip line at (888) 974-2321. Your information may earn you a reward of up to $1,000.
Between the years of 1986 and 1990 there were a total of 38 unsolved murders that have become cold cases. Twenty-eight of these cases have involed one or more victims who were male. Nine of these unsolved cases have involved victims who were female.
There was one other cold case between these years and the victims were two men dressed as women. Both victims were prostitutes who were transvestites; and both victims were found with a single gun shot wound to the head on June 12, 1990.
The first victim was Rafael Sanchez. It was around 10 p.m. on June 12, 1990 when Sanchez (appearing to be a woman) was observed walking along State Route 78 by a park ranger on his way to work at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The ranger thought Sanchez was a woman walking on the highway who appeared to be dazed and confused. However, the ranger continued on to work and did not return to the check on the "woman" until four hours later. Sanchez died that day.
In the same part of Highway 78, earlier around 7 a.m., another murder victim was found. It was only about 50 yards from the place where Sanchez had died. Like Sanchez, the other victim suffered a single gunshot wound in the head. Later found to be Castro Estoban, victim number two was also a man dressed as a woman. Like Sanchez, Estoban was determined to be a transvestite prostitute.
Sanchez was known to visit bars in Escondido and he went by the name Blanca. Estoban was new to Escondido and went by the name Cinthia.


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On Saturday, Oak Ridge Today reported that the U.S. Department of Energy is advocating "the importance of prioritizing research into high-end mathematics to help keep the United States on the cutting edge of computing," and the recent DOE report on this matter was co-chaired by University of Tennessee professor and Oak Ridge National Laboratory research staff member Jack Dongarra who emphasized the need for "advances in applied mathematics" and for "computer scientists, applied mathematicians, and application scientists" to collaborate.
This report comes out during a pivotal point in the history of public education decision making as school systems around the nation and here in East Tennessee are shifting focus to more strategic technology integration within schools and establishing STEM schools in hopes of better preparing students with 21st century college and career readiness skills.
Following now three years after the 2011-2012 opening of the Knox County Schools L&N STEM Acamedy, new Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent, Dr. Bruce Borchers has been rallying support for a proposal in conjunction with Discovery Education this year for his agenda "to make Oak Ridge Schools 'the' Premier STEM School District in the country," according to his statement on the Oak Ridge Schools website. Borchers is also seeking to fund a 1:1 technology initiative in Oak RIdge Schools. The Knox County School System is currently piloting 1:1 programs in some of its schools this year.
Technology is critical to the workforce of today and tomorrow, and for most, it is used every day somehow relative to many areas of daily personal and career life. However, although most agree this is true, many educators and community members are wondering if this new wave of labeling schools as STEM is watering down arts and humanities education in American culture.


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Dean Garrison, editor of the blog, D.C. Clothesline, noticed an interesting anomaly while viewing videos of the alleged Sandy Hook shooting. While examining videos, he noticed that the 26 Christmas trees donated after the shooting were at the school on the day of the shooting.
Dean writes that on the day of the Sandy Hook massacre, parents of the school's students were sent to the volunteer fire station next to the school, presumably so that they wouldn't be in the way of the police and first responders who had converged on the school. (See photos)
As James Nye reported for the Daily Mail, on Dec. 15, 2012, while watching the media's TV coverage of the shooting, an anonymous benefactor "was moved" to donate the trees when he saw an advertisement for a Christmas tree sale at the Sandy Hook fire department.
At around 3 p.m. on Dec. 15, "firefighters began unloading the 26 trees and placed them out down the road in a line . . leading towards the tragic school."
Newtown residents came by to pay respects, including Daniel Brown who came to lay a wreath and was also touched by the Christmas gesture, "We felt the need to come here with our children and this is a wonderful way to honor the young children who died."
You may say: "Well, of course the trees were at the fire station before the anonymous man donated them because – DUH! – the station was planning to have a Christmas tree sale!" Dean believes there's just one thing wrong.
The Sandy Hook fire station had EXACTLY 26 Christmas trees the day before the anonymous donor so generously donated 26 Christmas trees to remember the 26 victims. Also, if they were selling them, why were they hidden behind the station? What a great coincidence…26 trees EXACTLY for 26 victims.
Look at the expanded closeup shot of the yellow circle — a screenshot I took from the aerial footage of the fire station on the day of the massacre, Dec. 14, 2012, showing two rows of cut Christmas trees "hidden" behind the fire station.
Is this coincidence a really big deal? No. But when we also consider other inconsistencies...like the lack of evidence such as no photos, no videos, no witnesses, no survivors, no blood and gore, no cleanup, no doctors at the scene, etc., it smells of a hoax for the purpose of pushing gun control.


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If you have been enjoying tea for a long time and are looking to add a bit of spice, or herbal mix , to your current brewing collection then I will let you in on the easiest way to do so. The easiest way to do this is to join a tea of the month club, as this will deliver brand new and unknown teas to you every month. It is like playing the lottery for however long you decide to stay with the club. Many of the larger sites offer this service and in my experience it never gets old. Sure, there will be some that aren't your cup of tea. However, more times than not you will get a tea you would've never tried before and in turn add a new favorite to your collection. If you are in Canada you can try out this tea of the month club in Canada and if you are in the United States you can try out many of the offers from Teavana or other retailers.
Easiest way to try new tea?
Use your key for the next article


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Tollywood's leading heroine Nayantara will romance superstar Chiranjeevi in his 150th film which is a Telugu remake of the superhit film, AR Murugadoss's Tamil film 'Kaththi'. However, Tollywood director VV Vinayak will be directing the Telugu version. According to the latest report,
Ada Boss Boss song - Boss Engira Bhaskaran
With wedding rumor went viral on net, director Vignesh Shivan in a text message to Times of India dismissed getting married to south sensation Nayantara. "Marriage rumours are insane and not true. Such false rumours sabotage the work flow and disturbs personally too", said Vignesh Shivan.
Prabhu Deva and Nayantara who is dating for the last four months and were going steady finally called it a quit due to some differences. To settle with Nayantara, Prabhu Deva divorced his first wife Latha from which he had two sons and even paid her a good sum of alimony. After so much of drama,
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- 'Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma' unit member dies on the set


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Why do we have to get married? What's the actual point? Is it because we don't want to die alone or is it because we have been conditioned to believe those are the steps to happiness? Like if you don't follow those steps you may magically fall off the face of the earth never to be seen again. Once a New Zealander asked if I believed in the American Dream, after giving what was assumed to be the most philosophical speech ever, he asked me and my friend,
"Did you graduate high school and go to college?" "Yes."
"Do you own a house?" "Yes."
"Then you believe in it."
Stunned look. Thinking back to that day made me wonder…have we been programmed?
There seems to be a pattern once you reach adulthood you are supposed to get a good job, find a mate, fall in love, get married and quickly have kids, in that exact order. If you don't want those things or follow that pattern people consider you some sort of freak and do their best to stay away from you like you're contagious or something. You can't go on social media, read a magazine or watch TV without seeing something about finding the perfect mate; ladies snag the perfect husband; men, six signs she's the marrying kind and my favorite, don't be in the lonely ladies club or you will die. It doesn't say that exactly but it's insinuated.
Why can't people just be? Why can't people be happy with their current situation and stop longing for things that may or may not happen? The majority of people married secretly wish they never did it. On the outside they have the perfect Facebook marriage, their husband or wife are perfect and their kids do everything right and they send each other cute little message via social media so all the world can tell they are happy and in love. When you see them on the street they thrust their ring in your face and tell you how great things are, that is until you talk to them for more than five minutes then you hear the real story. The wives are drinking enough vodka to tranquilize a horse and the husband is still dating, probably more than he did when he was single. They all end up saying the same thing, if I knew then what I know now I would have never gotten married. Huh, really?
How many times have those words been uttered? A lot I assume by the divorce rate, it's over 50 percent if you are wondering. Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally against people getting married, I know it's hard to tell by my earlier statements, I probably sound bitter. Don't be alarmed, I'm not bitter I just want people to stop romanticizing marriage and what being married means. Marrying someone will not make you whole, you have to be whole prior, it won't magically make you happy, you have to be happy prior and it won't fix your failing or flailing relationship, it will actually make those issues bigger.
Marriage is not a next step thing, it's not a well it's time I get married thing and it's not a rite of passage. Marriage should be about two people making a conscious decision to be together and work out whatever issues that will surely come up. You shouldn't have to give someone an ultimatum to marry you, like really, either you marry me or else, why would you want to strong arm someone in to marrying you? Just getting married won't make you love yourself…MARRYING SOMEONE WILL NOT MAKE YOU LOVE YOURSELF. I felt I needed to repeat that statement. You have to love yourself first. Going in to any kind of relationship broken is setting yourself up for disaster.
Love has to start from within, just think, if you don't love you how will anyone else love you? Look for ways to make yourself happy.
Want more relationship advice? To receive email updates, be sure to subscribe. You can also find me on Facebook.
As always we welcome your comments, please be respectful of yourself and the audience when leaving a comment.
Suggested Links
- First comes love then comes marriage: Is marriage the new dating?
- Infidelity in America: celebrity cheating scandals are not that uncommon
- Today is the day you resolve to be better and love more
- Learning to love yourself so you can love others
- Love is patient, love is kind: great quote but are we practicing it


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Mother of the Bride
It is a memorable experience for mothers and daughters to organise a wedding. Traditionally, the mother of the bride plays a hugely influential and prominent role.
If the bride's mother is hosting the wedding, especially from her home or at a local venue, then her level of involvement is high. Alongside the bride, she is in charge of most of the organisation.
The bride should clearly establish how much she wants her mother to do. She can take some of the pressure off the bride by attending meetings and making appointments; she may also be asked to send out the invitations and manage the responses.
The mother of the bride also plays a prominent role on the wedding day:
- She helps, if required, with the dressing of the bride.
- She usually accompanies the bridesmaids to the ceremony.
- She is the last to be seated before the bride's entrance, and is accompanied down the aisle to her seat on the arm of the chief usher.
- She sits, with the father of the bride or whoever is chosen to give the bride away, on the left of the aisle.
- She sometimes lifts the bride's veil back during the first hymn (this duty may also be carried out by the chief bridesmaid).
- She joins the recessional on the arm of the groom's father.
- At the reception, she is a co-host, responsible for welcoming guests, circulating and making introductions.
- Traditionally, the bride's parents do not leave the wedding reception until the last guests have gone, but this is unnecessary if the party ends in the small hours.
See The Bride's Wedding Morning
See Ceremony Highlights: The Recessional


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Condition : Brand New With Original Manufacturer Warranty


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Following threats made last week by festival organizers to move out of the county, the Sussex County Council voted 3-2 at its Nov. 12 meeting to waive $1,000 from a bill to the Punkin Chunkin Association for the cost of public safety services at this year's event.
The proposed cost for emergency medical services and 911 dispatch coverage with a mobile command unit was $11,960.
John Huber, president of the Punkin Chunkin Association, said last week that over the past six years, the festival has grown by "a healthy" 56 percent, while its costs from the state and from Sussex County have grown by about 600 percent. He said the group was in discussions with a Delaware town outside of Sussex County and a town on Maryland's Eastern Shore as prospective sites for future events.
At Tuesday's meeting, council members George Cole, Vance Phillips and Sam Wilson voted in favor of the waiver, with Joan Deaver and Michael Vincent dissenting.
According to Chip Guy, county spokesman, there was no council discussion on whether to apply the credit to future events.
Location, ST | website.com


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On April 15, Examiner.com was invited to participate in an intimate roundtable celebrating Disneynature's new film "Bears," which hits theaters this Friday, April 18. The event was held at Buca di Beppo after a screening of the film. The stunning documentary follows a family of grizzly bears, which live in Alaska and features some hilarious and unique narration from actor John C. Reilly. The film's directors Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey were in attendance in addition to legendary ethologist Jane Goodall. Jane is a Disneynature ambassador. Read highlights from our interview below:
Since you knew that children were going to be seeing the documentary, did that change your narrative and what you decided to show?
Alastair Fothergill: Absolutely, Keith and I have worked in TV for a long time, made series like "Planet Earth" and "Frozen Planet" and "Blue Planet" and cinema is a very different experience, in the first place, people don't go to the movies to be taught things, they go to be entertained, to escape, so the animals we choose very specifically are ones that we believe there's a really good story to tell. We want people to get emotionally engaged with the animals just as they might do with any human story. But also the big screen is great because if you're fortunate enough to go out into nature, it's a big surround sound, big experience, and working on telly, it's always been frustrating, that everything gets smaller on telly, and we can, if it works, take people to Alaska, you can be with bears on the screen, they are big on the screen, they are bigger on But with that comes a massive responsibility, and these are family movies, and you know, there are elements that are things that bears do that aren't….For instance, male bears eat bear cubs, it doesn't surprise you that that isn't in the movie, but at the same time, it would be dishonest to not tell nature as it is, red and tooth and claw. I think our movies are true to nature, and there are baddies in our movies because every movie needs a baddie, but actually, there are no baddies in nature to be honest, they're all perfectly adapted for what they're doing. The wolf is a very clever opportunist.
Keith Scholey: To answer your question, we are very very aware of that audience, and we are very very very careful to mix the sound, I mean the battle between Sky and the rival male was a very dramatic moment, when we were there, we were genuinely really frightened that Sky's cubs were going to be killed. Is it powerful in the movie? Yes! We were quite careful about how loud it is, the noise going on with those bears was pretty loud, and it was pretty loud in the movie, but yes, we are very sensitive to our audience.
How did you choose the family?
Keith Scholey: I think the family chose us. Basically, how we work, when we make a wildlife film is you go to a place, the best place you can find with the bears, and you go out and you look at a wide cast of many bears, and we were also looking for say a case of a mother with cubs, one that is actually calmest, and happiest with our presence. You quickly work that out. There are some bears that are okay with you, but they're not that open, there are other bears, mama bears, who say when they want to go fishing, they leave your cubs with you to babysit, and that is absolutely true. Because they know that some of the male bears are more weary of you, so they won't come as close to you as people, the mamas are bright, they work out, "I'll leave my cubs here, they are actually quite safe because no male bear is going to come near them." We are always looking for a bear that's really very very trusting and also very relaxed, because as wildlife filmmakers, you want to not really be there, you just want to watch what plays out, as if you aren't there.
So was your unit or camera crew cub sitters?
Alastair Fothergill: We had a number of different teams, and we were always focused on what's the best at that time, so some of them really concentrated on the males fishing for example ... and so it depends what's going on, but by and large when the mama bears and the cubs come around that always became the focus, because you never know how long you got the opportunity for.
How do you not get attached to these animals, and if you do get attached to these animals, how do you leave?
Jane Goodall: Because if you're in the wild, it would really be bad for the animal to be left, but if you become attached to the animal and you love them, you want to leave them where they're happy. For example, lots of people like baby chimps, and that means you've taken the baby from its mother, that means it will never learn how to be a proper chimpanzee, that means when it gets bigger and stronger around age 7, what do you do with it? The group doesn't want it, because it doesn't know how to behave like a chimp, so they end up at very bad zoos, so wild animals belong in the wild.
What is the number one message you want your work to convey to humans about the animals?
Jane Goodall: I think the main message to understand is that every animal is an individual, just as we are individuals, and that they matter, we should respect them, we should respect their right to be where they are, and once we get to understand them, we are more likely to want to protect them, and they need our help.
This relates to the fight scene, would you have intervened if something happened?
Alastair Fothergill: There's nothing you could do, I mean to be honest, I don't want to get between a male bear, those guys are very very very powerful, but our first rule as wildlife filmmakers is to never intervene. You only leave footsteps, and partly for our own selfish needs because we want to film natural behavior, and if you end up interfering with that natural behavior, you're not going to be able to get what you want. We always say "animals first," and that effects our whole modus operandi, the whole way that we work.
As a follow up, instead of violence, how about something like starvation, in the chimpanzee movie, Oscar was on the verge of starvation.
Alastair Fothergill: I've been in many situations where I have seen very very hungry animals, and it's impossible, because even if in that one instance, we might be able to provide Oscar with some food, I'm not going to be there in a month's time, and any situation where people have tried to feed animals have always ended in a disaster. A) Because they can't keep it up and B) because the animals become too used it. In fact, one of the key things working with bears, because bears are omnivores like us, they eat lots of our food, is we never ever allow any of our food to get anywhere near them. Because, as you know, in the southern states, you've got an issue with black bears, if you go to Yosemite, the one thing you have to learn is to keep your food in a tin because bears are clever animals, so the people we were working with in Katmai National Park, we were unbelievably careful with the food in the camp and making sure the bears never thought of human things as a source of their food.
Jane Goodall: Let me add on to that, it's a bit different if you're doing research, and you have a permanent research station. So with the highly endangered chimps, gorillas and banobos, if it's a sick one, we try to help them ... if you were studying Pygmy, people, and one was sick and you didn't help them, you would be a pretty nasty person, that's how I feel about chimps, but it's different, coming and going out.
Whose idea was it for John C. Reilly to narrate in a witty way and to voice what the bears were thinking?
Alastair Fothergill: As Brits, Keith and I, for us that was almost the hardest thing ... Disney was great with that, they said to us "You guys know how to make wildlife films, go out and do it." But in the end, they got the writers from "Wreck-it Ralph," they got these amazing people that work in animation, it was quite funny working for them, because they can make their stars do whatever they want, and they kept saying "Can the bears do this?" so we said, "No they can't do this." But they were very helpful for us in that narration and the humor is … we're two great nations separated by a common language, and we needed help with that.
Keith Scholey: I think what we always wanted to do was make sure whatever was said was always respectful for the animals, truthful to the animals and there is a line that if you take it too far, you can I think fall over that edge. You can laugh with animals, you must never laugh at them and that's a very fine line, and I think respect, once you kill the respect for an animal, you've lost everything.
So in the narration did you actually have John C. Reilly watch the film first and then do it?
Alastair Fothergill: We spent a long time writing the narration with help from the guys from Disney, John's got a limited amount of time, but he gave us a lot of time, and what was really interesting ... he started looking at these bears, and he said what he thought they were thinking, and a lot of the best lines like, "I'm taking my clam for a walk" I don't think that was in the original narration and we went back, we refined it. Another was "He looks like my father watching the telly," that was entirely his line, and he ad-libbed it and he's great at that. He's a bear and he's a bear in human skin.
You are a DisneyNature ambassador, what does that mean, and what will your contribution bring?
Jane Goodall: It started with the "Chimpanzee" movie, and obviously I was a pretty good choice to promote a film on chimpanzees, and we have this network of Roots and Shoots youth around the country, and so it seemed a very good fit that we could inform them and the box office for the first week actually went out to the chimps, a percentage of it. It was so successful with all our networking and whatever Disney was doing as well as everybody else, so they called up and said "It was absolutely fantastic, we've never had box office like this before," and I said, "do you think we could have two weeks for the chimps?" And we did. Anyway this time it's going to be for National Parks Foundation to help maintain the parks, which is really important. So I think the idea of being an ambassador was just formalizing well, I loved these wildlife movies, I feel it's terribly important for young people to get that emotional connection with them, so why not do "Bears"? So I'm doing it.
A portion of ticket sales from April 18-24 will go to the National Park Foundation.


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For the remainder of the Reaper Bones reviews, Talien AKA Tal (the satyr paladin) and Maleficent AKA Mal (the half-fey/half-fiend sorceress) will review familiars as part of a new series, "That Familiar Show," sort of a fantasy dog show. In this installment, they review the ferret.
Mal: In today's "That Familiar Show" we're talking ferrets, the domesticated form of the European Polecat, a mammal belonging to the weasel genus of the family Mustelidae. They also--
Tal: Ferrets! I love 'em!
Mal: You really shouldn't. They're smelly and ferocious. As with skunks, ferrets can release their anal gland secretions when startled or scared.
Tal: Pfft! "Anal gland secretions"? Please! Ferret smells aren't as bad as skunks.
Mal: That is...that is quite the compliment, huh? "You're a filthy, biting creature but hey, could be worse, you don't smell as bad as a skunk."
Tal: You have a ferret bias! Ferrets (which uses the same stats as weasels in D&D) provide a +2 bonus to Reflex saves to their master. Haven't you seen "Beastmaster?" Kodo and Podo? They're so darn cute!
Mal: On screen. Did you forget that one time when my roommate's ferret nearly bit through your thumbnail?
Tal: "It was just a flesh wound!"
Mal: Quoting Monty Python isn't getting you out of this one. But your reference to ferrets as thieves is apt. Did you know the name "ferret" is derived from the Latin furittus, meaning "little thief", a likely reference to the common ferret penchant for secreting away small items?
Tal: I did not know that!
Mal: I've got to say though, a familiar at this scale looks...he looks small.
Tal: Like an adorable little thief?
Mal: Like a tilde.
Tal: I think I'll buy two!
You can purchase this miniature at Amazon.
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Sara was featured in an online article through the Portland Press Herald, which was also shown on WCSH6. Click here to watch the video on how she communicates with animals.
On July 8th, 2014 Sara was a guest host on WHOM 94.9 FM in Portland, ME. She did live readings and responded to some through facebook while on air. You can listen to some of them by clicking here.
Sara was at Planet dog on Thursday, January 23, 2014 to raise money for the Planet Dog Foundation. Check out there blog and coverage of the event by clicking here.
Sara writes a monthly column for Downeast Dog News. Click here to view the paper and look for the Furry Words column, which is typically on page 4.
Check out Sara and her good friend Kathy Cossette during an interview on Outside TV to promote the Settlers Green Dog Days event. They are joined by Miss Moxie, a wonderful black lab service dog. Click here to watch.
My Fox Maine's Good Morning Maine asked Sara's thoughts on a new iphone app called Sigmund that is designed to allow you to program your dreams. Watch the interview by clicking here.
Click here to watch Sara being interviewed January 13th, 2012 on Good Day Maine. She was asked by the hosts if she had any insights for them and surprised them with what she shared!


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Head over to the Stash Blog where I'll share some tips with you for keeping organised when tackling EPP projects. There's also the chance to win a copy of my book!
In a Pickle with your Hexies?
By tacha|October 13th, 2012|Uncategorized|1 Comment
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firstname.lastname@example.com October 31, 2012 at 8:35 pm - Reply
Tacha, I like the star that's pieced around an octagon. Was this patterned in FQ or is there a source you could share so that I can purchase the pattern? Thanks~
DH Stitches


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I am trying to create a calendar trough SharePoint to schedule and track appointments for my staff. I have tried 2 ways now. One - by creating a calendar. Two - by creating a custom list and then a "Calendar View" of the list. So far, the custom list has worked out better for me, as I can manage the content type/each column easier.
My main issue now is how to prevent duplicate/overlapping appointments? My other question is whether there is a way to have the employee receive a confirmation email after scheduling the appointment, or even a reminder email the day of.


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Japan: Reflections on Ozawa from two former aides
Authors: Takashi Oka and Llewelyn Hughes
There are two narratives about Ichiro Ozawa, the Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). One is that he is a wizard at elections. This reputation was enhanced by his masterminding of the DPJ's 2009 electoral strategy that helped bring about the first real change of government through the ballot box in sixty years.
The second is that, rather than being a politician of firm convictions, Ozawa is a machine politician animated by the desire to secure and retain power for its own sake. Investigations into alleged corruption fuel this narrative.
It is uncontroversial to note that politicians seek power; opposition parties have fewer tools to change policy. Beyond that, this second narrative is fundamentally wrong: Ozawa's political career since the early 1990s has been driven by a political project, a project that cannot be reduced to a simple desire to get him and his party elected. Instead, it is about reshaping Japan's institutions of governance.
What is our basis for making this claim? Collectively, we worked for Mr Ozawa for a total of seven years, in periods of both opposition and government, from 1994, just after the fall of the anti-LDP coalition government, to 2000, when he led the Liberal Party out of its coalition with the LDP. We sat in on scores of meetings, both public and private, with domestic and foreign audiences, both inside and outside Japan.
A number of these meetings undoubtedly had a direct effect on his, and his party's, electoral chances. But for many this was unlikely. Further, regardless of the setting and political circumstances, what was common across these meetings was the political message. Instead of assuming that his words and actions are part of a plot for securing and retaining power, it's better to assume that Ozawa means what he says. Yes, winning elections is undoubtedly important for him, but it remains a means to an end.
What Does Ozawa Want?
If we are right about Ozawa, then there are two questions to be answered. First, what does this political project consist of? And second, why does such misunderstanding persist about Ozawa's nature? In his biography of Shigeru Yoshida, John Dower notes that Yoshida focused on 'large matters: the desirable structure of the state, and the ideal role of the state in international affairs.' This could have been written in a biography of Ozawa, and captures the essence of his thinking.
In his writings and conversations Ozawa has consistently focused on the need for individuals, and Japan as a nation, to shoulder greater responsibilities. This stems from his belief that Japan's institutions of governance were well suited to the Cold War, but must now be fundamentally transformed if Japan is to prosper.
This may sound grandiloquent. But the institutional changes Ozawa has helped bring about, and others that the DPJ has proposed with his support, have important implications for the way interests are aggregated in Japan, and therefore for policy outcomes. He has especially supported two sets of institutional changes: electoral reform, and increasing the ability of elected officials to make decisions relative to Japan's ministries and agencies.
Electoral reform has been promoted at different times for decades. But Ozawa was pivotal in creating the first non-LDP government for 38 years, and helping turning proposals into law. In doing so he succeeded where others failed, and it is now standard to attribute important reforms in Japan's political economy to this change, from the financial sector to welfare and security policy, and of course to the change in government itself.
On the second, Ozawa is not the only proponent of increasing the power of politicians relative to bureaucratic officials. Former Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryutaro, for example, played a crucial role. But Ozawa has been advocating such changes longer than any other senior politician. He also views this project as unfinished, and it is now the focus of his energy.
Institutional changes he has helped put in place include the removal of bureaucrats from Diet deliberations and the introduction of state secretaries within the ministries. Both were implemented while Ozawa's Liberals were in coalition with the LDP (1999-2000), and despite opposition from that party.
Extensions of these reforms are now supported by the DPJ leadership, and are included in its electoral manifesto. Increasing the number of political appointees within the ministries, for example, should lead to greater political participation in the deliberative councils, or shingikai, that are the engine rooms of Japan's brand of corporatist decision-making. Those who have sat through many of these councils know they can be effective, but can also limit the pace and depth of policy change. Greater political participation should change this inherent incrementalism. Ozawa's belief in the need for reorganising Japan's postwar institutions extends to foreign policy. This does not mean he wavers on the importance of the US-Japan alliance. On the contrary, like Yoshida he views the alliance as indispensable to Japanese and regional security.
But, while believing that Japan's strategic interests lie with the United States, Ozawa also does not think this precludes Japan from acting in its own interests in issues unrelated to the defence of Japan, even when they diverge from Washington's position. Also, like Yoshida, Mr Ozawa does not see China as an ally, but neither does he understand it as Japan's adversary.
How does he see his own role in this process? In Blueprint for a New Japan Ozawa notes his political heroes as Toshimichi Okubo, Hirobumi Ito, Takashi Hara, and Yoshida. This suggests two things about how Ozawa understands politics and his role in it. First, he believes in the ability of leaders to shape the political environment; for Ozawa, individuals can trump structure in determining outcomes. Second, he sees the role of leadership as crucial in crises. Furthermore, as Ozawa has been saying consistently for the past two decades, and as we heard him repeat many times, he believes Japan's ongoing problems stem from a crisis of governance. He also thinks he has an important role in driving reform.
There are differences between Yoshida and Ozawa, of course. Yoshida was a diplomat for the majority of his career. Ozawa, on the other hand, entered parliament at the age of 27 by taking over his father's seat. As Prime Minister, Yoshida focused on consolidating conservative rule. Ozawa, meanwhile, has never been Prime Minister, and has stated that his goal is to transform the system put in place by Yoshida. On a personal level, Yoshida is reported to have been voluble, while Ozawa can be taciturn. But an essential similarity between the two lies in their focus on Japan's position within history, and the importance they ascribe to leadership in ensuring their country is able to meet the challenges they see their country facing.
Why the Misunderstanding?
If we are right about Ozawa, why does the alternative narrative—that Ozawa seeks power for its own sake—remain credible? There are four big reasons.
First, Ozawa has a poor relationship with the Japanese print media. He rarely conducts doorstops, or burasagari, which are a common element of the press interaction with politicians. In fact we remember this happening only once in our time at Liberal Party headquarters, the day after the news broke that then Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi had suffered a stroke. He also rarely conducts one-on-one interviews with the broadsheets. Opportunities for the press to question Ozawa are therefore limited to weekly press conferences. Further, there's little doubt that Ozawa can come across as imperious at these.
Compounding this problem, as Katsuyuki Yakushiji of the Asahi Shimbun has noted, is the fact that Ozawa tends to disappear from public view at crucial political moments. We've never asked him why he does this, but it does mean that he is least available at the time when information is most sought by the press and public. This absence of information, and his lack of clarity in putting his views at such moments, inevitably raises questions about whether he is engaged in backroom dealing.
Second, as his former secretary and lawmaker Ishikawa Tomohiro, indicted on February 4, is quoted as saying, in Ozawa's office the word of the boss is law. In fact, we think this is perhaps Ozawa's central conundrum: while he is defined by his commitment to improving the quality of decision-making in Japan's democracy, his organisational instincts and management of information reflect his political apprenticeship within the faction of former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka. This has worked to his detriment: Ozawa is often accused of strong-arming others, as was the case with Yoshida and Tanaka. He seldom explains his decisions, even to close friends. It can also lead to overreaching.
A prime example is Ozawa's role in the Socialists' decision to leave the government and enter into coalition with the LDP. He has since stated that allowing this to happen was the biggest mistake of his political career; if this had not occurred he thinks the LDP would have split within months. The tendency to over-reach doesn't help build trust; the list of politicians who were once friends of Ozawa but are no longer so is a growing one, as we saw first-hand during our time at the New Frontier Party (NFP, or Shinshinto) and Liberal Party.
Third, Ozawa has spent periods of his post-LDP career involved in political manoeuvring, from working to establish the anti-LDP coalition government of Morihiro Hosokawa in 1993, to reaching agreement to enter into coalition with the LDP in 1998, to negotiating in 2007 with then-Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda over a possible coalition between the DPJ and the LDP. But our experience is that this is not indicative of a desire to seek power for its own sake, as his critics would have it. In fact almost the entire time he has been a politician of note Ozawa has been in opposition. Is it really surprising, then, that he has engaged in such manoeuvres in order to bring about a change of government? And, despite failures, has succeeded in this endeavour twice.
Further, the history is often misrepresented. To take one example, the most important reason for the breakup of the NFP was not Ozawa's destructive tendencies. Rather, it was hedging by the Komeito. There is not space here to elaborate on all the important events, but it is worth mentioning a few. When the Komeito dissolved itself to join the NFP in 1994, it hedged its bets by keeping Upper House members and members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly out of the party. Further, in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election in June 1997 the Komeito did not follow through in its promise to support NFP candidates. As a result, all the Komeito candidates were elected with NFP support, while none of the NFP candidates were successful. Quite reasonably, given this, during the summer and autumn of 1997 Ozawa attempted to properly integrate the Komeito with the NFP. But in December 1997, after Ozawa was reelected President of the NFP, the Komeito decided to end its alliance with the NFP and withdraw its members from that party. The party then collapsed.
This hardly matches the narrative of Ozawa the destroyer. In truth, experiences like these suggest to us, perhaps rather mundanely for critics seeking some secret motive to Ozawa's actions, that he is simply human: he formulates strategies designed to achieve his goals. But he also makes mistakes and is also taken in by others at times.
Finally, the most serious charge levelled at Ozawa is that of corruption. We have never been privy to how Mr Ozawa manages his finances, and have no information on the veracity of claims made against him. Further, we believe politicians should be transparent in how they manage political funds. But we think such accusations should be tempered by the fact that Ozawa has never been indicted, let alone found guilty, of corruption. Further, the public prosecutor's office just completed an extraordinarily thorough investigation into his personal finances, including seven hours of questioning, and did not identify grounds for charging him with criminal behaviour.
Proponents of the Ozawa-as-corrupt narrative also point to his tutelage under Kakuei Tanaka and Shin Kanemaru. We obviously did not work for him during this time. But no evidence from this period establishes Ozawa's criminality. The only case in which Ozawa has been found to have done wrong is the Recruit Cosmos Scandal of 1989, more than 20 years ago, or over half of Ozawa's political life. But if we are to define Ozawa's career by this episode, then surely it is incumbent upon us to tar Kiichi Miyazawa, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Keizo Obuchi, Masajuro Shiokawa, Yoshiro Mori, Kochi Kato, and others with the same brush. That this is not done suggests a double-standard at work. Further, if Ozawa's goal were personal enrichment, it's unlikely that he would champion campaign finance reform, as he has done for twenty years. Indeed, limiting corporate donations makes little sense if we try to understand Ozawa through the narrative created by his critics.
What Does This Mean for Now?
The investigation into Ozawa's finances has undoubtedly damaged the DPJ's popularity. But setting this aside, if we are right about Ozawa's real motives, then what does this mean for policy?
It's first worth noting that Ozawa does not run the DPJ; policies that come out of the party are not a perfect reflection of his will. In the short term, we think it's likely that Ozawa will focus on the Upper House election. There is no contradiction between this and the argument we've made above. One constraint on the DPJ as it seeks to implement its electoral manifesto is its coalition with two minor parties: the Social Democrats, who are leftist, and the Japan New Party, which is conservative. If the DPJ wins an absolute majority in the House of Councillors in July, it will have more room to manoeuvre, even if it remains in coalition with those two smaller parties.
Also, Ozawa remains Secretary-General of the DPJ. This doesn't mean he is absent from policy debates; he cannot fight an election without being involved in determining the policies upon which to run. And he can also over-reach in ways that frustrate his colleagues, as we noted above. But it does mean he is likely to focus with greater intensity the responsibilities of his formal role. This reflects his view that the cabinet should be the central organ of decision-making, as well as his long-standing criticism of the separation of party and government during the LDP's period in power.
In the medium-term, our experience from the Liberal Party coalition with the LDP and Komeito suggests that our policy expectations for the DPJ should be set by what is in the electoral manifesto. Mr Ozawa places great weight on these documents as compacts with the voting public. Long negotiations in 1998-1999 over forming a coalition with the Obuchi government, for example, focused on reaching a detailed policy agreement, and Ozawa, Hirohisa Fujii, Yoshio Suzuki and others, spent their eighteen months in coalition fighting for implementation of the policies they and the LDP had agreed upon.
Certainly it is reasonable to point out that Ozawa's views on the role of government have changed over time, increasingly emphasising the need to embed liberalisation in a set of social welfare institutions. This is undoubtedly good electoral politics. But it does not amount to evidence that he doesn't believe what he says. If we look at the arc of politics in the United Kingdom, or indeed in the United States, Ozawa has, in fact, changed with the times. Also, we think a big reason Ozawa is interested in deregulation is that it implies reducing the power of the ministries and agencies to determine market outcomes. This means he will continue to champion this goal.
It's also worth noting that Ozawa is willing to leave the detailed design of policy to others. For much of the 1990s, for example, he used former Bank of Japan official Yoshio Suzuki to help formulate economic policy. And when formulating security policy, he consulted with Hideaki Tamura, a retired Air Force general, and others. If there were a wide divergence between the DPJ's legislative program and Ozawa's views, this dynamic might have been different, but we don't think this is the case. He is meticulous when he needs to be so, but he is also willing to leave considerable discretionary powers to trusted colleagues.
Finally, there is the question of what all this means given the recent investigation conducted by the prosecutor's office. We have no special information about the particulars of the case. But if our assessment is right, then we think it's unlikely that Ozawa will resign unless he determines that the political costs threaten the ability of the party to achieve its objectives. Our experience is that Ozawa is certainly a political animal, but it is politics with a purpose. He engages in politics to bring about a set of changes that he believes will increase liberty and make Japan more active internationally. Portrayals of Ozawa that forget this miss what is most essential about him.
This article is the first of a two part feature on Ichiro Ozawa, and first appeared here in the February issue of The Oriental Economist Report.
Takashi Oka worked for Ichiro Ozawa from 1994-1998, after a forty-year career in journalism with the Christian Science Monitor and other publications. Llewelyn Hughes worked for Ozawa from 1997-2000, and is currently Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University.
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By Becky Garrison
Despite recent efforts to mainstream its image, Exodus International, a network of ministries formed over 30 years ago to "mobilizing the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality," appears to be on the decline. As reported by Truth Wins Out, a non-profit organization that fights anti-gay religious extremism, attendance at Exodus International's latest Love Won Out conference, drew at most 400 people, a far cry from the 1,000 in attendance during its heyday when Focus on the Family organized these quarterly ex-gay symposiums. This drop in attendance follows a meeting convened by Exodus International President Alan Chambers on November 16, 2011 to explore how to keep the organization from social and economic oblivion.
In a recent interview with the Gay Christian Network, Chambers distanced Exodus from its previously held assertion that gays and lesbians can change their sexual orientation.
The majority of people that I have met, and I would say the majority meaning 99.9% of them, have not experienced a change in their orientation or have gotten to a place where they could say that they could never be tempted or are not tempted in some way or experience some level of same-sex attraction.
As Truth Wins Out notes,
Perhaps such reticence comes from the high profile defections of once prominent ex-gay leaders. For instance, John Paulk, the organization's former chairman, was photographed in a gay bar in 2000, only three years after he appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine. Two of Exodus' married founders, Gary Cooper and Michael Bussee, fell in love with each other in 1978, left the organization and held a commitment ceremony.
However, the material offered for sale at this year's Love Won Out conference, such as the Hope for Wholeness DVD and workbook and Out of Egypt: One Woman's Journey Out of Lesbianism, continue to advance the notion that "homosexuals" can change their sexual orientation.
Prior to this event, Truth Wins Out and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) held a press conference and a seminar to expose the dangers of ex-gay therapy, a practice that is also known as sexual reorientation, conversion or reparative therapy. As stated in a press release issued by the SPLC, "Despite its claims of literally 'converting' people from gay to straight, the practice has been discredited or highly criticized by all major American medical, psychiatric, psychological and professional counseling organizations."
Other evangelical organizations and individuals such as megachurch Willow Creek and Red Letter Christians founder Tony Campolo now distance themselves from ex-gay therapies. While they may not advocate changing "homosexuals," they remain committed to upholding "traditional marriage," which they define to be between a man and a woman.