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Comprehensive Agency Assessment June 2010 Part II Vision
United States Peace Corps
|Table of Contents and Acronyms
|Part I:
|Executive Summary
|Part II:
|Part III:
|Background and Assessment Methodology
|Part IV:
|Adjusting Volunteer Placement
|Part V:
|Strengthening Management and Independent Evaluation and Oversight
|Part VI:
|Improving the Recruitment and Selection Process
|Part VII:
|Medical Care of Volunteers
|Part VIII:
|Training of Volunteers and Staff
|Part IX:
|Coordinating with International and Host Country Development Organizations
|Part X:
|Lowering Early Termination Rates
|Independent Assessments & Reform Plans
Fifty years ago, President Kennedy launched an innovative new program to spearhead progress in developing countries and promote mutual understanding between the United States and the people of the world. Fifty years later, the mission and the three goals that inspired the birth of the Peace Corps are still relevant. The passion that drove the creation of the Peace Corps is still very evident in the lives of the Volunteers who serve around the world today. The Peace Corps at fifty is ready for a strong new beginning—rooted in the vibrant past of those early days, yet ready to harness twenty-first century American intellectual power, innovation and commitment to results. The Peace Corps' mission—to promote world peace and friendship—has three goals: Volunteers who touched their lives at an early age. Peace Corps Volunteers in 77 host nations are kindling a fire in the leaders of
- 1. Helping the people of interested tomorrow. The fact that requests for Volunteers still far exceed countries in meeting their need for the Peace Corps' capacity to place them within its budget is a trained men and women. clear and convincing measure of the Peace Corps' importance to
- 2. Helping promote a better many nations and its impact around the world. Peace Corps understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
- 3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. efforts funded by others are community-owned and sustained. Peace Corps Volunteers are America's best ambassadors, building relationships with strategic partner countries from the ground up in communities across the globe. "The Peace Corps will be a leader, in partnership with others, in the global effort to further human progress and foster understanding and respect among people." The Peace Corps is not only still relevant—it is more important than ever in this increasingly complex twenty-first century world. The Peace Corps' leadership is ready to take the agency to a new level of engagement, with an inspiring new strategy to both revitalize the Peace Corps and achieve even greater impact in the nations it serves.
At the end of each chapter, the recommendations are listed and an implementation matrix is also provided which details the lead and supporting offices responsible for implementation of each recommendation, including a time line for completion.
The agency's mission and three goals have historically provided the framework for defining its vision—and should continue to do so in the future. However, the three goals are not sufficient for setting the agency's future direction, articulating its role in the world, and establishing the baseline and reference points for strategic decision-making in the future. While the three goals still remain paramount, the Peace Corps needs to clearly articulate its strategies for how it will meet its three goals in a world very different from the one in 1961 when it was founded. The Peace Corps' new strategy must take into account the changing face of both the United States and the countries in which it serves. The twenty-first century Peace Corps is fully capable of achieving more than ever before, but needs a better roadmap to strategically guide its future. Countries worldwide now have university trained leaders and national development strategies. They also have high expectations of the Americans who come to live and work in their communities. No longer can the agency send Volunteers to serve without ensuring that there is important work awaiting them and that they have received the very best training and preparation for completing their assignments. Finally, Americans hold the Peace Corps accountable for using scarce resources in the most effective ways possible. The agency needs to maximize its impact, and doing so requires a rigorous decision-making process to optimize resource allocation, and an active monitoring and evaluation function that measures progress and strengthens management decisions. As stated at the outset, the assessment team believes this is a key moment to renew excitement for the unique experience that Peace Corps service provides, to increase engagement with the international community through creative and innovative partnerships, and to enhance the effectiveness of the Peace Corps worldwide. When the assessment team asked the broader Peace Corps community for opinions on strengthening the agency, there was no shortage of passionate responses. The assessment team analyzed this rich—and abundant—feedback to determine common elements mentioned from varying perspectives and looked to
When the assessment team asked the broader Peace Corps community for opinions on strengthening the agency, there was no shortage of passionate responses. The assessment team analyzed this rich—and abundant—feedback to determine common elements mentioned from varying perspectives and looked to build on these elements to develop a strategy for reforming operations. The assessment report is grounded in these four critical elements, which are the key strengths and understandings learned from 49 years of the Peace Corps' operations.
C.1. Meaningful work
The Peace Corps' success and impact is dependent upon the agency's ability to provide capable, prepared Volunteers to meet defined host country needs (Goal 1). Goal 1 is the engine that pulls the Peace Corps train, and facilitates the achievement of Goals 2 and 3 aimed at building greater understanding between Americans and the world. Therefore, the Peace Corps' effort and resources should be targeted to improve the quality and professionalism of Volunteer work, ensuring every Volunteer has a meaningful job and is properly trained to effectively carry it out.
C.2. Partner
The Peace Corps is at its best when it works with and complements the efforts of others, including U.S.government partners. Foreign governments, organizations, and communities around the world place confidence in the Peace Corps when requesting a Volunteer. Volunteers are requested by host country partners and marketed by the Peace Corps' staff as individuals who come to assist their communities and promote mutual understanding. The Peace Corps' vision should reflect the importance of its role as a partner in supporting locally identified development priorities. The Peace Corps' impact is minimized and sustainability is limited, when it acts as an independent agent without strong partners.
C.3. Niche
The Peace Corps' operational model is unique, and it is also its major strength. Volunteers live and work in communities where other service organizations tend not to go, and they do so for extended periods of time. Volunteers learn the local language and culture and their work is driven by respect for their hosts. The relationships that Volunteers build with their partners at the national and community level are based on this unique approach. It also forms the core of the agency's effectiveness. Very few other organizations make and achieve such commitments—no other U.S. government agency comes close.
C.4. Volunteers
Approximately 85 percent of the agency's Volunteers are recent college graduates with little or no professional experience. While the recruitment of individuals with greater professional skills and relevant skill sets has increased in recent years, younger, less experienced Volunteers will continue to form the foundation for the Peace Corps' operations. The Peace Corps must be committed to providing these less experienced Volunteers with the skills they need to be effective, and to assigning them to communities where their skills and expertise allow them to have meaningful work and a quality volunteer experience. The Peace Corps should continue to recruit higher skilled applicants, but it should resist planning as if the majority of its applicants come already trained.
Based on input to the assessment from individuals and groups in the United States and overseas, the assessment team worked with the Peace Corps' senior leadership to define a set of six key strategies to guide the agency in the coming decade. These strategies are listed below and then described in more detail in the following section.
The following six strategies are the centerpiece of that effort:
- Target the Peace Corps' resources and country presence across countries according to specific country selection criteria to maximize grassroots development impact and strengthen relationships with the developing world.
- Focus on a more limited number of highly effective technical interventions that will enable the Peace Corps to demonstrate impact and achieve global excellence.
- Embrace generalist Volunteers, recruit them recognizing the competition for their services, and provide them with training and comprehensive support for success in their project areas and community outreach activities.
- Make Peace Corps Response an engine of innovation by piloting new programs to expand the Peace Corps' presence and technical depth and increase overseas service opportunities for talented Americans.
- Actively engage Volunteers, returned Volunteers and the American public through strong partnerships with private sector companies, schools, civil society, returned Peace Corps Volunteer groups and government agencies to increase understanding of other cultures and generate commitment to volunteerism and community service as a way to "continue service."
- Strengthen the Peace Corps' management and operations by using modern technology, innovative approaches and improved business processes that will enable the agency to effectively carry out this new strategic vision.
The Peace Corps must always ensure that two criteria remain paramount in its decision to place Volunteers: a country's commitment to the Peace Corps, and the assurance that the safety and security of Volunteers and staff can be maintained. Beyond that, some of the criteria that the assessment team recommends the Peace Corps use to conduct a portfolio review include: As described in greater detail in chapter IV, the Peace Corps needs to apply a more coherent strategy in determining the size and distribution of its country portfolio in order to make the most strategic use of its The Peace Corps' mission and goals remain relevant and the agency continues to be one of the most cost effective U.S. foreign assistance programs, however the agency must do a better job conveying this to the American people. In particular, the Peace Corps needs to demonstrate that it is active in those countries where the Peace Corps' added value achieves the greatest impact and where the United States will benefit from strengthened relations and increased cross-cultural understanding.
- 1. Target the Peace Corps resources and country presence across countries according to specific country selection criteria to maximize grassroots development impact and strengthen relationships with the developing world. The United States has many strategic priorities, and the Peace Corps is committed to advancing these priorities in the countries where it serves, as long as they are consistent with host country priorities. Whether these strategic priorities are technical in nature (food security, HIV/AIDS, education) or relate to building friendships and increased understanding, they should be consistent with the Peace Corps' mission. scarce resources. This analysis should use specific, objective country selection criteria to enable the agency to make resource allocation decisions that will maximize achievement of its three goals and advance the priorities of host country partners and the United States.
- Countries where the Peace Corps has demonstrated its effectiveness or where it can be determined that it can be effective;
- Countries where the need for the Peace Corps' programs is greatest;
- Countries where the Peace Corps' presence compliments other U.S. investments and priorities;
- Countries demonstrating cost effective operations and strong management capacity.
While the assessment team did not feel comfortable defining the set of interventions the Peace Corps should select, the team is confident that the Peace Corps has the capacity to determine those technical areas where it can be most effective. By combining agency knowledge with input and strategic thinking from the field, host countries, U.S. government, academia and civil society partners, the Peace Corps can focus the work of its Volunteers, in a way that will most effectively contribute to the national development of the host countries. To assist in the prioritization process, the assessment team recommends that the Peace Corps consider the following selection criteria in making its choices: The agency should commit to excellence in this reduced set of interventions, and orient its training, programming, and management support to that end. These technical interventions will also benefit from improved technical oversight and more rigorous knowledge management to facilitate cross-border sharing. Although the Peace Corps states that Volunteers work in six primary sectors (education, health and HIV/AIDS, agriculture, environment, youth development and business), Volunteers actually work in 211 different projects that can be grouped into fifty different technical programs. The Peace Corps cannot effectively train and support Volunteers in so many different technical programs. Furthermore, projects are currently designed by posts with uneven agency guidance, limited technical oversight, and minimal opportunity for sharing good and promising practices among posts.
- 2. Focus on a more limited number of highly effective technical interventions that will enable the Peace Corps to demonstrate impact and achieve global excellence. In conducting this portfolio review, the Peace Corps must be ready to make the tough choice to reduce Volunteer input or even close operations in some countries. The agency must also proactively seek opportunities to enter new countries or expand programs in existing countries where it can be more effective. The process of conducting this review will be based on existing data sources and input from the agency's many stakeholders. In the end, the process will reflect the Peace Corps' best judgment of where it can strategically maximize its effectiveness and impact. The agency has already initiated the process of undertaking this portfolio review and will complete it during the fourth quarter of FY 2010. The agency has also committed to carrying out this portfolio review annually, in the fourth quarter of every fiscal year. A key element of this six point strategy is embracing the fact that 85 percent of the agency's Volunteers are recent college graduates with little or no professional experience. These generalists are well-educated, highly motivated, and capable of becoming effective agents of change with the right training and support. Training programs must be tailored to the needs of these less experienced Volunteers. If the Peace Corps is to be a leader in the global effort to further human progress, it must be the partner of choice for foreign governments, international organizations, and local partners. The Peace Corps will only achieve this status if it can train Volunteers to deliver highly effective technical interventions that are most critical to addressing the needs in the communities they serve. The Peace Corps needs to identify a smaller set of technical interventions that maximize impact and that can be easily mastered by the Peace Corps' generalist Volunteers. Once identified, the agency needs to establish technical training programs and support involving far greater vigor and depth to ensure generalist Volunteers are soundly prepared for service. Focus down—train up. A more focused strategic lens will allow the Peace Corps to create partnerships with recognized technical experts from academia, civil society, government and the donor community in each priority sector to better inform Volunteer training, technical support, monitoring and evaluation. Ideally, pre-service training will be complemented with scheduled in-service training, the development of targeted tools and job aids, and regular supervision by the Peace Corps' training and technical specialists. By working closely with global leaders in the development of rigorous technical training, it may be possible for Volunteers to earn a certificate of proficiency which would certify their attainment of a standard of competence in that subject. Such a certification would strengthen Volunteer motivation and offer a career boost at the end of their service.
- Excellence: What do Peace Corps Volunteers do best?
- Demand: What do the communities and partners served want?
- Synergy: What are the strategic priorities of the host country and of the United States?
- Training: What can the Peace Corps effectively train Volunteers in to achieve a high level of success in their work?
- Impact: What are the technical areas where the agency will have the greatest impact?
Given the importance of training to Volunteer success in the field, the assessment team recommends the Peace Corps allocate greater resources for hiring more full-time training staff at post, ensure greater counterpart participation in training events and provide ongoing investment in key training staff. The rigorous application of effective training programs simply cannot be accomplished at the appropriate level by part-time or consultant training staff. The Peace Corps must be willing to consider new recruitment models, using all of the digital tools and interpersonal approaches that appeal to today's target applicant. The agency still offers a unique international volunteer experience that American's continue to seek. The time is now to revitalize the Peace Corps' recruitment and marketing strategies to capture the imagination of today's applicants with messages that appeal to them where they are—in their homes, cars, jobs, cell phones, and computers. The Peace Corps began as a revolutionary idea. It captured the imagination of young people in the 1960s and Americans joined en masse. It was the post college experience for adventurous, committed, altruistic young people. Apart from missionary service, it was one of only a few options for people who longed to serve in international destinations.
- 3. Embrace generalist Volunteers, recruit them recognizing the competition for their services, and provide them with training and comprehensive support for success in their project areas and community outreach activities. The process of identifying the targeted interventions and developing stronger technical training programs should move ahead immediately, and must do so with an understanding that not all current projects will continue to operate as they have in the past. The agency should proceed by identifying and rolling out selected interventions sequentially, instead of attempting to implement the full scope of the proposed focusing at this time. In each target area, the agency will also need to determine the most appropriate As the agency targets its program focus and builds stronger technical training programs, the ability of each Volunteer to work with their community partners to address local needs beyond the Volunteer's primary assignment will continue to be a critical element of the Peace Corps' contribution. For example, a water systems Volunteer would still be assigned with a host agency partner and a host counterpart to work on water systems. However, the Volunteer will still be encouraged to also start a soccer team or develop an English club. Peace Corps staff overseas would be confident in providing partners with enthusiastic Volunteers capable of integrating and working alongside them, as well as Volunteers with applicable skills to achieve the goals of their assignments. Instead of waiting months for meaningful work in their communities—a challenge expressed by many Peace Corps staff, Volunteers, and returned Volunteers providing input for the assessment—individuals serving within a more focused agency would contribute much earlier. The Peace Corps' effectiveness and impact would increase, with the spirit of community service and community integration intact. training curriculum and best delivery method for that training, working with staff to scale-up that intervention prior to identifying the next. Despite significant agency efforts over the years to attract Volunteers with greater professional experience, generalists comprise 85 percent of the Peace Corps' Volunteer force today, and will continue to be the primary target audience for the Peace Corps' recruitment efforts. However, today's generalist applicants are very different from their predecessors. They are likely to be technologically savvy and highly focused on building a career. They have different expectations and are not as likely to wait out the agency's twelve month application process. Today's generalist applicant has many alternatives to the Peace Corps that did not exist in the past. Many options for international service in various programmatic sectors, geographic locations, and lengths of service are now available. The Peace Corps faces competition from domestic and international volunteer organizations that are successfully tapping into the market for highly motivated well-educated college graduates—traditionally the agency's focus. Once on board, the Peace Corps must establish a new level of commitment to ensuring Volunteers will receive world-class language, cultural and technical training in preparation for meaningful work that awaits them. Applicants should look to the Peace Corps as the service option of choice, as they know that the Peace Corps' training provides real skills, valuable for their Volunteer service and throughout their professional careers. Applicants should feel confident that the Peace Corps' training is followed by an assignment to a community where their skills and expertise are needed, wanted and will allow them to make a difference. After beginning their work, they should know an ongoing training program is in place throughout their service to constantly maximize their effectiveness. Now is the time to offer levels of training surpassing what is currently provided, both in quality and depth, guaranteeing applicants that service in the Peace Corps will provide not only an opportunity to serve others, but skills and training necessary to make an impact and an unmatched opportunity for professional growth.
Response Volunteers can become mentors to the Peace Corps' Volunteers and their host country counterparts, with assignments that complement the efforts of the traditional two-year Peace Corps Volunteer. An expanded Response program will also rapidly increase the number of Americans who feel kinship with the Peace Corps, enabling the agency to more fully achieve its three goals through broader participation. Peace Corps Response will provide targeted training for Response Volunteers, depending on The assessment team recommends developing an expanded Peace Corps Response program to attract and support more experienced individuals. Breaking from the current mission of Peace Corps Response, assignments would be open to those who could meet qualification criteria, whether or not they had been Peace Corps Volunteers in the past. This program would place experienced and qualified individuals into assignments that draw on their specific skills and experience, with flexible time commitments2. Overseas posts could request a Volunteer with a specific skill set from Peace Corps Response or Peace Corps Response could notify posts of the availability of individuals with specific skills and experience. Peace Corps Response1—formerly known as Crisis Corps—provides returned Peace Corps Volunteers the opportunity to serve in rewarding, short-term assignments in developing countries. To date, more than 1,100 Peace Corps Response Volunteers have served in over 40 countries in Latin America, Africa, the Pacific, Asia, and Eastern Europe and, following hurricane Katrina, 272 Peace Corps Response Volunteers were deployed in the United States. Assignments include enhancing existing agency programs, responding to natural disasters, initiating first-time programs in new Peace Corps countries, or returning to a country where there has not been a Peace Corps presence for some time.
- 4. Make Peace Corps Response an engine of innovation by piloting new programs to expand the Peace Corps' presence and technical depth and increase overseas service opportunities for talented Americans Peace Corps Response Volunteers bring the skills and experience gained during their previous Peace Corps service to new short-term projects in places where they are needed most. Unfortunately, Peace Corps Response is still very small, and currently lacks the technological capacity to process a larger number of applications. Nevertheless, Peace Corps Response is currently able to meet host countries requests for specific skill sets on a faster turn-around time than traditional Peace Corps programs. The Peace Corps' new strategy to expand Peace Corps Response to any American who has the requisite technical skills and professional experience to address some of the world's most critical needs is a bold leap forward. By doing so, the agency will allow more Americans the opportunity to serve overseas with the Peace Corps and bring greater diversity and experience to the Peace Corps portfolio. Opening Peace Corps Response to all qualified Americans will enable those who are not able to commit to two years with the opportunity to serve on shorter-term assignments in a country that desperately needs their skills. It improves the chances that the Peace Corps can successfully and adequately fill requests from host countries for Volunteers with a broader and deeper set of technical skills. This will be particularly important if the Peace Corps begins to focus its traditional program on a more targeted set of technical interventions.
- 1 Peace Corps Response has its roots in an ad hoc and intermittent practice that developed in the 1970s of sending Returned Peace Corps Volunteers on short term assistance assignments, including to countries where there was no Peace Corps presence. In 1996, the process was formalized and Crisis Corps, an office at the Peace Corps dedicated to disaster relief, was established. In 2007, following a gradual change in requests for Volunteers with more technical skills in countries that were not experiencing a disaster or crisis the program was renamed "Peace Corps Response." Peace Corps Response Volunteers are placed in short-term, high impact assignments ranging from three months to one year.
- 2 Returned Peace Corps Volunteer's would be able to continue serving in Peace Corps Response for shorter periods of time. The Peace Corps can more effectively mobilize Volunteer passion and commitment with a few small steps, including reinforcing the expectation that "bringing the world back home" is a long-term commitment at every stage of the Volunteer lifecycle—recruitment, training, volunteer service, and return home. The Peace Corps should be proactive in developing a set of tools to assist Volunteers in this effort—both in pre-service training and post-service training. Now known as Completion of Service (COS) training, the assessment team believes that it should be re-positioned as "Continuation of Service" training, with concrete tools and resources to guide and support Volunteer efforts. With that in mind, the assessment team recommends that the Peace Corps pursue a third goal strategy focusing on two main initiatives. At the same time, although the United States remains a dominant power, the country faces numerous social challenges that drain its resources and compromise the country's national development. Current Volunteers and returned Peace Corps Volunteers know what it is like to "live" community service, and have the tools, knowledge and experience that come from this immersion. They understand that citizen action is key to addressing national priorities from the ground up. They have witnessed the power of individual and collective innovation to transform neighborhoods. There is great potential in the returned Peace Corps Volunteer community to help foster innovation and change in communities in the United States, just as they did in their host countries.
- 5. Actively engage Volunteers, returned Volunteers and the American public through strong partnerships with private sector companies, schools, civil society, returned Peace Corps Volunteer groups, and government agencies to increase understanding of other cultures and generate commitment to volunteerism and community service as a way to "continue service." the applicant's previous overseas work experience, language capacity, technical skills and professional experience. The Peace Corps has already begun using Response Volunteers to enter new countries or return to former host countries, particularly those that are recently post-conflict, such as Liberia and Sierra Leone. This model has enabled the Peace Corps to test the waters and take the time to build up an infrastructure before committing to a full-fledged two year Volunteer program. The world today is dramatically different from the one in which the Peace Corps was founded. Advancements in information technology, transportation, agriculture, industry, and communication have transformed the world into a fluid global economy. The face of the country is changing. The United States has always been the land of immigrants, and that has never been more true than today. Today's citizens need to embrace the diversity that is America, and prepare to live in an increasingly interdependent world. Based on their experiences, current Volunteers and returned Peace Corps Volunteers have unique potential to actively promote global citizenship through Internet and school-based programs targeting young people to educate about countries and cultures around the world. To date, however, this potential has been largely untapped by the Peace Corps, as the agency's efforts have focused more squarely its first and second goals. However, the Peace Corps' senior leadership is dedicated to bringing the world back home by more extensive partnering with private sector companies, schools, civil society, returned Peace Corps Volunteer groups and government agencies to promote global citizenship and volunteerism as a way to "continue the service" and help address pressing national challenges.
- 1. Increase participation and expand the Coverdell World Wise Schools (CWWS) program and other school-based initiatives to promote global citizenship, while also engaging other non-school audiences; These efforts must be expanded and more widely promoted. If the Peace Corps is to prioritize third goal activities, it must raise their profile within the agency and increase the proportion of funding directed to their implementation. It must also pursue innovative new approaches, such as establishing a Peace Corps Intern program allowing some of the agency's top Volunteer talent from overseas to complete a year-long paid internship in the United States with key development partners as well as private and public sector organizations who would benefit from the unique perspective brought to their organization by a recently returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
- 2. Create partnerships to scale up returned Peace Corps Volunteer participation in activities to share their experience and support innovative community service. U.S. educators with returned Peace Corps Volunteers who agree to share their Peace Corps experiences in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges in their communities. These efforts should be continued and expanded to include greater participation from serving Volunteers, wider involvement from American schools and increased utilization of social media and technology. The Coverdell World Wise Schools program is a strong partner in U.S. efforts to teach American school children how to be global citizens. CWWS has three primary activities: first, its classroom resources program, where CWWS develops and distributes lesson plans, educational videos, podcasts and interactive simulations of Peace Corps Volunteer activities to primary and secondary schools around the country; second, its CWWS Correspondence Match program that connects U.S. elementary and secondary school teachers with current Volunteers who share their Peace Corps experiences at least once a month through letters, emails, photos, artifacts, and/or phone calls. Lastly, the CWWS Speakers Match program connects Beyond the CWWS program, the Peace Corps should actively seek partnership with like-minded organizations, universities, foundations, policy groups and returned Volunteer groups to expand support and commitment to global citizenship. There are many opportunities to participate more widely in the global debate about the benefits of volunteer service and the importance of global citizenship through leadership roles in conferences, workshops, professional journals, and popular media. Initiatives such as the Global Service Fellows provide opportunities for greater public discourse on this important topic. More active engagement in the public debate on the role of global citizenship will require a higher level of senior management staff commitment in the future. Agency leadership is firmly committed to the assessment team's recommendations for the Peace Corps to begin addressing the invaluable domestic dividend of Peace Corps service through a dramatically more structured and engaging approach to third goal efforts. In addition to current agency programs, the Peace Corps is building a network of strategic partnerships with targeted domestic non-profit organizations to connect returned Peace Corps Volunteers with broader opportunities to "continue service" in ways that help address pressing national problems. Over the past nine months, the Peace Corps has entered into formal partnerships with the National Peace Corps Association, the National Association of Community Health Centers, City Year, and The Corps Network, and will continue to build relationships with many other non-profits, businesses, universities and returned Peace Corps Volunteer groups in the future. An important partner in this effort is the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, which works with federal agencies to create tools, such as innovation funds, prizes, and other social capital market structures to drive resources towards community solutions that demonstrate success. All of these partners have strong programs where returned Peace Corps Volunteers can build upon their Volunteer experience to support community solutions to America's toughest challenges. The National Peace Corps Association has suggested additional innovative ideas to encourage returned Peace Corps Volunteers to participate more actively when they return home, and these should be given
The Obama Administration has prioritized innovation and Open Government, and the Peace Corps is eager to adapt and modernize its systems so that it can provide a much higher level of efficiency, transparency and quality in its operations. The Volunteer Delivery System, currently in development, will streamline the application process for new recruits, improving the timeliness and quality of the recruitment process, and hopefully reducing dramatically the number of applicants lost to drop-out. The Peace Corps is embarking on a new electronic medical records initiative in order to improve the quality of Volunteer health care and streamline the management of Volunteer health services. The strategy described above is exciting and proactive, but its implementation will require continued advancements in innovation and improved management practices. As a government agency, the Peace Corps has significantly less bureaucracy than most. But it has suffered from years of budget cuts, as have many agencies, that have whittled away funding for key functions such as Volunteer training and staff development, and limited its ability to modernize its systems and processes, particularly in the area of information technology. strong consideration. They include a proposal to encourage newly returned Volunteers to plan, conduct and report on third goal activities over an additional period of time following their return home, with a modest financial incentive for doing so. Another idea is to create a small grants program to expand innovative third goal activities using new technologies to reach new audiences. The Peace Corps' funds for this purpose would be leveraged by a match from the National Peace Corps Association.
- 6. Strengthen the Peace Corps' management and operations by using modern technology, innovative approaches and improved business processes that will enable the agency to effectively carry out this new strategic vision.
Several areas for substantive work were noted by the assessment team, including the need for a serious look at the human resources necessary at headquarters and (especially) the field to follow through with the rigorous training program and Volunteers support measures described in this strategy. This is an excellent time to focus on strengthening full-time training capacity at the field level, supplementing that with a new cadre of highly skilled technical advisors at the headquarters and/or regional levels to support the Peace Corps' move to support a more rigorous technical agenda. In recent years, the Peace Corps has much more proactively sought to improve monitoring and evaluation practices, and has conducted a series of country impact studies that provide some valuable results to strengthen country programs and disseminate best practices more widely. The Peace Corps is committed to improving its capacity in this area, and has provided strong leadership in the Office of Strategic Information and Planning who work closely with monitoring and evaluation staff at the Office of Overseas Programming and Training Support to improve monitoring and evaluation practices. An improved monitoring and evaluation system would not only strengthen the quality of training and technical support to Volunteers, but it will also lead to better communication of results to all stakeholders. The Peace Corps will need to assess both the human resource and technology requirements of strengthening its monitoring and evaluation capacity to collect, analyze, use and disseminate data for more effective decision-making. The Peace Corps also needs to drastically strengthen its knowledge management capacity using an integrated, systematic approach to identifying, acquiring, storing, disseminating, using, and sharing the Peace Corps' knowledge.
1. Establish a plan to address the impacts on overseas operations in a collaborative manner with the Peace Corps' staff in the field:
In an agency that sees frequent turnover at all levels because of the Five Year Rule and political appointments, the Peace Corps faces a particular challenge to the successful implementation of this strategy. However, the assessment team believes that the Peace Corps is capable of making such a change so that strategic, evidence-based decisions become standard operating procedure regardless of future leadership transitions. The implementation of the new vision and the supporting strategy will not come without challenges to the agency and its current program model. Commitment from the agency's leadership as well as regular and consistent communication through all levels of the Peace Corps' operations will be essential. In addition to the inherent challenges associated with making substantive change to any organization, there will be tangible implications in regards to resources, staff, systems and operations. Many of these challenges will require fresh approaches and a spirit of innovation. The assessment team believes the challenges can be overcome, and many provide opportunities for further revitalizing and strengthening the Peace Corps.
The Peace Corps' leadership plans to establish a team to oversee the implementation of the vision and six key strategies presented in this assessment. Led by a project manager, the implementation team will work under the supervision of the Office of the Director, and in close collaboration with the rest of the agency's management. While this team will develop the implementation plan, the assessment team believes the cornerstones of the plan must include the following thirteen points: 1. Establish a plan to address the impacts on overseas operations in a collaborative manner with the Peace Corps' staff in the field: • Communicate changes to current operations and impacts on staff; • Determine changes to current projects and country programs; • Determine new country programs and interventions to be pursued; • Establish a training program for host country staff whose role with the Peace Corps will change; and, • Deliver regular communication and establish open and ongoing dialogue with the field. 2. Examine why the agency operates where it operates with the Volunteer levels assigned to each country and geographic placements of Volunteers within each country. Develop a strategic approach to country assignments, Volunteer allocations, and Volunteer placements within individual countries. This approach should be based on criteria that consider grassroots development needs, interventions in which the Peace Corps would have the greatest development impact, opportunities for strengthened relations between the United States and the host country, Volunteer health and safety, and the likelihood of Volunteers achieving the agency's three goals. 3. Determine specific technical interventions through a collaborative process that uses field knowledge, headquarters perspective, and input from leading development organizations and partners. Identify and roll out each intervention sequentially. 4. Assess the adequacy of the Peace Corps' current management structure and business model and make appropriate adjustments to ensure resources are dedicated for the successful implementation of the vision and its supporting strategies. 5. Develop a dynamic and broad communications strategy that uses technology and social media to support the agency's new strategic vision. The communications strategy should utilize the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps as an opportunity to deliver the agency's new strategic vision to the public, agency staff, partners, host governments, Volunteers, potential Volunteers, Congress, and the greater Peace Corps community. 6. Redesign and enhance Peace Corps Response to implement its new role as defined in this assessment. 7. Develop a strong communications strategy for Peace Corps Response, highlighting its new innovative approaches and significant changes. 8. Develop a recruiting strategy and a new recruiting model for the Peace Corps and Peace Corps Response to implement the plan. 9. Establish a standardized core technical training program in the specific technical interventions identified, and determine the most effective method for such training. 10. Establish and strengthen partnerships overseas and in the United States to support the implementation of the plan. 11. Develop a more streamlined and effective monitoring and evaluation system to evaluate the success of the implementation plan. 12. Aggressively ramp up school, private sector, civil society, and government agency engagement to achieve third goal of the Peace Corps, while committing agency resources and energy to third goal programs with measurable impact. 13. Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the agency by acknowledging the Peace Corps' history, but focusing mmost of its efforts on enthusiastically confirming why the best years of the Peace Corps are yet to come.
Over the course of the assessment team's extensive outreach efforts to solicit input for this comprehensive assessment, no single topic was mentioned with greater frequency than the need for the Peace Corps to identify and articulate a powerful strategic vision to guide the agency in the coming years. As the Peace Corps prepares to turn 50, current and former Volunteers and staff members, advocates, critics, and members of Congress believe the agency needs to reflect on the lessons it has learned in the past 49 years and needs to restructure for a world dramatically different than the one in which it was formed in 1961 to ensure the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps is substantially more forward-looking than reflective.
The assessment team makes two overarching recommendations:
- Recommendation II-1: The assessment team recommends the Peace Corps adopt the proposed vision and the six supporting strategies necessary to implement this vision. Over the course of the assessment team's extensive outreach efforts to solicit input for this comprehensive assessment, no single topic was mentioned with greater frequency than the need for the Peace Corps to identify and articulate a powerful strategic vision to guide the agency in the coming years. As the Peace Corps prepares to turn 50, current and former Volunteers and staff members, advocates, critics, and members of Congress believe the agency needs to reflect on the lessons it has learned in the past 49 years and needs to restructure for a world dramatically different than the one in which it was formed in 1961 to ensure the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps is substantially more forward-looking than reflective.
- Recommendation II-2: The assessment team recommends the Peace Corps immediately establish a team to oversee the implementation of the proposed vision and its six pronged strategy and develop an implementation plan with timeline and deliverables to ensure successful adoption of the plan. Specifically, the assessment team recommends:
- 1) Targeting the Peace Corps' resources and country presence across countries according to specific country selection criteria to maximize grassroots development impact and strengthen relationships with the developing world (See chapter IV);
- 2) Focusing on a more limited number of highly effective technical interventions that will enable the Peace Corps to demonstrate impact and achieve global excellence;
- 3) Embracing generalist Volunteers, recruiting them recognizing the competition for their services, and providing them with training and comprehensive support for success in their project areas and community outreach activities (See chapters VI and VIII);
- 4) Making Peace Corps Response an engine of innovation by piloting new programs to expand the Peace Corps' presence and technical depth and increase overseas service opportunities for talented Americans (See chapter VI);
- 5) Actively engaging Volunteers, returned Volunteers and the American public through strong partnerships with private sector companies, schools, civil society, returned Peace Corps Volunteer groups and government agencies to increase understanding of other cultures and generate commitment to volunteerism and community service as a way to "continue service" (See chapter XI); and,
- 6) Strengthening the Peace Corps' management and operations by using modern technology, innovative approaches and improved business processes that will enable the agency to effectively carry out this new strategic vision (See chapter V).
The time has come for the Peace Corps to not only embrace its rich history, but also clearly define and powerfully articulate why its best years are yet to come: why Americans should be excited to serve; why the Peace Corps is one of the U.S. government's most strategic investments; and why countries, nongovernmental organizations and communities around the world should pursue partnership with the Peace Corps. With President Obama's call to service, the 50th anniversary, and the strong development background of the current Director and his staff, the Peace Corps' is ready to implement a powerful set of new strategies to magnify the Peace Corps' presence, impact and reach.


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The interlocking design of the 200 Series provides telescoping adjustment. Easily extend or retract your monitors through a 58 cm range of motion.
Position two LCDs at the point of need, then push them back out of the way when not in use
Touch-screen stability
Cable management system routes and conceals cables under the arm
Accommodates various display sizes; slide screens into place to align edges
Rugged steel construction
Extends out 23" (58 cm) or folds back to 5.7" (14.5 cm) from wall in storage position
Rotate screens to view in either landscape or portrait mode

subset: commoncrawl


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Own passage to India inspires local novelist
MONTPELIER About three years ago Montpeliers Kathryn Guare decided it was time to do something with the collection of characters and scenes shed been slowly building up for 12 years. Her work culminated last month with the debut of her first novel, Deceptive Cadence: The Virtuosic Spy.
When I first started to write the book, I didnt know it was a book. I had some scenes and a character, but I didnt know who he was. He didnt really even have a name, said Guare, 49. For a long time, just a lot of different scenes and characters came to me and I would just write, but none of it really went together. At some point I just started to think my subconscious is trying to tell me something. So I thought more about what the story could be and began linking things together and attacking it more chronologically.
Her suspense novel reflects many of her experiences on a monthlong trip through India several years ago. She was living in Boston at the time, where she gravitated toward a career in health care management and consulting after growing up in Montpelier and graduating from Saint Michaels College.
The impetus for her journey was a connection her family had with an Indian priest. During World War II Guares aunt, a devout Catholic, had been sending money for Indian seminarians, which she assumed was being dispersed as part of a general fund. In fact, Guares aunt had been funding one particular mans education, and, to give his thanks, he found out who she was and visited the United States a number of times, staying with the family.
I knew I wanted to write about it, so I could capture my experience. You either love (India) or hate it, I think. But I fell in love with it. The poverty is absolutely shocking, especially for me, a little Vermont girl who had never been anywhere it was an overwhelming sensory experience, Guare said. But it was also so vibrant and the people were so social and wanting to just know you and engage with you and be hospitable. Ive been back several times.
Though the main character spends a lot of time in India, hes actually Irish, a nod to Guares own family history.
We have all these half-mythical stories of the ancestors in my family, so I went to Ireland with a friend from college the first time. Its so wild, seeing people who look like people you know people in your family that Irish face. Add that to how nice and hospitable everyone is, and you feel like you fit in, said Guare.
While the inspiration for the setting and characters was easy, when it came time to publish, Guare said the process was overwhelming. Though she heard good things from the agents who got back to her, none chose to represent her and try to sell her book to a publisher.
I knew it wasnt going to be a prize-winning book, but I felt confident that it was good enough, and I really wanted to share it and give other people the opportunity to read it, she said.
So Guare prepared to self-publish. Finding a reputable firm was relatively easy, but to raise the money to pay for the comprehensive publishing package which included copyright, ISBN numbering, printing, ebook release, warehousing, a website, etc. Guare knew she had to get creative.
I heard a piece on NPR about crowd funding. They were gushing over how it was going to change entrepreneurship in America, that it gives people access to funding to follow their dreams. I was in my car, hunched over the wheel listening to every word, telling myself, Kickstarter, Kickstarter you have to remember that word.
Guare posted a video explaining her project and her goal on Kickstarter.com, a website that allows people to donate money to a wide range of projects. After meeting her goal, she began the publishing process in October and had the book in her hands in March.
Ive been really pleased with the reaction people have had to the book. They are connecting with the parts that meant the most to me as well. Its gratifying when you spent so much time developing a character to hear someone else say, Hes such a great character, and I cant wait for the next (book), she said.
Guare is at work on the second novel of the series. Deceptive Cadence is available in local bookstores and at www.kathrynguare.com and www.amazon.com.MORE IN Central VermontMIDDLEBURY According to WebMD, Dystonia is a movement disorder that causes a persons muscles ... Full StoryTiffany Briggs and Kayla Jackson eyed each other across the table, clasped hands, and then it was... Full StoryMARLBORO Police are investigating a burglary on Higley Hill Road. Full Story
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Doctors say it's time to give your heart a break
Patients don't exercise, than try to shovel heavy snow
As people across the Upper Midwest break out the shovels and snow blowers, doctors say it's time to give your heart a break.
Doctor David Warren at the Regions Hospital emergency department says he worries about patients who aren't accustomed to exercising and then try to lift a lot of heavy snow.
He recommends people loosen their muscles before starting, then taking things slowly.
If you start to feel dizzy, Warren says, take a break immediately. If you feel signs of a heart attack or heart condition -- such as squeezing chest pain that may radiate to the neck, shoulder, arm or jaw or cold sweats, nausea or vomiting -- take a break immediately and if the pain doesn't go away call 911.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Even if you're undocumented, you still have rights! Learn more, get help
Unemployment Insurance Appeals
LAS–ELC's Unemployment Insurance Appeals Project works to ensure that all workers can access unemployment insurance benefits when they need them.
Unemployment insurance benefits are an important safety net for many workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Benefits are provided through the California Employment Development Department and appeals are handled by the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. Whether at the EDD or the CUIAB, workers who are aware of their rights to unemployment insurance benefits are more easily able to access these benefits.
The project's goal is to educate workers about their rights to receive unemployment insurance. We provide fact sheets, self-help guides, presentations and legal advice, all to help workers advocate on their own behalf at the EDD or CUIAB. When necessary, LAS–ELC may represent workers directly in their unemployment insurance appeals.


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"Thanks for producing the best show on the radio (Catholic or otherwise)! My husband and I finally joined the Radio Club and look forward to supporting y'all quarterly from now on."
~ Adalee
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"Great is poverty, but greater is obedience."
~ Pope John XXII, in his Bull "Quorumdam exigit" (1317); urging a group of separatist friars who engaged in extreme asceticism to follow the Faith (e.g., Romans 13:1-2) and obey their leaders (from the article "Spirituals")


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Buy for$2.94(7 items)
Written by !J.O.O.E.! on 30.05.2010 at 17:01
According to wikipedia there's a review for this album. Where is it?
Written by Uirapuru on 01.07.2010 at 07:08
Written by !J.O.O.E.! on 30.05.2010 at 17:01
According to wikipedia there's a review for this album. Where is it?
Yeah... for some reason they put the Users Rating as if it was an official MS review
Written by !J.O.O.E.! on 13.03.2013 at 19:02
Gah, this really is a fantastic album.
Written by Ilham on 17.07.2014 at 06:27
It's my least favourite of that era. Care to tell me, a year after the comment, why you like it?
Written by !J.O.O.E.! on 17.07.2014 at 11:54
Not really sure. The 2 albums prior to this always felt very dry to me and felt like dirges of industrially post-punk without much form and never really did anything for me, whereas here it feels like a nice balance between that abrasive sound and the dark melodies of Night Time. Coleman sounds more like I imagine him to be on this one and more or less defines his sound. He actually sort of sings here and explores his vocal range a lot more (I guess he sings a fair amount in the debut though, which I prefer to the 2 albums after it). Just feels tighter and with more memorable tracks I suppose. I just love the whole court jester / tribal atmosphere it has going on.
Just occurred to me I don't think I've ever heard Outside The Gate.
Written by Ilham on 17.07.2014 at 15:10
Okay. I understand. That's the thing, I can't make head or tails of this album, Revelations and What's This For. I never listened to them very often, but they're too chaotic for me. I don't mind the abrasive sound of them, but it's really a song structure thing. Of course I love the debut, and Night Time is one of my favourite, but I just wanted to know why you seemed to like this one so much, while I have difficulty even distinguishing it from the previous two.
Outside The Gate is great. It's in the vein of the previous two. I mean there's America in it, don't tell me you never heard that song.
Written by !J.O.O.E.! on 17.07.2014 at 15:32
Umm, probably, not very good with song names =P
Seems we partially agree then, though it's funny our opinions of this one went north and south. This one definitely has that chaotic feel, but I find it's bound together quite nicely with melody and structure.


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The Great Whiskey War
St. Patrick's Day is a time for celebrating the spirit of the Irish – not to mention the "spirits" of the Irish. While this day unites in Irish solidarity, the accompanying flow of whiskey on March 17th is not without conflict – for March is the month of The Great Whiskey War. At no other time of the year is Irish whiskey more sought after than the weeks leading up


text: In reply to my latest installment of the "Disambiguating Faith" series in which I replied to Adam's query about whether an episode of House M.D. provided an example in which a choice to think irrationally (to eliminate symptoms when diagnosing an illness) might prove the more rational course. I argued that if eliminating symptoms helped [Read More…]


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No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 stated that paraprofessionals must show competency (e. g., be qualified) no later than four years after the law was enacted, by January 8, 2006. The deadline for teachers to become highly qualified in their core academic area was June 30, 2006. The U. S. Department of Education is extending the deadline for paraprofessionals, believing that the qualified paraprofessional and highly qualified teacher provisions should be consistent. USDE will align its monitoring and enforcement efforts of states for both the highly qualified teacher and paraprofessional provisions of the law. This will ensure a more efficient, effective and coordinated method of monitoring state efforts in these areas while ensuring that all children are provided with the resources the law provides them.


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Both employees, one long-term and one recently hired, submitted resignations. In addition, the city has been without a certified worker in the plant and is relying on LNV Engineering, its engineering firm, to furnish the credentials needed to run the plant.
"Last night we hired Dave Furzer, who was working at the plant under LNV before we hired him," Councilman Frank Hosey said.
The council hired Furzer as the superintendent over the wastewater plant at a department head salary of $47,840. The city will now have four departments heads in that salary range.
"We had to have a certified operator at the plant," Mayor Ray Jaso said. "As a matter of fact, we're required to have two."


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#194685 - 12/07/10 10:38 PM Re: Pleonasm [Re: RonDavis]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 11613
Loc: Louisville, Kentucky
Oh, yes--Pookie! I believe he got lost to Facebook. I miss him, too.
#194686 - 12/07/10 11:03 PM Re: Pleonasm [Re: Jackie]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/23/08
Posts: 8539
Loc: Land of the Flat Water
How sad._________________________
----please, draw me a sheep----
#194715 - 12/09/10 06:14 AM Re: ANAGRAMS IV [Re: LukeJavan8]
Registered: 09/21/10
Posts: 1706
Loc: down under
Originally Posted By: beck123 in anagrams IV
just catching up on the posts I missed and wanted to comment on this one...S.C.U.B.A (originally an acronym for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus)...and so may be considered a 'pleonasm' when teamed with tanks as in 'scuba tanks'.
#194739 - 12/09/10 01:57 PM Re: Pleonasm and Missing [Re: Jackie]
Registered: 05/17/05
Posts: 456
Loc: SE US
Jackie! Baybee!!_________________________
#194741 - 12/09/10 02:20 PM Re: Pleonasm [Re: Faldage]
Registered: 05/17/05
Posts: 456
Loc: SE US
Originally Posted By: FaldageHot water heater is not really a pleonasm. There can be heaters that heat other things than water. And heaters that heat water but do not produce hot water. Heat tape, e.g., is a water heater but all it does to the water is keep it from freezing.
Hey Fal
It is not the "water" part that is the problem in that. It would also sound lame but make more sense to say "hot water maker". Function is not the issue. A water cooler does not necessarily cool water but (hopefully) no one says "cold water cooler" or "frozen ice machine".
"Fatuous pleonasm is, hrmm." -Yoda_________________________
#194804 - 12/10/10 07:49 AM Re: Pleonasm [Re: Aramis]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13803
"frozen ice machine" gets 92,800 ghits.
#194808 - 12/10/10 08:46 AM Re: Pleonasm [Re: Faldage]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 3290
Loc: R'lyeh
"frozen ice machine" gets 92,800 ghits.
The thing I find interesting about pleonasmata is how popular they are and why. Of course, the folks who disparage them and their use are upset, but most of the language-speaking world is blithe to their existence. But redundancy is not something bad in language. In fact, there are many instances of redundancy that don't set the normative grammarians off like a cheap fourth of July firecracker. Concord between different constituents in a sentence is something that is good and grammatical and must-needs be upheld.
And other languages display it to a greater extent than English. Adjectives in Russian, German, and Latin have to agree with the noun they qualify in number, gender, and case. This bluntly put is pleonasm. The information is thus encoded lover several words. Of course, there is a benefit to this, especially in the case case: i.e., it's easier to move words around in a sentence or phrase. For example, in English the nature of things and the things of nature have two different meanings, but in Latin de rerum natura and de natura rerum can only mean the 'nature of things'. In fact, this sample phrase illustrates how Latin is capable of splitting prepositional phrases without the risk of unmeaning._________________________
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
#194826 - 12/10/10 05:25 PM Re: Pleonasm [Re: RonDavis]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 11613
Loc: Louisville, Kentucky
Let's not forget ATM machines and PIN numbers. (For anyone who may not know these Americanisms, ATM stands for automated teller machine, and PIN is personal identification number.)
#194828 - 12/10/10 06:03 PM Re: Pleonasm [Re: Jackie]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 04/03/00
Posts: 10538
Loc: this too shall pass
this is where Faldo steps in and proclaims "redundantism is your friend", or somesuch. does *anyone go around saying 'AT machines' or (expecially) 'PI numbers'?
#194831 - 12/10/10 07:37 PM Re: Pleonasm [Re: RonDavis]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13803
There's also, e.g., an ATM card, so ATM has taken on a meaning beyond its literal expansion.
Not to mention that titmouse is a pleonasm, deriving as it does from the Old Norsetittr, 'titmouse' and the Old English mase, 'titmouse'.
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p53K382Me2 is derived from amino acid residues 377-387 of human p53 tumor suppressor protein, with dimethylation at Lys382. DNA damage induces increased levels of this peptide, which is recognized by p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1). 53BP1 interacts with p53 and modulates its transactivation.


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By Dave Wagner: CNJ sports writer
PORTALES — Michael Maya had a chance to go Division I coming out of Valley High this spring, but he felt he was ready to play.
Maya, the Albuquerque area player of the year and the state leader in scoring and assists in 2009-10, is part of second-year Eastern New Mexico University coach Andrew Helton's recruiting class for the upcoming season.
He passed on a chance to go to New Mexico State, which wanted him to walk on, saying he liked what he saw at ENMU.
"I really liked the coaching staff, and the players seemed cool," Maya said. "Coach (Helton) said they try to play up and down, and that's my style.
"He just told me to come in and work hard, and if I do I'll have a good chance to start."
ENMU took a big step last season, going 12-16 overall and 5-7 in the Lone Star Conference South after back-to-back 0-12 campaigns in the division. Among others, the Greyhounds return their top three scorers in 6-6 senior forward Tyler Jefferson (11.7 ppg), 6-0 senior guard Reggie Nelson (11.7) and 6-4 senior guard Victor Reid (9.2).
"I was pretty happy with some of the improvements we made in league play," Helton said. "We got better later in the year."
The Hounds have signed three other players in 6-2 Manzano shooting guard Kyle Lantz and two California junior college big men — 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward Max Carrier of Irvine Valley College and 6-7, 200-pound forward Aaron Edwards of San Bernadino Valley College.
Helton said they don't plan to sign anyone else.
Maya averaged 22 1/2 points, leading Valley to a 21-8 record and a berth in the Class 5A state semifinals, while Lantz shot 47 percent from 3-point range to help Manzano finish 26-3 and reach the quarterfinals after being ranked No. 1 for much of the year.
Maya had 36-point games at The Pit against Clovis in the quarterfinals and Mayfield in the semis.
"He's an unselfish player," Helton said. "We felt, without question, Michael was the best point guard in the state."
The 6-foot Maya said he's pass-first, shoot-second, but added he's comfortable doing either.
"I look for my teammates a lot," he said. "I like to drive and dish, but if I'm open I can hit the shot."
Helton said Lantz could be a better college than high school player with guards able to get him the ball in better rhythm.
Carrier averaged 11 points, seven rebounds and 1 1/2 blocks in helping Irvine Valley to a 26-5 mark and a quarterfinal berth in the California state juco playoffs. Meantime, Edwards averaged 12 points and 5.2 rebounds as San Bernadino went 31-3 and reached the state semifinals.
Their teams split two games head-to-head during the season.
Helton, a college assistant for 16 years prior last season, said it was a learning experience for him.
"I enjoyed being a head coach," he said. "You make mistakes, but you learn and get better. Hopefully, I'll make fewer mistakes this season."


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International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group (IOCCG) Handbook of Satellite Remote Sensing Image Interpretation: Applications for Marine Living Resources Conservation and Management
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text:
Articles 2
The 20th century was one of the most important in the history of mankind. As it drew to an end, advances in the scientific and technological fields inevitably gave rise to questions as to the shape of the century to follow.
At the end of the 1980s, the disappearance of a bi-polar world led to attitudes to the likely course of history. That position was known as "the new world order." In a short time, it was placed on a number of theoretical foundations.
One of the new period's most important theoreticians, Francis Fukuyama, claimed that liberal capitalist values were the highest which mankind could attain. In his article "The End of History" that sparked off a whole debate, he suggested that political systems and concepts of living were coming to resemble one another in all parts of the world. In his view, the defining characteristic of ideologies had disappeared, and the world was falling into a competition based on economics. That was not the first time such a claim had been made, of course. Even before Fukuyama, the thesis that history developed by means of competition and conflict had been suggested in the framework of a deterministic and Darwinist concept of history.
According to the new thesis, mankind was about to reach the happiest point in its history. In an article in the Wall Street Journal after the Sept. 11 attacks, Francis Fukuyama adopted a Darwinist model of the social sciences, and described the future of humanity in these words:
But the way in which I used the word history was different: it referred to the progress over the centuries toward modernity, characterised by institutions like democracy and capitalism. My observation, made in 1989 on the eve of the collapse of communism, was that this evolutionary process did seem to be bringing ever larger parts of the world toward modernity. And if we looked beyond liberal democracy and markets, there was nothing else towards which we could expect to evolve; hence the end of history.1
But the way in which I used the word history was different: it referred to the progress over the centuries toward modernity, characterised by institutions like democracy and capitalism. My observation, made in 1989 on the eve of the collapse of communism, was that this evolutionary process did seem to be bringing ever larger parts of the world toward modernity. And if we looked beyond liberal democracy and markets, there was nothing else towards which we could expect to evolve; hence the end of history.1
Samuel Huntington
Those who adopted a deterministic belief and claimed that mankind had finally come to the end of its road were taken by surprise by the instability and wars in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere in the world. The Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus and parts of Africa, regions that had lived by Qur'anic morality up to the 20th century and hosted very different cultures and ethnic structures, were submerged in chaos.
Following these developments, a number of theoreticians, led by Professor Samuel P. Huntington from Princeton University, generally put forward an opposing view and claimed that the next years would see a clash of civilisations. According to these theoreticians, cultural differences between civilizations would give rise to ideological conflict, and that these would polarize and accelerate, becoming actual conflicts.
Samuel Huntington had put forward his thesis in a 23-page article in 1993, called "The Clash of Civilizations." It received a mixed reception when first proposed. Recent developments and statements by some Western statesmen have again livened up the debate on the thesis.
As the world entered a new age, ideologues such as Huntington, like Fukuyama, suggested that ideologies had lost their defining characteristics and that there had been a return to the times when civilizations sought their inspiration from religion. According to Huntington's ideas, the conflict between civilizations would grow. In the next century, the world would turn into a place of conflict. Huntington expected the greatest conflict to be between the Western and Islamic civilizations.
In the Qur'an, mankind is promised peace and well-being, not conflict. Allah says that even people of different religions need to come together and display tolerance:
Say, "O People of the Book! Let us rally to a common formula to be binding on both us and you: That we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah." (Qur'an, 3:64)
That truth alone is enough to invalidate Huntington's expectation of a clash between civilizations. In order for there to be conflicts, both parties need to have an aggressive and hostile mindset, whereas Islam is tolerant of and reconciliatory to other civilizations.
The reasons for the tragedies experienced in the 20th century are mainly the ideas put forward in the 19th. Ever since the earliest times, ideologies which denied creation and claimed that matter was all there was then drew strength from Darwin's theory of evolution and began to spread ever wider. These twisted ideologies suddenly became a philosophy of life for whole societies.
The implementation of materialist ideologies in society led to the prevailing of a view in which only material things were seen as of any importance, by raising generations that oppressed the weak, despised family values, knew nothing of brotherhood or peace, were far removed from such spiritual values as love, sacrifice and respect, had no ethical values and took no pleasure in art or science. As a result of the ideas imposed on society in the light of the materialist mentality, it was intended to create communities that denied the existence of Allah and believed they had no responsibilities to anyone. The way the 20th century has gone down in history as a time of wars, disasters and strife is the result of that materialist mentality.
We have left the 20th century behind us. We are now in the 21st century, a new age. People have now seen that in the 20th century materialist philosophy, by whatever name it may have been known, brought nothing but destruction with it, and they are now turning to Allah. This turning to religion and spiritual values, particularly in the later part of the century, has rapidly embraced the whole world.
These developments are all signs that the time of the promise that the morality of Islam, that Allah has chosen for His servants, will soon come to prevail on the Earth. As can be seen from many verses in the Qur'an, Allah has given the glad tidings that the morality of the Qur'an will come to prevail, by means of the people He has chosen. Allah makes the following promise in the Qur'an:
Allah has promised those of you who believe and do right actions that He will make them successors in the land as He made those before them successors, and will firmly establish for them their religion with which He is pleased and give them, in place of their fear, security. They worship Me, not associating anything with Me. Any who disbelieve after that, such people are deviators. (Qur'an, 24:55)
No matter how much those who come up with theories about the future of the world might appear to differ from one another, they all have one point in common: that is pessimism. The events they evaluate from a materialist perspective prevent them from being optimistic. Even more important, they neglect to take into account that Allah always wants good and pleasant things for those who believe in Him.
Allah is the Protector of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light...
(Qur'an, 2:257)
1 The Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2001


text: Previous1234567891011121314151617Next New ID8 Nation Web Channel Features Vibrant Entrepreneurial Communities in US Cities 4/18/2013 Summary: Cities across the United States are looking for lessons on how to build entrepreneurial communities to help fuel their economies. ID8 Nation, a multimedia channel launching today on the Kauffman Foundation website, entrepreneurship.org, explores cities' entrepreneurial ecosystems to provide insights on what grows in them and why. The first city profiled is Pittsburgh. Entrepreneurial Activity Declines as Jobs Rise in 2012 according to Kauffman Report 4/17/2013 Summary: As the unemployment rate fell in 2012, another economic indicator dropped too: the overall business creation rate. According to the annual Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity released today, the 2012 rate declined slightly from 0.32 percent of American adults per month starting businesses in 2011 to 0.30 percent in 2012. That translates to approximately 514,000 new business owners per month in 2012 compared to 543,000 the year before. The 2012 business creation rate is slightly higher than pre-recessionary and long-term levels. Six Myths About Venture Capital Offer Dose of Reality to Startups 4/16/2013 Summary: Venture capital is the exception, not the norm, as a funding source for startups. More VC-backed new companies fail than succeed, and since 1999 VC funds have barely broken even. Those are just some of the myth-busting facts revealed by Diane Mulcahy, director of private equity at the Kauffman Foundation and a former VC herself, in the May issue of the Harvard Business Review that focuses on entrepreneurship. New Kauffman Video Sketchbook Extols the Value, Shares the Strategy of Networking 3/20/2013 Summary: As representatives of more than 100 entrepreneurship organizations from around the world gather this week in Rio de Janeiro for the 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC), idea sharing and networking are surely high on participants' agendas. For those seeking to make the most of networking opportunities on-site and when they return home, today's GEC Fringe Session, "Build Your Entrepreneurial Network," will provide practical, actionable steps to help attendees maximize their time and efforts. Successful Education Program Connects Kansas City Entrepreneurs through High-Value, Low-Cost Events and Word-of-Mouth Recruiting 3/13/2013 Summary: In what some might consider an ironic twist, technology seems to play a lesser role in building a local entrepreneurial community for startups than good old-fashioned face-time and word of mouth. That's one of the key findings in a new paper released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation that surveyed participants in 1 Million Cups (1MC), Kauffman's popular entrepreneur educational program launched in Kansas City, Mo., last year. 1 Million Cups from Kauffman Labs Ready to Perk Up Entrepreneurs in Reno and Cedar Rapids 3/12/2013 Summary: 1 Million Cups, an education program created by Kauffman Labs for Enterprise Creation to bring together and engage entrepreneurs, has added two more cities to its expanding map. Kauffman Labs is a program of the Kansas City-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Winner Named in Global Desktop Factory Competition 3/4/2013 Summary: The inventor of a machine that turns plastic pellets into affordable filaments for low-cost 3D printers is the winner of the first Desktop Fabrication Competition, a global contest sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation, Maker Education Initiative and Inventables. 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The report, "Give Me Your Entrepreneurs, Your Innovators: Estimating the Employment Impact of a Startup Visa," said that offering the visas has the potential to add, conservatively, between 500,000 and 1.6 million new jobs over the next 10 years. Kauffman FastTrac Receives Sponsorship from AARP to Pilot Entrepreneurship Course for Baby Boomers in 3 U.S. Regions 2/25/2013 Summary: Baby boomers residing in New York City, Southern California and South Florida may soon find it easier to pursue their dreams of entrepreneurship thanks to a new sponsorship agreement between Kauffman FastTrac and AARP. In an outreach to its membership, AARP has agreed to underwrite the bulk of expenses for 60 aspiring entrepreneurs age 50+ to enroll in a Kauffman FastTrac course. Previous1234567891011121314151617Next


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Supposed Earnhardt hearse off eBay
The asking price for the hearse was $1.5 million and approximately six days remained in the bidding when it was pulled on Wednesday.
The ad said that the vehicle is located in Huntersville, N.C., which is just north of Charlotte. According to the listing, "On Feb. 21, 2001, this hearse took Mr. Earnhardt from a Huntersville, North Carolina funeral home to his final resting place. This is 100% verifiable to qualified buyers."
According to WBTV.com in Charlotte, that statement is incorrect as Earnhardt's body was not at the Feb. 21 memorial service and claims that it wasn't until weeks later that the funeral home actually transported his body to the mausoleum.
The station contacted Raymer Funeral Home, which verified that it did handle funeral arrangements for Earnhardt and that the company only had one hearse at the time. In 2010, she said that hearse was sold to a man in Mt. Pleasant, N.C.
The station further researched that sale and found that according to the website jalopnik.com, Bill McKeithan purchased the hearse from Raymer Funeral Home and "he had simply been sitting on the car, part of a small cache of old vehicles that made him a 'halfway collector.' "
During this year's Daytona 500, McKeithan said that he posted an ad on Craigslist to sell the hearse for $8,800. Less than six hours later, someone called wanting to purchase it, jalopnik.com said.
McKeithan also told jalopnik.com that he was "remorseful" for selling the hearse and, "I should have just kept it."


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Everyone's heard of sleep walking, sleep talking and sleep paralysis. There are dozens of weird, sometimes creepy sleep disorders that affect a number of people and make their bedtime seem like a night at the circus, if the circus were less full of elephants and more full of people in pajamas dry humping the fridge. Which is kind of like a French-Canadian circus. Make sure you buy the poutine if you go, but watch how the carny hands it to you -- the last thing you need is his thumb bacteria in your gravy.
Hilarious sites like Cracked tend to only inform you of actually interesting and bizarre sleep disorders. What the hell is the deal with the stuff that everyone does but no one ever wants to talk about because it's ridiculous? Why does stuff keep oozing out of us at night, is what I'm asking. Why?
4Scalp Leakage
I'll preface this by saying that I once heard a stand-up comedian make a joke about your head leaking maple syrup at night, and it opened my mind to a whole new reality. I wasn't the only one. And really it would have been a shame if I was, because that would mean that either I had some kind of super rare skull leprosy or my brain was trying to summon one of the Outer Gods and the portal was only opening wide enough for Shub-Niggurath to ooze one or two tentacles through.
The longer you own a pillow, the more like a turn of the century East Asian crime scene it will become. Every time you change your pillow case, you're pulling out a fluffy, comfy cloud that looks like it's been yanked straight from the asshole of Zeus himself after a rough night of low quality mead and Olestra burritos. It's yellowed and faded and terrifying, with wet filth patterns on it that seem to indicate that your hair spends all night releasing low volumes of oily piss to pass the time.
You can feel your back door puckering in anticipation.
Logic dictates that you're probably just releasing head pee as a sort of relaxational process your body likes to go through as you wind down at night, because your body is a wonderland of gross when you're not paying attention to it. That's the scientific explanation for farts, incidentally -- your body attempting to be funny. Usually it works. Farts are hilarious. Or maybe it's just because your hair is naturally a bit greasy and if you hold something against it for eight hours a day, every day, it's going to get greasy, too. Feel free to test this theory by taping a swatch of cotton to Ron Jeremy's back for part of the day and see what it looks like when you're done. Just revolting.
If you Google "yellow stains on my pillow" right now, you'll get thousands of results from poor, confused, greasy Yahoo users desperate to understand why their hair follicles insist on jacking it all over their pillows at night with only the educated guesses of other Yahoo users to satiate their curiosity. Unfortunately, the people who provide info on Yahoo Answers generally only have Ph.D.s in meth production and dumbassery, so their answers are about as satisfying as mine, but with more typos and a general air of discontent over their inability to understand the metric system and how you can tell if a door is a push or a pull without a sign. As near as I can tell, no actual scientific body has bothered to write about this phenomenon, because no one important actually cares. It's really disturbing to the good people of eHow, however.
3Drool Crust
As part of my ongoing plan to make total strangers never want to meet me in person, I have to let you know about my terrible crusty problem. Nine mornings out of 10, I wake up with a mysterious, flaky snail trail snaking out of the left corner of my mouth that for all the world looks like tiny goblins had been mining and then dragging leaking sacks of condensed milk out of my face all night long.
Now I'm not so ignorant as to not understand the mechanics of drooling -- you fall asleep, your jaw goes slack, you drool. Babies perfected it, seniors and drunks revel in it, you and I dabble from time to time, and it's wonderful. What I can't quite wrap my head around is how, every night, I brush my teeth to a glossy sheen with minty, delightful toothpaste, and I even give ol' Mr. Tongue a swipe to ensure maximum freshness, then I wake up in the morning and it tastes like I've been sucking on a wild animal's taint after coating it in crab apple juice. And there's a flaked trail of shame leading from my face to my yellowed pillow, an accusing finger pointing to my nocturnal lack of sanitation and good graces.
Basically, it's the mechanics of what happens to your mouth at night that confuses me. Science tells me that the basic cause is dryness. Your saliva production slows down at night, which allows bacteria the chance to proliferate and your saliva to thicken up a bit. During the day, bacteria is happy to live on carbs in your mouth, but at night, when you hopefully stop eating, they have to switch to protein, like the cells of your mucous membranes, and they apparently digest those about as well as you'd think, which means they're dropping a lot of sulfur bombs along the way. In layman's terms (more layman than that ridiculous shit I just said), your dried out, hungry mouth bacteria just shits up a storm in your mouth all night.
Put that wretched stink flipper back in your noxious food depository.
But come on. There's thick, bacteria-laden saliva, and then there's diluted ass fudge, which is what we're all waking up with. It happens to everyone, and odds are it's why I wake up alone more often than not (one of the reasons, anyway), but it'd be nice if Johnson & Johnson put together some kind of anti-gruel tablets you could pop into your mouth at night that allow you to wake up with a mouthful of rosy cheer and a taste that is distinctly not the same as what I imagine a hobo's cleavage might taste like. Things are literally shitting in our mouths all night, why is no one working on a solution to this?


text: I have a 10 month old and we have been struggling with starting solids since 6 months old. This week we finally saw a pediatric gastroenterologist and he believes that DS has a minor sensitivity to a protein in my breastmilk, and that is what is irritating his stomach and also causing the constipation. DS is growing well. He has said to continue nursing ( I would have done this anyway) and continue solids, but I am still confused by this and wondering if anyone has heard of this, and what I can do to help it. MD recommended apple juice, few oz. a day, but I'm not sure I want to get DS started on apple juice as he only now has water and breastmilk. I'm just confused and wondering if anyone else has heard of this. I haven't been able to find anything out there on this condition.


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Central Government attacks senior citizens
As five million Americans reach age 65 each year and join millions of others in the final season of their lives, most expect to enjoy their long-promised and eagerly anticipated golden years. They look forward to a secure retirement, pursuing their favorite activities and enjoying their children and grandchildren. Most have worked hard since their teen years, marrying and raising families. They paid their dues, including ever-rising taxes and Social Security and Medicare assessments. They contributed to some sort of retirement program, managed to pay off mortgages and put a little something aside for retirement. They spent their lives doing the right thing and trusting their elected government in Washington to do the same, but it hasn't worked out that way. The Central Government has failed to hold up its end of the bargain, engaging in multiple Ponzi schemes, running up gargantuan debt and outright lying to those who pay all the bills. Now they are attacking vulnerable senior citizens and doing it on multiple fronts. If you are one of these baby boomers, brace yourself.
The recent financial crisis induced by a blundering Central Government has probably wiped out all or most of your nest egg, if you were able to accumulate one at all. Many pension plans have either disappeared or fallen short of promised benefits. Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security are underfunded and facing even larger unfunded liabilities while politicians continue to inflate the rolls. Absent fiscal responsibility, we have only ephemeral Washington promises upon which to base the hopes for the future. And the Central Government is firing even more salvos at its most loyal baby boomer population.
In an attempt to buy even more votes, the Central Government reduced Social Security payroll taxes with the effect of further decreasing the system's solvency. Meager cost-of-living (COLA) increases are more than offset by inflation, Medicare payment increases and increasing co-pays. Even your social security is taxed and many seniors are assessed for things such as Part D drug coverage, even though they have private insurance and do not even use the government benefit!
Those fortunate enough to have put aside a little money for retirement earn virtually no return on their savings, thanks to the Central Government's policy of using your tax money to force interest rates to artificially low levels in order to create the appearance of at least an anemic economic recovery. Despite record tax revenues, the same government that spends over a trillion dollars more than it takes in each year wants to double the tax rates on dividends and capital gains, which are two main sources of senior citizen income, and will drive down dividends.
Thanks to the panoply of new taxes accompanying Obamacare, additional taxes on interest income, dividends and proceeds from home sales will hit seniors at the very time they attempt to downsize and retire. At the same time, though, Obamacare cut the already strapped Medicare funding by half a trillion dollars and will force healthcare rationing and payment reductions for medical care essential to keeping the oldest among us alive.
We are frequently reminded that the oldest humans on the planet live on the island of Okinawa. Given Central Government healthcare policy, this won't change any time soon. After all, it doesn't make sense to spend a lot on medical resources on the needs of really old people does it? Not to our Central Government politicians and bureaucrats, it doesn't. The cost benefit analysis built into our emerging nationalized Central Government healthcare system allows panels of unelected government bureaucrats to decide if your medical costs are too high. If so, they will simply refuse to pay the cost of treatment and let us die sooner. Since most of our healthcare costs occur late in life, you can see which way this is goingso much for breaking Okinawa's longevity record. Rationed healthcare will mean that our declining years will be abbreviated, even more unpleasant, and we won't have to worry about our retirement income for as long. Should we say thank you?
Making our decisions for us, the Central Government has thought of everything to weaken us and consolidate its power and control over senior citizens.lowering interest rates, collecting more taxes, depressing dividend payments and capital gains, and building even more taxes into Obamacare. Over $100 billion a year is sucked out of the economy every year just to comply with Central Government regulations ..money that could be better used for healthcare, tax relief or debt reduction. If that's not enough, they keep wasting our money on high risk "green energy" boondoggles, while blocking oil and gas exploration on Federal land, decimating coal and coal families, stopping drilling and development of delivery projects like the Keystone pipeline. So what if America sends billions to the Middle East for oil? So what if the cost of electricity continues to skyrocket? Seniors on shrinking fixed incomes and with untreated medical conditions won't be keeping the lights and television on much longer anyway.
(Note: Dr. Terry Wallace currently teaches on the graduate faculty at Muskingum University, is a Senior Fellow at the Public Policy Foundation of West Virginia and has served as a chief state Medicaid officer and healthcare executive).


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3/4-Sleeve Shimmer Stripe Knit Top
Style: 570065938
Out of Stock
Black stripes alternate with shimmer grey on this weightless, fluid knit top. Small gathers add softness to the V-neckline trimmed in black chiffon. 90% Rayon, 6% Polyester, 4% Lurex®. Hand wash, cold; lay flat to dry. Imported.
- Pullover style; slightly tapered stretch fit.
- Soft, thin jersey knit with 3/4 raglan sleeves.
- Hits at the lower hip (25" from shoulder).
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