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Fated Encounter
A body was rising upwards quickly through the water, bubbles of air following and popping on the surface before them, the person's legs moving in synchronized motion. Disturbing the still serenity of the liquid from when they had been swimming calmly and casually beneath the surface to the core of the hot spring moments before, searching for the greatest source of heat that permeated from the Earth's crust. A split second later a person's head broke the surface, sending a spray of water, ripples and waves throughout the hot spring, all in this one motion, which crashed against the smoothened but still roughly hewn rocks around the edge that had been placed there for sitting on and lowering of oneself into rounded pool of water. The man gasped deeply and filled his lungs with air. He examined the surrounding area quickly and minutely, having sensed in the back of his mind that something was wrong presently, as snowflakes fell idly onto his submerged head. He trod water whilst he did this, his legs moving with the same synchronicity as before to keep him well afloat, looking all around him, gazing every which way his head would turn, using his arms to drag his body limply through the water as he turned. The rocks, the tall but drooping leafless trees of the forest around him and the pathway leading off out of his line of sight, all were clear. He gazed upwards through a shaft of carved rock half a mile above him. Snow was falling lightly down on the area, and he remembered the recent radio report that the National Meteorological Centre had put out: a warning against heavy snow. The shaft above him was not wide enough to make as heavy a snowfall as it would have liked, so the clouds would have to settle with the mountainside on the other side of the funnel shaped mountain that he was inside. The whole mountain had been carved out of the Kunlun Mountains Expanse on the pinnacle in an uninhabited part of Western Tibet called the Ngari Prefecture.
Xing Hu was the man's name, a Chinaman with the common crop of black hair, trimmed short. He looked down as steam from the hot spring skated across the surface, just seeing his red swimming shorts through the water and vapour, along with his taught body. The mountain was carved out just far enough for the geothermal heat to warm the water and ground sufficiently. He allayed the disturbance of his mind to something that had been plaguing him the last few days. His head which had previously been submerged was now quite cool as opposed to the rest of his body, which still lay sunken beneath the warm water, preventing the rest of the chill from penetrating him fully. The snow that was falling on the pathway he could see was turning to water droplets and sinking beneath the soil to quench the trees. Swimming over to the side of the hot spring, creating more ripples in his wake, he raised himself out of the water onto one of the surrounding rocks, trying not to damage his hands or slip as he climbed out. Xing Hu's body was perfectly sculpted for a man his age; with the only obvious flaw presently being the bruise he had gained from losing in a fight the previous day. He belonged to one of the three sacred beast houses at the Shaolin Buddhist temple where he resided. These people were trained to be the best of the best in martial arts. The three sacred beasts, which the temple based the Houses for its students on, were the Tiger, the Ox and the Dragon. He belonged to the Dragon House. Xing Hu allowed the water to drain off him onto the rock beneath his figure, some of which trickled back into the hot spring as overflow. Then he reached down to pick up a nearby plain white towel on a different rock and draped it over his shoulders. He started off down the path leading away from the hot spring and into the forest. He began to pat himself down with the towel as he took one last look behind him for good measure, leaving behind the translucent pool of liquid.
The monks housed here were peaceful and only trained in martial arts as a form of exercise and rejuvenation rather than combat, with the hope of reaching Nirvana through their meditative practices. Xing Hu's House was believed to be the most powerful due to the animal that their style of martial arts was based upon, a powerful mythical creature in it's own right. All of the House's moves and techniques were based around which animal their House was, so that each would specialise in a particular area of martial arts. Both the Tiger and Dragon martial arts were official styles in China, but for a special reason, the style of the Ox had been added to their temple. There were eighteen people housed in the temple, five pupils to each House, and one sifu or master was assigned to a House. There were never more than eighteen people here at once normally, because no one but select few knew about the hidden society. Though they practiced martial arts, their religion was just as sacred as the beasts that governed their Houses. The students and masters were in a world of their own, separate from the outside world. In a way they were free here. Free of the violence that man had created for himself, the creed, the class, the war, and the hate. There was nothing as such on this mountain, just the peaceful tranquillity of training and making friends. Everyone here was treated as equals, but if anyone could not control their anxieties about race or class they were instantly dismissed from the temple, but free to pursue their religious needs elsewhere. Although over time the isolation from the rest of the world got to some people who would crave a fight, need an adrenaline rush which practice and meditation could not suffice for, though which was always settled peacefully after their anger had been let out, simply because everyone felt the same way so everyone understood. The only time students ventured into the outside world was once per month when it was two students' job to fetch fresh supplies for the temple. Set on a rotary system it would mean students would not be able to venture away from the temple for months at a time.
People who entered into each of the different Houses were said to have certain traits that made them different from others. Things that made them in some ways better than an average human though this was a pompous thought and the sifus did their best to uphold the modesty of their students. Even if these traits were only minimal, it could mean the greatest difference to the outcome of that person's life. People denoted to the Dragon House were said to have both a strong heart and power waiting to be released, but which remained dormant until it was needed. That was how Xing Hu's sifu had put it anyway when he had enrolled here, well selected was more the word. He had won a regional martial arts competition and had been approached after the Finals by his now master. Students from the Tiger House were said to be fast as lightning and warm hearted yet fearsome if angered. Whilst the students of the Ox House were depicted as having unaccountable strength, modesty and a strong mind.
As Xing Hu walked away from the hot spring - leaving a thin trail of water droplets in his wake with the still falling snow - he listened to the sound of his feet on the stone pathway and began to wonder about something that had been bothering him these past few days. He had been meditating in the temple, when he had received an ominous vision that something dire was about to happen. For in this vision, he had seen the world, burning, all of man's creation turning to ash, a blanket of darkness finally enveloping the Earth and hearing triumphant deathly laughter from an unknown source. It meant nothing to him but he couldn't help but be greatly unnerved by it. Since that time he had grown wary of the slightest imbalance that he felt around him, sensing danger at every point, thinking that his vision had come to pass. He hadn't revealed this image in his head to his sifu because of fear of the answer he may receive. There was also a shadow of a doubt that he wouldn't have believed him anyway. Although Tomaru was an understanding man, but strict in his nature, Xing Hu didn't feel up to challenging him with the omen until he had his own explanation. Xing Hu believed that he should research the books contained within the library, and establish his own version of what he thought it meant before he was going divulge the information to Tomaru, hoping that he may come up with a logical answer, rather than an apocalyptic one. So far though, all his efforts had been fruitless.
The air around him was still, thinner with the height of the mountain but not so less that anyone would need an oxygen mask, nothing seemed to disturb it, and not even a few birds that had been migrated here over time and other small animals had been introduced to their habitat, which were gratefully fed by the pupils, called through the late night. The trees around him were now beginning to clear as the forest thinned and he got closer to the temple. Staring at the pathway, using it as a guide he wound his way back, so his mind was allowed to wander freely. He passed through a gate the size of an archway. It was painted red and decorated with gold along the top, marking the entrance to the hallowed grounds. It looked in pristine condition as if rust would never dare to set upon it and never had, nor would it ever. The temple was now looming up ahead of him, growing bigger with every step he took; it was a large two-tiered building that sat in the shadow of the funnel shaped mountain which curved round at the base. The whole area gave the feeling that you were standing in a gigantic but misshapen Erlenmeyer or conical flask. The temple was a wooden and stone structure, the stone coming from the mountain that had been smoothed and shaped while the wood came from the trees that stood behind Xing Hu now. The colour of the temple was composed of the colours of the materials used to make it, a soft white grey and brown creamy colour of the wood that had been stripped of bark. Ornate grey stone pots were placed at intervals. Plants struggling to grow with the earliness of the year and the snow which now threatened to wilt them from the cold but also dampen them for nourishment. The temple was also the place where students and masters slept ate and relaxed. But this was only one of the two buildings that was used during a Shaolin monk's time here, for to the right of the temple resided a square shaped three tiered pagoda which was used mainly for training and meditative purposes, but it also housed on the highest floor the library and archives of the Shaolin. To the left of the temple lay another gate in front of the curved mountain decorated the same as the one overlooking the forest as it stood proudly by the mountainside. Everyone at the Shaolin temple knew the purpose of this particular gateway, like it's counterpart, it too looked as though rust had never been common to its structure.
Xing Hu continued walking forwards, with the full intention to go up to his room and get changed. He dried himself with the towel as he went, so he would not leave traces of water when he entered the temple. Rather than going to sleep these days like the rest of the occupants of the temple, he often found himself studying in the library, trying to come up with an answer to his vision. Hour after hour he read, mastering his sleep until it was time for their morning training before breakfast. His now pronounced tiredness was how he had earned his bruise from his fellow student; lack of sleep was starting to affect his concentration. Vladimir Blachutov was a tough Czechoslovakian albino, but thickly set with big muscles, so Xing Hu normally had an advantage of speed, but not the last time. Nevertheless he entered the temple, sliding the screen door across slowly to try to prevent its usual rattle. He instantly climbed the nearby wooden staircase, which was located a few feet away from the entrance, without bothering to examine his dark surroundings that were on the ground floor of the temple. He stepped carefully so that his feet couldn't be heard pressing against the wood, though each of the thirteen steps gave a strained creak anyway as his weight met them. Six rooms were located on the first floor, all of them living quarters. Three belonged to each of the five students from the houses, that they were required to share, but which were fairly spacious anyway so there was no shortage of room, the other three were occupied by the sifus. Each room was also en suite, containing a toilet and a sink; the hot spring was used as a bath. Xing Hu walked along a corridor, three doors on either side of him with the sheaf of paper used instead of wood apart from around the edges, finally reaching the Dragon's dormitory at the far end of the building and slowly slid the screen door (which was emblazoned with the insignia of the Dragon House) across as to not wake the other occupants, as with the entrance door though, this gave a low rattle as it was moved, only opening this one as far as he had to so he could squeeze in. As he entered he was now even more careful not to make any of the floorboards creak as he crept over to his living space.
There were five futons laid out on the floor, four being occupied, each was sleeping softly, their chests rising and falling effortlessly for those who were laid on their backs. There was no gender separation here, everyone was equal and were treated the same, though the two girls in their dormitory, Danielle and Veronica, demanded privacy when dressing and washing of course. All of them were spread around the room and yet it would still be easy enough to trip over a stray limb or cover. He kept his breathing to a slow pace so that he would not get frustrated for one, and secondly not risk waking one of his fellow students. They were all as highly trained as him and could sense a disturbance around them, even in their sleep. The walls were mainly bare apart from one small window that stood opposite him, through which some feeble half-light was making it's way through, just illuminating the room enough for Xing Hu to see ahead of him, and for which he was grateful. The roof held a chandelier of extinguished candles. A fitted wardrobe stood along the left hand wall. There was also another door on the right hand side of the room, which led to the bathroom. The wardrobe was where everyone in Dragon House kept their possessions, doors separated each section so it was divided into five equally spaced areas, and Xing Hu now crossed over to this, making every effort not to stir anything in the room. After his successful passage forwards he opened his wardrobe door, which was in the centre and which like everything in the building seemed to want to creak tonight. Was it an ill omen? Perhaps he should have just gone to his futon, laid down and closed his eyes, but still, he carried on, fully opening the door, trying not to hit Yutamato's arm which could have been hit by it. Inside was one set of plain clothes on a shelf as well as three sets of official looking uniforms that hung from wire coat hangers, emblazoned with the emblem of his house, just as the door had been, as well as numerous personal belongings that he had thought important enough to bring with him when he had left home at eighteen. Some bits and bobs, including a good luck charm his little brother had made for him and a locket given to him by his mother that contained a photo of his mother and now deceased father on their wedding day. A Polaroid picture of a girl with black hair was pinned to the inside of the door, being in this isolation, would he ever see her again? He wondered if his mother had given him the locket to tempt him into coming back home to see the girl who waited so patiently for him. It was permitted but discouraged from having a girlfriend due to the harsh lapses of time apart. Though he could not see in the darkness, he knew every inch of his little personal space and where everything was kept.
He chose to put on his set of plain clothes seeing as they were more comfortable and the uniforms were more for training and formal wear, and besides it was the middle of the night anyway, so who was likely to care how he dressed? These were the same clothes he used when going on supply runs for the temple with one of his other fellow students. Sometimes if they were close enough then they would sneak home to visit their family, but Xing Hu's lived in Japan now. He stripped down and placed the sodden towel and trunks inside the wardrobe intending to dry them properly later, his small amount of hair however remained plastered to his head. He donned a pair of old jeans that were at least a size too big with holes in them, a red polo neck t-shirt and a pair of worn and torn trainers for his excursion into the pagoda. When he had dressed he quietly crept out of the dormitory again, taking care not to step on any of his fellow students as he went or to hit Yutamato with the wardrobe door. But then a grunt emitted from Majeh who turned over noisily on his futon, uncomfortable with his current position. Xing Hu watched in a slight horror as this happened, forgetting that he was supposed to be breathing slowly, but the sudden shock had sent his heart racing. He glanced around nervously at the other lumpy piles that were his friends to see if any of them had been disturbed by the noise, thankfully though, it had gone unnoticed by them. He hurriedly moved across the rest of the room, closing the door behind him, which thankfully for once had not creaked and then he crept once again down the long corridor and back downstairs.
Once outside again he took in a deep breath of the cold night air, liking how it tickled his lungs slightly, feeling relieved that he had not yet been discovered, although he knew it would be inevitable if his performance was slipping, someone was sure to suspect something wrong with him. If he fell asleep during meditation tomorrow then Tomaru would have his meals taken away from him for such an insult. He exited the temple then turned to his left and began walking towards the pagoda, thrusting his hands into his loose jeans pockets, now beginning to feel the night chill after the immense warmth and comfort that the hot spring provided, as the snowflakes drifted down in a constant shower. As he began to pull the heavy steel door of the pagoda open he heard the trees rustling in a slight wind and instinctively spun around and jumped into a defensive stance, looking around hastily and, realising his mistake he sighed to himself, deciding it must have been one of the animals and continued to enter the pagoda. The huge doors to the pagoda were decorated with what looked like steel pinheads around the edges, whilst in the centre of each door was the head of a large bird with a ring held in each of their beaks so that the doors could be pulled open. Xing Hu definitely needed to be careful when hauling open these doors so as not to make any noise.
The pagoda was a unique structure on the outside in terms of architecture, including the huge steel doors, being built centuries before out of the rock and wood inside the mountain shelter, but once you were in there, it was quite empty. The ground and first floors were used for training; outside was used for meditation as to be closer with nature. The ground for un-armed combat, and the first for armed, containing many weapons cases, but otherwise it was the same as the ground floor. There was only empty wooden floor space, and windows, besides the steel backs of the doors, it reminded him of a dojo but even they normally had something to identify that they were so, perhaps a shrine. The simplicity of it all baffled the mind seeing as this was the place where the stuff of legends was upheld. A spiral stone staircase leading up through each of the floors was in the corner of the room. Xing Hu continued walking towards this and started to climb the twisting stairway, taking both his hands out of his pockets so he could balance, as there was no handrail to keep him steady. His trainers made an echoing noise as he rose higher through the pagoda, hitting hard against the stone despite Xing Hu taking nimble steps. Once he reached the top of the staircase, which ended at the second floor, having ignored the first floor that had a stone landing to come out on once you were there, he stepped out onto another wooden floor, much the same as the one on the ground floor, he didn't have to be worried about being quiet in this building as all of the other monks were in bed asleep, the door had been his last worry.
This room was unlike the others in the building; it was filled to the brim with bookcases piled high with a lot of new but certainly many older texts. There were also several wooden tables scattered around where they could sit, with chairs set at intervals along each. The sifus believed in training the mind as well as the body and encouraged reading. On the far side of the room was another room, added on to this one, obscured from Xing Hu's sight by the winding rows of bookcases. They contained more archives including a lot of first hand information from their original sources of events that had happened throughout history. They were constantly locked because of what else was contained in there, a student could only get in if they had a sifu's permission, which was given very rarely, even then they had to be supervised, Xing Hu had still not earned a privileged look inside this room of mysteries and secrets.
He started to light some of the candles that were contained in iron wall brackets and lanterns with a box of matches he had retrieved from his belongings and had stuffed into his back jeans pocket, in order to give some actual light in the room. Sometimes a pale sliver of the moon could be made out through the shaft of the funnel shaped mountain, but tonight the snow clouds were all that could be seen. A slight breeze was blowing in, playing with his damp hair. The candles needed replacing, they had long burned down and had formed wax icicles, giving their brackets more decoration Xing Hu thought. He walked over to one of the tables and also lit a lantern, which would provide his reading light, replacing the burnt out matches back in the box; the library was already dusty enough without the added mess of match stubs. When there was sufficient light to see, he crossed over to the bookshelves and collected a set of texts from a stack of twelve on a shelf, which weighed his arms down and took them to the nearest table before he dropped them. Xing Hu then commenced to sit down, scraping a chair along the floor as he did, and began reading about "Events Of The 18th Century And What I Thought Of Them" which appeared to be written by a aged and slightly crazy philosopher from another part of China who seemed to be rather delusional, seeming to invent things as he wrote them. Also being someone who got the dates wrong for a lot of events and being extremely biased towards anyone but himself, nonetheless, he had spawned such effective phrases as "Don't go in to battle if you are unwilling to let yourself be killed. But if you are, be sure to bring a mop and bucket to clean up the mess". He yawned widely, yet still he read on looking for some answers to the questions swimming around in the pool of his mind. The extract he was reading barely made any sense, which wasn't coupling well with his tiredness.
"What most people did not seem to understand at the time, was that I was in fact the one who should have led France into a victorious overthrow of government in 1799 and not in fact that pompous short stuff of a leader – Napoleon. Still though I stood aside in order for his pomposity to reign throughout France, the worst decision the French ever made electing that glorified windbag as leader of a coup! Most of my peers could sympathise with my decision to stand down though, my best friend Herbert Whining, with a pronounced 'h' deduced that the French themselves were idiots and so should be ruled by one, and not someone as brilliant and astute as myself."
Xing Hu could only wonder as to how a Chinaman had gotten to be in France at all, given how a lot of countries hadn't tolerated them as well as black people for their skin colour and different looks, if only for servants. After an hour or so, Xing Hu could not really tell how long had passed, he felt his eyes that already contained heavy bags beginning to close from tiredness, and that he had also read the same line five times now. However he couldn't be persuaded to move from the stiff backed chair and drag himself back to his comfortable futon and so let sleep take him.
It was hours before Xing Hu was released from the pleasure and rest of sleep as something fell to the floor, emanating a crash, the dull thud of metal on wood and the sound of glass smashing. The noise echoed throughout the pagoda, ringing in the dead of night. The lone figure of Xing Hu slumped over an open book stirred suddenly, almost knocking over a nearby lantern.
"Hmm. What was that? Who's there?" said Xing Hu suddenly awakening; fully alert, thinking something serious was happening. He looked around him quickly with urgency, once again sensing danger, as though he was about to be attacked by some unknown force, creeping in the shadows of the bookcases. He called out in Chinese for if the person couldn't speak Chinese, but then, everyone at the temple spoke English, so why wouldn't they have answered the first time? Surely no one from outside could be here, that was near impossible! But, he saw nothing, heard nothing, only the bookshelves that were throwing eerie shadows across the floor due to the candles he had previously lit. He rose from his chair, slowly, as if expecting to be attacked while he was raising himself, making a light scraping noise on the wooden floor and preceded cautiously through the library being constantly aware of anything that was making noise beside him. Whoever was in here must have known that he was here too. He felt a fool for calling out and announcing his presence like that. But whoever it was must have known he was here from the lit candles anyway, maybe they even had had to walk past his sleeping body. If there was someone here at least, he had no actual proof yet, but his mind was telling him differently, his mind was telling him that something bad was afoot.
He left the lantern standing on the table, knowing that if he found the need to fight he would be at more of an advantage with both hands. His trainers were making soft noises on the wood, muffled by the dust. His breathing had become quicker, his heart palpitating under his ribcage with both the surprise and the anticipation of a hidden enemy. He edged carefully over to the other side of the far side of the room, his table was near the centre, and he suspected that if someone was here, they hadn't come to steal a book. Carefully looking in-between the rows of bookshelves that were concealed in the darkness, looking for any sign of disturbance or misplacement, running his hands over the cool wood to remind him this wasn't a dream. Just as he was examining the space between two bookshelves hidden in darkness he noticed something which made him ever more apprehensive, the room containing the archives, the very secrets the Shaolin were sworn to protect, was indeed unlocked and ajar as Xing Hu's suspicions were confirmed in one fell swoop. Candlelight was spilling onto the wooden floor thrown from inside, allowing every piece of dust to be illuminated, gliding through the still air, fragments no thicker than the hair on Xing Hu's head which had dried but was now beginning to receive a fresh dowsing from sweat. The thicker and heavier wooden door that was normally locked tight was open, the light beckoning him forward; the secrets of the room lay before him, teasing him, their mystery waiting to be opened. But he had to remember the intruder, which was now confirmed as such as Xing Hu could see the door was splintered where it had been forced open, the iron lock hanging off, only being held lopsidedly in the air by a single screw still laced in the wooden frame. He normally would have gone to alert his sifu, but the gut feeling he had was leading him on towards the door, making his feet disobey him and inch him further onwards until his hand had clasped onto the door, sliding him softly towards the intruder, did they realise he was awake now after he had called out?
He slowly pushed the door open, praying that the hinges would keep silent, and gazed around the room. There were bookcases lining the two sidewalls, but different to the ones outside, they were divided into hexagonal holes into which several scrolls had been stuffed, reaching near to the end of the room where they stopped just short. Here there were shelves lined with strange devices. The room itself was a sort of rectangular shape due to the way the layout of this floor was. A window, much the same shape and design as that which could be found in the church was at the other end of the room, overlooking the side of the mountain, so Xing Hu had never noticed such a window before, a lit three pronged candelabra stood in front of the window, flickering its rich colour to life with the flame. In front of him was what appeared to be a type of altar, composed of stone, shaped like a sort of pedestal, behind which a person was stood with their back to the door, holding under their arm rather haphazardly what looked like some of the scrolls from the bookcases, busying himself with keeping them from dropping. Glancing downwards a shape also looked as though it had just been drawn on the floor surrounding the pedestal, with strange characters that Xing Hu did not recognise. Some had arrows, some had circles, some had lines running through them converting them into different symbols, some were what looked like numbers and some were merely no more than blotches. But they were all encircled in two giant circles with the pedestal at their centre. There was the remains of some sort of brass instrument on the floor that had bent out of shape on impact as well as smashed glass around the object that looked like it belonged to the instrument, looking as though it had been knocked down from one of the shelves by the person now stood by the window.
The person must have been in a hurry and knocked it over in this haste Xing Hu deduced. Perhaps it was because of him calling out that he had realised he was not alone anymore. If he were in a hurry then he would be more anxious and make more mistakes if he chose to fight his way past Xing Hu. Assuming he would fight, breaking into a place full of monks who knew a variety of martial arts was a bad idea – peaceful monks, but defending their home was something they would readily fight for. Then again, maybe the person had assumed he would be alone when he broke in tonight. Suddenly the door that Xing Hu had been holding onto and slowly opening, ready to confront this intruder mercilessly creaked. The person stood behind the altar heard this, his movements halted instantly, realising the disturbance, but he stood perfectly still and uttered something under their breath, (confirming that this person was a man) and the candles in the room had been extinguished. He had not even moved and the candles went out, he couldn't have blown them out from his height above the candelabra. Before Xing Hu could react to the coming darkness, the only light coming vaguely from the candles that were lit on the other side of the door now, the man started to speak again in a language which Xing Hu didn't recognise, his voice echoing through the room, he drew himself into another defensive stance, expecting the man to try to rush past him. But that was far from what the man had in mind.
"Temi Noest! Retnur em ot het sapt erehw menods desire!" he spat. Before Xing Hu's eyes could become accustomed to the darkness, the room was now illuminated by a bright green glow from where the pedestal stood, coming from the very pedestal itself each of the symbols were also emitting this glow. The man had turned around to face the pedestal, Xing Hu could now see his head was covered by a grey cloak hood, the rest of it towelling down his body as his hands were placed over the pedestal, but he could make out only that he had a matted beard, the hood sank over his eyes. The light shone brighter and brighter still, the man illuminating with it and blinding Xing Hu with its green intensity, so much so that he had to cover his eyes to protect them from the glare; there was excited laughter and then, nothing. As the light began to dim, Xing Hu slowly opened his eyes, allowing them to refocus and then he looked ahead of him to see that the man had disappeared along with the pedestal. He knew so even with the room being bathed in semi-darkness again. He ran as fast as he could to alert the rest of the temple.


text: Gerald Herbert / AP Photo,Gerald HerbertMost Hated CompaniesThink BP is universally loathed? The oil giant has nothing on United Fruit, Union Carbide, and other corporate rogues. The Daily Beast surveys top historians to determine the all-time worst.06.21.10 12:11 PM ETGerald Herbert / AP Photo,Gerald HerbertGerald Herbert / AP Photo#13, Drexel BurnhamEra: Late 1980s Before Dick Fuld and Dick Grasso, AIG and Enron, and every other poster boy for Wall Street greed and excess, there was Michael Milken, the junk-bond king of Drexel Burnham. Milken was a financial genius and a pioneer—"high-yield bonds" were revolutionary, a high-risk, high-reward way for companies to raise money. But used recklessly, they were a tool to tear apart otherwise healthy companies—the era of the hostile takeover was on. And even after a staggering $550 million bonus in 1986, Milken couldn't help himself—he was convicted of securities fraud, part of Ivan Boesky's insider-trading ring. Boesky was the inspiration for Gordon "Greed is Good" Gekko, but it was Milken who epitomized the iconic '80s Wall Street villain. Milken served nearly two years in prison, and Drexel Burnham went kaput. Ap Photo#12, HalliburtonEra: Early 2000s It's eyebrow-raising enough when a company's CEO becomes vice president of the United States. Or when that company, Halliburton, starts receiving big contracts due to a war pushed by that vice president, Dick Cheney. But when that company begins charging the government for $600 hammers and $1,000 toilet seats, a national scandal is brewing. Besides the war profiteering, Halliburton has also caught flak for environmental controversies, from a toxic vapor cloud that formed over Farmington, New Mexico, after chemicals escaped from a tank, to being in charge of the cement job on the BP oil rig that is leaking. "Ironically, they may emerge as a good guy in the BP oil spill for having urged more safeguards, which BP rejected," notes Stephen Shepard, former editor in chief of BusinessWeek and one of our panelists. Correction: Halliburton was responsible for a toxic vapor cloud over Farmington, New Mexico, not Farmingham as reported in an earlier version of this caption. Andre Felipe / Getty Images#11, MonsantoEras: 1970s-1980s; 2000s One word: dioxin. Monsanto spilled 19,000 gallons of a wood-treatment chemical containing the poison in Sturgeon, Missouri. After eight years of litigation, 65 plaintiffs claiming they were never told about the spill and fell ill were awarded $16.2 million. Monsanto was also accused along with other companies of war crimes for producing Agent Orange used during the Vietnam War in a suit brought by Vietnam citizens. The company has more recently come under fire from food activists for its genetically modified seeds and has been, "heavily attacked in Europe and parts of the developing world for promoting GM crops which are seen by some to be harmful to the environment," notes financial historian Morgan Witzel. Until yesterday, genetically modified alfalfa seeds were banned in the U.S.Karen Tam / AP Photo#10, BlackwaterEra: 2000s Private military company Blackwater attracted such negative connotations during the Iraq War, where its mercenaries were accused of everything from murder to rape, that it recently changed its name to Xe Services. Two Blackwater employees pleaded guilty to arms smuggling in 2007 and in 2010, Gary Jackson, a former Blackwater president, was indicted for making false arms deals to cover up gifts to the king of Jordan. But the worst came September 16, 2007, when Blackwater soldiers killed 17 and wounded 24 Iraqis in a mission gone wrong in Baghdad. Fabrice Coffrin, AFP / Getty Images#9, NestleEra: 1970s-1980s The wholesome chocolate company got caught in a nasty breast milk controversy, resulting in a 1977 boycott. Specifically, Nestle came under continued fire for marketing its infant formula in developing countries. Activists claim infant formula is inferior to breast milk, and in developing countries it can lead to death—something they say Nestle has failed to adequately warn in its labelling. Nestle asserts its marketing remains in line with World Health Organization recommendations. Charles Dharapak / AP Photo#8, Goldman SachsEra: Present For years, Goldman Sachs was just seen as arrogantly successful, and even as the 2008-2009 financial crisis raged, Goldman emerged relatively unscathed among vast waves of negative publicity that were crashing about the financial sector. But then people started asking questions: Why did Goldman get all of its money back from AIG, while taxpayers footed the bill? Why did the firm's former chief, as Treasury secretary, cut that deal? In April 2010, the SEC sued Goldman for misleading clients on risky investments, then betting the investments would fail. "It wouldn't be on this list at any time before the 21st century," says Harvard Business School professor emeritus Thomas McCraw. That platinum reputation suddenly has cakes of tarnish. Tim Matsui / Getty Images#7, MicrosoftEra: 1980s The company that made personal computers ubiquitous and turned Bill Gates into the world's richest man has a long history of being hated for its anti-competitive and monopolistic practices. It has attracted significant vitriol for its Windows operating system, which isn't compatible with other operating systems, and for its exclusivity deals with hardware manufacturers that have led to pricing control and market dominance. It was "undoubtedly the most hated company in its industry for three decades, and detested by many of its business customers, as well," says Harvard's McCraw. Mark Wilson / Getty Images#6, BPEra: Present BP's safety record was already atrocious, but that was hidden by the leafy green logo and hundreds of millions in marketing. Then, in the blink of an eye, BP became most reviled in the world—its fate since its Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, rupturing a mile-deep pipeline that continues to gush thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. CEO Tony Hayward has compounded the disaster with inept empathy ( calling it "relatively tiny" and saying he'd "like his life back"), and 220 federal lawsuits have already been filed against BP. "Probably more people in America 'hate' BP today than 'hated' Standard Oil after 1903, but that is in part because the population is larger and in part because the media have a longer reach," says Witzel. Henry Griffin / AP Photo#5, ITTEra: 1970s ITT—formerly International Telephone & Telegraph—funneled money to opponents of then-Chilean presidential hopeful Salvador Allende in 1970. The company owned a large chunk of the Chilean telecommunications firm Chitelco, and saw the Marxist Allende as anti-business. "The U.S. government harshly opposed the Allende government (who led a coalition of left-wing parties)," notes Illinois professor Marcelo Bucheli. Allende won in 1970, but was overthrown in 1973 by dictator Augusto Pinochet, with help from the U.S. government—a move that seemed to have ITT's fingerprints. The company's image rebounded in the ensuing decades, and the company has been named nine times as one of Forbes' best big companies. Cornell Capa, Time & Life Pictures / Getty Images#4, United Fruit CompanyEra: 1900s-1950s The United Fruit Company literally created the term banana republic. Founded in Central America by Brooklynite Minor Keith following a failed passenger railroad venture, United Fruit did its best to make sure the local governments were friendly to its banana export dominance, with U.S. government forces often enforcing its bidding. In 1901, the company took over postal operations for Guatemala, and thousands of low-wage workers' lives were lost and the Guatemalan government was overthrown. Public sentiment toward United Fruit was crystallized by Pablo Neruda in his 1950 poem Canto General: "With the bloodthirsty flies/came the Fruit Company,/amassed coffee and fruit/in ships which put to sea like/overloaded trays with the treasures/from our sunken lands." AP Photo; Rob Stapleton / AP Photo#3, ExxonEra: 1980s-1990s The worst natural disaster until the BP leak in the Gulf of Mexico was the Exxon Valdez oil spill. On March 24, 1989, the tanker ran aground in southern Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound. Exxon spent $2.1 billion on the cleanup and nearly a billion dollars in litigation and interest to settle lawsuits. The company has overhauled its practices, but the brand damage, like the environmental damage, lingers. RIGHT: Crews use high-pressure hoses to blast the rocks on this beach front on Naked Island, Alaska, April 21, 1989. Peter Kemp / AP Photo#2, Union CarbideEra: 1980s Responsible for the deadliest corporate disaster in history, Union Carbide's legacy was forever marred on the night of December 2, 1984, after a methyl isocyanate leak in a plant in Bhopal, India, exposed half a million people. More than 2,000 people were immediately killed, and as many as 15,000 deaths occurred in the proceeding years from diseases related to the leak. Union Carbide was sued by the Indian government and agreed to pay $470 million in 1989. "The executives responsible for that just recently received their sentences: two years in jail and $2,100, which many considered laughable," notes Illinois professor Marcelo Bucheli. Stock Montage / Getty Images#1, Standard OilEra: 1900s While name Standard Oil is synonymous with corporate greed, it was "widely admired in the 1880s and 1890s," notes financial historian Morgen Witzel. Led by John D. Rockefeller, the company found creative ways to swallow smaller oil companies with ruthless, monopolistic corporate practices. Beginning around 1903, however, the press began examining its tactics, led by Ida Tarbell and a generation of muckrakers, who used the media to turn public sentiment against the company. The U.S. Department of Justice finally sued Standard Oil for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, and in 1911, the Supreme Court agreed, shattering Rockefeller's company into 34 separate entities, which went on to become little firms called Mobil, Exxon, Chevron, and Amoco, among others.

subset: commoncrawl


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Celebrity life can take toll on mental, physical health
Updated 1:04 pm, Wednesday, August 20, 2014
"American Idol," "Dancing With the Stars" and their many brethren and spin-offs have young people dreaming of becoming celebrities. In reality, the life of the typical reality TV star isn't as glamorous as it appears.
In fact, the pressures of celebrity life can be enormous.
Many celebrity performers are on tour for months at a time. Movie shoots, promotional events and parties last into the wee hours. These commitments can take a toll on the physical and mental health of the unprepared.
Money often also creates problems it cannot solve. Street drugs like cocaine, prescription drugs like Oxycodone, and other substances attractive to addictive personalities are easily available for people with deep pockets and fame.
While many celebrity drug deaths have been caused by suicide or illegal drug use, a surprising number result by accident from medications available at the corner pharmacy. It turns out that people mistakenly perceive drugs prescribed by a doctor as safer than street drugs.
Even low doses of seemingly harmless drugs can kill, as pointed out at the funeral of Heath Ledger by his father, Kim.
The life and death of Robin Williams illustrate many of these points. As far back as 1988, Williams told People magazine that "Cocaine for me was a place to hide" - a way to deal with the stresses of life.
Drug abuse among the stars is thus both predictable and gravely concerning because it makes a bold statement about our pursuit of the so-called good life. No matter how high the stakes, to some it's still worth it. We live in a have-it-your-way society. Many people figure that if one hit or drink or pill isn't doing the trick, two might.
Combining prescription and illicit drugs increases the risk even more.
When the show or tour must go on, celebrities who are feeling ill can find it tempting to reach into their medicine collection and take what is there.
Depression and anxiety - yes, celebrities get the jitters, too - are common reasons doctors prescribe antidepressants and benzodiazepines. Often, these two classes of drugs show up in the coroner's report. The death is usually labeled "accidental" when the celebrity did not appear to take a large dose.
Frequently, however, medication has built up in the system and an underlying health condition has made it more toxic than usual.
Prescription drugs are sneakier than street drugs; they deceive the user by working slowly over time, often resulting in a deadly high or a fatal crash.
In young people, the body develops a tolerance to opiates in just a short period and needs ever more to feel the same effect. The result being that the user mistakenly escalates the doses to dangerous levels.
Illicit drugs, opiates, benzodiazepines, anxiolytics, muscle relaxers and antidepressants are extremely difficult to stop taking once the body becomes used to them. And if the person does manage to stop, the result can be oversensitivity to pain, extreme loss of motivation, and severe depression.
While many celebrities have admitted - as Williams did - to struggles with drugs, others refuse to admit, even to themselves, how dependent they are on them. Given the risky business of abusing drugs and being overworked, we are likely to witness the loss of other beloved stars who may not find that rehab completely eliminates their cravings or their pain.
Dr. Moshe Lewis is chief of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at


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|Message view
|« Date » · « Thread »
|« Date » · « Thread »
|robert burrell donkin <robertburrelldon...@blueyonder.co.uk>
|[beanutils] Map as a pseudo-bean...? [was Re: [beanutils] PropertyUtils.setProperty on classes which extend Map]
|Tue, 26 Nov 2002 19:29:51 GMT
On Monday, November 25, 2002, at 11:25 PM, Craig R. McClanahan wrote: <snip> > AFAIK, we've never promised that the BeanUtils or PropertyUtils code > formally support Maps as the *destination* of a property set operation, > even though they are acceptable as the source in certain scenarios. In > addition, if we're going to support setting via PropertyUtils, we > certainly should support getting for symmetry. > > I think it's worth investigating whether we can support a Map as a > pseudo-bean -- but that should start with a general analysis of the > problem space (including the thorny issue of deciding what the "property > type" of such a property should be if there is no current value for a > particular key), rather than a piecemeal fix to one aspect of the > situation. that does seem the best approach. > I'm game to participate (a little) in a discussion like that -- just don' > t > have the cycles to lead one. Do you? probably. i'm not sure that i've the capability, though. guess we'll have to wait and see about that... just to make sure that i understand the basic concept, here's my restatement: a map could act as a pseudo-bean by having each key-value pair act as a pseudo-property. the name of the property corresponds to the key (from the pair) and the property value corresponds to the value (from the pair). - robert -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: <mailto:email@example.com> For additional commands, e-mail: <mailto:email@example.com>
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Retirement planning is among the most essential part of financial planning to do in your 30s and 40s so that once you decide to retire, you will be left with sufficient amounts for sustenance.
In India, Senior Citizens Savings Schemes offer benefits like higher interest rates of 0.5 per cent. Also, Senior Citizens who own business and may not have business income are exempted from paying advance tax.
Senior Citizen Savings Scheme is specially designed to benefit senior citizens and provides a decent interest rate of 9 per cent. As per rules, NRI's and HUF are not eligible to open an account under the scheme. The lock in period is 5 years and can be extended up to another 3 years.
Now let us look at best Senior Citizen Savings Scheme in India
Senior Citizen Savings Scheme From SBI
Individuals who have attained the age of 60 years are eligible to open an account and can be done by submitting an an application in Form A along with the amount of deposit in multiple of Rs 1000, along with age proof.
While, the account holder can open more than one, it is important to remember that total of all the investment in all of the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme have been capped at Rs 15 lakh.
Withdrawal limits
One can withdraw the sum after a period of one year from the date of opening the account, but, there is a penalty that is levied.
Interest rates
The deposit made under the Scheme will attract an interest of 9.3 per cent per annum from the date of deposit. Interest is payable at the end of each calendar quarter March 31, June 30, Sept 30 and December 31 of each year. It's also important to note that under the scheme there is no compounding of interest, as happens in the case of bank deposits.
Senior Citizen Savings Scheme from ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank is the only private sector bank which is authorized to open accounts under the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme.
There is no income tax or wealth tax rebate that is applicable under the Scheme. Tax rates will be applicable as per income earned by the individuals.
The withdrawal restrictions are the same across all banks as the scheme is standardized. Closing after one year but before the expiry of two years, an amount equal to one and a half per cent of the deposit shall be deducted. You need to check the penalty with individual banks.
Interest rates
The deposits bear an interest rate at 9.3 per cent and will be decided by the government every year.
Interest is payable at the end of each calendar quarter March 31, June 30, Sept 30 and December 31 of each year.
Senior Citizen Deposit Scheme from Post Office
The Post Office like banks also offer the scheme. Individual who have attained 55 years or more but less than 60 years can open an account subject. One important thing to note in the case of the post office is that the account must be opened within one month of receipt of retirement benefits and amount should not exceed the amount of retirement benefits.
Premature closure is allowed after one year on the deduction of an amount equal to 1.5 per cent of the deposit & after 2 years 1 per cent of the deposit.
Interest rates
Currently, interest rates are capped at 9.3 per cent per annum, payable from the date of deposit and are made payable on March 31, June 30, Sept 30 and Dec 31 each year.
Note that only, investment in post office will qualify for the benefit of Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 from 1.4.2007.
One can choose between these three options (one from the public sector bank, private bank and last one from the post office) based on the service and flexibility. As this scheme is offered from the government, the features and benefits will more or less be same.


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The mission of The Heritage Foundation is to improve the lives of all Americans, by formulating and promoting the principles that have been proven across time and place to lead to human flourishing: free enterprise, limited government, individual liberty, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. Our supporters fervently believe, as we do, that the most effective solutions to America's problems are always consistent with these ideas and principles.
By 1973, when The Heritage Foundation was founded, many Americans had become deeply concerned that our country was drifting away from her founding principles. The Heritage Foundation not only gave Americans an institution that would fight for America's founding principles – it also gave our countrymen a heartfelt, motivating vision of what America can become once again: a nation where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.
Throughout the United States, located in Washington D.C.
Ed Feulner
Conservative, Free-market, Think tank, Limited government, traditional American values, strong national defense, free enterprise, individual freedom
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This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
How does this organization make a difference?
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No matter what the problem, the political left always has just one "solution": Government expansion. Ronald Reagan once said, "Government doesn't solve problems, it subsidizes them." At The Heritage Foundation, we stand for those Americans who agree with this statement.
Our supporters are fed up with the panacea of Big Government, because it prevents problems from being truly solved. And it creates new, worse problems. So when it comes to public policy, for Heritage supporters, outcomes mean everything and intentions mean nothing.
On behalf of all Americans, Heritage shines an uncompromising light on the results of poorly thought-out, Big Government policies, which include government dependency, class and group envy, cronyism, and international instability. We then show Congress, step-by-step, how they can get government out of the way so that the American people can solve their own problems. We use intellectually honest research and innovative marketing to promote public policies that actually work.
In one of the earliest examples of The Heritage Foundation's impact, the tax cuts we urged on President Reagan produced the biggest economic expansion in U.S. history, which extended beyond the presidency of Bill Clinton.
Today, we are sparking a revolution in education in the states by showing how parents can use tax dollars to customize their own child's education. Because of the support of millions of Americans, Heritage was able to preserve funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which lets D.C. parents take their kids out of failing schools and put them in schools where they can actually learn. These children now graduate at a rate of 90 percent.
We are also providing members of Congress with the exact steps they need in order to reform federal welfare programs, which for decades have discouraged marriage, meaningful work, and family stability. Our record of creating successful welfare policy is important: In 1996, Heritage led the fight to include work requirements into what was known at the time as the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program – and in doing so, created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which helped millions of Americans to get off welfare. But there is more work to be done today, as TANF is just one of more than 80 federal welfare programs.
Another example of The Heritage Foundation's impact is our work on labor policy. When we explained to Wisconsin legislators how not forcing non-union members to pay union dues can help workers, they codified this into state law the very next day.
Finally, The Heritage Foundation has chronicled the devastating impact that the deceivingly named Affordable Care Act has had on millions of Americans – in the form of higher premiums, cancelled plans, loss of privacy and control of health care decisions, and limited access to high quality health care. We have kept the movement alive to replace Obamacare with a patient-centered alterna
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Program 1
Strengthening the Conservative Movement
Heritage's Coalition Relations Program
The conservative movement cannot triumph over leftist ideology unless we work together. That's why Heritage regularly brings the nation's conservative leaders and public policy institutions together to discuss messaging, policy formulation, and shared goals. Heritage connects state-based policy organizations with like-minded groups, shares research with organizations who need it, and sends our policy experts into key battles at the state level.
The Heritage Foundation participates in more than 50 conferences and 200 coalition meetings each year, and hosts even more. In addition to hosting dozens of Washington briefings and training programs, we are also the organizer of the Annual Resource Bank Meeting, where more than 500 attendees from more than 250 organizations network and strategize with conservative peers.
It is largely because of The Heritage Foundation that, over the past four decades, the conservative movement has grown to what it is today: a force which, even in the face of heightened cultural and political attacks by the radical left, is stronger and more powerful than ever before.
Heritage's Legal Programs
For decades, the political left has used the judicial system to legislate when it could not achieve its objectives through the consent of the people. Today, Americans are fighting back through what is known as the freedom-based public interest legal movement.
The Heritage Foundation, through the work of our Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, serves as the chief organizer of this movement. We fight to prevent the judicial system from overstepping its constitutional limits, and explain why the courts must interpret the law instead of making it.
We regularly bring the conservative legal movement together in order to strategize and think through legal issues facing the nation. These gatherings include meetings of our Public Interest Legal Group; and working groups on civil rights, intellectual property, and election law.
We have seen particular impact form our semi-annual Legal Strategy Forum. This event brings together the chief legal officers of the public interest legal movement, who share our commitment to limited government. These groups are in the trenches working to defend property rights, religious liberty, and free speech, to combat environmental overregulation, and to defend litigants on other constitutional issues. The Forum allows them to network, discuss successful strategies, and plan for upcoming litigation with input from the country's finest legal minds.
Heritage's Young Leaders Program
Liberty must be fought for, won, preserved, and defended – and we must recruit individuals from each generation to lead this fight. Heritage supporters understand this, which is why they've made The Heritage Foundation's Young Leaders Program a success. Since it was first established in 1979, this program has educated, developed, trained, and equipped thousands of students and young professionals to defend our nation and its heritage of liberty.
The Heritage Young Leaders Program includes Heritage's Internship Program and our outreach on the nation's college campuses.
Our internship program is designed to give the next generation of leaders the intellectual and practical foundation they need by:
• Telling them the truth about America's founding, and why our founding principles must be the guide for any and all legislation and activities of the U.S. government;
• Educating them about policy solutions that uphold the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense; and
• Giving them work experience and marketable professional skills.
As part of our outreach on college campuses, Heritage policy experts lecture, discuss conservative ideas, and introduce students to The Heritage Foundation. The program also hosts college groups at Heritage headquarters, where we provide briefings on whatever topic our guests need.
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Program 2
When the liberty-based ideas of the American founding are heard and understood by the American people – they inspire.
The Heritage Foundation is always finding new ways to help more Americans to understand the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual liberty, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. Our communications strategy includes market research and message testing, targeted print publications, outreach to the mainstream media, news reporting and commentary, and social media.
Our market research platform, known as Heritage's American Perceptions Initiative, acknowledges that there is always a way to approach an issue that will give you the greatest chance of persuading – rather than turning off – your audience. Heritage uses this permanent system of market research to increase the impact, appeal, and influence of Heritage's ideas. The messages and public perceptions we uncover not only impact all of our communications with the public – they also inform conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who are eager to see where Americans stand on a pressing issue.
At the same time, each year Heritage experts publish thousands of commentaries in local, state and national print media. Heritage analysts, who are sought-after guests for TV and radio interviews, are often broadcast to TV and radio programs from The Heritage Foundation's own in house TV and radio studies in Washington, D.C. These studios make it easier for news networks to call upon our experts to respond to breaking news.
Since 2014, The Heritage Foundation also operates its own multimedia news website, The Daily Signal. The Daily Signal provides timely, relevant policy news of importance to the American people. Through Emmy-nominated articles, videos, and info-graphics, The Daily Signal narrates real life examples of why conservative policies work – and why liberal policies fail.
Another feature that sets The Daily Signal apart is its commitment to breaking unreported and underreported stories – and doing so in a way that is unexpected, entertaining, and compelling. In 2015, The Daily Signal's hard-hitting stories on Obamacare, the IRS, transgender bathrooms, and other examples of federal overreach helped attract nearly 44 million "visits." Many of The Daily Signal's 4,270 stories were picked up by influential outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Review Online, The Weekly Standard, Fox News, and more.
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Program 3
Institute for Family, Community, and Opportunity
The primary goal of the Institute for Family, Community, and Opportunity is to promote and defend the institutions of civil society upon which ordered liberty in America depends: marriage, families, religious practice, health care, and schools. We defend the right of all Americans to live, work, and love according to their deeply held beliefs. We promote the right of parents to choose how their children will be educated. We keep before the public the abject failure of Obamacare and give them a vision for a patient-centered, consumer-oriented, health care system. And we show local, private institutions how they can help alleviate poverty rather than relying on government.
One major annual reference work from the Institute is Heritage's Index of Culture and Opportunity, which tracks whether America is on the right track or the wrong track when it comes to a number of social indicators. The Index of Culture and Opportunity helps lawmakers understand how their decisions on social policies such as educational choice, welfare, and marriage dramatically impact economic health and opportunity in America.
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Program 4
Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy
The Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy focuses lawmakers' attention on one of the Constitution's explicitly enumerated tasks: To "provide for the common defense." This means making certain that America can defend herself and her interests on the world scene, from foreign enemies, be they nations or terrorists. With this in mind, this Institute focuses on research and analysis of issues dealing with foreign policy, international relations, defense spending, rooting out sources of terrorism, and other aspects of national security. In addition to publishing more than 300 policy papers each year, the Davis Institute regularly convenes working groups of experts and Capitol Hill staff on vital issues, and holds policy-related lectures, debates, and roundtables.
To support our recommendations, the Davis Institute has added to its publications our annual Index of U.S. Military Strength. Immediately upon publication of the first edition of the Index, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees requested briefings on its contents, indicating strong interest in whether the U.S. military is no longer up to the tasks it is called upon to perform. The Index has been widely praised by the defense and intelligence communities as the most complete, understandable, and detailed analysis available of the threats to America's safety, and our ability to deal with them.
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Program 5
Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity
The Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity promotes bold public policies to restore the free market, rein in government spending, and inspire America's traditional ethic of hard work, investment, and saving. Heritage economists articulate the moral and ethical case of fiscal responsibility and free markets, including our annual Index of Economic Freedom. The Index, which Heritage has published jointly with the Wall Street Journal for more than 20 years, ranks 186 nations on measures of economic freedom, from property rights to entrepreneurship.
The Index's 20 years of data make it evident that economic freedom inherently limits the power of government, liberates people to reach their full potential, and leads to human flourishing. That's why we design our public policy solutions with these ends in mind, and we defend their feasibility with data from our Center for Data Analysis, our version of the Congressional Budget Office.
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Experts in our Center for Data Analysis pioneered a way to predict how the U.S. economy will respond to proposed legislation, and Heritage got the Congressional Budget Office to use the same "dynamic scoring" method. We use this method to predict how new tax, health care, environmental, and entitlement policy will affect the economy – for various Heritage policy teams and for lawmakers themselves. These models consistently reveal the economic wisdom of lower, fairer taxes and fewer regulations.
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How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one. These quantitative program results are self-reported by the organization, illustrating their committment to transparency, learning, and interest in helping the whole sector learn and grow.
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Five powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
Throughout the United States, located in Washington D.C.
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The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Ed Feulner
Edwin J. Feulner's leadership as president of The Heritage Foundation transformed the think tank from a small policy shop into America's powerhouse of conservative ideas -- what the New York Times calls "the Parthenon of the conservative metropolis." After 36 years at the helm of the 40-year-old think tank he helped create as a founding trustee, he stepped down April 4, 2013, assuming the new title of founder.
A former director of the Republican Study Committee in the House of Representatives, he also served as vice chairman of the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform and as a member of the Commission on Reforming International Financial Institutions. Other leadership roles included serving as president of both the Mont Pelerin Society and the Philadelphia Society, and as chairman of both the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.
President Reagan presented him with the Presidential Citizens Medal for his work as "a leader of the conservative movement." His other honors include the 2012 Bradley Prize for extraordinary dedication to the movement. His books include The American Spirit, Getting America Right, Leadership for America, and The March of Freedom.
Thomas A. Saunders
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section, which enables organizations and donors to transparently share information about essential board leadership practices. Self-reported by organization
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations?
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year?
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year?
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership?
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years?


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Gross : If You're Curious What Squashing Was ! I Feel Like A Pancake
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