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Hard times are not getting any softer in Japan.
Recovery from the global recession has stalled. Economic growth, minus 1.2% in 2008 and down 5.2% in 2009, is forecast by the World Bank at only 2.5% this year and 2.1% in 2011. Meantime, public debt has swollen to twice the size of Japan's economy.
What's more, unemployment is near a record high. Deflation is whittling down consumer spending, and there were shock waves when the labor ministry revealed almost one in six Japanese were living in poverty in 2007. No surprise, then, that China recently passed Japan as the world's second-largest economy.
"My task is to rebuild this nation," says Naoto Kan, after taking office in June as the third Japanese prime minister in less than a year.
Yet, political leaders continue to founder, unsure about how to revive the country's fortunes.
A recent government survey of 102 companies reveals 40% would move their factories and development facilities outside Japan if the yen remains near its 15-year high of ÂĄ85:$1, up 26% since 2007.
Special Coverage
State of Industry: International
The finance ministry on Sept. 15 intervened in currency markets to weaken the yen for the first time since 2004, but experts doubt it will impede market forces and have a lasting effect.
For Japan's automotive industry, the outlook is as unclear as the political climate. But, at present, major car companies are recovering lost ground and performing far better than the economy. The country's top-3 auto makers all are projecting growth for the current fiscal year, ending March 31, 2011.
Toyota Motor Corp. is forecasting a 1.9% uptick in global sales to 7.38 million units and a more than twofold jump in operating profits to ÂĄ330 billion ($3.88 billion). Honda Motor Co. Ltd. expects a 6.6% increase to 3.61 million global deliveries and a 23.7% increase in operating profits to ÂĄ450 billion ($5.29 billion).
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. foresees global sales rising 8.1% to 3.8 million units and operating profits of ÂĄ350 billion ($4.11 billion), up 12.3%.
Although the forecasts are encouraging, the results still will fall well below 2007 peaks, and the momentum may not be sustainable. "The current situation is very tough," Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda admitted in September.
The soaring yen threatens to dull the competitive edge of Japanese auto makers, sour their sales and profits and force significant changes in what they produce.
For every ÂĄ1 gain in the exchange rate against the dollar, the loss in operating profits is about ÂĄ30 billion ($353 million) for Toyota, ÂĄ17 billion ($200 million) for Honda and ÂĄ15 billion ($176 million) for Nissan (computed at ÂĄ85:$1).
"There will be over 60% negative impact from the currency on the operating profits of Japan's Big Three this fiscal year," says Kota Yuzawa, a senior analyst with Goldman Sachs Japan.
Analysts believe the yen could continue to strengthen to ÂĄ80, ÂĄ75 or even ÂĄ70:$1, although opinions differ on how severe the impact might be.
"The breakeven point of major Japanese auto makers has dramatically declined from the 2007 peak," says Yuzawa. "Even at ¥80, most Japanese auto makers will be profitable, and I don't think Nissan or Honda would be in the red at ¥70."
But Mitsuru Kurokawa, senior market analyst-Japan at IHS Automotive, is less confident. "Japanese car makers cannot manage a rate less than ¥85:$1," he says.
Koji Endo, managing director-Advanced Research Japan, agrees. "At ¥85, most Japanese auto producers won't be able to make hardly any money from exports," he says. "On expensive models, profit margins are minimal and on small cars there are no profits.
"If the yen becomes even stronger, many will have to change their business model, which up to now has been to use roughly half their production in Japan, around 5 million units, for exports."
Endo points out an additional 1 million units of capacity are excess because domestic demand is fading. That's because the Japanese population is aging and the younger generation tends to regard a car as basic transportation, rather than a source of pride and joy.
After peaking in 1990 at 7.7 million units, domestic vehicle sales dropped to 4.6 million units in 2009. The decline is expected to continue, despite a rise this year to about 4.9 million deliveries triggered by a cash-for-clunkers program.
A production shift overseas to replace exports has been under way for decades. Even in lean and mean 2009, for example, 10.1 million Japanese vehicles were built offshore, compared with 7.9 million units in Japan that included 3.6 million for export.
The economic realities today for Japanese auto makers are more obvious than ever before. Growth is in overseas markets, especially the emerging nations, and the strong yen is making vehicle exports from Japan less viable.
"Shifting more production overseas is quite logical," Yuzawa says. "Currency fluctuations are a continuing concern, production costs in Japan are high and the aim of all auto makers is to produce where they sell."
Endo calculates some 3 million units of export production, which reached 6.7 million in 2008, eventually will have to be moved from Japan and transferred overseas. "That is easy to say but difficult to implement, and a very costly, lengthy operation," he says.
Because the economic and social consequences of closing plants and dismissing workers will be brutal, such moves are likely to be slow and measured – and postponed for as long as practical.
Current strategy favors building new assembly plants in growth centers, new and old, such as China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil and Russia, as well as the U.S.
For example, Nissan, in a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group, now is the leading Japanese auto maker in China. The JV recently opened a new plant in Zhengzhou to make SUVs and will nearly double capacity to 1.2 million units by 2012.
Guangqi Honda Automobile Co. Ltd. plans to expand production 33% to 480,000 units. Dongfeng Honda Automobile (Wuhan) Co. Ltd. will build a second plant with 60,000-unit capacity and Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor Co. Ltd. will construct a third plant with 100,000-unit capacity.
Toyota's first Entry Family Car for emerging markets will be made in India, not Japan. Production of the new entry-level compact Etios will begin this year, with annual sales in India set at 70,000 units and exports planned as well. And a third Toyota plant under construction in Brazil, with a 70,000-unit annual capacity, may begin making the Etios in mid-2012.
Yet, Tokyo analysts believe the reduction in vehicle output in Japan cannot be ignored indefinitely, and Nissan is showing how it can be done.
"Nissan was the first major Japanese manufacturer to close plants in Japan and is the first to shift production of a mass-production model overseas. Production of the March/Micra has been completely transferred from Japan," Endo says.
The all-new global compact is being built in Thailand, China, India and Mexico and eventually will be sold in 160 markets, including exports to Japan that began in July and are targeted at 4,000 per month.
Endo expects many other auto makers to take similar measures, as exporting low-priced, entry-level cars has become profitless.
Another prime target for production shifting is North America, where one third of the vehicles Toyota sells there, along with 20% of Nissan deliveries and 10% of Honda sales, still are imported from Japan.
But what's notable is that emerging markets are becoming as important as the traditional mainstays, the U.S., Europe and Japan.
Toyota's game plan this year calls for sales of 1.97 million vehicles in North America: including 1.77 million in the U.S.; 1.84 million in Asia, including 800,000 in China; and 760,000 in Europe.
Vehicle exports from Japan are recovering from a 27% drop last year, but competition is stiffening, especially from Hyundai Motors Co. Ltd. and Volkswagen AG. Costs are being cut in every way possible.
"Many Japanese auto makers are putting extra pressure on suppliers this year to cut their prices 3%, instead of a more normal 1% or 2%," Endo cites as an example.
The analysts agree Japanese auto makers will continue to dominate the global market for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles, which Yuzawa forecasts will make up 20% of total vehicle sales of 100 million units in 2020.
"They are developing more fuel-efficient gasoline-driven cars, too, which deliver about 30 km/L (71 mpg)," adds Kurokawa.
Yuzawa estimates Japanese auto makers' share of total global vehicle sales, 27.7% in fiscal-2009, will be 28.2% this fiscal year and 27.4% in fiscal-2011.
"(The Japanese) will regain share in the U.S., which will still be their No.1 market," he says. "No.2 will be China. And this will be a super year for them in Thailand and Indonesia."
Adds Yuzawa: "The yen is likely to bottom at ¥80:$1, and we foresee an upside to the currency impact, which would offer Japanese auto makers huge opportunities."
But Endo is not as optimistic. "For Japanese auto makers" he says, "the future is going to be stormy."


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Tools of the Trade
By: Amaris Rivera
Over the past week I've learned several "Tools of the Trade" in Information Technology. Below you will find information on the tools I have experienced.
- Edmodo
- Remind
- Easel.ly
- Design Cycle
- Tackk
Edmodo is a free learning management system. It allows students to receive assignments and information from teachers. It also allows students to collaborate with fellow classmates. Students have the ability to put files in a backpack that is portable.
Remind is a tool that allows me to receive reminders on homework and assignments that will be due soon. It can be used by teachers and students to communicate. It benefits the student because, if a student has no idea they have an assignment remind will help them get the assignment done.
Easel.ly is an online tool that allows the user to create InfoGraphics. InfoGraphics are visual representations of data. I created an InfoGraphic on the Design Cycle. The benefit of a tool like Easel.ly is that it gives a way to create a visual to help explain my information. I can use this tool in several of my other classes for organizational projects. Companies could use this tool to represent their ideas on the company.
Design Cycle
The Design cycle is a process used to solve problems. It gives you multiple solutions to solve your situation. Its used in a systematical manner through following the process.
There are four steps to the design cycle:
Inquiring & Analyzing
Developing Ideas
Creating the Solution
inquiring & Analyzing
Students are presented with a design situation, where they identify a problem that needs to be solved. Then analyze the need for a solution and conduct an inquiry into the nature of the problem.
-Explain and justify the need for a solution to a problem for a specified target.
-Identify and prioritize the research needed to develop a solution to the problem.
-Analyze a range of existing products that inspire a solution to the problem.
-Develop a detailed design brief, which summarizes the analysis of your research.
Developing Ideas
Students write a detailed specification, which drives the development of a solution. Then present the solution.
-Develop a design specification, which clearly states the criteria for the design of a solution.
-Develop a range of feasible ideas which can be interpreted by others.
-Present the chosen design and justify its selection.
-Develop accurate and detailed plan. Then outline the requirements for the creation of the chosen solution.
Creating the Solution
Students plan the creation of the chosen solution and follow the plan to create a sufficient solution for testing and evaluating.
-Construct a logical plan, that describes the efficient use of time and resources. Also for peers to be able to follow the plan.
-Demonstrate excellent technical skills when making the solution.
-Follow the plan to create the solution, which functions as intended.
-Fully justify changes made to the chosen design and plan when making the solution.
-Present the solution as a whole, either in a electronic form, or through photographs of the solution from different angles, showing details.
Students design tests to evaluate the solution, carry out those tests and objectively evaluate its success. Students identify areas where the solution could be improved and explain how their solution will impact others.
-Design detailed and relevant testing methods, which generate data, to measure your success.
-Critically evaluate your success against the design specification.
-Explain how the solution could be improved.
-Explain the impact of the solution on the target audience.
In class we took real live situations and placed them into the design cycle. We took the common situation of my car won't start and we organized our plan for the situation.
Inquiring & Analyzing
Explain: My car won't start and I need to go to work and take the kids to school. I'll be late for work and my kids will be late to school.
Identify: Troubleshoot the car. Go on the internet and search for the problem. Call a mechanic. Search the owner's manual.
Analyze: Call a cab. Call for a rental car. Carpool. Call a tow truck. Call a dealership. Call Triple A.
Develop: My car won't work and I'm going to be late. I can either troubleshoot, or search on the internet to find an answer. I can call for a cab, rental car, carpool, tow truck, Triple A.
Developing ideas
Develop Design Specification: Look for solution online and possible repairs if the computer has no solution than buy a new computer.
Develop feasible ideas: Ask a mechanic if he can come take a look at the car, find another way of transportation, or call for a rental car.
Present a final chosen design and justify its selection: Call for a rental car.
Develop an accurate plan and outline the requirements: Look online to find car rental places and look to see the price (if there is one) to see which is the cheapest and get the number.
Creating the solution
Construct a plan: Call the tow truck. Wait for tow truck to come and call the rental place you found online. Wait for your rental car to come. When they arrive sign for the car.
Demonstrate excellent technical skills: Find a good mechanic.
Follow plan
Justify any changes to the plan: If you change your plan write it out.
Present the solution
Design relevant testing methods which generates data and measure success of solution: Take car out for a test drive.
Evaluate success of solution against design specifications
Explain how it could be improved
Explain the impact of the solution
Tackk is a site that you can use to quickly create simple webpages. Using Tackk you can create a page to announce an important event, to advertise an event, or to show off your best digital works. It is creating a simple webpage for you without having to code.

subset: commoncrawl


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Spotlight Article:
Postretrofit News and Analysis
Our house was built in 1951, but Michele and I have been living there since 2007. I've met the two previous owners. One was careful about keeping the house comfortable and efficient—the other ...
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A Label That Makes Sense
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Hummingbird House: Design for Everyone Part III
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That was our pledge in the military and in my time as a police officer. When you retire or move ...
Amber Schilberg, on behalf of Energize Connecticut
A Closer Look at Connecticut's Zero Energy Homebuilding Competition
At the Better Buildings By Design conference, Ann Edminster spoke about the growing interest in net-zero-energy buildings saying, "This [...


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"Why did you choose this product?"
Mu 16 month old granddaughter loves this for her baby doll! She's quite the little mother!...
American Plastic Toys My Very Own Nurseryby American Plastic Toys
ITEM#: 13088171Let your little one enjoy hours of imaginative play with this American Plastic Toys nursery play center. Featuring a feeding station and crib, this set offers everything you need to treat a doll to a meal and a nap. The sink lets your child pretend to wash the included plate, cup, spoon and fork.
Crafted from durable plastic, this brightly colored nursery play set stands up to the rigors of playtime A built-in cabinet and storage shelf provide storage space for all the accessories that come with the set, which encourages your child to put toys away after each use.
- My Very Own Nursery includes a crib, feeding chair and mobile with colorful decals, perfect for housing your child's favorite doll
- Plate, cup, utensils and baby formula dispenser allow your children to feed their dolls imaginary meals, and a sink, cabinet and shelf facilitate playing clean-up
- Crafted from durable plastic for years of use
- A doll is not included in the set
- Dimensions measure 26.125 inches high x 36.375 inches wide x 10.625 inches deep
- Model number is 11450
Assembly Required
|Baby Girl, Basic, Family, Friends
|Assembly Required
|1 year Limited Manufacturer
|Model Number
|Country of Origin
|United States
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful
2 year old loves this!
My 2 year old Granddaughter loves playing little mommy with this all in one doll nursery. She pretends to fee her baby and loves the cabinet area to store things.Read More
Cute doll nursery.
It is cute. But, It fell apart after awhile. Although i do have 5 girls.It lasted 2 years.Read More
ridiculous assembly
Someone mentioned this could be used with American Girl doll...not true wrong scale. Therefore, this is strictly for very young children rather than older ones. Also the assembly required was ridiculous!!!Read More
Baby heaven for a 2 yr old
My granddaughter loves this. My daughter-in-law put this together by herself Christmas night. She said it was a challenge but she got it done. My granddaughter wants to play "Babies & Mommies" all the time. So glad I found it for her.Read More
Most Recent
Play nursery
Mu 16 month old granddaughter loves this for her baby doll! She's quite the little mother!Read More
She Loves it!
I bought this for my granddaughter at Christmas. My son sent me pictures the next morning and she was already playing! Price was great and she loved it. Win win!!Read More
just what she needed
my 2 year old LOVES this piece! it took about half an hour for my husband to put it together, and it is not perfect, but it is perfect for our little momma.Read More
Value plus
Excellent Quality & PriceRead More
Grandaughters and her baby dolls love this item!! Its perfect!!Read More
Questions & Answers
granddaughter wanted it
Christmas present for Grand daughter
I bought it as a Christmas gift for my Granddaughter who loves her babies.
On a child's Christmas list
my daughter loves to play with her babies!
As a Toy for my child. Great Toy!
My son was looking for it for my granddaughter! He was looking on Amazon and I looked here before I bought it and I'm so glad I did!
my niece loves playin with babies
"Can you tell me how long the cradle area is for the baby doll? I need at least 22 inches for the baby to fit."
Thank you for shopping with us tandkdecor. I am very sorry but this will only accommodate a 16 inch doll. Have a great day.
an 18" baby just fits.
Shopping Tips & Inspiration
How to Clean and Maintain Dollhouses
How to Clean and Maintain Dollhouses from Overstock.com. Whether your dollhouse is a toy or a collectible, a little care will go a long way. This guide covers what you need to know.
Stocking Stuffer Ideas
In the hurry and flurry of Christmas Day, don't overlook the gifts found in Christmas stockings. Stocking stuffers are usually smaller and less expensive than what you put under the tree, but they're a thoughtful and ideal way to celebrate the personality or interests of those on your list. Peruse our options and you'll be ready to grant the holiday wishes of the special people in your life.
Best Toys For Girls For Christmas
Are you looking for the best toys for girls this Christmas? Be sure to put a few of these top gift ideas on your shopping list. Shop our huge assortment of toys at Overstock.com.
Tips on Buying Dolls
Tips on Buying Dolls from Overstock.com. So whether you are buying collectible dolls or dolls to play with, follow these helpful tips.
Best Gifts for Tweens for Christmas
Buying gifts for tweens is fun because at this stage their interests are deepening, growing, and changing. We've created a list of the best gifts for tween girls and boys to help you get the ideas flowing.
Best Pretend Play Toys for Christmas
Pretend play helps kids express their feelings and develop language skills, and it provides opportunities for social development. Children should direct themselves to get the most out of imaginative play, but you can help jumpstart their creativity with the perfect gift. Read below to find the best pretend play toys for your child this Christmas.
Best Toddler Toys for Christmas
We've come up with a list of the top toddler Christmas toys for both boys and girls that will bring learning and laughter for years to come. These toys will help your child explore their world and expand their imaginations.
Best Toys for Boys for Christmas
Whether you're shopping for the perfect gift for your son, grandson, or nephew, you'll want to give him something that will spark his creativity and provide hours of fun. When you're Christmas shopping this year, be sure to put a few of these top toys on your list.
Best Ride-On Toys for Christmas
From rocking horses to small-scale motorized cars, ride-on toys not only satisfy a young one's need for speed, but they also encourage outdoor activity and build confidence. If you're looking for ideas for the little ones on your Christmas list, consider these suggestions to find a perfect gift.
Playroom Ideas
Create a space for learning and fun. Check out these playroom ideas for your home. Shop our huge selection of baby & kids' furniture at Overstock.com.
Shipping & Returns
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** Most Oversize orders are delivered within 1-4 weeks. Some orders may take 6 weeks to be delivered.


text:
Relationships matter. Clearly, we cannot always drop what we're doing at a moment's notice and attend to strained relationships. But no matter what our task, relationships are our business. [Read more…]
The priority of relationships
Working for the joy of others
What would our workplaces look like if one of our prime directives were bringing joy? [Read more…]
Loving your neighbor as yourself
The most famous verse in Leviticus may be the command, "Love your neighbor as yourself." [Read more…]
Abraham and Sarah's hospitality
How could we do more to encourage each other to be generous in hospitality, no matter what our professions are? [Read more…]
"God does own this business"
"I pray for wisdom on a daily basis. I'm not smart enough to run this business by myself and I know that but I believe God can sure help me." [Read more…]
Pay equity: one company's story
In 1981, when Ken Melrose was appointed CEO, Toro was on the verge of bankruptcy. He felt it was his calling from God to build a culture using the concept of servant leadership. It seemed obvious to him to look at "rank & file" employees as the real strength of the organization. [Read more…]


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The Walk
After suffering through a series of painful relationships, a young woman reconnects with her faith in God in this poignant Christian drama. With her life in tatters and frustrated with the world, Sydney isn't certain where she should turn. But thanks to a caring youth minister, Sydney sets out on a journey of self-discovery that will eventually lead her to regaining her trust in humankind. Eva Pigford, Regina Belle and Teck Holmes star.


text:
You are a fan of therian sniping ? Come to discover the best forums therian sniping on the internet and share your experience with a community fan of therian sniping . You can also build a forum therian sniping and create your online discussion.
A Temporary forum for daily information.
Free forum : Clan Original Gamers is a Clan structure frozen in time. We play classic games. We are gaming. We will try new stuff but we always come back to our true love.
clan, original, gamers, structure, frozen, time, play, classic, games, gaming, stuff, true, love., starcraft, broodwar, sniper, #sniping, battle.net, diablo, warcraft, blizzard.
Feral Nature: Providing a relaxed, supportive, and educational atmosphere for those who are non-human identified.
otherkin, feral, nature, #therian, dragon, therianthropy, furry, nonhuman, non-human, multiple, fictionkin


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Intrinsys Continues the Recruitment Drive
Intrinsys continues its recruitment drive by employing Amit Patel. Due to the continuous growth Intrinsys and its sister company Integral Powertrain are having to maintain its recruitment drive trying to find exceptional engineers.
Intrinsys has increased its staff number with 8 new starters over the last 12 month and are still looking to expand.
Amit Patel joins us straight from University after obtaining a first class Honours from Salford University in Aircraft Engineering followed by a Masters from Cranfield University in Aerospace Vehicle Design.
These valuable core skills will support Amit and Intrinsys develop its Business within the Aerospace sector.


text:
First, watch this video:
Twitter allows users to post 140 character updates, answering the question: "What are you doing?" These posts are shared via the web to either the world or to the users' friends. As a tool with many flexible uses, it is likely that we'll see individuals integrating Twitter with all sorts of interesting applications in the future. It is this simplicity and flexibility that makes Twitter a winner–in 140 characters or less.
Users can access Twitter messages—called Tweets—via the Web, via an RSS feed, and via text on their cellular phones or any number of third part apps. You might use Twitter for social updating (What I am doing) or microblogging (what I am thinking about). Accessing a Twitter user, one might find an update on his or her day, a direct message to another Twitterer, or a bit of wit and wisdom.
Libraries are using Twitter as well as a means to update content on the Web or for alert services.
We'll use Twitter in our course as a means to share little snippets, links, etc with each other. Consider this a "Thing to Explore" and a way to add to your personal learning network that will follow you throughout your career.
Class Hashtag: #hyperlib
Twitter defines a "hashtag" this way: The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.
- People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search
- Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category
- Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet
- Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics
Again, we'll use a hashtag #hyperlib for the course.
Optional: View this brief presentation: "Technology with Heart: Twitter" from 2012: http://hanakoa.sjsu.edu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer/Default.aspx?id=8569cea5-983b-4adc-961e-75cbce1443b3
Twitter for Librarians: The Ultimate Guide
The Twitter Guidebook
Twitter for Beginners (PDF)


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A Critic Turns 90; Meyer Schapiro
By Deborah Solomon;
Published: August 14, 1994
WHEN I FIRST telephoned Meyer Schapiro, his 91-year-old wife answered the phone. I was hoping to schedule an interview with him, but she told me he doesn't grant any. Schapiro himself then came to the phone. "Surely you can write your article without me," he said politely.
His reticence was a bit surprising: Schapiro, who turns 90 next month, has hardly led a reclusive life. A celebrated art historian, he has moved in the most elevated cultural circles of our time. He taught at Columbia University for half a century, and was a close associate of the New York intellectuals, that brainy, noisy clan that flourished in the years around World War II. In the late 30's, when Leon Trotsky wanted to learn more about Surrealism, he knew where to turn; he wrote to Schapiro, who sent along some essays by his friend Andre Breton, the poet who founded the movement.
This fall, the long-awaited fourth volume of Schapiro's "Selected Writings" will be published by George Braziller Inc. It has been 15 years since his last collection appeared, a virtual eternity in a field where junior art historians crank out thick treatises as if they were annual reports. A more literal monument to his accomplishments was put in place earlier this year, when the western portion of the Brooklyn Museum was renamed the Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing. The tribute coincides with a $5 million gift from Morris Schapiro, a Wall Street banker born one year ahead of his professor-brother in Lithuania.
With a little prodding, Schapiro eventually agreed to be interviewed. He and his wife, Lillian Milgram, a retired pediatrician, live in Greenwich Village, in a red-brick town house they've inhabited since 1933. The house is comic in its disarray -- the very image of the scholar buried alive by his books. Schapiro greeted me in the living room, leaning on a cane and appearing almost defiantly upright compared with the sagging shelves around him. He has about 25,000 books altogether, enough to fill a small-town library. I brought him a new book on Picasso, and he fell into an appreciative silence as he eyed the pictures. Asked where he would put the book, Schapiro replied with a chuckle: "Where will I put myself? I'm out of room for myself."
In spite of his age, Schapiro is an imposing presence, a shaggy-haired scholar with a big cranium and leonine features. He suffers from diabetes and has difficulty walking, but in conversation roams far and wide, leaping across centuries and through different fields of knowledge with apparent ease. He is said to be a polymath; his friends claim his mind is such a perfect machine that he writes footnotes for his articles strictly from memory, without even looking up the page numbers. I'd been forewarned that he is incapable of small talk and can use his ideas as a barrier to personal exchange.
This became clear at the start of our conversation, when I asked him whether he had any regrets about his life. Without hesitation, Schapiro replied, "I regret the failure of Socialism."
But doesn't he have a more personal regret?
"I regret I don't speak Chinese," he said -- a real failing for a man who is said to have taught himself Arabic on his honeymoon.
If Schapiro is a political leftist, as an art historian he's a traditionalist, eschewing dogma and ideology in favor of the humble act of looking. Officially, he has two specialties, the dichotomous realms of modern art and the Romanesque. Yet his insights into the abbey of Souillac or the apples of Cezanne pale beside his dramatic revision of art history itself. When he began his career in the 20's, the academic study of art was a tame pursuit for gentlemen and debutantes. Professors would flash slides on a screen while reciting a dry litany of titles and dates. Schapiro's accomplishment was to shake off the dust and open the field to a style of speculation and intellectual bravura that drew on his command of many different disciplines, most notably psychoanalysis.
"Schapiro made this landmark change," says Charles T. Little, the curator of medieval art at the Metropolitan Museum. "He shifted the emphasis away from the cataloguing tradition, and made it permissible to have insights."
But Schapiro's audience extends well beyond the academy. At midcentury, the heyday of Abstract Expressionism, he and the critics Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg were the only voices on art that mattered. Each man stood for something different. Greenberg had the best eye, and was known for a blunt, binary approach that divided the world into good art, bad art and nothing in between. Rosenberg lacked an eye for art, but was a gifted polemicist whose phrase, "action painting," popularized the art of his generation. Schapiro, by contrast, was never associated with any one school of thought, and hasn't produced a written chronicle of the art scene. What he offered instead was prodigious learning presented as a captivating flow of talk.
In trying to describe Schapiro's lecture style, people often turn to the language of religion. "I think of him as an Old Testament prophet or evangelist," says William Rubin, a Columbia alumnus and the director emeritus of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art. "When he lectured, his eyes glowed and his hair flowed back. His intonation and expression in some mysterious way conveyed meaning that went beyond the literal meaning of the words."


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As we approach the opening ceremony of the winter olympics President Putin has extended a warm welcome to all olympians including lesbian, gay and bisexual participants.
Channel 4's Despatches documentary "Hunted" shows the reality behind this facade highlighting the brutal and humiliating treatment of gay and lesbian people, in Russia, by organised and state aided gangs.
To view the documentary on 4oD click here You may find some scenes upsetting and some of the language used may offend.
If, after watching the documentary, you would like to do something tangible, next time you order a vodka and coke make sure its not Russian (try Polish or Finnish or one of the many great American vodkas). Alternatively why not join our protest on Friday 7th February 2014 at Belfast City Hall from 5.00 pm to coincide with the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. We would love to see you.
For information on the Global ban of Russian Vodka click here


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Leading Change (2015)
Category: Tutorial
Leading Change (2015)
WEBRip | MP4/AVC, ~1215 kb/s | 1280 x 720 | English: AAC, 48.0 kb/s (2 ch), 48.0 KHz | 745 MB
Genre: Business / Management | Language: English | +Project Files
Catalysing Change in Yourself and Others Leading Change is an essential course for anyone involved in bringing about change at an individual, teamer organisational level. It is suitable whether you are an experienced leader or someone transitioning into a leadership role. Change is a constant so being able to lead sustainable change is a key leadership skill. In this course you will learn about why 70% of change fails. The strategies you learn in this course will ensure that the change you lead is part of the 30% which succeeds
You will learn practical skills and techniques that you can apply in your day to day leadership role.
What are the requirements?
Download the course notes below Lecture 1
What am I going to get from this course?
Over 8 lectures and 1.5 hours of content!
Catalyse change in themselves and others in a way that is sustainable
How to lead brain friendly change that sticks
What is the target audience?
Anyone involved in bringing about change at an individual, team or organisational level should take this course.
You may be an existing leader who wants to sharpen your ability to lead change
Section 1: Introduction to Leading Change
Lecture 1 Introduction 04:22
About the course - who it is aimed at, why leading change is an essential leadership skill, what the course covers and how to get the most out of the course
Lecture 2 What is Change? 07:55
This lecture defines what change is and reviews the different models of change that have informed leaders in the past.
Lecture 3 Why Change Fails 05:47
Discover why 70% of change initiatives fail.
Lecture 4 How Living Systems Change 12:22
Organisations are living systems so in order to be a successful change catalyst you need to understand how living systems change.
Lecture 5 The Neuroscience of Change 14:37
Find out how to lead brain friendly change that sticks.
Lecture 6 The Role of the Leader of Change 13:45
The 7 Cs of change set out the key requirements of a leader of change.
Lecture 7 Tools for Leading Change 24:15
These three tools for leading change will make all the difference to you ability to lead sustainable change.
Lecture 8 Your Next Steps 01:41
There is a set of questions in this lecture to guide you in determining how to put what you have learnt into action. There is also a downloadable pdf listing further resources for those who want to go further into the topic of leading change


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ok I have lots of sand and some empty milk jubs in the recycle ..do you think this would make a decent kettlebell replacement? until I can afford them?
what are some other ideas of cheap homemade stuff you have made to lift? I have 2 cords of wood out there I can play with lol. xoxoox Darlene


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SWCD annual banquet to be Nov. 17
WEST SALEM -- The Wayne Soil & Water Conservation District will hold its 69th annual banquet and meeting at Northwestern High School, 7473 N. Elyria Road, West Salem. The banquet will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17.
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FourScore's Journal
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Please help me locate the cartoon of the old man at the war memorial...
It throws a long shadow of a young man in his combat gear. I want to send it to someone today and can't find it. Does anyone have a copy of it? Thanks! Fourscore!
Posted by FourScore | Mon Nov 11, 2013, 10:36 AM (6 replies)
Absolutely unimaginable this could happen in America
Tue Nov 05, 2013 at 10:01 AM PST
Absolutely unimaginable this could happen in America
by Jen Hayden
This news report out of New Mexico is so disturbing, it's hard to imagine this could happen in America. Talk about an unreasonable search:
The incident began January 2, 2013 after David Eckert finished shopping at the Wal-Mart in Deming. According to a federal lawsuit, Eckert didn't make a complete stop at a stop sign coming out of the parking lot and was immediately stopped by law enforcement.
Eckert's attorney, Shannon Kennedy, said in an interview with KOB that after law enforcement asked him to step out of the vehicle, he appeared to be clenching his buttocks. Law enforcement thought that was probable cause to suspect that Eckert was hiding narcotics in his anal cavity. While officers detained Eckert, they secured a search warrant from a judge that allowed for an anal cavity search.
Initially the doctor on duty refused the search, citing it as "unethical." Unfortunately, after several hours, hospital personnel relented and did the search.
Here's what happened to David Eckert at that hospital:
While there, Eckert was subjected to repeated and humiliating forced medical procedures. A review of Eckert's medical records, which he released to KOB, and details in the lawsuit show the following happened:
1. Eckert's abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found.
2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.
3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.
4. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
5. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
6. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.
8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert's anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found.
Throughout this ordeal, Eckert protested and never gave doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center consent to perform any of these medical procedures.
Think that's outrageous? David Eckert has since been billed by the hospital for all the procedures and they are threatening to take him to collections.
Must-watch news report on the case from KOB 4 in New Mexico...
...For those who are interested, Daily Kos user operculum located a PDF of the lawsuit.
Posted by FourScore | Wed Nov 6, 2013, 11:10 PM (10 replies)
"Apocalyptic" Fukushima Fuel Rod Removal Begins Nov. 8; TEPCO Subcontracts Yakuza gangsters
Fri Nov 01, 2013 at 07:48 AM PDT
"Apocalyptic" Fukushima Fuel Rod Removal Begins Nov. 8; TEPCO Subcontracts Yakuza gangsters
by FishOutofWater for DK GreenRoots
Workers remove unused fuel rod from Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 spent fuel pool July, 2012
Removal of highly radioactive spent fuel from Fukushima Daiichi unit 4, which was rocked by a hydrogen explosion two and a half years ago, will start November 8, according to TEPCO. Unit 4 was down for refueling when the great earthquake and tsunami hit, so the reactor is in good shape, but hydrogen built up around the fuel pool when the power failed leading to a hydrogen explosion on the structure's upper level. TEPCO reinforced the damaged supports for the fuel pool, but its seismic safety remains a major concern. Two new (moderately radioactive) fuel assemblies were successfully removed from the pool in July 2012 by a team of workers (above and below). Spent fuel must be removed robotically or by operators protected by heavily shielded equipment, unlike the dry run on new fuel, because it is highly radioactive. TEPCO announced that a specialized crane has been installed a week ahead of schedule and fuel removal will begin a week from today.
In mid-November, the embattled utility is preparing to remove 400 tons of spent fuel from the damaged reactor 4, 2½ years after a hydrogen explosion damaged the structures exterior.
According to the Nuclear Regulation Authority, there are 1,533 spent and unused fuel rod bundles in the cooling pool that contain radiation equivalent to 14,000 times the amount released in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima in 1945.
To remove the rods, Tepco has erected a 273-ton mobile crane above the building that will be operated remotely from a separate room.
Up to 22 spent fuel rods will be pulled from the racks they are stored in and inserted one by one into a heavy steel chamber while the assemblies are still under water. Once the chamber is removed from the pool and lowered to the ground, it will be transported to another pool in an undamaged building on the site for storage.
Extraordinary claims have been made about the level of risk of removing the spent fuel from unit 4 calling it potentially "apocalyptic". Those claims have been disputed by nuclear industry representatives. Although I left the USNRC many years ago, I think I have the expertise and independence to provide a good independent assessment of the situation.
As long-time anti-nuclear activist Harvey Wasserman explained, the
Spent fuel rods must be kept cool at all times. If exposed to air, their zirconium alloy cladding will ignite, the rods will burn and huge quantities of radiation will be emitted. Should the rods touch each other, or should they crumble into a big enough pile, an explosion is possible.
"In the worst-case scenario," RT adds, the pool could come crashing to the ground, dumping the rods together into a pile that could fission and cause an explosion many times worse than in March 2011. Wasserman says that the plan is so risky it requires a global take-over, an urging Gunter also shared, stating that the "dangerous task should not be left to TEPCO but quickly involve the oversight and management of independent international experts."
The upper level of unit 4 suffered structural damage from a hydrogen explosion. Workers have reinforced the structure since, but its seismic safety is a concern.
Structural damage to Unit4, Fukushima Daichi identified by circles.
Wasserman told Common Dreams that
The bring-down of the fuel rods from Fukushima Unit 4 may be the most dangerous engineering task ever undertaken. Every indication is that TEPCO is completely incapable of doing it safely, or of reliably informing the global community as to what's actually happening. There is no reason to believe the Japanese government could do much better. This is a job that should only be undertaken by a dedicated team of the world's very best scientists and engineers, with access to all the funding that could be needed.
The potential radiation releases in this situation can only be described as apocalyptic. The cesium alone would match the fallout of 14,000 Hiroshima bombs. If the job is botched, radiation releases could force the evacuation of all humans from the site, and could cause electronic equipment to fail. Humankind would be forced to stand helplessly by as billions of curies of deadly radiation pour into the air and the ocean.
As dire as Wasserman's warning sounds, it is echoed by fallout researcher Christina Consolo, who told RT that the worst case scenario could be "a true apocalypse." Gunter's warning was dire as well.
"Time is of the essence as we remain concerned that another earthquake could still topple the damaged reactor building and the nuclear waste storage pond up in its attic," he continued. "This could literally re-ignite the nuclear accident in the open atmosphere and inflame it into hemispheric proportions," said Gunter.
Wasserman says that given the gravity of the situation, the eyes of the world should be upon Fukushima:
This is a question that transcends being anti-nuclear. The fate of the earth is at stake here and the whole world must be watching every move at that site from now on. With 11,000 fuel rods scattered around the place, as a ceaseless flow of contaminated water poisoning our oceans, our very survival is on the line.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
The conclusions made in the Common Dreams article are strongly disputed by multiple experts associated with the U.S. nuclear power industry. Tom Kauffman of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) wrote "These claims are false and irresponsible".
The following is a guest post written by NEI's Tom Kauffman. Though Tom works in NEI's media relations shop. He also spent 23 years working at Three Mile Island, seven of those as a licensed reactor operator.
There has been a spate of online posts and articles claiming that the failure of the used fuel storage pool at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 could result in: a big explosion, a meltdown in the pool, or a large fire, that could have widespread health effects all over the world. These claims are false and irresponsible. Consider the facts:
If for any reason there was a rapid loss of water from the Unit 4 storage pool exposing all of the used fuel to air, the used fuel cant catch fire or melt because it has been cooled for more than two and-a-half years and no longer generates enough heat to damage itself. The used fuel in the pools at the other three damaged Fukushima units is even older and colder.
By design, it is physically impossible for the fuel in any commercial reactor in Japan or the U.S. to explode like a nuclear weapon. Its impossible because the concentration of uranium in the fuel is far too low to cause a nuclear explosion. And theres nothing that can be done at a site to change that.
A spent fuel expert added a comment to Tom Kaufmann's post to clarify questions about criticality at unit 4. Blog comments are generally poor sources of information but this comment demonstrates specialized expertise with spent fuel management.
dean4fukushimahelp said...
I am with SimplyInfo.org and function as a Fukushima Nuspent fuel pool nuclear research specialist. My career spanned 35 years in the nuclear industry. There have been many articles on presumed dangers with fuel in the unit 4 spent fuel pool. I have written articles on the pool and the fuel assemblies which is found on the web link. I agree with the statements in this article and in addition, want to dispel factless information being spread the if one fuel assembly touches another in the unit 4 pool, a criticality accident will happen with no control capability. To set the record straight, it takes 12 BWR fuel assemblies configured geometrically in water to reach a condition where criticality is possible. The water is needed to act as a moderator. Our concern in fuel handling is focused on damaged fuel assemblies which may loose fuel pellets what could be fractured and release the fission fragment isotopes into the building and atmosphere.
October 28, 2013 at 8:20 AM
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission had concerns about the safety of spent fuel pools at BWRs in the U.S. with the same design as Fukushima unit 4. To address these concerns, the NRC sponsored a research project to determine what might happen if a BWR spent fuel pool lost its cooling water. In June, 2000 the NRC published the results of this research in NUREG-1726 Predictions of Spent Fuel Heatup After a Complete Loss of Spent Fuel Pool Coolant
Predictions are made at each of the four decay times using best-estimate parameters. These parameters include an overall wall heat transfer coefficient of 2 W/m2-K and a ventilation rate of 2 building volumes per hour. These results represent the best estimate of the fuel temperatures and the convective flow fields, given the assumptions and limitations of this model. ...
The primary result is the decay time sensitivity given in Figure 19. The data from cases f2v2h2, f3v2h2, f4v2h2, and f6v2h2 are plotted. Critical decay times of 26 and 35 months are noted on the figure for temperature limits of 800 0C and 600 °C, respectively. Critical decay time is defined as the post shutdown time required to ensure fuel temperatures don't rise above predefined temperature limits after a complete loss of fuel pool coolant. The 26 month decay time, associated with the 800 0C temperature limit, has significant uncertainty due to the model limitations at elevated temperatures discussed earlier.
Based on the worst case curve developed by the NRC research, the spent fuel pool at unit 4 could run out of water now and temperatures would stay below 700 Celsius, given that over 2.5 years have passed since the spent fuel was removed from the reactor. The spent fuel is presently generating a little over a thousandth of the heat it was producing per rod the day it was removed from the reactor.
Assertions that individual spent fuel rods could catch fire upon removal are not credible.
However, if the structure of Unit 4 collapsed in a major earthquake and a large mass of rods piled up in the wreckage, the NRC's cooling model no longer applies. The spent fuel does not contain enough fisssionable material to explode like a weapon, but it could get very hot if a number of rods piled up. Hydrogen would be generated in the hypothetical mass so the possibility of hydrogen explosions cannot be precluded in a collapse scenario. Moreover, rainwater and groundwater could act as a moderator increasing the risk of localized criticality events. The huge inventory of radionuclides at unit 4 would be at risk of further contaminating the Pacific ocean if a major earthquake brought down the spent fuel pool. In my opinion, the spent fuel needs to be removed from the damaged structure. We already have 3 melted-down reactor cores contaminating water that is partially reaching the Pacific.
Multiple investigations by journalists have revealed severe labor problems at Fukushima, including the involvement of the Japanese Mafia, the Yakuza, in subcontracting the labor supply. Serious concerns about TEPCO's ability to manage the decommissioning and decontamination at Fukushima, have been documented in many reports. Hitachi/GE the contractor that handled spent fuel removal dry run may be an exception to the cases identified by journalists, but the concerns about the quality of TEPCO's management are valid, in my opinion.
Blogger exSKF, who has been reliably reporting from Japan on the situation at Fukushima Daiichi since the tsunami hit, translated anonymous interviews from a Japanese magazine that portray horrific labor conditions on site. These workers have been dealing with the large amounts of contaminated water around the damaged reactor units 1, 2 and 3. The anonymous interviews cannot be directly verified, but they are consistent with other investigations including a major Reuters report.
Worker C: Some of TEPCO's affiliate companies put in the bid with ridiculously low price and caused the deflation of labor cost at Fukushima I. Workers include people sent here by yakuzas for their debts and down and out yakuzas themselves. The site is full of yakuzas and rank amateurs...
Worker B: A journalist who smuggled himself into the plant wrote in his book that "10% of workers are yakuza". I do see more yakuzas. I have met workers with tattoo. They may be sending cheap workers and skimming the wages, or sending young yakuzas simply as means to make money. On the other hand, it's a fact that they can't secure workers unless they rely on yakuza.
Worker D: To begin with, it is a mistake to let a company handle the accident when that company didn't even have countermeasures in case of an accident. They are too proud to admit they can't do it under the current condition. Contaminated water keep increasing, workers keep decreasing. There is a law for supporting children and disaster victims, but there is nothing for radiation-exposed workers. Soon, not even yakuza nor amateurs will remain at Fukushima I Nuke Plant.
The report translated by blogger exSKF is completely consistent with a recent Reuters special report that involved interviewing over 80 personnel involved in the Fukushima clean up.
In reviewing Fukushima working conditions, Reuters interviewed more than 80 workers, employers and officials involved in the unprecedented nuclear clean-up. A common complaint: the project's dependence on a sprawling and little scrutinized network of subcontractors - many of them inexperienced with nuclear work and some of them, police say, have ties to organized crime.
Tepco sits atop a pyramid of subcontractors that can run to seven or more layers and includes construction giants such as Kajima Corp and Obayashi Corp in the first tier. The embattled utility remains in charge of the work to dismantle the damaged Fukushima reactors, a government-subsidized job expected to take 30 years or more.
The unprecedented Fukushima nuclear clean-up both inside and outside the plant faces a deepening shortage of workers. There are about 25 percent more openings than applicants for jobs in Fukushima prefecture, according to government data.
Raising wages could draw more workers but that has not happened, the data shows. Tepco is under pressure to post a profit in the year to March 2014 under a turnaround plan Japan's top banks recently financed with $5.9 billion in new loans and refinancing. In 2011, in the wake of the disaster, Tepco cut pay for its own workers by 20 percent.
The shortage of qualified workers has been an opportunity for the yakuza. Gangsters have stepped in to supply labor to subcontract to TEPCO's contractors. The yakuza's labor pool is the most desperate men in Japan. They are poorly trained, suffer from wage theft, and are over-worked and demoralized. TEPCO is enabling the yakuza because management is unwilling to cut profits to pay competitive wages.
TEPCO is involved in criminal mismanagement of the Fukushima clean up, in my opinion. The activists' concern's about TEPCO's incompetence are valid, in my opinion.
We are depending on desperate men working for gangsters to protect the Pacific ocean from contamination by massive inventories of radioactivity.
Posted by FourScore | Fri Nov 1, 2013, 12:30 PM (5 replies)
The House Republican Conference wants to hear your Obamacare horror story. Here's mine.
Wed Oct 30, 2013 at 07:18 PM PDT
The House Republican Conference wants to hear your Obamacare horror story. Here's mine.
by BigDuck
I got an email from Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Chair, House Republicans, telling me that "Obamacare" is a disaster.
Have you or someone you know lost health care coverage as a result of the Presidents health care law? Tell us your story by clicking here. We want to hear if you or someone you know lost insurance as a result of Obamacare because these stories are the reason House Republicans continue focusing on patient-centered reforms not government-centered health care.
She provided a helpful Web site:http://www.gop.gov/yourstory/, and invited me to tell my story. So I did. And so should you!
My story:
My family was on an individual plan with Blue Cross of Texas for almost 10 years. Each year, the premiums went up, sometimes by 10 or 20 percent. The only way we could keep the premiums affordable was to accept higher and higher deductibles, and higher co-pays.
By 2009, even a $10,000 deductible was not enough to keep premiums affordable. We were worried that we would soon not be able to afford health care coverage at all.
I was eligible for coverage on a different Blue Cross plan with my union, but did not sign up because it did not cover my adult children. Starting January of 2010, this union plan was required to cover my adult children because of Obamacare. I signed up.
Our premiums went down by $234 dollars a month, thanks to Obamacare. Our deductible went from Ten Thousand Dollars to One Thousand Dollars, again, thanks to Obamacare. Plus, the new plan covers dental and vision care, which the old plan did not.
Under the new, union sponsored plan, our premiums have not gone up in the past three years. I'm sure that under our old plan, they would have continued going up by 10 or 20 percent each year, as they did during the previous 10 years.
Now the oldest of our daughters is 26, and must seek coverage on her own. Fortunately, she lives in a Democratic state, where the Healthcare Marketplace works.
I want to thank Leader Pelosi, Leader Reid, and President Obama for making it possible to take my family to the doctor when they need it.
Posted by FourScore | Thu Oct 31, 2013, 11:41 AM (15 replies)
UMBELIEVABLE and BIZARRE - Rachel Maddow Catches Rand Paul Plagiarizing From Gattaca And Wikipedia
Rachel Maddow Catches Rand Paul Plagiarizing Speech From Gattaca And Wikipedia (VIDEO)
Author: Elisabeth Parker October 29, 2013 8:05 pm
Rachel Maddow on Rand Paul's "Gattaca" speech.
Poor Ken Cuccinelli cant seem to get a break these days in his doomed race for governor of the state of Virginia. Voters dont seem to like the GOP former front-runners stance on abortion, gay rights, or his support for the US government shutdown. Now, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) may have driven the final nail into Cuccinellis political coffin this week with a speech that was supposed to energize the base. Alas, Rachel Maddow found out that the senators speech was stolen from a Wikipedia entry on the 1997 dystopian sci-fi flick, Gattaca. Seriously, we are not kidding.
Rachel Maddow dishes on Rand Pauls Gattaca speech.
On October 28, Senator Rand Paul made an appearance with Ken Cuccinelli at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA to bring his star power to the struggling campaign. Too bad Rand Pauls star power was more like death star power. In a hackneyed attempt to praise Cuccinellis anti-choice views, our tea-bagging senators compared abortion to the Nazi-like eugenics practiced by the future, evil society from Gattaca. Alas for the Senator and for the VA attorney general, Rachel Maddow and her team found that Rand Paul wasnt just summarizing the plot from Gattaca. Our tea-bagging senator had actually lifted entire sentences from Wikipedia. What, are we back in high school now?
Heres Rachel Maddows video on Senator Rand Pauls Gattaca speech, so you can see for yourself.
Posted by FourScore | Wed Oct 30, 2013, 12:40 AM (23 replies)
Republicans are Outraged
Sun Oct 27, 2013 at 09:21 AM PDT
Republicans are Outraged
by jamess
Republicans are Outraged -- that Americans are getting Affordable Health Care.
Republicans are Outraged -- that Americans are NOT getting Affordable Health Care, fast enough.
Republicans are Outraged -- that Americans have to pay Taxes.
Republicans are Outraged -- that America's Debt is NOT being paid down, fast enough.
Republicans are Outraged -- that the Voter's Right Act used to make them let everyone Vote.
Republicans are Outraged -- that in Texas, North Carolina, and Virgina, there are way too many Women, Students, and poor people voting.
Republicans are Outraged -- that so many Americans want to Vote.
Republicans are Outraged -- that even with all their Gerrymandered Districts, they still lose Elections.
Republicans are Outraged -- that so many Americans do NOT hate Government like they do.
Republicans are Outraged -- that so many Americans just want a Government that works -- because as recent history shows, that's just NOT what they DO!
... Provide us a Government that works? Hah!
Because in their world-view, THAT would be simply Outrageous!
Posted by FourScore | Mon Oct 28, 2013, 10:20 AM (31 replies)
On MTP Chuck Todd points out the Republican House "Majority" is largely due to GOP Gerrymandering
Mon Oct 28, 2013 at 12:17 AM PDT
On MTP Chuck Todd points out the Republican House "Majority" is largely due to GOP Gerrymandering
by Lefty Coaster
On Meet the Press this morning Chuck Todd cut the Republicans off at the knees by exposing the mythical "Majority" House Republicans often boast of representing as being due to a considerable extent to intensive Republican gerrymandering, rather than an actual majority of American voters.
MEET THE PRESS October 27, 2013
CHUCK TODD: But right here, during the shutdown, a breakout here: eight points. It was the largest lead we'd shown in four years. Now, an eight-point lead looks big, and you think Democrats have a shot. But let's remember, this is a gerrymandered House. Democrats actually won the generic ballot in 2012. More people voted for a Democratic member of Congress than a Republican one in 2012, and yet there are more Republican-held congressional seats, 234. Democrats only have 201, even though they won a majority of the vote in 2012. There are a few vacancies there, by the way. We know some folks will say that.
So here's what they would need. They need to pick up 17 seats. This looks like it could be doable. Why? Because there are 36 seats where the president either won, or got 48% or better, that are currently held by Republican members of Congress. So you look at it and it's doable.
Americans need to be reminded that the GOP's "mandate" in the House is an illusion more often IMHO.
All Smoke and Mirrors
Posted by FourScore | Mon Oct 28, 2013, 10:12 AM (6 replies)
TOM TOMORROW: Oversexed Halloween
Mon Oct 28, 2013 at 06:50 AM PDT
Oversexed Halloween
by Tom Tomorrow
Support independent cartooning: join Sparky's List -- and don't forget to visit TT's Emporium of Fun, featuring the new book and plush Sparky!
Posted by FourScore | Mon Oct 28, 2013, 10:02 AM (5 replies)
Hilarious! "We Did Stop" - SNL and Miley Cyrus rock it with John Boehner/Michelle Bachmann parody
Sun Oct 06, 2013 at 11:38 AM PDT
"We Did Stop" - SNL rocks it with John Boehner parody
by chrississippi
Last night, Miley Cyrus hosted SNL, and while you can imagine the relatively lame VMA references that dotted the show, one of the best skits was a video of John Boehner and Michele Bachmann (Miley) doing a hardcore Hip Hop version of the government shutdown.
If you haven't had your fill of blinged-out GOPer dance party moves, twerking Bachmanns, Uncle Sams blowing smoke from their crotches, Max-Headroom Reagans, you need to laugh at the video below the dKos scrunchy (head's up: NSFW):
Somehow this excess really visualizes for everyone what the hell GOPers are doing to the country.
Now, get me some more Cristal, yo.
Posted by FourScore | Mon Oct 21, 2013, 12:39 PM (2 replies)
TOM TOMORROW: Tea Party logic
Mon Oct 21, 2013 at 07:10 AM PDT
Tea Party logic
by Tom Tomorrow Follow
Posted by FourScore | Mon Oct 21, 2013, 10:16 AM (10 replies)


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Attorney Jose Cesar Molina
- Texas, 2002
- South Texas College of Law, J.D. - 2002
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