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The untold story of America's debt
A Deloitte series on making America stronger
Debating US debt has become a national pastime. Finger-pointing has made it impossible to agree and act upon promising solutions. This issue brief explores areas that should direct the debate.
Debating the U.S. debt has practically become a national pastime. Instead of a productive conversation that results in a clear path forward, however, the facts have grown murkier as fingers are pointed as to which politicians and which party have racked up more debt and who is most responsible for the current impasse. Debt ceiling deals collapse into short-term fixes that defer the difficult decisions down the road. Skeptical citizens, increasingly distrustful of Washington, DC, are left to speculate about whether the debt is even a legitimate concern as they parse fact from fiction, hyperbole from reality. The sheer divisiveness of the issue seems to capture the most headlines, earning the current Congress a reputation for being the most partisan in decades.
This conversation has not only made it virtually impossible to agree and act upon promising solutions, but the complexity of the underlying issue has been simplified to the extent that potentially game-changing details are often overlooked. In fact, many engaged citizens remain unaware of the full trove of viable solutions that have already emerged—not to mention the full array of fiscal risks the country faces.
In some policy areas such as Social Security, taxation, and discretionary spending, promising and practical solutions are known and are simply impeded by a lack of political will or ignored altogether. In other policy areas, plans of action are less developed but demand attention if there is to be any meaningful dent in the fast-accruing U.S. debt.
This issue brief explores the untold story of the national debt: areas of concern that should be impacting the overall debate, but today, outside of a handful of budget experts, are largely not part of the current discussion. These concerns fall into five major categories:
- The debt crisis is likely bigger than you think: Current baseline projections make a host of optimistic assumptions that very well may not come to pass, that the Bush tax cuts will expire and the cuts to Medicare are allowed to go through. If any of these are reversed by Congress, the debt becomes much larger. Further, current debt levels are significantly higher when the government's unfunded commitments, particularly around Medicare, are taken into account.
- The magnitude of the debt is highly sensitive to economic fluctuations: America's reliance on short-term debt makes it highly vulnerable to interest rate fluctuations. If rates return to historical levels, this would significantly increase interest payments on U.S. debt. If GDP fails to match expected growth levels it would further drive up the debt.
- The debt could adversely impact American competitiveness: The U.S. is on track to spend at least $4.2 trillion in interest payments over the next decade, a significant amount of money that will be diverted from investments that could otherwise boost America's competitiveness.
- The rising debt could impact the independence of monetary policy: As interest payments on U.S. debt consume a growing share of the national budget, the pressure will increase for Congress and the executive branch to apply political pressure on the Federal Reserve in hopes of realizing preferred fiscal policy outcomes.
- The demand for and composition of America's debt isn't just America's decision: Foreign lenders own nearly half of publicly held U.S. debt. It is assumed that such debt holders have insatiable appetites for U.S treasuries. Should lenders stop buying treasuries and invest their money elsewhere, this would force abrupt, and painful, changes in government spending.
#1: Why the debt problem is bigger than you think
Left unchecked, current Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baseline estimates show the national debt accruing at a rate of roughly $4 billion per day.1 That translates to roughly $750 per U.S. household per month, or a fifth of the average household's monthly income.2 Considering that the nation has already accrued about $140,000 in debt per taxpayer, the financial outlook is daunting at best.3
Unfortunately, the challenge the debt crisis presents is almost certainly more severe and more immediate than the CBO's forecast indicates. This is partly due to the fact that the CBO is required to make its projections under the assumption that "current law" will continue. Unfortunately, Congress often shifts course in a way that adds to the deficit.4 Also, the CBO generally makes the reasonable decision to assume that the future will be similar to the past in terms of economic growth and interest rates and that the United States will be able to eventually reduce its high levels of unemployment. When the world is not changing rapidly, this is a very reasonable approach. In the current environment, however, after a game-changing financial crisis and rapid accrual of debt, the CBO's current-law estimates (by their mandated design) likely paint a more optimistic fiscal future than we are likely to experience.5
Let's dive a little deeper into these factors. Each would make the future U.S. debt higher than currently assumed.
Congress is likely to spend more than baseline projections indicate. When forecasting deficits, the CBO operates under the assumption that current law, including current plans to decrease or increase spending and taxes, will be followed in the future. While this appears to be a conservative method, at present it involves the assumption that the Bush tax cuts will expire and the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) will remain unadjusted; the cuts to Medicare in the Affordable Care Act ("health care reform") are allowed to go through; the debt-ceiling deal on spending caps hold firm and uninterrupted through all future crises or wars for the next decade; and that the automatic cuts to Medicare Part D (which have never been allowed to go through) all occur. These are, needless to say, not necessarily guaranteed, or even likely, in today's political climate.
If any one of these assumptions fall through, as with Congress's recent extension of the Bush tax cuts, borrowing costs could increase substantially. Given the contentious current political environment and the inability of the congressional Super Committee and the President's Fiscal Commission to generate a major deal, it would seem prudent to consider the fiscal impacts of the current law assumptions not prevailing. The result: America's future debt and deficit would be significantly higher than currently projected by the CBO's current law projection.
Measuring America's debt on an accrual, rather than cash, basis grows the current shortfall from $15.7 trillion to over $50 trillion. America's debt is traditionally measured on a cash basis, which values the current debt at $15.7 trillion. However, the government regularly releases a report called the Financial Report of the United States Government, in which it gives an estimate of the U.S. budget picture on an accrual basis for individual programs.6 The inclusion of all of America's long-term unfunded liabilities into a single measure paints a far more difficult future picture for the U.S. over the longer term, in which debt totals over $50 trillion dollars (see figure 1).7 As with most cost estimates, the primary culprit in these estimates is Medicare, which further highlights the criticality of addressing this mandatory spending program.8 However, the sheer magnitude of these estimates shows that many deficit reduction initiatives simply fail to move the needle when compared with the stark shortfalls outlined by both the cash and accrual methods of accounting.
Figure 1. Another perspective: Debt on an accrual basis
#2: The size of the debt is highly sensitive to economic fluctuations
Forecasts by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) have been an essential underpinning in debt reduction planning. However, the sheer scale of the national debt makes even marginal departures from the CBO assumptions produce significantly different levels of debt, thereby altering the relative urgency of addressing the issue. Given the ubiquitous questions of "How much time do we have left to make the hard decisions?" and "How long can we afford to wait?" understanding how key assumptions impact forecasts offers valuable insight that favors more immediate action on the debt problem.
GDP growth may be significantly different than anticipated. As Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff has demonstrated, after a financial recession, growth typically is relatively anemic while unemployment remains high for up to six years after the initial downturn.9 By this measure, the United States can anticipate sluggish growth and high unemployment rates through 2015.
Furthermore, nations with high debt-to-GDP ratios tend to perform more poorly than those with lower debt ratios. Rogoff concluded that over the last two centuries, nations with government debt in excess of 90 percent of GDP grew by 2 percent less per year than those with more manageable debt levels. In the post-WWII period, the average level of growth is almost 4 percent lower.10 These lowered growth rates are thought to stem from citizens increasing savings in anticipation of future tax increases, as well as from the increased risk of sovereign debt crises, which force nations to adopt fiscal austerity measures that impede economic growth.11 Rogoff's work also demonstrates that countries that rely on financing through short-term debt and that therefore must access debt markets more frequently—such as the United States—are more likely to experience sudden sovereign debt crises. As U.S. debt levels rise, Rogoff suggests we can expect additional downward pressure on growth. Lowered economic growth in turn would lead to lower tax revenue and less available money to finance infrastructure improvements, research and development initiatives (R&D), and other critical investments.
CBO projections for the next decade, however, assume high peak GDP growth without taking into account the possibility (or likelihood) of weak economic years.12 The current baseline projections do not include a single year of negative GDP growth over the next decade but do assume peak real growth at 5.0 percent of GDP, a level not seen since the mid-1980s boom.13 The CBO's growth forecasts do not reflect current performance. Recent growth has hovered around 2 percent, with no sign yet that the economy is capable of regularly growing at the real 3.1 percent annual rate the CBO assumes.14 These factors may make it more likely that the United States will experience downside risk to its economic growth.
A deviation of 1 percent of average GDP growth over the next decade increases or decreases the U.S. deficit by roughly $3 trillion on a cash basis over 10 years.15 While this is the source of often repeated calls to focus on growth, it can also be seen a different way: the economy is a significant driver of U.S. debt. In this environment, pledges to balance the budget by a certain date or efforts to manage towards a strict debt ceiling level will prove difficult because somewhat unpredictable economic fluctuations will determine the structural landscape that budget debates are played out over.
America's reliance on short-term debt exposes it to interest-rate volatility. One-fourth of the U.S. debt held by the public is issued in bills and notes that have to be refinanced at least every two years.16 This amounts to a total of more than $2.5 trillion in payments that are regularly rolled over via short-term debt. Many of these T-Bills must be refinanced more than once per year, creating significant additional refinancing. As the United States continues to accrue debt, the amount that must be refinanced, and that is therefore affected by the market interest rate, will only grow.
For example, as the U.S. government did not have sufficient revenue to pay its maturing bonds, in 2009 reliance on short-term debt obliged the United States to refinance an amount equal to roughly five times the 2009 annual budget deficit (see figure 2).17 This sum, driven by repeated refinancing of debt with less than one year of maturity and totaling more than 60 percent of GDP, kept near-term borrowing costs low due to unusually low current interest rates but exposed the U.S. government to significant volatility risk. Had there been a sudden rise (for any reason) in the interest rate on treasuries, the nation would have been forced to refinance at significantly higher interest rates. In 2012, due to action taken by the Treasury, this pattern has eased but will still require the United States to refinance an amount double the projected deficit.18
Figure 2. In 2009, refinanced debt outpaced new issuances 5 to 1.
Since the U.S. Treasury is forced to refinance large portions of U.S. debt every year, it is likely to have to refinance at higher interest rates sooner or later. The natural rise of interest rates that occurs during a recovery will force higher rates for U.S. treasuries. These increased interest payments in turn will have to be financed through more debt, further compounding the problem.
While high levels of inflation are not expected by most economists in the short term, there is always a risk that at some point over the next decade there might be, for any number of reasons, an unexpected bout of inflation. In this scenario, the Fed should be able to freely respond by raising interest rates. On our current path, however, such an action would have an enormous fiscal impact.
For example, if the Federal Reserve was forced to unexpectedly raise interest rates by 3 percent in 2016 (as occurred in 1981, 1994, and 2004), the total impact would shortly be in excess of $200 billion in additional costs to the U.S. treasury, or more than the annual costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined at their peak in 2008 (see figure 3).19 Critically, this cost would continue into future years as interest payments are rolled over and compound negatively against the U.S. taxpayer.
Figure 3. The impact of interest rates on debt projections
Table 1. Impacts of altering CBO assumptions
An alternative debt forecast
Just how much sensitivity is there in the size of the debt problem? Consider if four CBO assumptions discussed earlier—the Bush tax cuts expiring, the AMT hitting the middle class, the spending caps holding, and cuts to Medicare Part D—failed to actually materialize. Add to that lower economic growth and higher interest rates that produce $5 trillion in additional deficits. Together, these factors would raise the nation's likely 10-year debt from the CBO's current-law baseline (see table 1) of $3 trillion, past many of the adjustments the Committee For a Responsible Budget proposes in its alternative fiscal scenario of $8 trillion in additional spending. This brings the total to about $14 trillion in additional debt over the next decade, even if the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were greatly wound down (see figure 4).20 The outlook beyond the next decade provides little reassurance, with interest payments alone on the national debt anticipated to reach almost $1 trillion annually starting in 2020, even by the CBO's own alternate fiscal scenario.21 Even if revenue is not adjusted from the current CBO baseline, our alternative projections show America would be spending roughly 20 percent of all government revenue on interest toward the national debt by the end of the decade.
Figure 4. 10-year deficits are likely to exceed current projections
#3: The debt could adversely impact American competitiveness
Current spending patterns suggest that the United States will cumulatively spend at least $4.2 trillion on interest payments within the next decade.26 This spending will almost inevitably force the adoption of higher taxes and significant program cuts. If recent political negotiations surrounding the debt ceiling are any indication of future behavior, the areas of the government most closely connected to competitiveness (non-defense discretionary spending on R&D, infrastructure, education, and training) will be the biggest targets for continuing cuts.27
While the debate surrounding which current programs to cut to pay the debt will be both important and intense, it is critical to recognize that the $4.2 trillion in interest payments are already taking a silent toll in programs left undone. In an attempt to quantify this silent cost of interest, figure 5 illustrates how, for comparison purposes, a variety of key investments made over the next 10 years would cost less than the total interest paid on the debt. Specifically, these items include modernizing every school in America;28 building 80,000 miles of highways;29 paying for all costs associated with every STEM degree in the country;30 tripling U.S. government general R&D funding;31 building six international space stations;32 offsetting 80 percent of global warming pollution in the atmosphere as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;33 and funding unmet water and wastewater infrastructure needs.34 These investments seem massive in scale but actually still total almost $1 trillion dollars less than planned expenditures on our interest payments. The trillion dollars could be used for tax cuts, paying down the Federal debt, or any number of other uses.
Figure 5 makes clear that a great variety of meaningful investments will almost certainly be left undone simply because interest payments will push them out of the budget. This is the silent cost of prior debts that, unless explicitly recognized, crucially leads policymakers to underestimate the effect that prior deficits have already had on this decade's planned expenditures.
Federal debt may raise the cost of borrowing for domestic-based American companies. When the government runs large deficits, it competes for funds that could be invested in the private sector. Higher costs for capital and limited access to investment will impact the borrowing costs of companies as well.35 As Harvard Business School professors Richard H.K. Vietor and Matthew Weinziert write, "Capital markets will visit the sins of the public sector upon the private one. If the cost of borrowing rises for the U.S. government, it will rise for private-sector borrowers as well."36
In the corporate sector, $11.5 trillion in loans will mature in the next five years.37 In the face of increased competition from sovereign debtors and diminished net demand from households, firms will compete with governments for funding from a limited pool of investors that lend to the world. As in governments, higher interest costs paid by firms will necessarily detract from other core operations of their businesses. Additionally, firms that wish to take out loans to finance growth will find that higher risk premiums on all debt make it harder to justify taking these loans. While domestic U.S. companies are more likely to be affected by these changes than those with global reach, the impact to the overall U.S. economy may likely still be non-trivial. These actions lower the prospect for future growth, which is both a major policy aim and a precondition of a fiscally sustainable future for the U.S. government.
Figure 5. The silent toll of interest on U.S. debt: Investments left undone
#4: The debt crisis could eventually impact the independence of monetary policy
The Federal Reserve's newfound impact on the budget might encourage Congress to apply additional political pressure on monetary policy, compromising the Federal Reserve's ability to make sound monetary policy decisions outside the reach of the legislative branch. Similarly, Presidential appointments to the Federal Reserve might be influenced by the desire to appoint individuals who generally favor lower interest rates and therefore lower interest payments for the U.S. government.
"The conventional wisdom that nearly infinite demand exists for U.S. Treasury debt is flawed and especially dangerous at a time of record U.S. sovereign debt issuance." —Lawrence Goodwin, Center for Financial Stability
Interest payments taking center stage in budget debates as described in the previous section is not just a theory anymore. It is already playing out in the debt crisis in Europe. In 2011, Italy would have run a surplus had it not been forced to pay 5 percent of its GDP in interest payments on its national debt.38 Moreover, for every percent increase in the interest rate, 1.2 percent more of Italy's GDP is diverted to paying interest on the national debt. While the United States currently "only" pays 1.2 percent of GDP in interest, as we have shown previously, that number is likely to rise and become more unstable as time progresses unless meaningful action is quickly taken.
Going forward, the United States government must explicitly decide to what extent it is willing to accept higher interest rates in the short term in exchange for more stable finances in the long term via the use of longer-term debt. Choosing longer-term debt will be politically difficult because it will necessarily raise borrowing costs in the short run and is at odds with recent efforts.39 However, by issuing more long-term debt, the United States reduces the amount of debt it must refinance every year. As such, when interest rates eventually rise, long-term debt shields the U.S. government from being forced to take a higher interest rate. With this in mind, it is important to realize that structuring America's debt has become a meaningful budgetary decision with fiscal and monetary implications that can be as serious as any other spending decision made by the government. Unfortunately, interest payments do not garner the attention they deserve because they are harder to explain and difficult to control.
#5: The demand for and composition of America's debt isn't just America's decision
Heavy reliance on foreign lenders exposes U.S. Treasury interest rates to fluctuations based on foreign appetites for treasuries. Prior to the explosion of U.S. debt in the 2000s, the vast majority of U.S. debt was held by Americans.40 However, the rapidly expanding national deficit has quickly outstripped the United States' weak savings rate. The result: 47 percent of U.S. treasuries not held in U.S. intra-governmental holding are now held by foreign investors.41
However, foreign investors may eventually feel that the absolute amount of treasuries they hold is simply too high and may stop purchasing U.S. treasuries at the high levels they do today because of the need to diversify their investments. With U.S. interest payments becoming as high as earlier documented, diversification away from a single income stream of that size might not be an unreasonable course of action. The more the U.S. debt increases and the less risk free it appears, the more likely this is to occur. The result would be a smaller pool of potential buyers for treasuries, which over time would likely drive up interest rates.
Alternatively, foreign investors might choose to concentrate their buying on short-term debt to shield them from perceived long-term credit risk. This shift in demand for treasuries would impact America's ability to easily and swiftly change the composition of its debt. This would pressure the U.S. Treasury to issue additional short-term debt, which (as noted previously) puts an undue fiscal burden on monetary policy and makes interest payments a more unpredictable portion of the budget.
In addition, there is no absolute guarantee that foreign savings rates will be stable or continue to increase at the same rate as net worldwide issuance of debt. When the United States financed the bulk of its debt domestically, foreign savings rates were of relatively little concern. However, in the future, the United States will increasingly be exposed to interest-rate fluctuations based on the international as well as domestic demand for debt. Either of these scenarios coming to fruition would increase interest rates and therefore the total interest paid by the United States, further crowding out other important domestic investments.
The factors listed in this paper will produce pressure on policy makers until deficits and the overall size of the debt reach a more manageable level. Solutions that focus solely on cutting spending, raising taxes, or improving GDP growth are unlikely to slow the rising U.S. debt. Moreover, the laudable but inadequate short-term goal of balancing the budget does not address the more fundamental problem of stabilizing the debt so it is no longer growing faster than the economy in the long run—and then beginning to pay it down.
Instead, all deficit reduction plans should be judged at least in part by how well they achieve the goal of significantly slowing the growth of and eventually paying down the U.S. debt. This would move the conversation toward a more difficult but necessary discussion that de-emphasizes rosy hopes for a decade of uninterrupted strong growth.
America needs a bigger conversation that speaks directly to the American people about the extent what factors drive our fiscal future. Beyond that, issues in the past which were of smaller concern, such as debt management and the independence of monetary policy, will take on a new significance. The sooner the debate widens to include the real risks posed by the debt, the sooner we can begin to solve these difficult problems.
EndnotesView all endnotes
- Laura Figueroa, "Sen. Marco Rubio Says Leaders Borrowing $4 Billion a Day to Grow Government," Politifact, April 15, 2011, http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2011/apr/15/marco-rubio/sen-marco-rubio-says-leaders-borrowing-4-billion/.
- State & County Quick Facts, U.S Census Bureau, Data as of May 11, 2012, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
- U.S. Debt Clock, http://www.usdebtclock.org/. Calculated May 11, 2011, when U.S debt was estimated at $15,713,300,000 and debt per taxpayer was $138,361
- Jeff Sessions, "CBO's Outlook Drastically Understates Nation's Debt Path," Senate Budget Committee, March 1, 2012, http://budget.senate.gov/republican/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=6046f812-8717-47ca-b3d7-44110818f041&SK=47A17851B5A36E31D01F9F67243FFA8C
- Ibid.
- "Citizen's Guide to the 2011 Financial Report of the United States," Department of Treasury, 2011 http://www.fms.treas.gov/fr/11frusg/11frusg.pdf
- Timothy Taylor, "Federal Debt on an Accrual Basis," The Conversable Economist, April 10, 2012, http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2012/04/federal-debt-on-accrual-basis.html
- Ibid.
- Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart, "The Aftermath of Financial Crises", National Bureau of Economic Research, January 3, 2009, http://papers.nber.org/papers/w14656
- Ibid.
- The United States is featured in Rogoff's sample. The country's growth has never been strong during periods of very high debt. The 1950's is one exception, but while debt was high, budget surpluses were also very high.
- "The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2011 to 2021," Congressional Budget Office, January 2011, http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/120xx/doc12039/SummaryforWeb.pdf
- There have been recent years with real growth above 4 percent, but the absolute level of 5.0 percent would be a recent record; "United States GDP Annual Growth Rate," Trading Economics, http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth-annual.
- Ibid.
- "The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022," Congressional Budget Office, January 2012, http://cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/01-31-2012_Outlook.pdf
- Treasury Direct, http://treasurydirect.gov/tdhome.htm
- Data taken from SIFMA statistics, http://www.sifma.org/research/statistics.aspx.
- Keith Jenkins and Anchalee Worrachate, "World's Biggest Economies Face $7.6 Trillion Bond Tab as Rally Seen Fading," Bloomberg, January 3, 2012, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-03/world-s-biggest-economies-face-7-6-trillion-bond-tab-as-rally-seen-fading.html
- Calculations were based upon data provided by the U.S. Treasury at http://www.treasurydirect.gov/RT/RTGateway?page=institAnnceRes. Assumptions are based on immediate bout of unexpected inflation followed by Federal Reserve action beginning quickly thereafter. Iraq War costs from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0933935.html
- "Updated Budget Projections: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022," Congressional Budget Office, March 13, 2012, http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43119
- "Restoring America's Future," Bipartisan Policy Center Debt Reduction Task Force, November 2010, p. 11. http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/sites/default/files/BPC%20FINAL%20REPORT%20FOR%20PRINTER%2002%2028%2011.pdf.
- "Updated Budget Projections: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022," Congressional Budget Office, March 13, 2012, http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43119
- Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart, "Growth in a Time of Debt," American Economic Review (December 31, 2009), http://www.nber.org/papers/w15639/.
- "Selected Interest Rates (Daily) – H.15, Historical Data," 30-year average from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/H15/data.htm.
- "Analysis of CBO's Budget and Economic Projections and CRFB's Realistic Baseline," The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, January 31, 2012, http://crfb.org/document/analysis-cbos-budget-and-economic-projections-and-crfbs-realistic-baseline
- "Updated Budget Projections," CBO, March 2012, p.2, http://cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/March2012Baseline.pdf.
- While future actions to tame the deficit may involve entitlement reforms, it's quite likely that rising deficits will continue to harm the budgets most directly tied to improving America's competitiveness.
- Rebuild America's Schools, http://www.rebuildamericasschools.org/Need.html
- Florida Department of Transportation, ftp://ftp.dot.state.fl.us/LTS/CO/Estimates/CPM/summary.pdf;
- National Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76
- Martin Grueber, "2012 Global R&D Funding Forecast: Stable Growth of U.S. R&D," RDMag, December 16, 2011, http://www.rdmag.com/Featured-Articles/2011/12/2012-Global-RD-Funding-Forecast-Stable-Growth-Of-US-RD/
- "NASA Considers New Uses for $100 Billion Space Station," Space.com, July 27, 2011, http://www.space.com/12445-nasa-international-space-station-partner-future-options.html
- "The New Energy Economy: Putting America on the path to solving global warming," NRDC, May 2008, http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/energy/economy.pdf
- Senator James Inhofe, speech transcript from Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Committee Business Meeting, Thursday, May 14, 2009, http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=3fc7b6d3-802a-23ad-453c-f4ea21fb86b3&Region_id=&Issue_id=
- To be sure, for American companies with global reach this might not always be the case.
- Richard H.K. Vietor and Matthew Weinziert, "Macroeconomic policy and U.S. Competitiveness," Harvard Business Review, March 2012, p.115.
- Deloitte Global CFO Program Leadership Council Meeting, March 2011 http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/press/Press-Releases/09c6a0824328e210VgnVCM3000001c56f00aRCRD.htm
- Megan McArdle,"Europe's Real Crisis," The Atlantic, April 2012, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/04/europe-8217-s-real-crisis/8915/
- Annalyn Censky, "Federal Reserve launches Operation Twist," CNN, September 22, 2011, http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/21/news/economy/federal_reserve_operation_twist/index.htm
- Comeback America, http://keepingamericagreat.org/educate-yourself/learn-the-facts/fiscal-facts/
- "Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities," U.S. Department of Treasury, http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt
- State & County Quick Facts, U.S Census Bureau, Data as of May 11, 2012, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html


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When I was elected to the Board of Trustees in Eagle, I thought blogging would be a great way for community members to tag along with me as I learned the ins and outs of serving the taxpayers. My goal was to share my thoughts, challenges, questions, concerns, successes, and failures so that citizens could get a better feel for what was happening at 200 Broadway from at least one perspective.
Although the meetings are not filmed and not many citizens attend, my assumption is that anything and everything that is legally allowed can be shared publicly. And I believe that we as a town, as a board, and as individual trustees should get as much information out as possible, including our own stance on issues. But whether that is done through backyard BBQ's, blogs, Facebook, emails, letters, coffee shop chats, dinners, mountain bike rides or not at all is up to each individual. And whether or not these efforts are in the best interests of the citizens is up to the voters when a person runs for a second term.
In my efforts of trying to disseminate information in my own personal style, it seems that some feel I have been trying to attack staff and others or undermine how the community sees our town government. At least that is what I gathered from the article/letter from the meeting I missed. I can certainly apologize for that impression but I can also assure you that result was not my intention. In my opinion and from what I have read, as politicians, we should have a basic yet complicated goal: to be completely transparent, financially disclose everything, and avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. That is all I am trying to do as I serve my first term.
To the board and staff, I have repeatedly stated that my questions on the budget, finances, and processes have nothing to do with the current individuals in place. My questions are a result of my accounting career and my duty related to the financial well-being of the town over the long term; especially considering the approval of Eagle River Station and that we are soon replacing long serving employees in key positions. I believe if we as a board have few processes, few reports, no reviews (for those under our purview), and no long term understanding of the financial requirements, we simply cannot do our job in protecting the assets of our citizens.
From what I remember, throughout the ERS debate, I recall hearing the town is broke. I do not think this situation was improved with Gypsum ending the revenue sharing agreement. So when, as a trustee, I learn we pay 100 percent insurance for employees and their families as well as Christmas bonuses, I believe I have a right to ask that these things be reviewed in relation to the overall financial condition of the town and what other municipalities are doing during these difficult economic times. Even if no cuts are made, reviewing this information will allow us to remain competitive when hiring and confirm we are being fiscally responsible to the taxpayers of Eagle. And as an accountant, I find I simply must speak out regarding auditor's concerns, when trying to understand a $279,000 typo, when detail sheets do not add up within the budget, and when we are not provided with the future financial needs of the town when reviewing the budget.
If by stating these concerns at meetings and publicly to my constituents makes me lack a moral compass to some, then so be it. And so be it if stating those concerns cause me not to be re-eIected. But I do not believe that in questioning these issues, I am behaving in a manner conduct unbecoming or attacking anyone.
Another big issue seems to be some who think we need to speak as "one voice." Does that mean for every issue, those on the losing side should not address the topic at all? Does that mean when an issue like marijuana goes to vote, those on the board in favor or not in favor should remain silent? It takes four out of seven to direct the staff to do something. If at least four on the board think my concerns are without merit, there is nothing I can do to have the town address those concerns. But in my opinion, that does not mean I should not be able to share those concerns with the taxpayers.
It seems that to some, it might mean that. That is why at the next meeting on Nov. 27, we will be considering a code of conduct which I think will address some of these concerns. (I am assuming it is at the next meeting but agendas are not provided until the Friday before.)
I fully support the town implementing a code of conduct but unfortunately, I cannot support anything which takes away my freedom of speech and ability to communicate with constituents. Hopefully this board can find a way to agree on a solution which helps move this community forward in a positive direction. And hopefully you will check out my blog at www.brandionboard.wordpress.com to let me know what you think. Or feel free to give me a call at 970-390-0228 or email me at firstname.lastname@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Main Street stage was the focal point for a large camouflage-clad audience November 24 in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Packed shoulder-to-shoulder, the crowd swelled throughout the day as 62 competitive duck callers from across the United States competed in the Super Bowl of the duck calling world—the 77th Annual World's Championship Duck Calling Contest. For the second time in three years, Brad Allen of Judsonia, Arkansas, hoisted the huge trophy above his head after claiming the title of World Duck Calling Champion.
After taking top honors in 2010 and finishing as second runner-up in 2011, Allen returned to Main Street poised, confident, and equipped with a crisp contest routine that he had honed during countless hours of practice. Once again, he had his sights set on the top prize. The competitive juices were flowing.
"People keep asking, 'Which one felt better?' but both wins were great," the 39-year-old Allen said. "The first was so emotional—to finally get there after 10 tries in 12 years and they hand you the trophy. This win was a competition issue, and I was more fired up."
"It's the history and the tradition that I enjoy," Allen added. "Seeing some of those names on the list of winners, like Chick Major and Butch Richenback, I'm just honored to see my name on that list—let alone twice."
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act into law.
First duck stamp, designed by Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist, Jay N. "Ding" Darling, issued.
Prairie drought peaks.


text:
About the Book
In Why Faith Matters, Rabbi David J. Wolpe blends the powerful personal story of his struggles with his own faith with a poignant response to the new atheists that reveals just how important faith in modern society. With a foreword by Rick Warren, New York Times bestselling author of The Purpose Driven Life, Why Faith Matters is an articulate and much-needed nondenominational defense of established religion in America by the man Newsweek magazine named the #1 Pulpit Rabbi in America.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Why Faith Matters is an articulate defense of religion in America. It makes the case for faith and shows its relationship to history and science. Refuting the cold reason of atheists and the hatred of fanatics with a vision of religion informed by faith, love, and understanding, Rabbi David J. Wolpe follows in a literary tradition that stretches from Cardinal Newman to C. S. Lewis to Thomas Merton—individuals of faith who brought religion and culture together in their own works. Wolpe takes readers through the origins and nature of faith, the role of the Bible in modern life, and the compatibility of God and science, concluding with a powerful argument for the place of God, faith, and religion in today's world.
Educator and Librarian Resources
Product Details
- Imprint: HarperOne
- On Sale: 09/01/2009
- Trimsize: 5.313 in (w) x 8 in (h) x 0.545 in (d)
- Pages: 240
- List Price: 14.99 USD
- BISAC1: RELIGION / General


text:
Mainly cloudy skies and cool temperatures today. There are several days near 50 in Randi's 7Day Forecast. Check it out here.
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text:
Simply the best, fastest, and easiest bulk file re-namer ever. Lots of functions, really fast and accurate, previews before renaming, free!
Required OS: not specified
Tags: rename , file , utility , productivity , finder
11 Opinions
Fast and works pretty well. I wish it would just move the renamed files over to the left so that you could continue to perform operations on them in sequence....
thanks, updated.
The proper website is:
The download page is:
Loved this app -- simple, intuitive, gets the job done, free.
Now I try to download a fresh copy and its gone?! Anyone else? Asian/Japanese site error page then forwards along to its root. (August 2008)
Going to give NameMangler a try...
Hey, at least R-Name is free... Renamer4Mac is like $26 !!
was the best once but fell asleep, the throne belongs to renamer4mac now.
Actually, it was released in 2003:
It must've been just added to the iusethis.com database.
Whew, it's released in July 2007 and it is PowerPC only! Bummer.
I much prefer Renamer4Mac.
you could ude this or just create one with automator
Page 1 of 2. 11 entries.


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Tiffany designer Paloma Picasso has captured the world's
attention with her bold, original style. Her visionary
designs are a unique blend of European sophistication and
exotic influences.
Since the 19th century, Tiffany gemologists have journeyed to remote corners of the globe in search of exquisite gemstones. Their lustrous hues are showcased in Tiffany designs which celebrate nature's precious bounty.


text:
Location: Plant Genetics Research
Project Number: 5070-21000-036-03
Start Date: Apr 01, 2012
End Date: Mar 31, 2014
Molecular genetics and plant breeding experiments will be conducted to combine desired mutant alleles controlling the accumulation of different fatty acids in the seed oil. Different crosses will be made between parental lines containing the two genes for the high oleic acid trait and parental lines containing other fatty acid profile traits, including low palmitic acid and elevated stearic acid. Genotyping selections with existing or newly developed molecular marker assays will be performed on the F1 and F2 progeny. Standard population development will be used to advance selected lines to obtain materials for phenotypic evaluation. Field tests will be set up to compare different combinations of alleles important for the seed oil fatty acid profiles to evaluate the effect of each of the alleles working in combination. Laboratory, field, and winter nursery are all components of this research.


text:
adidas Speed III Pack Climacool Backpack
The sport-inspired features and styling of the adidas Speed III Pack ClimaCool Backpack will compliment your active lifestyle. 2 main compartments allow more than enough room to store anything you might need on-the-go, while 2 side mesh water bottle pockets make staying hydrated super easy. The freshPAK ventilated front compartment provides great storage for your gear and features two exterior zippered storage pockets, one of which is tricot lined and one with a key fob. The large back compartment has a padded laptop sleeve and deluxe organization, so you're prepared for wherever your day takes you! Die-cut EVA foam shoulder straps featuring LoadSpring with ClimaCool technology and a padded air mesh back panel ensure you won't wreck your back while you're toting your things around all day.
- DIMENSIONS: 20" x 14" x 9"
- MATERIAL: 600D polyester


text:
STOCKTON - State transportation officials announced the allocation of nearly $8 million in funds for a couple of projects in San Joaquin County.
The money is for an overpass in Lathrop and work on a bridge on the county line near Rio Vista, and it is part of $878 million allocated to 114 projects in the state, according to the California Department of Transportation. The allocations were approved by the California Transportation Commission.
The Lathrop project is to build a four-lane pass over the railroad on Lathrop Road, from Seventh Street to McKinley Avenue. Meant to improve traffic flow and reduce air pollutants through less idling traffic, the project was allocated $5 million Tuesday. It was part of $476 million of funding from Proposition 1B, a statewide transportation bond approved by voters in 2006.
The overpass project has about $15 million in funding from other sources.
Also allocated was about $2.6 million to replace the concrete deck on the Mokelumne River Bridge near Rio Vista.
Location, ST | website.com


text:
About the Book
Popular football blogger Michael Tunison of KissingSuzyKolber.com offers the no-hold-barred rules and bylaws that every football fan should know in The Football Fan's Manifesto. With humor and tough love, this It Books paperback original takes readers through the essential rules of fandom, such as picking a favorite team, and teaches them how to be true football fans.
The Football Fan's Ten Commandments
- You Must Choose Your Team by the Age of Eight.
- Value That Team Above All Else, Even Yourself.
- Under No Circumstances Can You Switch Teams (And Expect to Live).
- There is a Limit to the Amount of Merchandise You Can Own (But It's Very Generous).
- Sportsmanship is for the Athletes. Fans Can Gloat Endlessly.
- A Self-Induced Coma to Skip the Off-season is a Practical Solution to an Annoying Problem.
- An Inoffensive Fantasy Football Name is a Lame Fantasy Football Name.
- Wealth Doesn't Matter So Long As You Don't Have to Work Weekends.
- Respect Superstitions. If Your Team Lost, It's Because You Jinxed Them.
- In Life, the Order of Importance: Football First, Football Second, Football Third, Family . . . uh, I Don't Know, twelfth?
These are just the basics if you wish to be a True Football Fan. The full picture is much more complex and boozy. Thankfully, The Football Fan's Manifesto is your very own playbook to the strict rules and bylaws that must be scrupulously observed. After all, trash-talking is an intricate science and running onto the field a dangerous but irresistible pursuit. There are many lessons to be learned, especially that choosing a favorite team to live and die with is not a choice made easily: It's the most important decision of your life!
Educator and Librarian Resources
Critical Praise
"The Football Fan's Manifesto is the throbbing id of the NFL, a throwdown in the name of football supremacy, the type of book you just know Roger Goodell wishes he could write. If you think football is the only thing that matters on earth, this is your book ." — Will Leitch, author of God Save The Fan and founder of Deadspin
"Fantasy football fans that don't read Michael Tunison's book and recognize it as the gospel truth aren't real football fans." — Gregg Rosenthal, Rotoworld.com
Product Details
- Imprint: Dey Street Books
- On Sale: 08/18/2009
- Trimsize: 5.313 in (w) x 8 in (h) x 0.757 in (d)
- Pages: 336
- List Price: 15.99 USD
- BISAC1: SPORTS & RECREATION / Football
- BISAC2: HUMOR / Topic / Sports
- BISAC3: HUMOR / General


text:
Local man offers iCracked repairs for iPhone
Global company comes to area
March 3, 2013
PARKERSBURG — No more needless traveling for Apple users to repair a broken iPhone screen....
Why would somebody in California care about someone in WV using rice to aid in fixing a broken Iphone?
2 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
That is where you are wrong..once rice gets moisture it will be no good that is why the Japanese put talc powder in it to be washed before using. Again you are wrong, Japanese do not use chemicals in their food. Ever wonder why Sushi from a real Japanese restaurant is expensive? Because it is fresh with no chemicals. You must be thinking China. You need to take a vacation out of them hollows. This is where our principles have gone done the drain...you would rather have an iPhone Intead of having food?
1 Agrees | 6 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
If your that concerned about the rice, eat the rice afterwards. I'm sure their are worse chemicals in rice grown in Japan than what is found in a cellphone. Personally, I'd rather lose a bag of rice than lose an iPhone. Good luck Dougal!
7 Agrees | 2 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Putting a wet IPhone in a bag of rice??? That would be so wrong because why waste a bag of rice for a IPhone? In Japan every grain of rice should be eaten and not wasted. Good thing you are not here in CA, that is not a good thing to be telling people.
1 Agrees | 8 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Showing 4 of 4 comments


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SNOWMASS VILLAGE - It's April, and winter doesn't want to surrender its grip.
All you can think about is getting out of the mountains and onto a beach after being cooped up since November. Two social-media giants are salivating over the opportunity to help connect you and a destination.
Google and Facebook are racing to expand their empires into the next frontier for them - the travel industry. They want to influence how consumers select places to spend their vacations and how destinations sell themselves to prospective customers.
Representatives of the two companies outlined the opportunities and how they plan to grab them for roughly 1,200 attendees at the Mountain Travel Symposium on Wednesday in Snowmass Village.
Both companies' strategies rely, to some extent, on mining data from their users.
Erik Hawkins, Facebook's industry manager for travel, claimed that the social-media site is "an underappreciated source of travel bookings" and one the travel industry should tap to a greater degree.
Facebook users, he said, are ripe to be "relying on the wisdom of our friends to make choices."
He advised the audience - which included representatives of everything from skiing companies to tourist accommodations to recreational firms - to use Facebook to connect with special audiences.
"When Facebook first started, it was really a mad rush to get friends," Hawkins said. "What we've discovered is it's not how many friends you have but who your friends are."
Companies don't want to "junk up" their Facebook pages with casual friends; they want to connect with their best customers, Hawkins said. The company can help them accomplish the goal.
"There are mechanisms now on Facebook where you know who your best customers are and you can find them on Facebook and make them your friends," he said.
The target audience can be engaged "with frequent, lightweight interactions," Hawkins said. Essentially, Facebook will help companies plant subtle ideas in potential customers' minds. One method is to amplify the favorable actions of a person's friends. In a fictitious example, Facebook will partner with Acme Hotel Co. to make sure that John Doe's friends on Facebook know that he used www.acmehotels.com to book a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Facebook reached 1 billion active users in September, according to media reports. Hawkins acknowledged that some Facebook members take a "holiday" of undetermined length but that others check their homepages every day. Users average about 11 hours per month on the social-media site, he said. The amount of content shared on social media is doubling every two years - exponential growth -so, there is vast potential to tap friends' experiences to sell vacations and for destinations to use their content to sell themselves, Hawkins said.
Imagery on something like a Facebook page is key to how a destination is perceived, according to Hawkins.
"Sometimes their images are bad, and that's how they are representing themselves to millions and millions of people," he said. His advice was to "invest in high-quality content."
Rob Torres, Google's managing director for travel, concurred. He is touting Google and its affiliate YouTube as great tools for the travel industry.
YouTube has 1 billion unique users visiting the site each month, according to media reports. There are 8.5 million video versions of the "Harlem Shake" dance floating around on YouTube, a prime example of how something goes viral and inspires imitations.
"Generation C" - which he described as a group of people with a shared mindset rather than an age - has exploded. They rely on video for entertainment rather than commercial television, and they increasingly rely on video for research on topics such as vacation destinations.
"If you're not reaching them by video, you should be," Torres said.
Content is king, he added, so places such as mountain-resort hotels should post fresh video as often as they have something relevant. But, Torres warned, the video shouldn't just be a "sales push."
"People see right through that," he said.
User-generated content, on the other hand, can be valuable in gaining credibility. Consumers trust it, he claimed, so he encouraged attendees of the conference to make arrangements with the producers to fold user-generated content into their marketing when it's good.
Google also plans to harness the search-engine capabilities it's famous for as well as its YouTube affiliate to get more involved in the travel business.
Google will use "social indicators" from a person's previous searches to help find "what might be interesting to you" in future searches, Torres said. It results in more relevant content "upfront," he said.
It's also working on a program that uses travelers' search habits and trip iteneraries to provide information on where they might want to eat or what activities they might want to engage in. Google would make suggestions rather than just provide answers, Torres said.
The Mountain Travel Symposium will continue today with sessions to help attendees understand major trends and issues unfolding in the travel industry.


text:
NEW: For a prettier blog interface, see the Wordpress version!
Today's headlines:
- Congrats to Sam Jacoba, who won a Microsoft Circle of Excellence Award! 08:18
- Let's connect 16:20
- Should I go for the teaching assistantship? 16:36
- Cold 23:39
|Write diyplanner introduction {{Deadline: 2005.08.28}} : E-Mail from Douglas Johnston (2005.08.22 writing)
|E-mail Mark, cc Lorna about courses to take {{Deadline: 2005.09.16}} (grad)
|Apply for social insurance number (2005.08.22 grad)
|Set up a bank account at PC Financial
|Drop off transcript of records at MIE
1. Congrats to Sam Jacoba, who won a Microsoft Circle of Excellence Award!
I met Sam Jacoba because Microsoft sponsored one of our high school programming competitions. I thought he was really cool. Not evil at all. =)
2. Let's connect
I want to find business people and learn about the kind of geeks they're looking for. I'm particularly interested in clueful companies with high geek concentration.
I want to find teachers who are interested in improving their teaching skills.
I want to find personal coaches and productivity consultants.
I'm on LinkedIn as Sandra Jean Chua ([email protected]). Let's connect.
3. Should I go for the teaching assistantship?
Is it something I'm excited about? I like teaching. The professor seems to care about teaching as well, and he handles the tutorials himself. That's good. I'll probably learn a lot from him. Does the subject itself excite me? Browsing through the textbook turns up a couple of interesting stuff that I'll be able to use in groupware research and later on. It's a good opportunity to learn about organizations' information needs.
Does it fit into my long-term plans? I'll learn about information organization and visualization, which might be useful for executive coaching later on.
Is it worth 6 hours a week or 78 hours of my life? I guess so.
4. Cold
I'd love to hear about any questions, comments, suggestions or links that you might have. Your comments will not be posted on this website immediately, but will be e-mailed to me first. You can use this form to get in touch with me, or e-mail me at [email protected] .


text:
My Account
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How To Buy Snowboard Jackets
The primary function of snowboard apparel is to keep you warm and dry, the secondary function is to help you look good. Knowing how this type of outerwear works and what to look for will make it easier to decide what you want to wear while boarding.
The Importance of Layering
Return To Top
Outerwear Features and Functions
Snowboard outerwear--which includes insulated jackets, shells/non-insulated jackets, and pants--protects you from
the extreme elements you may encounter while snowboarding, such as snow, sleet or rain and wind.
Outerwear Features and Functions
Insulating Materials
Performance Details
The type and intensity of your winter activity and weather conditions encountered are important factors when
buying a jacket or parka.
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text:
Active Directory (AD) is a directory of people, computers, and groups that provides a way to manage computer policies and permissions. Through Active Directory services, we are able to provide desktop authentication to the network using your University ID (X.500), eliminating the need for a separate workstation or other account (like Novell) and password.
AD also provides the ability to easily share and update standardized security policies with workstations on our network, in compliance with University policy. Through Active Directory services, we can also provide managed data storage and network printing.
In summary, Active Directory services at UMD include:
Rev: 09.7.12 sab


text: An increasing number of home-owners prefer low voltage lighting for their outdoor landscapes due to its safety and ease of installation. In addition, low voltage lighting is a popular choice for exterior lighting due to its ability to reduce hefty electricity consumption costs. Low Voltage Transformers – What Are They? Low voltage transformers convert standard… Read more


text:
As far as I know, Garry Wills is the only author to win a Pulitzer Prize for writing about the Gettysburg Adddress.
It's fitting, then, that we invoke an ESSAY BY WILLS in our observance of today's 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's historic speech:
Lincoln�s speech at Gettysburg worked several revolutions, beginning with one in literary style. [Edward] Everett�s talk was given at the last point in history when such a performance could be appreciated without reservation. It was made obsolete within a half hour of the time when it was spoken. Lincoln�s remarks anticipated the shift to vernacular rhythms ...
Read more


text:
The Poisons and Venoms of Organisms...
As Translational Medicine Data Become More...
From the Quagmire to Savior and...
Maximum Depth Sequencing Has the Potential...
Biobanks have become a hot area in recent years as many hospitals and research institutes build up large collections of biological samples from healthcare and population cohorts. Such biorepositories are becoming essential in medical research and provide a powerful tool in the identification of biomarkers for disease and development of new analytical methods for diagnostics. Retrospective sample analysis is helping scientists discover and understand why some people develop particular diseases.
However, archived samples may have been handled with various protocols for collection, processing, and storage that may have caused sample degradation and thus affect analytical findings. When collecting samples from participants over a long time period (expectations of 25+ years storage are not uncommon) secure storage and integrity of samples is of absolute importance. Here are 7 practical tips for maintaining your sample quality.
Gunnel Tybring, Ph.D., senior advisor to the KI Biobank, department of medical epidemiology and biostatistics, Karolinska Institute.
Gunnel Tybring, Ph.D., senior advisor to the KI Biobank, department of medical epidemiology and biostatistics, Karolinska Institute.
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text:
Each year, the Rotary Club of Stockton holds a job shadowing event. The club arranges for Interact students at Chavez and Edison high schools to spend time with a person in the occupation of their choice.
This year Liz Hull, Dave Tygett and Nick Curtin organized the event. Interact is Rotary for young people ages 12 to 18.
The club had 57 students participate. The jobs shadowed were: judge, assistant district attorney, mayor, attorney, auto mechanic, psychiatrist, restaurant owner, optometrist, dentist, pharmacist, CPA, computer engineer, water engineer, photographer, sociologist, cosmetologist, veterinarian, fashion designer, nurse, doctor, X-ray technician, dietitian, dermatologist and pediatrician.
The Rotary Club hosted the students at their regular Wednesday noon meeting Nov. 14 at the Stockton Golf and Country Club.
- Information submitted by Graham Tweedy
Location, ST | website.com


text:
First, sorry for poor english and thanks for this incredible software. It's a must.
I use the Mac Os version in my iMac 2.4Ghz, 2Gb RAM in wireless mode, probably in 802.11n.
The PS3 are in cable mode, because are next to the router.
My router is D-Link DIR-635.
Most of the mkv files in HD 720p play fines, specially TV Shows, but i have problem in some files. When I start the movie in XMB i receive a blank screen, and "corrupt data" minutes after this.
I suspect the problem are in last 4 lines. Check this.
[main] TRACE 13:30:23.852 Starting Java PS3 Media Server v1.03
[main] TRACE 13:30:23.853 by shagrath / 2008
[main] TRACE 13:30:23.854 http://ps3mediaserver.blogspot.com
[main] TRACE 13:30:23.854
[main] TRACE 13:30:23.854 Java 1.5.0_16-Apple Inc.
[main] TRACE 13:30:23.854 OS Mac OS X i386 10.5.6
[main] TRACE 13:30:23.854 Encoding: MacRoman
[main] TRACE 13:30:23.867 Temp folder: /tmp/javaps3media
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.145 Registering transcoding engine FFmpeg Audio
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.155 Registering transcoding engine MEncoder
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.156 Registering transcoding engine MPlayer Audio
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.156 Registering transcoding engine MEncoder Web
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.161 Registering transcoding engine MPlayer Video Dump
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.161 Registering transcoding engine MPlayer Web
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.162 Registering transcoding engine VideoLan Audio Streaming
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.162 Registering transcoding engine VideoLan Video Streaming
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.265 Scanning network interface en1 / en1
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.265 Using address /10.1.3.77 found on network interface: name:en1 (en1) index: 5 addresses: /10.1.3.77;
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.265 Created socket: /10.1.3.77:5001
[Thread-11] TRACE 13:30:24.341 Starting DLNA Server on host 10.1.3.77 and port 5001...
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.356 Unable to retrieve MAC address for UUID creation: using a random one...
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.363 Using following UUID: e4cf951e-9ba4-4767-af99-b405feb55203
[main] TRACE 13:30:24.920 It's ready! You should see the server appears on XMB
[Thread-11] TRACE 13:30:26.076 Receiving a request from: 10.1.3.74
[Thread-257] TRACE 13:31:09.049 Starting transcode of Arquivo X - Eu Quero Acreditar.mkv
[Thread-265] TRACE 13:31:10.877 java.lang.NullPointerException
[Thread-265] TRACE 13:31:10.878 at java.lang.ProcessBuilder.start(ProcessBuilder.java:441)
[Thread-265] TRACE 13:31:10.878 at net.pms.encoders.AviDemuxerInputStream$1.run(AviDemuxerInputStream.java:114)
[Thread-265] TRACE 13:31:10.879 at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:613)
Anyone can help?
Thanks a lot.


text:
DEADLINE: December 15, 2011
We know that in college, saving money is tough, and making money is even tougher. That's why we have launched the Textbook Franchise Manager program – a chance for you to get paid, while passing along BookRenter savings to your friends and classmates! You could make $3,000 in FIVE weeks, if you have what it takes.
Be part of a select group of enterprising college students handpicked from schools across the country, and earn valuable sales and marketing experience with BookRenter, while actually making some cash. Unlike most brand ambassador programs out there, this one is all about YOU. You create a marketing and sales plan for your very own BookRenter franchise, and you earn an 8% commission on each and every sale.
Most importantly, this internship won't interfere with school or even other summer internships. Most of the work happens three weeks before the semester starts and in the first two weeks of classes.
Don't pass up this fantastic opportunity for college students with an entrepreneurial eye, vast network, and boundless energy. The spots are filling up, and time is running out, so apply TODAY!
To submit an application, email your resume to firstname.lastname@example.com. For the complete job description, click here (PDF). DEADLINE: December 15, 2011.


text:
Deliver Advanced Multimedia Experiences
Consumers want a simple way to take advantage of home networking solutions. The Cisco Explorer 4600HDC High-Definition Digital Interactive Set-Top Series is a full-featured, digital multimedia gateway that delivers interactive services such as VoD while incorporating next generation capabilities. This series gives your subscribers access to video, data, and interactive services in a single device.
Additionally by choosing the MoCA option, the 4600 Series models provide consumer access to HD whole home video. This allows consumers to play back and stream multiple HD video programs throughout the home at the highest video quality.


text:
Director Bryan Singer Previews 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'
At 20th Century Fox's Comic-Con panel on Saturday, fans are expected to be treated to a blowout preview for a movie its director describes as "not a sequel or a prequel, but an inbetweenquel."
"X-Men: Days of Future Past," which comes out in May of 2014, is a decades-spanning movie involving time travel and alternate timelines that's based a seminal 1981 storyline from the comics about mutant superheroes who are societal outcasts.
For those who aren't longtime readers of Marvel Comics' X-Men, however, "Days of Future Past" stands out because it marks the return of director Bryan Singer, who made Fox's first two "X-Men" films, largely seen as the best in the series. It also brings together virtually every actor who has appeared in an "X-Men" film, including Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender.
"It's an original story, but it's based on 'Days of Future Past,'" explained Mr. Singer. "It takes into account all of the films so far and doesn't go crazy trying to tie them together, but establishes a timeline and flushes out the universe."
Previous "X-Men" movies have included three set in the present day, 2011's "First Class" with young mutants in the 1960s, and a 2009 spin-off featuring Mr. Jackman as the feral Wolverine. A follow-up, "The Wolverine," hits theaters next week.
Perhaps the biggest challenge in making "Days of Future Past" was that faced by screenwriter Simon Kinberg, who had to craft a story integrating past movies, paying homage to the comics, and balancing screen time for more than a dozen prominent actors.
"At first we hadn't settled on 'Days of Future Past' and were just talking about 'The Godfather Part II' as a model for a story with parallel timelines," explained Mr. Kinberg. "But the more we talked about it, the more we were like, 'This is the biggest story that hasn't been told yet.'"
With its huge cast and a budget of more than $200 million, "Days of Future Past" is Fox's biggest super-hero movie yet and the centerpiece of its attempt to more effectively compete against the blockbuster "Avengers" and "Iron Man" films from Walt Disney's Marvel Studios and the "Dark Knight" trilogy and "Man of Steel" from Time Warner's Warner Bros.
Mr. Kinberg says he and his collaborators are using "Days of Future Past" to better connect Fox's "X-Men" movies in the same way that every film produced by Marvel ties into each other.
"The goal is to take a step back and look at the franchise as more than one or two movies, but as an overarching mythology," he said.
Fans will get their first opportunity to judge that effort Saturday at 4:15 p.m. at Comic-Con.
For more go to "Fox Tries for Comic-Book Comeback With 'Wolverine,' 'X-Men'"


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More Woes for HMV
HMV Group once the first stop for music lovers and video game nerds, this morning said it faced "material uncertainties" in its business and warned of a probable breach of its banking agreements, sending its shares crashing 40%.
For "material uncertainties" read hemorrhaging sales to cheaper, more convenient online retailers. In the last six months, like-for-like sales have been down 10%. By way of contrast, in Amazon's latest market update, the internet retail giant posted a 27% rise in third quarter sales.
HMV, valued at £650 million barely three years ago, is now worth £18 million. Analysts say HMV's downfall has been its inability to define itself in the face of massive competition from online retailers, in an economic environment where consumers are willing to shop around for the best deal. It also sells CDs by the bucket load at a time when most music is being downloaded.
Panmure Gordon analyst Philip Dorgan said HMV had been overtaken by events. "Its markets are extremely unhelpful," Mr. Dorgan said, although he noted some shareholder support still remained.
HMV has also won the backing of its suppliers, who are providing the group with £40 million of funding to help see it through the crucial Christmas trading period.
In a statement Wednesday, the group said it was having "constructive discussions" with its banks and that they were being kept "fully informed in relation to current trading".
It's clear that Trevor Moore, the new chief executive, will not give up without a fight. He said: "HMV has had a difficult first half. However, the business has started to deliver a number of new initiatives which will help to maximise the seasonal sales opportunity and provide a platform for growth in 2013."
By no means everyone is convinced though. Kate Calvert, a retail analyst at Seymour Pierce said she saw HMV "as a value trap with potentially insurmountable structural issues."


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17 Opinions
It's back in town now!!!Hooray for Acqlite!!
could realy do with Growl interogation (but as said, it's disscontinued!)
Hmm. weird app. Sometimes it works brilliantly and sometimes it just doesn't get the network. Nothing 2 do with my internet connection. IF YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD GO 2 http://urltea.com/xlt (as stated by mat price.) When this app works, it is brilliant. Shame it's been discontinued.
Enjouni: Totaly agrea with you (scroll down)!!
This link still works for me. Sorry, it was long so I shortened it.
been discontinued or something. Please could someone dig out a copy which you have downloaded earlier and email it to me ([email protected])
well, i've tried using it a lotta times, but it can never find a network. does anyone know what might be wrong?
Acquisition "rip-off"? Uhhh, no. A rip-off is when you try to charge people money for the right to steal software. Hypocrites. Is Acqusition's author sending a check out to all the IP authors that people are downloading free stuff from? No? Then STFU already. I use acqlite because it's what a p2p program should be: namely FREE.
Thanks junyor, it looks a bit better now. :-)
Very cool app :)
And FREE!
I've updated the description.
Page 1 of 2. 17 entries.


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Chocolate on the Levee benefits EVE shelter
February 18, 2013
MARIETTA — The heady aroma of chocolate was in the air at the Levee House on Ohio Street in Marietta during the 24th annual Chocolate on the Levee fundraiser Sunday afternoon....
Yea! Let's raise money to enable women who choose to live with domestic violence! This place gives them a vacation where they can get free food and shelter-hugs and get their tears dried-till they decide to go right back to their abusers!
1 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Do agencies like this discriminate against men? At least one Parkersburg man thinks so. Go to www dot wvrecord dot com and do a search for the article entitled 'Domestic violence agency accused of sexual discrimination'. I would also be interested in learning the outcome of the case if anyone knows how it turned out.
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Showing 2 of 2 comments


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Palit GeForce GTX 660 Ti
- Palit Own Design GTX 660Ti
- 2 slot cooler
- Kepler Architecture
- DrMOS : Better Power Efficiency
- Better Overclocking Performance
- 3 Way SLI ready
- 28nm - high performance and low power
- Support for 4 concurrent displays
- Better cooler design, lower acoustic level
- Kepler Architecture
- NVIDIA GPU Boost
- NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync
- NVIDIA Surround
- Support for four concurrent displays
- NVIDIA DirectX 11 with DirectCompute 5.0 support
- NVIDIA PhysX technology
- NVIDIA 3 Way-SLI Ready
- NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround Ready
- NVIDIA CUDA technology
- PCI Express 3.0 support
- OpenGL 4 2 support
- OpenCL support
Graphics card require
- PCI Express-compliant motherboard with one dual-width x16 graphics slot
- Two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors
- Minimum 450W or greater system power supply (with a minimum 12V current rating of 24A)
- Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
PCB: 247mm(L) x 112mm(W) Cooler :2 slot Bracket: 2 slot
The following resources are available for the Best Value GeForce GTX 660 Ti 915MHz 2GB PCI-Express 3.0 HDMI
Customer reviews
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Reviewed by Joshua. Review Posted 09/09/2013
The 660 ti is an extremely popular kepler gpu, it is basically a 670 with a reduced memory bus. Alone it will run most if not all modern games at 1920x1080 native resolution on high/ultra. It also scales phenomenally well in SLI mode, coming shockingly close to doubling in performance. This model features a cooler that isn't far removed from the reference cards that we are all too familiar with except appearing more matte.
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Quote: Last Tuesday, November 9, 2010, a capacity-filled crowd gathered at First Avenue to celebrate the life of Mikey "eyedea" Larsen. The evening spanned five hours to which many people donated their time, energy and talent. It was a dedication in its truest form and a tribute that will not be forgotten. The Fans, friends, peers and family joined together in the First Avenue main room to show their support, love and dedication to a person we all miss dearly.
Bandini wrote: The coroner has ruled his death an accidental overdose from opiate toxicity.


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Florida researchers hope to repurpose blood pressure medication to treat Alzheimer's, a new global clinical trial platform, and the power of art to enhance the quality of life for Alzheimer's patients (read more).
Must reads
Trish Vradenburg calls on newspapers to better acknowledge Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's is the leading killer of women, and two neurological drugs head into human clinical trials (read more).
David Rothkopf calls Alzheimer's a "massive freight train," the UK's attempt to improve dementia diagnosis by paying doctors, and new research links compound in cocoa to memory improvement (read more).
Philadelphia researcher calls for Congress and the administration to commit to a long-term funding plan for the NIH, the latest research on Downs syndrome and Alzheimer's, and the business community increases interest in dementia and aging technology (read more).
Lawmakers push for increased funding for biomedical research, Peter Thiel calls Alzheimer's a massive crisis, and NIH awards grants to increase medical workforce diversity (read more).


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What to Do When Your Child Lies
A reader recently wrote me to ask for advice about a common parenting problem:
My 6-year-old lies to me on a daily basis. He hides food in his room and lies about it, among other things. How can I get him to tell the truth?
I consider a child's misbehavior to be a flashing neon sign announcing that something else is going on that needs to be addressed. In other words, the lying and deceptive behavior is a symptom of something else.


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Home > Adults with autism > IACC Full Committee Meeting
IACC Full Committee Meeting
December 13, 2010 Leave a comment Go to comments
The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Full Committee Meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EDT, at the Bethesda Marriott in Bethesda, Maryland.
The IACC will discuss plans for the annual update of the IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder Research. For more information and to register please visit the IACC's official website.
April 21, 2011 at 5:36 pm
I was just wanting to know if it is normal for my son who has autism to have sexual dreams and believe that it really happened? This is very important so I hope someone will respond asap. Thank you so much.


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Young Kato
Alternative pop 6-piece from Cheltenham and Birmingham, formed in 2011. The boys found TV fame in 2013 with an appearance on Made In Chelsea! Meanwhile their single 'Something Real' and the 'Drink Dance Play' EP have seen support from the likes of XFM, Absolute Radio, and BBC Radio 1, with DJ Zane Lowe hailing them as his "Next Hype".
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Explorer Moment of the Week: Ken Banks
Ken Banks, Mobile Technology Innovator Photograph courtesy Ken Banks
What does it take to become a social innovator? Not an MBA, a master plan, or even money, says mobile technology pioneer Ken Banks. Helping people help themselves is a strong theme in Banks' work, and that's why he believes that anyone can become an innovator—and change the world for the better.
What project are you working on now?
I like to keep myself busy, so I've got two key projects on the go at the moment. The first—Means of Exchange—is exploring how we can use emerging Web, mobile, and social media-based technologies to help people reconnect with local businesses, local resources, and each other. Globalization, and the spread of technology more broadly, has widened the disconnect between people and their neighbors, and local means of production. We buy things made by people far away who we don't know when there are local providers (who, ironically, we also don't know). In the current economic climate people are suffering because of the breakdown of a system built on global dependence. When one major economy collapses, others follow in a domino effect, causing hardship among people and communities due to no fault of their own. Means of Exchange aims to apply innovative technologies to reconnect people, and help them build resilience into their communities, so when hard times do hit they're less exposed and more able to support each other.
The second project is a book. Titled The Rise of the Reluctant Innovator, it will share the personal stories of ten social innovators from around the world. Ten social innovators—ordinary people—who randomly stumbled across problems, injustices, and wrongs and, armed with little more than determination and self-belief, decided not to turn their backs but to dedicate their lives to solving them. The book is designed to fill a much needed gap in the social innovation/social entrepreneurship market, one which is currently dominated by books that—often at no fault of their own—give the impression that meaningful change is only possible if you have an MBA, or are a technology expert, or have money or influence, or have a carefully laid out five-year master plan, or all five. By highlighting the stories of ten ordinary yet remarkable individuals, and the impact their work is collectively having on hundreds of millions of people around the world, Rise of the Reluctant Innovator will show us that anything is possible, planning isn't everything, and that anyone anywhere can change their world for the better. We're currently raising funds on Kickstarter to allow us to produce the best possible book and to promote it as widely as possible. Details about how people can help—and what they get in return—can be found here.
What's the biggest surprise you've discovered in your work or in the field?
I've been surprised many times during my travels in Africa, most often by how everyday objects and foods—yes, foods—can be used to repair flat tires, or bind things together, or fix complex electronics such as mobile phones. How people carry fridge freezers on their heads while riding a motorbike also continues to surprise, confuse, and amuse me (something I've seen many times in Nigeria). But the most meaningful surprise has to be how amazingly resourceful, proud, and resilient communities are around the world, many of which were dealt a bad hand and face extreme hardship and poverty through little fault of their own. The saying "people don't want charity, they want a chance" rings so true. That's why I spent seven years working on my text-messaging platform, FrontlineSMS. The very ethos behind it is that if you create tools for people to use—people who face problems and challenges on a daily basis—and provide those tools unconditionally, then they're often able to help themselves. There's a quote from a 2007 interview I gave to Africa Journal that sums that up best:
"FrontlineSMS provides the tools necessary for people to create their own projects that make a difference. It empowers innovators and organizers in the developing world to achieve their full potential through their own ingenuity."
Helping people help themselves is a strong theme of my work, enshrined in FrontlineSMS and now core themes of Means of Exchange and The Rise of the Reluctant Innovator.
Photograph courtesy Ken Banks
How can everyday technologies be used to create social change?
We're witnessing more and more examples of how technology can help drive social change, but we need to remember that fundamentally it's people who do the driving. Technology can help, but there needs to be a desire, a passion, and a need for change in people's minds before anything can happen. Let's not forget, Mubarak left office in Egypt not because a few million people "liked" a page on Facebook telling him to go, but because millions turned out on the streets. Technology use can lead to apathy, with people forwarding messages or tweeting or "liking" things and then thinking they've done their bit. This is now widely known as "slacktivism."
If people have a message, a movement, or an injustice that needs righting then social media is a great way of helping spread that message, to help garner further support and show others, who may be in fear of standing up, that they're not alone. Social media, and the Internet more broadly, have become powerful tools in people's fights against corrupt governments, brutality, and oppression, and this is why many governments who rule on that basis often resort to eliminating or restricting access as movements against them start to take hold. The Arab Spring has been the most talked about example of how tools such as Facebook and Twitter can be used to drive revolutionary movements, but let's not call them "Facebook Revolutions" or "Twitter Revolutions." They're "People Revolutions" at the end of the day.
Have you ever been lost? How'd you get found?
The first time I ever got lost was when I was about five, I think. I somehow ended up out of the house quite late—well, around 9 p.m.—walking around about a mile away from where we lived back then. I ended up in someone's house and my mother had to come and pick me up. The memory is rather faded now.
I did get lost in Washington, D.C., a couple of years ago, getting off a very late night bus after a long day in New York and totally losing my bearings. I wandered around for a couple of hours before I found my way back to my hotel. (Even when I'm lost I stay on foot—you can't beat walking and it's character building if you can work your way out of a tricky "travel malfunction.") Other than that, I've been pretty good at not getting lost. I've thought I've been lost a few times on my travels in Africa—again, always walking—but it turned out I wasn't. I'm pretty good at making mental notes of landmarks and directions. The lesson I've learnt from that is to trust your instincts.
If you could trade places with one explorer at National Geographic, who would it be and why?
Ken Banks and Meave Leakey Photograph courtesy Ken Banks
That's got to be one of the toughest questions you could ask. There are, of course, many. I have a long-standing interest in primates, having helped run a sanctuary in Nigeria in 2001, so Jane Goodall would be high up my list (assuming I could be any gender!). Michael Fay would also be up there. His Megatransects really capture the spirit of exploration for me—pushing human endurance, facing the unknown, the extreme conditions and adversity you need to battle against. I've also been a long-standing fan of the Leakeys' work in East Africa, and was honored to bump into Meave at National Geographic a couple of years ago. And I absolutely love walking, so I'm ridiculously envious of Paul Salopek and his extraordinary Out of Eden Walk at the moment.
But, at the risk of listing almost everyone at National Geographic, I'd probably say Spencer Wells. He's unlocking the past and tracing the very roots of our race, a subject that's always fascinated me (my degree is in social anthropology). The fact that he's using some of the most advanced DNA testing technologies to do it also helps, of course. And there's a strong walking theme, too. I've been lucky to meet Spencer on a number of occasions and hear him speak. He's a great explorer and communicator—a real inspiration.
What do you think National Geographic explorers will be exploring in 100 years?
There's still going to be plenty to explore, I think, but we may have to rethink what "exploring" means. Treasures and relics from past civilizations will continue to tell their stories, and new technologies and methods of analysis will allow us to ask increasingly complex questions of them. Technology will emerge as a new field of exploration in itself—how it impacts on society, helps us rethink and reshape our existence as a race, and how it can be applied to solve some of the growing environmental and developmental challenges we face. Although many people think most of the planet has been explored, we only know a fraction of what there is to know about what lies within and beneath our oceans, for example, and it wasn't so long ago that a forest was discovered in Mozambique using Google Earth. We could, of course, also be well into populating other planets in our universe by the start of the next century. That will open up a whole new field of exploration.
Where is your favorite place that you've traveled?
My first website, from about 13 years ago, was named after a place called Igisi Hill in Uganda. In 1998 I spent three months in Karuma Wildlife Reserve helping carry out biodiversity survey work. We traveled into Murchison Falls National Park on a number of occasions (Karuma was a buffer zone for the main park). Igisi Hill was one of a pair of hills we camped next to for a short while, and it took a good half an hour or so to climb from what I can remember. But from the top you could see all across the park, including Lake Albert shimmering in the distance. It was peaceful and cool, and gave me a chance to truly reflect on where I was, who I was, and the vastness of the place. I always imagined hunters from hundreds of years ago conveying messages to their fellow tribesman on the location and direction of the wildlife below. This was one of the things that made it magical. In a world of constant change, the view around me had likely remained almost constant for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. That's got to be special.
What advice would you give to someone looking to develop a new idea?
Probably to make sure they fully understand the problem they're trying to solve, to ask themselves (even if they do understand it) whether they're the right (or best) person to be fixing it, to take their time, build slowly on their own terms, not look for money straight away, and to only start building a team or organization around their work when they know their idea works. I've seen too much energy, effort, money, and resources wasted on things that were doomed to fail from the start.
If you were to meet your eight-year-old self, what would you say?
From what I can remember I was a pretty mixed up kid at that age (but not in a bad way). I probably already knew that I wanted to work with animals, or for conservation, or work outside—I was born in Jersey so regularly visited Gerald Durrell's zoo and my mother was a very keen walker and amateur naturalist. My life and career flip-flopped a lot during the first 20 years or so, but I'd probably have told my eight-year-old self to stick to your dreams, stay curious, respect everyone, don't underestimate the power of humility, and question everything. Oh, and that anything is possible. Okay, I never did get to become a train driver, but I'm pretty happy where I am now. And there's still time for that.
If you had unlimited funds, what project would you work on?
If I were to be honest, I'd say Means of Exchange because the time feels very right for an initiative like it. Millions of people around the world have lost jobs, homes, businesses, independence, and purpose. Millions more face growing uncertainty and insecurity. Many hardworking people have been hard hit. In the greater scheme of things they're simply collateral damage in the rebalancing of a larger, broken world economic system. While it's impossible for most of us to remove ourselves entirely from this system, there is a lot we can do to lessen our dependence on it. Some of the most exciting innovation often comes about in times of scarcity, and today people are becoming increasingly innovative in order to survive, trade, and maintain a reasonable standard of living. Self-sufficiency is the order of the day, and in austerity-hit countries such as Greece citizens are turning to age-old means of exchange such as bartering, as cash becomes an increasingly scarce commodity. As Greeks and others around the world in similar situations are showing, more meaningful economic self-sufficiency is possible if people are creative in how they earn, trade, and share with one another. As money has taken over as our primary means of exchange, other more traditional methods have been lost. What we've been left with is an economic system we have little control over, a loss of community, and a drift away from the consumption of locally produced goods and services. If we get this right there are positive benefits to be had economically, environmentally, and socially, which is why I'm so motivated to work on it.
Follow Ken's wider work at kiwanja.net or on Twitter.
125th Anniversary Blog Posts
- March 9, 2014: Racing the Iditarod With Twins, Time Traveling to a Black Hole and More
- How a National Geographic Icon Took On the Cortés Trail
- September 8, 2013: Paddling Through Russia's Remotest Rivers, Playing Matchmaker for Rhinos, and More
- Second President of National Geographic, Husband and Innovator … Discover there is more to Bell than the Telephone.
- September 1, 2013: Speed Hiking From Mexico to Canada, Coming Face to Face With a Grizzly and More
Explore Photo Galleries
Explore: Cranberries
Celebrate the turkey's spunky sidekick.
From the Stacks: Circus Portraits, 1931
The October 1931 issue of National Geographic explores the whimsical world of the traveling circus.
Explore: Fashion
For 125 years, National Geographic has had a front-row seat at the global runway, documenting everything from sparklers to swimsuits.
Explore: Sports
Entertainment is becoming less physical and more virtual. Yet we still play physical games.
Explore: Transit
See how transportation has changed over 125 years.
Explore: Heat
See some of the most extreme examples of the effects of heat on our planet.
Explore: Cold
Humans have found ways to adapt to—and even enjoy—extreme temperatures.
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More Explorer Moments
Agustin Fuentes
Have you ever wondered what monkeys do when we're not around?
Becca Skinner
Skinner documented Banda Aceh, Sumatra, after the 2004 tsunami.
Todd Pierson
Pierson works for a world of amphibian and reptile diversity.
Kendra Chritz
Paleoecologist Kendra Chritz studies the planet before modern society.


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The Barkley Ballroom in Frisco transforms into a traditional jazz club Saturday night as renowned pianist Jon Wirtz brings his newest trio, Nuskool, to Summit County for the first time.
Collectively having graced stages from Costa Rica to both U.S. coasts, drummer Alejandro Castano, bassist Patrick McDevitt and pianist Jon Wirtz mesh their creativity in Nuskool.
"There are so little opportunities in Summit County to enjoy jazz music, so I think it's very exciting to see these amazing international musicians, who have been on TV shows such as 'The Late Show with David Letterman' play in the county," said Todd Altschuler of the Barkley Ballroom.
Pianist Jon Wirtz has shared the stage with Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Robbie Krieger (former keyboardist of The Doors), Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Melissa Etheridge, Matt Morris and Justin Timberlake. Witrz is the man behind Nuskool's compositions and original sound, seasoning it with elements from his own diverse musical background.
Drummer Alejandro Castano brings influences from John Bonham (formerly of Led Zeppelin) to the pocket grooves of Questlove and the world jazz of Max Roach. Bassist Patrick McDevitt shares his technical versatility of playing both upright and electric bass, adding to the group's rhythm.
On Saturday, concertgoers can expect a "real jazz lounge atmosphere," said Altschuler. "Usually on Saturday nights most people just go out to dinner, so I think it will be nice to experience something different - to enjoy a jazz concert with candlelit tables. ... I think people will be really impressed by the musicians and their talent."
The concert starts at 8:30 p.m. and seating begins at 8. It's $5/general seating; $40/table of four; and $50/table of six. Info and reservations: www.barkleyballroom.com or (970) 708-7042.


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Teaches you the fundamentals of Word for Windows 2007.
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Takes you step by step through the process of creating a mail merge; find out how to prepare source data, create a document, and merge the two to create individualized letters, envelopes, labels, and more.
Teaches you the fundamentals of Word for Windows 2010.
"Your training goes way more in-depth than most classes at my school, and you can pause and rewind it if you don't follow it the first time." —Jared L.
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