text:
- Title
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
Slavery, slavery-like conditions and people trafficking
- Database
Joint Committees
- Date
- Source
- Parl No.
- Committee Name
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
- Page
- Place
- Questioner
CHAIR (Mr Laurie Ferguson)
Ruddock, Philip, MP
Danby, Michael, MP
Stephens, Sen Ursula
- Reference
- Responder
Mr Grono
Ms David
- Status
- System Id
Previous Fragment
Slavery, slavery-like conditions and people trafficking
DAVID, Ms Fiona, Executive Director Global Research, Walk Free
GRONO, Mr Nick, Chief Executive Officer, Walk Free
Subcommittee met at 13:10
CHAIR ( Mr Laurie Ferguson ): I declare open this public hearing of the inquiry into slavery, slavery-like conditions and people trafficking, which is being conducted by the Human Rights Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. This is the fourth public hearing held by the committee for this inquiry. The committee has received evidence that businesses and governments are playing an increasingly important role in addressing modern-day slavery in product supply chains. In 2012, nine global companies joined together to establish the Global Business Coalition Against Human Trafficking. Federal and state governments in the United States are also actively addressing this issue. The federal Department of Labor periodically publishes a list of goods produced by child labour or forced labour, and the state of California recently passed the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act.
As part of this inquiry, the subcommittee will examine best practice approaches by governments and businesses to addressing modern slavery in product supply chains. The subcommittee will also examine Australia's efforts to address all forms of slavery, slavery-like conditions and people trafficking, look at ways to encourage effective international action and investigate international best practice. The subcommittee will also focus on how to prosecute offenders and how to protect and support the victims. Today we will hear from Walk Free.
I now welcome representatives of Walk Free to today's hearing. I remind witnesses that although the subcommittee does not require you to give evidence under oath, this hearing is a legal proceeding of the parliament and therefore has the same standing as proceedings of the chambers themselves. The giving of false or misleading evidence is a serious matter and may be regarded as contempt of parliament. The evidence given today will be recorded by Hansard and will attract parliamentary privilege. Do you wish to make an opening statement to the committee?
Mr Grono : I would like to make a very brief opening statement. First of all, I thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before it. Walk Free is a new organisation, established by Andrew and Nicola Forrest last year. I have been CEO for four months and Fiona David has been with the organisation for just on a year. Our mission is global: we are focused on eliminating slavery around the world, and so in our comments today—or in my opening statement—I just want to focus on Australia's global role and particularly the role that it can play in fighting slavery around the world. We welcome the initiative of the government, announced on Friday by the Prime Minister, of efforts to seek to eliminate modern slavery in Australia and overseas. We think that is a very welcome development and it positions Australia well to lead this effort internationally.
Specifically, there are three things that I would propose that the government may want to consider to build on that initiative: one is transparency in supply chain legislation. As you mentioned there is transparency in supply chain legislation in California already; there is a bill before the UK parliament and the basic thrust of the legislation is to encourage companies to publish their efforts to establish whether or not there are forced labour slavery issues within their supply chains—and that is for companies over a certain size. In California, it is over $100 million and the UK legislation is talking of a similar figure.
Given Australia's role on the UN Security Council over the next couple of years, it is also well placed to play a role in that forum. There are very strong linkages between certain types of slavery and conflict, and so one option would be to call for a UN Security Council session on conflict and modern slavery and look at those linkages and ways in which they can be addressed. Another option would be to call for the appointment of a UN special representative of the Secretary-General on modern slavery and conflict. We believe that those would be very useful initiatives in advancing the fight internationally.
Finally, Australia has an excellent aid program in our region. The Asia-Pacific region is where you find a majority of the world's slavery globally, and we would encourage the government to build on the excellent work that AusAID is doing in the region and make more of an effort to mainstream slavery considerations in its aid programs when it is putting out requests for projects and ask whether there are considerations that can be taken into account that would help address slavery. Those are three brief suggestions, but I am very happy to elaborate on the submission or any questions you may have.
Mr RUDDOCK: I have some questions on your organisation. Is there an international body called Walk Free? You referred to the Walk Free social movement, index of modern slavery and the global fund, so is there an international body that you are affiliated with?
Mr Grono : No, Walk Free is an Australian organisation with a strategy to set up a global movement, publish a global slavery index and work to establish a global fund.
Mr RUDDOCK: I must say that in reading the paper I did not understand the Forrest linkages, but I see some complimentary remarks about Fortescue in the paper.
Mr DANBY: Can you explain what that means?
Mr RUDDOCK: I saw some complimentary remarks about the Fortescue Metals Group. I was told that the Forrest family, Andrew and his wife, were behind the establishment of this organisation, so I assume they represent the Australian Children's Trust and Hope for Children Foundation. I should have known.
Mr Grono : The Prime Minister, very kindly, acknowledged the role of Andrew and Nicola Forrest in introducing her to this issue on Friday.
Mr RUDDOCK: What prompted them to take up this interest? I have been asking questions all the way through this. What is the size, scope and nature of the problems we are dealing with, and are they problems we have to deal with domestically? I try to pin it down to understand it. If you came along and just said to me, de novo, 'Slavery is something dreadful,' I would say, 'I agree entirely,' but if nobody is enslaved, why do you bother doing anything about it? There is this degree of interest, but does it reflect an informed and evidence based judgement and, if it does, what is the nature of that evidence based judgement?
Mr Grono : To your first question about what motivated the engagement of Andrew and Nicola Forrest: their eldest daughter was working in an orphanage one summer in Nepal and then Andrew, I understand, went back with her a year later and it appeared that a number of the children from that orphanage had been trafficked. So the Forrests got involved in supporting orphanages in Nepal and then he, looking into the issue more broadly, came to understand that internationally, particularly in South Asia, there is a very significant slavery problem. That was what motivated him and his wife to set up Walk Free.
In terms of the scale of the problem, we are very much focused outside of Australia. With limited resources, if one wants to have the greatest impact on slavery then, I think, one can achieve the most by focusing on places like India that does have millions of people in situations of bonded labour. The figure that is most commonly used for the international scale of the problem is a study put out by the International Labour Organization last year that estimated that about 20.9 million people were in a situation of forced labour. Forced labour—the committee would understand this if it had been given testimony—in places like India, and I am speaking of India because I was there in January, is whole communities and villages being forced to work in stone quarries or on brick kilns, or children being forced to work weaving carpets. It is that kind of issue that falls within the definition of forced labour, and, we say, falls within the broad definition of modern slavery. I know you have been very interested in figures in Australia, but we have not done any research on that, so I would not purport to be able to address those specific issues.
CHAIR: I have just one point about the 265,000 people. Have you done any survey of who they are? Are they individuals, companies or groups? Have you done much on that?
Mr Grono : 265,000?
CHAIR: I thought I saw a figure of 265,000 people in a network.
Mr RUDDOCK: Yes, it is on page 12 the Walk Free submission—or it is numbered 12. It is under the heading 'Walk Free Social Movement'.
Mr Grono : That is the size of our movement—
Mr RUDDOCK: Online communities.
Mr Grono : One strategy that we have is to raise awareness globally, mainly through online campaigning: encouraging people to sign up through Facebook and through email. Currently our numbers are about 1.2 million supporters quarterly read; that is people who have signed up to Walk Free.
CHAIR: Can you give us some idea of the dimension of what you have done in regard to use of that mechanism?
Mr Grono : The objective with the movement is to raise awareness and to run specific campaigns. For instance, right now we are running a campaign about a child labour bill before the Indian parliament. We are encouraging people to call on the Indian government to pass the child labour bill. There are campaigns that we have run about companies that may be sourcing materials—either cotton products from Uzbekistan, and raw cotton produced in Uzbekistan every harvest season, or conflict minerals. We call on people to ask them to sign up to processes that will ensure that they can have clean supply chains.
CHAIR: What do you see as the level of impact? How many people are you getting as a response? Do you know any figures?
Mr Grono : We are currently at 1.2 million and that is growing at about 100,000 a fortnight on Facebook. So it is pretty broad engagement. Much of that is in developed countries, but we are looking to expand our efforts and partner with organisations in places like India and Brazil—where the real problem is—to get engaged communities there to run campaigns of interest, like the child labour bill and other initiatives like that.
Mr DANBY: Recently, Mauritania was elevated to some role in the United Nations. I think this only happened after Mr Ferguson left the United Nations. Knowing your strong views on this issue, he would probably have stopped it. Of all the countries in the world, there may be countries where there are more people who are involved in slavery. I agree with your focus on India because, while it is not officially slavery, it is slave-like conditions. Mauritania is the most egregious country where slavery is officially tolerated. It is occasionally abolished there but then it seems to come back and people are openly traded as slaves. It does seem to be very racially based where African people are traded in the most primitive way—excesses of the past. You would not think that there is any country that still practices slavery of that kind. Did other countries, or did you, raise with the United Nations an objection to Mauritania being elevated within the United Nations hierarchy? Do you think that is a valuable tactic that we ought to be thinking about here in Australia—given our particular role in the United Nations—in preventing people who have or tolerate such practices being given international recognition?
Mr Grono : Mauritania is an appalling case because, as you say, I think it is the only country that has a broad recognition of what we call descent-based slavery. I was not aware of the particular instance you are talking about, but Mauritania is certainly one of the governments that we want to campaign against. A government that openly recognises slavery—and in fact is jailing human rights defenders who are campaigning against slavery—is exactly the kind of issue that Walk Free sees as an issue that we should be promoting. If the appropriate occasion arises, it is an issue that Australia could raise given its position on the UN Security Council.
Mr DANBY: I do not mean to sound like a dissident in the government but I think that this is precisely one of those occasions. I will get you a copy of the recent controversy at the United Nations about the elevation of Mauritania. I think it would have been a good thing if Australia had actually said something about it. I think if we had known—either parliamentarians or worthy NGOs like you—then simply slightly twisting the arm of the Foreign Minister would have elicited such a statement. So it is probably something you should follow up and I will certainly follow up with you.
Mr Grono : I would be very happy to.
Mr RUDDOCK: I recently had Nestle come to see me and say what a great job they were doing in relation to this. Are they the only ones that are doing something like this?
Mr Grono : No. I will address it briefly and Fiona may have more—she is much more expert in slavery than I am. There is a big problem in West Africa, and there always has been, of people moving between countries—and I have engaged in this in my former role at International Crisis Group—so there are big immigrant populations coming in from places like Burkina Faso into Cote d'Ivoire, where they are vulnerable and are often enslaved. The cocoa industry, perhaps a decade or so ago, started getting a lot of very unwelcome attention about the fact that slaves may be used to produce cocoa and hence chocolate. When you have a consumer product that people are aware of, it is much easier to gain traction.
Nestle also briefed Walk Free when they came out here, as we have been encouraging them to be very transparent about their supply chains. There is actually a very good initiative going on in West Africa, where big corporations, local cooperatives and NGOs have been working together to improve efforts. There is still a way to go and there are a lot of big producers who do not necessarily sign up to that initiative, but it certainly provides a model for a way forward and other companies are part of that initiative.
Mr RUDDOCK: I guess the Fortescue group would see additional costs imposed on its own business operations by government, would it not? Enhanced red tape. I am just wondering how one might argue for very significant additional reporting requirements on companies operating in Australia who have linkages abroad that may impose quite significant costs and impact on their competitive position. Where might you suggest that we could reduce other red tape so that this beneficial red tape can be pursued? Have you really thought about it in terms of those sorts of questions?
Mr Grono : We have certainly thought about it and it is a very valid question. First of all, Fortescue probably does not mind too much because it is already doing it. There is a cost, and Fortescue has embraced the fact that it needs to—particularly if its chairman is taking a leading role globally on slavery—have a squeaky clean supply chain. That comes at a cost.
Mr RUDDOCK: What would the cost be? I do not mean actual amounts, but percentage.
Mr Grono : I do not know, but I can look into it and see if I can get you a figure. I would have to speak to Fortescue.
Mr RUDDOCK: It would just be very helpful to understand the nature of the impact.
Mr Grono : The process that they have gone through is to go out to all of their suppliers and ask them to sign statutory declarations that they will look at their own supply chains and their own operations and, where there are real risks, engage a firm that will actually look at one or two of the big suppliers and identify ways in which those suppliers can address concerns. To your larger issue, I do not know if I will be able to satisfy your concerns on this particular issue, but there is a movement globally in this direction. If you operate in California and have sales over $100 million, you already have to meet these requirements—so a lot of big, global corporations will do this.
Mr DANBY: Sorry, it is over how many dollars?
Mr Grono : $100 million. There are related obligations that are coming in—such as conflict minerals and the Dodd-Frank Act in the US—saying that companies that provide products or source conflict minerals have to make certain declarations about processes that they have looked at. In the UK there is legislation before the parliament to similar effect. The Australian government has just announced a procurement initiative to take steps to ensure that the Commonwealth government is doing its best to ensure that its supply chain is free of forced labour and slavery.
One argument is that this is the way that the world is moving, in that it is understood that businesses have certain obligations—one would hope not unduly onerous obligations—and most of these requirements are about just publishing information saying, 'We have looked at our supply chain, we have taken these steps,' or, 'We don't have a problem.' But yes, it does involve effort. Companies are getting much more focused on their corporate social responsibility obligations in a range of areas. You have things like the UN Global Compact—which many companies, including Fortescue, are in the process of signing up to—that have similar requirements. There are obligations on businesses these days, whether one likes it or not, to be a bit more transparent about the way in which their operations can impact on some of these very serious social issues.
Mr RUDDOCK: I know you are not speaking for Fortescue, but can you tell me how many suppliers have had their contracts discontinued because of their inability to certify that they have met the appropriate standards?
Mr Grono : No, I cannot. I can tell you that there is a process going through where they have gone out to thousands of suppliers. They are going through a process, and they are not going to automatically cut suppliers off, but there is a process whereby suppliers who are not willing to give certification, I suspect—and I cannot speak for Fortescue—will find themselves in an unfriendly environment.
Mr RUDDOCK: Provided it is not too difficult. I am assuming you are talking to Fortescue to give us information that is not commercial-in-confidence. I think some idea of a large firm dealing with thousands of suppliers and what impact it has had would be very helpful.
Mr Grono : I am very happy to ask them if they could give us an overview of the steps they have taken. Obviously they would be very uncomfortable about naming any particular companies.
Mr RUDDOCK: As I say, you can deal with it conscious of commercial-in-confidence issues. If it meant that you go through this process and you find nobody—
Mr DANBY: Or trends such as seven companies decided to do 'X'.
CHAIR: Mr David, would you like to comment?
Ms David : On Mauritania? Or on cocoa?
CHAIR: Both.
Ms David : On cocoa I believe the question was: is Nestle the only company that is taking—
Mr RUDDOCK: No, I said they are the ones who briefed me.
Ms David : The answer is many of the cocoa companies are working in partnership not only with governments in West Africa but also with the civil society so that is a really good model of how companies can work effectively in this space. On Mauritania, as Nick said, I was not aware of the UN elevation either. It would be interesting to look into.
Mr DANBY: I think it is on the Human Rights Council.
Mr RUDDOCK: They are there with good company such as Syria. There are a few others I saw. I think you often end up with Cuba there and Venezuela. They are very worthy candidates for commenting on human rights.
Mr DANBY: And they are moderate.
Mr Grono : Having said that, for an organisation that is actually campaigning on this issue, it is an entirely appropriate issue and one that would be of great interest to those who support action on this issue.
CHAIR: You have talked about the announcement the government has made. Do you have any particular suggestions in regards to supply chain analysis? Are there things the government should do and focus on?
Mr Grono : We would encourage the government to look at implementing legislation on transparency in supply chains. I think the government has made a big step forward in announcing that procurement initiative on Friday because it can use its power to encourage businesses to make efforts to ensure that their supply chains are free of slavery and forced labour. It is following a trend that has been established by the US, which has very robust requirements in procurement and slavery. Again, Australia is not out on its own. That would be the primary focus on business.
CHAIR: Are there any failings in alternatives overseas in regards to transparency? Is there anything we have to guarded about? Is there anything we have to make sure happens in this process?
Mr Grono : Not that I am aware of. I would certainly caution against an overly intrusive regulatory approach. I fully understand. I am a big supporter though in approaches that talk about transparency and publishing information and then leave it to the market, civil society and others to encourage businesses without imposing Draconian requirements on them. I suggest that is an appropriate model that has been implemented in America as reasonably commerce-friendly, but the US is willing to impose these obligations on corporations.
Senator STEPHENS: The notion of supply chains is very interesting. There are the obvious industries that we think about whether it is mining or clothing manufacturing. I am interested in where you might see that there are new and emerging industries or activities that are starting to use slavery or slavery-like conditions? Do you have any observations around that?
Ms David : For me it would be fishing. I use the word 'fishing' broadly to include packing, processing, factory processing and actually collecting fish. I would include electronics in countries such as Malaysia and any other countries in our region where electronics are assembled. There has been a lot of publicity recently around tinning of fruit and all sorts of terrible allegations of factory conditions in food processing. I think you mentioned garment manufacturing already. It is another one as well.
Senator STEPHENS: I know that one of my colleagues asked the question about what the Australian government can do. Do you think that there is any opportunity for these things to be written into memorandums of understanding, in the kind of cooperative agreements that we might be entering into—particularly where we are developing stronger relationships with countries—rather than something like a free-trade agreement? Do you think that those kinds of intergovernmental agreements are the place to start, or do we need to be focused on the industries?
Mr Grono : Our approach—and this is governed by our particular way of operating and the leverage that we bring—is to encourage action in-country. We have a small project in Myanmar. We will be encouraging businesses engaging there. We were talking with AusAID this morning, and their business roundtable is going to work on Myanmar to say, as businesses rush into places like Myanmar, 'Here is a time to think about your supply chains and forced-labour issues and slavery issues.' So certainly that is the approach that we would adopt. I would not be adverse to them, but I know just how difficult these bilateral processes can be on issues that some countries might find fairly complex. So our approach is to raise awareness, work with the appropriate bodies and encourage businesses. Also, if you focus on businesses globally, wherever they are operating, then they have to start ensuring that they have proper practices in place; then you start having an impact in-country in places like Thailand where you get the prawn peeling and the pineapple packing and things like that.
Senator STEPHENS: What about the role of organisations like Meat & Livestock Australia who have a presence in Korea, Japan and China—those kinds of industry bodies? What do you see as their roles?
Mr Grono : I have not given much thought to the specifics. We are a small, new organisation. We will be looking to engage with all of these organisations to say, 'Dealing with these issues is good business.' Say you uncover an issue of forced labour or, even worse from your perspective, an issue of forced labour is uncovered on your behalf; say you are a company that is packing pineapple and you are a global company and it is discovered that forced labour—slavery—is used in packing it, then reputationally it is hugely problematic and everything that goes with it. One way to get information out is to work with trade groups. I have spoken with both the employers' group and the workers' group at the ILO to engage with them. They are very open to Walk Free engaging with all the employers' federations. Likewise, there has been strong interest on the workers' representatives side for Walk Free and others to play a role in raising awareness, and helping advance broader knowledge on the issue and on what needs to be done.
CHAIR: Would you mind covering the ILO and the kind of activity level there—what they can do and what they have been doing?
Mr Grono : The ILO has a very active program on forced labour, and within the United Nations system forced labour falls under the ILO. They do surveys and studies and have other programs raising awareness and improving practices around the place. So it is a good partner for us. I have been to Geneva to meet up with the senior officials to look at ways in which we can work more closely with them.
CHAIR: Have you found the employer representatives fairly cooperative in this?
Mr Grono : They were open to Andrew coming and addressing all of the employers' groups. We will look at following up with that, and obviously the workers' representatives, as to issues of forced labour, are very open to this.
CHAIR: Are there any other questions? If not, thank you very much.
Mr RUDDOCK: Give Andrew my best wishes. Tell him we gave you rigorous questioning.
Mr Grono : He would expect no less.
CHAIR: Thank you for your attendance here today. If you have been asked to provide any additional material would you please forward it to the secretary. You will be sent a copy of the transcript of the evidence to which you can make corrections of grammar and fact. Would a member please move that the subcommittee authorise publication of the evidence given before the committee today?
Resolved (on motion by Senator Stephens):
That this committee authorises publication of the transcript of the evidence given before it at public hearing this day.
CHAIR: I declare the hearing closed.
Committee adjourned at 13:39


text:
|This year's creations.
|O trick-or-treating
|Super-O at the Strong Start Halloween party last year
Halloween fixates on and celebrates fear. Is there anything positive about such a negative emotion? In my experience, there is a difference between true fear, and amusing fear. For most people, there is an element of amusement in the jolt of fear induced by spotting a fake spider in your Halloween punch, or by somebody you know jumping out from a hiding spot and startling you. After all, even the fun of the earliest game we play with our kids, Peekaboo, is the thrill of momentary fear followed by relief.
|O and T as Bert & Ernie, the costumes that my Mom sewed for my sisters and I when we were little
|O's first year trick-or-treating. He was too little to know that we ate all his candy.
|Last year's pumpkins

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A new community woodland has started to take shape between York and Selby.
A tree planting day was held to launch the Three Hagges Jubilee Wood on the Escrick Park Estate.
About 60 supporters, among them local residents, business owners and parish councillors, planted in the region of 300 young trees.
The first tree, a seedling from an ancient oak, was planted with the help of Kevin Thubron, sales director of the project's main sponsor, Persimmon Homes Yorkshire.
The work started the transformation of nine hectares of formerly arable land into an ancient woodland, for the benefit of the public.
Ian Reynolds, an Escrick parish councillor and Selby District councillor was joined by Brian Keen, a Riccall Parish councillor and Vicky Cumberland, clerk to Escrick Parish Council.
Rosalind Forbes Adam, wife of estate owner Charles Forbes Adam, and her son Beilby, 25, have designed and masterminded the wood.
Mrs Forbes Adam said: "We are very encouraged by the success of our first planting day. Our goal is to create a beautiful woodland for the community to enjoy which will feature grassy glades and meandering pathways. We have selected a wide range of native wild flowers and grasses to help attract a diverse collection of wildlife.
"By the end of next year we plan to have planted about 10,000 trees and we very much appreciated that Mr Thubron, from Persimmon Homes Yorkshire, agreed to make the first dig. His support has been invaluable in helping to launch the project."
Mr Thubron said: "I was honoured to be part of this exciting new project. We are currently building new homes in the Selby area and throughout the Yorkshire region and continually look at schemes that will benefit our residents as well as help create a pleasant environment in which to live."
The wood is being planted in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and is being set up as a not-for-profit enterprise, with assistance from the Forestry Commission and the Woodland Trust.
The estate team are charting the woodland's progress and suggesting ways in which the community can support it at threehaggesjubileewood.org.uk


text:
Informational Books
Instructional Videos
What's New
Interested in a sprang frame? Two North American companies now make the frames that Carol uses in her classes. For information contact Purrington Looms or Dewberry Ridge. Purrington offers looms in a variety of different woods, from 'whitewood' to oak and cherry. Dewberry has very nice fasteners on their frames.
June 28 – July 1, Carol will be in Victoria, British Columbia, attending the Treadle Lightly Conference, teaching fingerweaving and sprang.
July 27 – 30, 2017 Carol will be in Durango, Colorado, teaching at the Intermountain Weavers Conference.
Carol is a member of
GRASAC, Great Lakes Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts & Cultures
CIETA. Centre International d'Etude des Textiles Anciens
Textile Society of America
Where has Carol been?
May 4 – 6, 2017, Carol was in Regina for the Regina Weavers & Spinners Retreat, giving the keynote address, as well as a workshop on sprang.
April, 2017, Carol was in Colorado, teaching in Montrose, Boulder, and Colorado Springs.
February, 2017, Lacis Lace Museum in Berkeley hosted Carol's sprang class. She then travelled on to visit handweavers in Aptos, Woodside, and the RedCoastArtsandCrafts Center in Whitethorn, CA.
November, 2016, Carol was in Berlin, Germany, working for the Deutsches Archaeologisches Institute, helping them with research into some 3000 year old belts, check out their website: http://www.bridging-eurasia.org/en/node/297
October 2016, Carol attended the meeting of the Textile Society of America in Savannah, Georgia
August 1-6 Carol was in Milwaukee, attending HGA's Convergence. A pair of her leggings were featured in the fashion show.
July 24-30 Carol was in Tacoma, Washington, participating in Braids 2016. She gave a keynote address as well as taught a class on sprang.
In June, Carol attended the Pre-Columbian Textiles conference at the Centre for Textile Research in Copenhagen, Denmark. Look for her talk in the proceedings of that meeting to be published later this Summer. Carol also attended an international Sprang Conference in Fetsund, just outside Oslo, Norway.
In May 2016 Carol re-visited weavers in Santa Cruz and Cleveland. She also taught in Youngstown, Ohio.
March & April, 2016, Carol toured New Zealand, thanks to assistance from Creative Fibre New Zealand. She visited Taupo, Wellington, Mosgiel, Ashburton, Christchurch, Auckland, Mt Mauganui, and Whakatane.
February 2016, Carol gave a public lecture the Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles in Berkeley, California. While there, she also taught a class, introducing students to sprang.
February 2016, Carol was the featured speaker at a meeting of the Santa Cruz Handweavers, talking on the subject of fingerweaving and sprang. She then taught classes in these braiding techniques.
November 2015, Carol visited Poland, more specifically the University of Warsaw, Department of Archaeology. Hosted by colleague Agata Ulanowska, she was the keynote speaker at the Annual Report Conference of the Institute of Archaeology. She presented information on the subject of her experimental sprang reconstructions and lead workshops for a hands-on introduction to sprang.
November 2015, Textiles of the Nile Valley Conference was held in Antwerp, Belgium, sponsored by Katoen Natie. Carol and her colleauge Fabien Medard presented a paper outlining a project they undertook to replicate a sprang bonnet.
November 2015, the Agricultural History Society of Ireland in Dublin organized a symposium around the theme Textiles and Fibres Through Time. Carol presented on the subject of sprang.
September, 2015, Carol presented a paper on the subject of North American Sashes at the CIETA conference in Berlin
August 2015, Carol attended the Grand Portage Rendez Vous in Minnesota, instructing participants in a textile method, known to the Ojibwa, and described by Frances Densmore in her book Chippewa Customs.
July 2015, The Intermountain Weavers Conference was held in Durango, Colorado, and Carol taught a three-day class in sprang. Afterwards, Carol toured Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, and Bandolier National Parks.
June 2015, Carol taught at the Midwest Weavers Conference, held in St Paul, Minnesota.
May 2015, Carol attended the Weaving History Conference in Clayton, New York, indeed she gave the Keynote Address. She also attended the TNNA conference in Columbus, OH
In April 2015, Carol taught textile design students at BathSpa University in Bath, England
In March 2015, Carol completed a copy of a lacy cotton sprang shirt. Carol and expert spinner Louie Garcia donated the replica to the Arizona State Museum. While in Arizona, Carol taught several groups the finer things of sprang.
January 2015, Carol was in Fort Langley, BC. She taught classes in Fingerweaving to Weavers Guilds in Richmond and Langley, BC. She also taught a class to a group of Métis in Courtney BC, and toured the lovely Denman Island, visiting with the weavers and quilters there. On the way home, Carol stopped in to teach a 3-day class at Fort Edmonton, in Edmonton, Alberta.
November 2014, Carol was at the Fourvière Musée Gallo-Romain in Lyon, France where she presented information on the method of construction of sprang bonnets, and provided the opportunity to those in attendance for hands-on practice of this amazing technique.
October 2014
Carol attended the Early Textile Study Group Conference, University College, London, presenting a paper with Dagmar Drinkler on the subject of tight fitting clothing in antiquity.
Carol provided workshops in the UK in Cambridge, Aldebourne, and at the London Knit & Stitch Show, Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor, Belgium, and in The Hague, Netherlands.
September 2014
Manitoba Fibre Festival, Winnipeg, Manitoba
July 2014
Handweavers Guild of America where Carol taught classes in Finger Weaving and Sprang. Two of Carol's sprang vests were featured in the fashion show.
June 2014
Carol attended the GRASAC conference in Brantford, Ontario.
May 2014
Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
The Recycled Lamb, Golden, Colorado
The Espinola Valley Fiber Arts Center, Espinola, New Mexico
April 2014
Arizona State Museum, Tucson, Arizona
Fibers Through Time in Tucson, Arizona, April 24-26,
March 2014
Vth Purpureae Vestes International Symposium in Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain
Belgium, Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor
February, 2014
New Mexico, visiting with Espinola Valley Fiber Arts Center, and Albuquerque Handspinners and Weavers
November, 2013
Paris, France, Musée Quai Branly, attended the VI International Conference on Indigenous Textiles of the Americas, Nov 29-30
Krefeld, Germany, Textile Museum, examined Coptic bonnets
The Hague, Netherlands, Taught a class in finger weaving
Antwerp, Belgium, Saw sprang articles in the collection of the ModeMuseum, as well as the Katoen Natie collection of textiles. She taught a class on fingerweaving in a town near Antwerp.
Brussels, Belgium, Viewed an extensive collection of military sashes at the Musee Royal de lArmée et d'Histoire Militaire
Viewed a large collection of samplers, collars, cuffs, and socks all in sprang at the Royal Museum of Art and History.
October, 2013
Leichester, UK, Attended the 20th annual AGM of the Braid Society
Devon, UK, Taught a class in sprang for the Devon Weavers
Check out the Devon Weaver's Newsletter article on the class http://www.devonweaversworkshop.org/newsletters/issue_15.pdf
Oxford, UK, Viewed fingerwoven items in the collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum
Aldebourne, UK, Taught a class in sprang for the local guild
London, UK. Viewed sprang caps in the collection of the Petrie Museum
Lyon, France
CIETA biennial congress
September 2013
Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, Taught a class in sprang for the Peace Country Weavers
August 2013
Grand Portage, Minnesota, USA, Attended the annual Grand Rendez-Vous at Grand Portage National Monument
July 2013
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Visited the collection of the Manitoba Museum
June 2013
Olds, Alberta, Canada, Taught classes at Olds College during Fibre Week 2013
Washington, DC
Visited George Washington's Mount Vernon
Handing over the replica that I made of the Washington-Braddock sash
Alexandria, Virginia, visited the Torpedo Factory Arts Center
Richmond, Virginia, spoke with the Richmond Weavers
May 2013
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Taught a class on sprang at the Textile Center in Minneapolis
Saw sashes in the collection of Historic Fort Snelling in St Paul, Minnesota.
Cleveland, Ohio
Spoke to the Cleveland Spinners Guild, taught a class on sprang.
Rochester, New York
Spoke about sprang to the Rochester weavers
Clayton, New York
Textile History Museum and Thousand Islands Arts Center
Taught a class and gave a presentation on sprang at the annual Weaving History Conference
Columbus, Ohio
Examined textile fragments in the collection of the Ohio Historical Society
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Craft Talk on the subject of sprang, and the making of the replica sash for George Washington's Mount Vernon
sponsored by the Manitoba Craft Council
March, 2013
Lynn Lake, Manitoba
Taught classes in fingerweaving
January 2013
Carol's tunic took 2nd prize at the Cleveland Museum of Art Project Tunic
Earlier travels
Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada
Lundy's Lane Museum, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto, Ontario
Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester, New York
Musée Guimet, Lyon, France
Musée des Textiles, Lyon, France
Textile Society of America meetings
Washington, DC, 2012
Lincoln, Nebraska, 2010
Handweavers Guild of America Convergence
Long Beach, California 2012
Albuquerque, New Mexico 2010
Tampa, Florida 2008


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Kyocera DuraPlus brings toughness to the max for $69.99 on-contract starting March 11th
0. phoneArena posted on 01 Mar 2012, 11:06
Already, we've heard about the first Direct Connect push-to-talk CDMA phones from Sprint, the Kyocera DuraCore and DuraMax, but it seems as though Kyocera isn't finish with it just yet. In fact, the latest member in the family, the Kyocera DuraPlus...
This is a discussion for a news. To read the whole news, click here
1. cepcamba (Posts: 717; Member since: 27 Feb 2012)
If only all networks provide push-to-talk services that would be nice! :p I love durable phones but I can't afford having a durable one and smartphone one. I have a Nokia 1208 as my side phone by the way, it has a decent flash light, I charge it twice a week at most, I accidentally dropped it a lot of times already and I even got it soaking wet once when it fell on our clogged sink (dried it up with a blower). It's still fully functioning. The signal strength is great. This phone is great. Though not as sturdy, it's much more affordable than a Military Standard 810G-certified device. In case this phone gets "decommissioned" I'll just buy another one. It's still cheaper.
2. lsutigers (Posts: 821; Member since: 08 Mar 2009)
that video is pretty funny...
3. kshell1 (Posts: 1143; Member since: 05 Oct 2011)
If Steve can't destroy it no one can xD


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Group fights Segway ban at theme parks
ORLANDO, FLA. - Advocates for the disabled want two theme parks to lift a ban on Segways, saying the scooters give people who can't walk a degree of freedom not afforded by wheelchairs.
Some employees at Walt Disney World use Segways, but officials there and at SeaWorld Orlando said the two-wheeled scooters could be dangerous if used by visitors.
"We're not turning people away," said Disney World spokeswoman Kim Prunty. "We're turning away a particular form of transportation."
Disability Rights Advocates for Technology, which raises money to donate Segways to disabled U.S. military veterans and pushes for their acceptance, is asking the parks to lift the ban.
Disney officials said they see serious safety concerns if untrained visitors ride the scooters on the same crowded walkways as toddlers, the elderly and other people with disabilities. They also worry because Segways can go faster than 12 mph, they say.
SeaWorld spokeswoman Becca Bides said the park had similar concerns.
Universal Orlando permits disabled riders on Segways on a case-by-case basis, park officials said.
Convention will pick GOP Senate candidate
RICHMOND, VA. - Virginia Republicans will hold a convention instead of a primary to choose their candidate to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, upsetting critics who say it makes the party appear closed off.
The state party's central committee voted 47-37 on Saturday in favor of a convention. No date or location was decided.
Former Gov. Jim Gilmore and U.S. Rep. Tom Davis have expressed interest in seeking the GOP nomination. Supporters of Mr. Gilmore wanted a convention, while Davis backers had argued for a primary.
John Warner, 80, announced in August that he would not seek a sixth consecutive Senate term next year. Two weeks later, Democrat Mark R. Warner - a popular multimillionaire former governor who is not related to the senator - announced his candidacy for the seat.
Supporters of a convention argued that it's more economical and that the party would avoid a divisive public squabble between GOP rivals in a primary.
Black wing of state party backs Clinton
HOOVER, ALA. - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton won the endorsement Saturday of the black wing of the Alabama Democratic Party by capitalizing on long friendships that Barack Obama couldn't match.
The Alabama Democratic Conference endorsed Mrs. Clinton by an overwhelming voice vote moments after she addressed the audience of about 700. No other candidate was nominated for an endorsement.
A conference member, Madison County Commissioner Bob Harrison, of Huntsville, said Mr. Obama was the sentimental favorite for him and many others, but Mrs. Clinton was the practical choice.
"This is the political reality of what the outcome is going to be for the Democratic nomination," he said.
Obama regional organizer Anthony Johnson passed out Obama buttons outside the event and predicted strong black support for the Illinois senator in Alabama's presidential primary Feb. 5.
"We have a lot of anonymous support," he said.


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300x1000mm White Triple Panel Horizontal Colosseum Radiator
Price £599.99£219.99Save: 63% off
300x1000mm White Triple Panel Horizontal Colosseum Radiator - Roma Premium
- 10 Year Warranty
- Low carbon steel, high quality white powder coated finish
- Tested to BS EN 442 standards
- Complies with ISO9001:2008 regulations
- Kit includes: Radiator, wall brackets, blanking plug and air vent plug.
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1501 Boice Pond Rd
Ste 101
Orlando FL 32837
- (407) 992-6820
- Fax:(407) 888-2301
As a leading national contractor in the exhibition industry, Shepard's experience and expertise make exhibiting easy for show managers and exhibitors alike. We're more than a general services contractor; we become your partner because "your success is our success."
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CEO | 01 Oct 2009
We can see some very strong signs when you see the macro indicators of what was happening, Asia was not really that damaged… Some of the markets had a very dramatic slowdown and some markets just had slowdown, but still there was a growth, and then there were a couple of markets like Japan that had their own markets; Korea is very export-dependent, so they are now also picking up. The overall advertising market should grow – it is an overall positive picture. We are having another decent year.
Earlier this month, there was a significant change in the Aegis Media APAC structure, when the agency announced that Patrick Stahle, who has held numerous roles within Aegis Media since 1995 – the latest being the CEO, Aegis Media APAC – has decided to retire from the industry to pursue a non-executive career. The development would be effective from the second quarter of 2010. Stahle was appointed CEO of Aegis Media Asia-Pacific in 2006. Since then, he has almost doubled regional revenue and increased operating profit more than three-fold.
He was previously CEO of Aegis Media Sweden and of Aegis Media Nordics. From an India viewpoint, Stahle has been popular for taking some of the key decisions that brought Aegis Media's presence back on track in India. A regular visitor to the market, Stahle's leadership has seen the appointment of Ashish Bhasin here, and hence leading to a more stable leadership structure in India.
In this interview with exchange4media's Noor Fathima Warsia, Stahle speaks on what will keep him busy post his exit from the industry, and what will keep him busy in the next six months. He also speaks on some of the key developments that have taken place in Aegis Media in India, and APAC.
Q. We understand you are retiring from your services at Aegis Media. What can we expect from you after this?
Well, I am here till March of next year. And after that, I would be operating more as an independent person…
Q. Like a consultant?
Yes, like a consultant, like an executive on the boards of companies, that kind of a role.
Q. So, until next year, your role in the development of APAC and involvement in it doesn't, really change?
Yes, that is correct.
Q. Taking off from various previous conversations then, are you happy with the way Aegis Media has performed in India in the last couple of years, since the appointment of Ashish Bhasin in 2008?
I am very happy with the progress in India. From where we were standing was a couple of years ago, to where we are standing today – today we have a good solid product and good people, and we have a broad set of services. Posterscope is doing brilliantly and Isobar will also do well in India. We took the chance to launch Vizeum, because there was an opportunity for it.
Q. I agree with Posterscope, but Isobar is still not ticking it yet…
The infrastructure in India for digital, and the penetration of broadband and Internet is still growing, it is a very simple mobile driven market, but most of the devices in India are not made for other than maybe text. In that sense, what we are doing is that we are making sure we can build a good well integrated business. Also, Posterscope will be becoming digital. Isobar kind of merges the online and offline, but that is not happening in that pace in India. Apart from India and many other markets, there is a huge difference. I am not too worried about the pace, what I am concerned is that when we are established, it can grow well together.
Q. While announcing Isobar, the first deal you had announced was that of Communicate2. What is happening on that?
That is still under discussion…
Q. The impression when the announcement was made was that it was a done deal, however, it is almost two years now since it was first spoken about…
I can't talk about and it is taking time – you know how it is in India – for that matter, anywhere in the world where we do different kinds of acquisitions. A lot of things need to be clarified and you must also understand that these discussions had begun in a completely different economic environment, and even though India has managed quite well, it is still a completely different economic environment now. When you strike a hard time, you have to become all the more careful in the kind of business discussions that you get into.
Q. You got Nokia worldwide, in India the business did not move…
Not yet…
Q. When you say 'not yet', when are you expecting it to move?
That is a discussion we are having with Nokia.
Q. But why did India not see the change?
That is again a discussion that we are having with Nokia and it would not be fair for me to comment on it in any form. It is a big move for Nokia to consolidate with any one agency, so there is really a lot that is going on there. It was a very brave and good decision for Nokia, because they have decided to go for one agency, but in the end, even we also respect that in some markets we have to wait where they have to have local discussions.
Q. You would have heard it too, that the popular word was that one reason was because Carat was not so big in India…
That again is a discussion that we are having with Nokia, and I am sure that we can prove that we can handle Nokia as well, if not better, than the others.
Q. Would I be right in assuming that you are preparing for handling Nokia in India?
Yes, of course – that is the part of the deal. We have to make sure that Nokia in markets like India is also comfortable. I must reiterate here though that when we speak about Nokia, we make sure that we keep the discussions between us and Nokia – that is very important.
Q. Fair enough, let's talk about Vizeum now. What was the reason to have launched Vizeum in India now, considering Carat is still working on establishing its footprint better?
It was not so much of a local decision than it was a global decision. For some agencies, we need to have a global footprint, and India is an important market, but what we decided was to wait until we have Carat on track. Vizeum as a brand has its own global clients and India is very important in that.
Q. But who are the global clients that Vizeum India would be working on?
We started Vizeum here only three months ago, so they would begin working on clients soon. The important thing is that we needed a global presence for Vizeum, which is very important for global pitches. We had delayed it so far, but we thought that the opportunity was there now. Launching Vizeum in India is not related to Carat's presence here. It is now a question of how we manage our resources to grow both the brands. We need to build all the brands here now.
Q. Over the past, many conversations that we've had with you, we have discussed that Aegis Media in India, and its various brands, has faced various setbacks – the relationship with Percept and then that ending, then the maintaining of stability in leadership. It has appeared now that things are getting stable, but would you say that the recession has presented another set of roadblocks to Aegis in India?
To be fair, the roadblocks we had earlier were more internal in nature. We sorted them out and I am very proud of the organisation that we have in India, and the ambition of people in India. So, the roadblocks that we are now looking at tearing down are external roadblocks, which are more connected to the economy. But you cannot do that without sorting out your own house. I feel that now we have a structure in India that can support global businesses and can win their own local businesses as well.
Q. Any changes in the investments in India from your side?
Any company across the world is very careful about the areas that it is investing in, but we have been very careful in a short period of time to create some good businesses in India. My general point of view is that the only constrain we would have is the country's ability to take on the services.
Q. How is the region delivering right now – are you seeing any recovery from the recession?
Q. While you have been benefitted by the spree of global pitches, but what do you think about them – we have 6-7 pitches that followed Nokia…
When you end up in a recession, you tend to forget that what is also happening at a parallel level is a fundamental change in advertising. In that perspective, we see that clients are looking for different solutions. They are not using the opportunity, it is the desire to find different solutions on how they should approach communication, there are always quite a few global pitches going on. Unfortunately, they have come in a cluster this time and it has put pressure on the industry as well, because we all try and see how we make the best use of that. But what it has done is bring some fundamental changes in advertising on top of the recession, the online and offline becoming diffused, media houses are facing a lot of problem in adapting to the recession, so there is a lot of digitisation happening – there is a dramatic change, which we find encouraging.
Programming HeadRadio Mango


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CELEBRATION, Fla. — In September, Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., made history by becoming the first professional angler to register for the CITGO Bassmaster Elite Series, an 11-event competition that will award nearly $7.5 million in cash and merchandise.
Reese, 36, didn't know he was going to be the first. He was just thinking sensibly. "I knew the deadline was coming and wanted to get my deposits in," he said. "My intent is to fish BASS, without a doubt. That's where I created my livelihood and saw my career blossom."
The six-time CITGO Bassmaster Classic qualifier has earned nearly $600,000 on the BASS circuit since he entered in 1997. Today, his branding includes major endemic sponsors Lucky Craft Lures, Champion Boats, Mercury Marine, Terminator Lures and Berkley.
Now, four months before he fishes the CITGO Bassmaster Classic on Lake Tohopekaliga in Kissimmee, Fla. and five months before beginning the CITGO Bassmaster Elite Series, Reese is deep in preparation. He's meeting with sponsors to secure a wrap on his boat and truck, researching lakes he will fish and — like friends Marty Stone and Gerald Swindle — seizing media opportunities to promote himself and his brand among what will be a smaller group of the world's most premier anglers.
"We take advantage of every bit of media so we can expose ourselves to other potential sponsors," Reese said. "Sometimes we're criticized for being on TV too much but we're doing our jobs and too many anglers don't see the business standpoint of fishing."
Indeed, Reese is more than an angler. He's a family man and business entrepreneur and consciously juggles those roles with his fishing. It's not uncommon for Reese to conduct a media interview with a newspaper like the WALL STREET JOURNAL and then break away to compliment his 2-year-old daughter on her Halloween costume ("LeaMarie is a snow angel," he says proudly.) He takes his wife Kim and daughter on the road about two weeks each season, just enough time before they get tired of traveling. He's also regular on the ESPN2 show "Bass Tech." One would imagine that Reese doesn't support an expanded Elite Series schedule, but ironically, he does.
"I'm a big fan of the expanded Elite Series schedule," Reese said. "We thrive on competition and that's what drives us. Fishing three months of out the year doesn't quite cut it."
Reese says he "understands and respects" the major changes BASS has implemented for the 2006 season, but isn't surprised that others don't agree. Though change can be frightening, Reese is turning it into his most valuable tool in his tackle box. "I believe the things you struggle with the most are the things that make you grow the most."


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Look at those curls! Geri Halliwell was spotted with her adorable 3 1/2-year-old daughter Bluebell Madonna going to the movies in London, England on Wednesday (March 24). Geri sported jeans and a baseball cap for the occasion, while Bluebell was dressed up in a pink skirt, hair bow and polka dot tights.
Ginger Spice, 37, has been dating Henry Beckwith, 30 – who is heir to a £400m fortune – since last March. We spotted the trio enjoying the sun – and huge yacht! – in France last August.View Slideshow »»


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Understanding the microenterprise sector to design a tailor-made microfinance policy for Cape Verde
Two of the central challenges faced by Cape Verde at the present are the high level of unemployment and the increasing proportion of the population that lives below the poverty line. Microenterprise development can be an effective means of addressing both problems in a developing country like Cape Verde, where microenterprises account for about 50% of employment. In this paper we provide a detailed profile of micro firms? owners and investigate the relationship between their characteristics and the resort to outside seed capital. We find a cluster of factors - the microentrepreneur?s age, gender, level of education and reason for being self-employed - which influence significantly the probability of being in need for external startup capital. The policy implications of these findings for the design of a specific microfinance program for Cape Verde are discussed.
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
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| Postal: Largo dos Colegiais 2, 7000 - 803ÉVORA
Phone: + 351 266 74 08 94
Fax: + 351 266 74 24 94
Web page: http://www.decon.uevora.pt
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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Shaw, Judith, 2004. "Microenterprise Occupation and Poverty Reduction in Microfinance Programs: Evidence from Sri Lanka," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1247-1264, July.
- Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
- Davidson, Russell & MacKinnon, James G., 1984.
"Convenient specification tests for logit and probit models,"
Journal of Econometrics,
Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 241-262, July.
- Russell Davidson & James G. MacKinnon, 1982. "Convenient Specification Tests for Logit and Probit Models," Working Papers 514, Queen's University, Department of Economics.
- J. Copestake & S. Bhalotra & S. Johnson, 2001. "Assessing the Impact of Microcredit: A Zambian Case Study," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 81-100.
- Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicolás S., 1945-, 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Working papers 1523-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
- Evans, Timothy G. & Adams, Alayne M. & Mohammed, Rafi & Norris, Alison H., 1999. "Demystifying Nonparticipation in Microcredit: A Population-Based Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 419-430, February.
- Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
- Myers, Stewart C, 1984. " The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
- Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- P. Mosley, 2001. "Microfinance and Poverty in Bolivia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 101-132.
- Pagan, Adrian & Vella, Frank, 1989. "Diagnostic Tests for Models Based on Individual Data: A Survey," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 4(S), pages 29-59, Supplemen. Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)
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This item is temporarily out of stock. Feel free to give us a call on 02 8834 0314 to see when the item will be back in stock.
GroBeam 600 Natural Daylight TwinGroBeam Ultima TWIN
The GroBeam 600 Ultima utilizes the same platform as TMC's Award Winning line of marine Aquarium lighting fixtures. Packing 5 ultra-efficient CREE XB-D PowerLED's with a color temperature of 6500K, these lights are a great choice for illuminating planted and freshwater fish aquariums. The GroBeam 600 comes in two options: a single GroBeam 600 Ultima strip with one power supply or the DuoTwin which has two GroBeam 600 Ultima strips powered by a single power supply.
Uses the latest and brightest generation Natural Daylight CREE XB-D PowerLED's with a 6500K color temperature for optimum plant growth and color rendition
Perfect for planted tanks and tropical aquariums.
Wide-angle (120 degree) beam allows light unit to be mounted close to the aquarium surface for optimum and even light distribution
30% brighter than the GroBeam 500 it replaces
Offers a minimum of 50,000 hours lamp life - 6x standard fluorescent lighting
Creates a natural shimmering effect
Low running costs and environmentally friendly - long-life, very low carbon footprint and No Mercury
Cool running with low heat transfer to aquarium water reducing the need for expensive cooling systems
Light-weight and compact design, with versatile mounting fixtures included, allowing a wide variety of replacement, retrofit and new install options on all sizes of aquaria
Sealed, water-resistant casing and a low DC voltage power supply makes AquaRay easy and safe to use in all conditions
Future-proofed with built-in capability and compatibility for digital control including timing and dimming
Designed and manufactured by Tropical Marine Center in the UK with a 5 yr guarantee


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Browse Website Reviews
A collection of Soviet archival documents which take visitors inside the highest levels of the Soviet Government. [...] »
Which ethnic groups have made their homes in the Columbia River Basin? [...] »
Teaching the American Revolution and its politics? Check out 15 topical essays and a database of more than 150 primary sources. [...] »
Learn about the inner workings of Congress and several major historical topics. [...] »
Take a look at the "Constitution State," with approximately 14,000 images depicting Connecticut's history from the 19th through the 20th century. [...] »
Imagine the government drafting you after moving you to an internment camp. Would you comply? [...] »
Searchable facsimiles of 1,850 monographs and 288 journal volumes related to agriculture in the U.S. between 1806 and 1989. [...] »
Even the Founding Fathers wrote rough drafts! Interact with early versions of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. [...] »
Work through the Fort Sumter crises alongside our nation's leaders. [...] »
Begin your background research on prairie farmhouses with this website. [...] »


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This site provides information on maths learning difficulties and dyscalculia
It includes information on:
- books,
- training and CPD for professionals,
- assessment and diagnosis of maths learning difficulties and dyscalculia,
- a (free) 'test' of maths anxiety
- articles about maths and dyscalculia and a (free) 'test' of maths anxiety for adults
- conferences
And...introduces... 'Maths Explained' a series of low cost video tutorials for those who struggle with maths (see the 'Maths Explained' page)
My experience spans over thirty years of work and research in special and mainstream education. In 1986 I founded and then developed a specialist secondary school for dyslexic boys, which won several major national awards.
I am now an independent consultant, researcher and writer and continue to present papers and contribute to conferences, deliver training courses for teachers, parents and support assistants in over thirty countries across the world.
Steve Chinn brought his unique course, "The Trouble with Maths" to Brussels and the teachers who participated in this course are still full of praise for or it, many feeling that it was the highlight of the academic year. Steve has an in depth understanding of the minds of children with learning disabilities that interfere with the learning of Maths, and is able to join these children on their level to find out more about how they learn and what they need to learn. He is also able to transmit this information to the teachers who attend his courses in a language that they understand, not the abstract language often used in such courses, providing an abundance of practical examples as well as the rationale for using them. Everyone comes away satisfied and Steve's information informs how these teachers teach Maths forever afterwards." Top Qualities: Great Results, Expert, Creative


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EMERGENCY services in Wiltshire have dealt with several crashes in thick fog today.
Firefighters and paramedics are currently on the scene of a serious collision between a lorry and a car on the A3102 between Calne and Sandy Lane and Wiltshire Police say the road is likely to remain closed for several hours.
Visibility is down to less than 100 metres across much of the county. Police are warning motorists to drive to the conditions and make sure they use their headlights and fog lights.


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Ticket #2 (new enhancement)
Support Complete / Incomplete distinction instead of Abs/Rel
|Reported by:
|Owned by:
Wren Ng Thornton (libraries list 16/Nov). ---
Having done a lot of system administration and metaprogramming of system administration, I can certainly say that making the relative/absolute distinction is helpful for tracking down bugs. From the same set of experience I'd say that Duncan's incomplete/complete distinction would be even more helpful.
With a lot of sysadmin metaprogramming (which includes package installers) what people are really working on is grafting different trees together. It's important to distinguish which paths/trees are being created and don't yet refer to an actual or potential file on the disk, from those paths/trees which refer to actual/potential files on the disk.
To think about why this distinction is helpful, consider where all we may want to attach the paths/trees we're creating. The two obvious places are / and . but there are other options too. Most programs support some notion of a $PATH variable or allow flags to specify the target directory for reading or writing. With the complete/incomplete distinction we distinguish names which aren't yet grounded from names that refer to files, regardless of where they're mounted. With the relative/absolute distinction we don't know when a path is finished being constructed, and we also have no real vocabulary for expressing paths relative from some point other than the current directory.
Most sysadmins don't seem to realize they're doing tree grafting when they mess with this stuff, so I can see why it might seem foreign, but viewing it that way really does help clean code up and find bugs. Tree grafting also forms a monad, which could be helpful for some folks.


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iTouch -- info desperately needed
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Originally Posted by
I've been using handheld portable device since the original Palm Pilot Pro and I can tell you that the screen on the Touch beats the heck out of anything else out there.
I must, with the greatest respect, disagree with you. The iPod Touch has a perfectly standard 480x320 "half VGA" LCD screen, exactly the same as is used on many PDAs. It is a very nice screen, I agree, but it's neither better nor worse than such a screen on any other machine.
I honestly don't think that the Touch makes a particularly good bookreader because:
1. The battery life is poor compared with many PDAs - you'll get around 4-5h usage reading. My iPaq PDA will give me at least double that, plus it has a replaceable battery so I can carry a spare battery if I'm going on a long trip.
2. The range of reading software is currently poor. This will undoubtedly change in the future, but at present there's a hugely wider range of software available for both Palm and Pocket PC devices.
3. You have to jump through hoops to get content onto the device, rather than simply copying files via USB as you can with any other machine.
The iPod Touch is a very nice device indeed - I use mine for all sorts of things - but, IMHO at least, there are much better portable devices around if you want something to use primarily as an eBook reader.
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MANAGER Dean Holtham admits he's not surprised Alvechurch's young guns are doing so well.
The Churchmen maintained their excellent form over the last seven days with two impressive results.
They stunned Southern League Premier outfit Leamington last week to win 3-1 and progress into the next round of the Birmingham Senior Cup thanks to a brace for Jazz Luckie and one for Omari Sterling-James.
That has set-up a mouthwatering second round home clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday, November 28 (7.30pm ko).
Luckie was also on the scoresheet on Saturday as Alvechurch edged out Loughborough University 1-0.
That means the Lye Meadow outfit have lost just once in the last six games.
Holtham said: "I've always thought that if you're good enough it doesn't matter how young you are.
"I was also confident the players had the ability and they've got to keep up their good form. I've said to the players that Wolverhampton will be favourites but like us they will put out a young team and anything can happen."
Since arriving at the club as part of the deal to link up with Birmingham City's development scheme in August, Holtham has drafted in a host of young players and seen many of the old squad depart.
Keeper Liam Maher was the hero for Alvechurch with penalty saves in both the Leamington and Loughborough clashes.
The young shot-stopper has edged ahead of Richard Taylor as first choice custodian.
Taylor is expected to remain at the club, despite a seven-day approach from Earlswood a fortnight ago.
Holtham added: "Liam has taken his chance and he's doing very well.
"Richard missed a game because of work and Liam came in and played well. I've told Richard that we don't want him to go but it was up to him."
Alvechurch host Tipton, the side directly below them, on Saturday (3pm ko).


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It turns out that the Harajuku Barbie is not only angry with Mariah Carey since she accuses the other three judges of picking on a contestant before walking off the set.
The much publicized feud between Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey was captured in the latest episode of "American Idol". During the auditions in Charlotte, North Carolina, the raptress looked bored when the other three judges were arguing over a contestant's interest in country music.
It all began as Summer Cunningham claimed, "I did the country thing; now I'm more of a soulful country thing." Feeling insulted, Keith Urban said, "It's like saying 'I did the brain surgeon thing!' " Nicki was silent when the other judges asked Summer's interest in country music.
When it's her turn to speak, Nicki asked, "Why are we picking her apart?" to which Mariah replied, "Really? Is that what I did? We're trying to help her as opposed to just talk about her outfit." Furious Nicki responded, "Oh, you're right. I'm sorry I can't help her. Maybe I should just get off the f**king panel."
The judges argument aside, Summer was eventually sent to Hollywood. Thirty six other singing hopefuls got the golden tickets in this round. They included Brian Rittenberry whose wife just survived appendix cancer, Candice Glover who returned from last season, and street singer Rodney Barber who has been called the Voice of Charlotte. Another country music singer Ashley Smith also impressed the judges.
Among those who didn't make the cut was Joel Nemoyer, who chose to sing Michael Buble's "Feeling Good" while lying on the floor. Naomi Morris also failed to get through to the next round, but she might not be easily forgotten since her outfit sparked a debate between Mariah and Nicki.
Summer Cunningham auditions on "American Idol":


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Agency: Droga5 Sydney launches a new airline: "To give it a fresh Australian voice, we used the DJs Hamish and Andy. To paint a a fresh new flying experience, we used the animation skills of Resolution." D5 Creative Team.
Simon Njoo @ Guillotine : Editor
Hugh Miller : DoP
David Nobay, Matty Burton and Cam Blackley : Creatives
Paul Johnston : Agency Producer
Will Alexander : Producer
Director : Tim Dyroff
Production Company: Resolution Design
Post Production - Resolution Design
Head of 3D = Max McMullin


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We are not alone.
There are likely "tens of billions" of Earth-like planets in our Milky Way galaxy, according to a study released Monday by astronomers from the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Hawaii.
"Planets like our Earth are relatively common throughout the Milky Way galaxy," said astronomer Andrew Howard of the University of Hawaii.
In fact, the nearest Earth-like planet may be "only" 12 light years away, which is roughly 72 trillion miles.
Overall, astronomers now estimate that about one in five sun-like stars have planets that are nearly the size of Earth and also have a surface temperature conducive to the development of life.
Like Goldilocks tasting the porridge, temperatures must be "just right" for life to develop: Planets must have a so-called "habitable zone" with "lukewarm temperatures, so that water would not be frozen into ice or vaporized into steam but instead remain a liquid, because liquid water is now understood to be the prerequisite for life," said Geoffrey Marcy, a professor of astronomy at Berkeley.
The discovery was based on the most accurate statistical analysis yet of all the observations from the Kepler telescope, a space observatory launched in 2009 specifically designed to locate planets around other stars.
The research was based mainly on an exhaustive, three-year search of Kepler data undertaken by Erik Petigura, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley.
"Now, for the first time, humanity has a measure of how common Earth-size planets are around sun-like stars," he added.
Howard estimated that our galaxy has 40 billion planets "for life to get started and to evolve."
And going beyond our galaxy, Marcy reminds us that the Milky Way is just a typical galaxy within our universe, which contains hundreds of billions of galaxies, each of which is similar to our Milky Way.
"With tens of billions of Earth-like planets in each galaxy, our entire universe must contain billions of billions of Earth-like planets," Marcy said
The study was published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences using data from the Kepler telescope. The $591 million Kepler telescope is now crippled and nearing the end of its four-year mission


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American Olympic officials have attempted to defuse the row over their record on action against drug cheats.
The United States Olympic Committee defended itself in an open letter to International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.
Acting president Bill Martin said: "I can assure you USOC and the United States Anti-Doping Agency share your assessment of the importance of this matter."
He added: "This matter should in no way become a barrier to the New York City 2012 Olympic bid effort."
Earlier this week, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Dick Pound said he wanted the US to be turned into a "sports pariah" unless it took the drugs issue more seriously.
Pound is dismayed at the White House's recent cuts in funding to WADA and the relatively light penalties being issued by Major League Baseball and the NFL for positive steroid tests.
The USA's contributions to WADA have dropped from $1m to $800,000 this year.
Pound also said he would consider urging Rogge to pressure member sports federations to remove all international competitions from the US unless it improves its record on doping.
Martin said the $800,000 "places the United States among the top three nations in the Olympic movement with respect to providing
financial support to the agency".
He said his country's contribution for 2003 would be made within the next 60 to 90 days.
Lack of funding forced WADA to cut back the number of planned random tests by a third to 5,000 in 2003.


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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 1/1/2012 (2057 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
AMID a multimillion-dollar upgrade to Assiniboine Park Zoo, no one seems to know the location of the latest inspection reports.
The city claims the Assiniboine Park Conservancy has the inspection reports, while the park claims city hall has the copies. Thats the upshot of an access-to-information request and numerous phone calls made this fall.
Zoo employees conduct daily inspections while the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums inspects the zoo every five years.
The last CAZA inspection took place in 2008.
A freedom-of-information request seeking copies of those inspection reports was filed last September.
The city responded by saying it keeps no such documents and suggested the park controls the reports.
Numerous calls to the Assiniboine Park Conservancy turned up no information.
In a subsequent phone call, Tim Sinclair-Smith, the director of zoological operations, insisted the city has the CAZA inspection reports. But, he said they are not normally released to the public for fear they will be misinterpreted.
"It is not up to the public to decide what is right and what is wrong. It is best left to the facility to decide," he said.
"Unless you understand the regulations like we do, they are very easy to misinterpret and the last thing we want is people misreading something in the reports... It is not a standard practice of an institution to release them, unless there is a reason (and) we dont have one," he said.
CAZA national director Bill Peters would not release the zoos inspection records, either, saying the documents "are confidential between the commission and the institution in question."
"Assiniboine Park Zoo is a fully accredited member of the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums," Peters said.
"A decision to accredit the zoo testifies to the fact it meets our standards."
In addition to routine inspections, CAZA can also make unscheduled visits when problems are brought to its attention.
In total, $200 million will be spent renovating Assiniboine Park, including $42 million in new construction and $58 million earmarked for a new polar-bear enclosure and Arctic interpretive centre.
When Debby the polar bear died in 2008, the zoo announced it had no plans to replace Debby right away, since the existing polar bear enclosure did not meet provincial standards for the species. Other elements of the zoo are considered dated.
firstname.lastname@example.com firstname.lastname@example.com
With the help of Free Press staff, students in Red River Colleges Creative Communications program learned how to mine freedom of information legislation for stories governments might not want told. At the start of the school year, students submitted access to information requests about everything from dangerous playgrounds to missing hospital drugs. In response, they got piles of documents and data, and one $26,000 bill. Over the next several weeks, the Free Press will publish some of the stories students uncovered. Visit www.winnipegfreepress.com to see them all.


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Coming from GameFAQs...
Just wanted to give a heads up on people buying this. The product is great and it works but: Nyko accidentally shipped boxes with the 3DS cable in the Wii U box. So make sure you check the box and see if it has the right Wii U connector cable in it.
Lik the person says, just make sure you check the box before you actually purchase the item. A 3DS cable is nice, but it won't do you much help with the Wii U! Thanks to Whatami for the heads up!
UPDATE - Nyko says they're "... moving swiftly to rectify the issue."
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Happy 10th anniversary of the GST! I know for most of us this is not much cause to celebrate considering the administrative burden that it puts on us. However, I'm pretty certain that the government and accountants/bookkeepers all across the nation are delighting in this decade – the government happy with the revenue raising and the accountants/bookkeepers thrilled they have gotten much more work out of the GST as it distracts us from being small business owners to becoming tax collectors. So raise a glass of sparkling and toast away.
Ok, I will stop being facetious – but I could not let this milestone go unmentioned today! Now, on to the real post …
Yesterday, I was on a panel at the launch event of Winning Business Online (www.winningbusinessonline.com.au), funded by the Federal Government. Hosted by Sunrise anchor David Koch, the program is a free online training program to help small businesses equip themselves with the skills and tools they need to make the most of online marketing, customer retention and e-commerce.
It's not just a website full of information. It also includes video case studies of small businesses who have embraced the internet and used it as a tool for growth. In the interests of full disclosure, note that my business, the Sydney Writers' Centre, is one of the case studies and that's why I was on the panel yesterday. Also, Fairfax Community Newspapers is one of the sponsors of the program.
In my personal development as a small business owner, I'm constantly studying other successful businesses so I can learn new strategies that I can apply in my own business. It doesn't matter if they are from an entirely different industry. In fact, I find that's often better – because this gives you a different perspective – a new way of looking at your business.
When you study businesses similar to your own, you can often fall into the trap of thinking that certain conventions or practices are "just the way you do it in this industry".
So I think that one of the strengths of the Winning Business Online program is that you get a sneak peek into other successful businesses.
Other case studies include:
* Tony Nash from Booktopia, an online book store.
* Brad Lindenberg from Lind Golf, suppliers of custom-made golf clubs sold online.
Janel Horton from Gourmet Dinner Service, home-delivered meals which can be ordered online.
Vicky Harding from Flying Penguin, educational toys sold in store and online.
Justin Butterworth from Occupancy, which is the parent company for Rentahome and TakeABreak, online portals to rent homes.
Sam Winter from Sassi Sam, an online store "for all things fun and girlie".
Ruslan Kogan from Kogan Technologies, online store for technology products.
So what should you look at when you study another business? In my opinion, I think there are three key factors to consider.
1. The customer journey
Explore the business you are studying and look at the journey the customer takes from the minute they land on the website to when they are likely to purchase. Look at:
- How easy (or difficult) the site is to navigate
- Whether frequently asked questions are anticipated – and answered – in the information provided. By this, I don't just mean having an FAQ page, but whether these answers are provided at obvious points in the customer journey without them even having to go to an FAQ page.
- How often is the customer given an opportunity to buy? After all, the purpose of your website may be to educate customers about what you do, but ultimately, you want them to purchase as well.
- Is it actually easy for the customer to purchase or do they have to jump through hoops in order to do so?
2. Creating dialogue with the customer
If your website is static – and people simply arrive at it, read and then leave – then you are wasting leads and missing out on creating a relationship with that customer. Look at how successful businesses start a dialogue with their customers.
For example, when you visit the Kogan Technologies site, you are immediately given the opportunity to sign up to their newsletter so you can be notified of specials.
How else do successful businesses "talk" to customers apart from their website? Maybe they have a blog, Twitter profile, or Facebook page. Study those mediums and see how effective they are in customer communication and interaction.
3. What is the business model?
When studying other successful businesses, it's always useful to determine the actual business model. Try to work out where the bulk of revenue is coming from, where most expenses are incurred, and the key logistics of the business.
I find this a fascinating process and often end up picking up great tips that I can use in my business, which runs writing courses. For example, it was after I studied the Fitness First fitness class timetables – which they have gotten down to a fine art - that I implemented some of the key principles in how we timetable our writing courses.
At yesterday's event, David Koch cited the book The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman about how we are increasingly becoming a global economy. (As an aside, this is one of the best books I've read in recent years.)
Making the most of online strategies, marketing and e-commerce is one of the best ways to capture a global market. This is brought home to me every time someone enrols in one of our writing courses from countries as diverse as Afghanistan, US, South Africa, France, Hong Kong and many more. In fact, this week a Norwegian lady, working for a US company living in Rome, Italy, decided she wanted to do an Australian writing course – and enrolled with us. This would not be possible if we were not online.
I encourage other business to do the same. Yesterday, Google released research that reveals that only one in four Australian small-to-medium businesses have ventured into online marketing, having at least their own website and moving towards e-commerce and search marketing.
It's an opportunity that's ripe for the picking. If you don't know where to start, Winning Business Online is a useful resource that will point you in the right direction.


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A Great Day to Wear Your 'Yak Trax': Jonny Learns Something New
As Renee and I were discussing the danger of just walking outside in this icy weather, she suddenly blurted out, "that's why I'm wearing my Yak Trax…
"Yak Trax?" I queried. Let me see them!
She lifted her foot and show me a spring like device that criss-crossed the sole of her sneaker. I was surprised. I asked her where she got them and she said she picked them up last year during a live broadcast at Eddie Bauer in the Marketplace at Augusta.
We continued our Yak Trax chat for a minute or so when I decided I'd write about them and encourage anyone who has elderly relatives they worry about slipping and falling to consider these as a gift!
For me, these will come in handy just navigating my driveway, which has a 45 degree slope, to get to the mailbox.


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|Home > Sport > Soccer > Article
Adelaide City 2
Nthn Spirit 1
Adelaide City rode their luck to push themselves into the thick of the title race with a 2-1 victory over Northern Spirit on a wet, miserable evening at North Sydney Oval on Friday night.
An 87th-minute own goal from English defender Julian Watts handed Adelaide the points and catapulted them into second place in the championship series ahead of the weekend's remaining fixtures.
Watts turned a cross from Lucas Pantelis into his own net and in a desperate attempt to make amends was thrown into the forward line for the remainder of the match - but to no avail.
The first of three consecutive games on the road, therefore, ended well for the Force, but only just.
A clear handball by Diego Pelligrini inside the penalty area was somehow missed by referee Con Diomis and his assistants and at the final whistle a handful of Spirit fans vented their anger at the match officials.
The loss has left the Spirit with no margin for error in their quest for a grand final berth, even though they have five championship matches remaining.
With a negative goal difference, a three-point gap to the top two places and their final three games away from home, next week's match against Perth Glory looms as the season decider.
The Spirit had drawn first blood shortly after the restart and once again dead-ball specialist Vuko Tomasevic was prominently involved. A dipping free-kick seemed to mesmerise a static Adelaide defence and while everyone was watching the flight of the ball, John Hutchinson stole in with a glancing header to give keeper Lupce Acevski no chance.
Adelaide responded with a piledriver from Goran Lozanovski which Spirit keeper Paul Henderson did well to save low to his right - a feat the excellent Acevski matched soon afterwards to deny substitute Adam Kwasnik a goal with his first touch of the game.
Adelaide were to make the most of the reprieve when veteran striker Claudio Pelosi was on hand to ram home the equaliser two minutes later following a clever low cross from Pantelis.
For the rain-soaked crowd of 2350, finally there was something to get excited about after the worst opening 45 minutes of the finals series had, appropriately, ended scoreless.
Whether it was the difficult conditions - North Sydney's notoriously fast playing surface was made even quicker by the constant rain - or the exertions of a marathon season was hard to tell.
Either way both teams looked tired, lethargic and occasionally even disinterested.
The skill level was appalling, the passing even worse.
For all that, there might have been a goal before the break but Acevski produced two important stops to deny the club which had released him during the mid-season transfer window.
The first save came at close range as Acevski palmed away a header from Stewart Petrie, the chance set up by a cross from Andrew McDermott from what looked suspiciously like an offside position.
The incident came at the end of the Spirit's first meaningful attack, when striker Dylan MacAllister was unlucky to see his shot strike the base of the post before the ball found its way to McDermott on the right.
It was McDermott who produced the Spirit's second chance three minutes after but his thunderous drive was punched away by the alert Acevski.
Despite being hampered by a thigh strain, the visiting keeper was clearly enjoying his return to his old stomping ground.
At the other end Adelaide had one moment of excitement when Pelosi should have done better with a shot that skimmed past the upright, but otherwise the visitors made little of their possession.
Aurelio Vidmar and Lozanovski, the players who did the damage when the Force last visited North Sydney towards the end of the regular season, were subdued.
Adelaide were hoping they would find their form in the second half, but sadly for the visitors the glimpses were all to rare.
It didn't matter in the end.
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|Adelaide force error to dampen the Spirit
|Premier League: Six of the best for sharpshooter Viduka
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Government and Politics
Obama, McCain Campaign Advisors at AU to Discuss Role of Latino Voters
WASHINGTON, DC--With heavily concentrated Latino populations in critical swing states, the Latino vote has become critical to both candidates in the upcoming presidential election. Obama and McCain campaign advisors, along with other experts on Latino voters, will take an in-depth look at the importance of Latino voters at "The 2008 Presidential Election: Battle for the Latino Vote," a panel discussion on Tuesday, September 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. in Room 5 of AU's Mary Graydon Center.
"Both parties are aggressively courting Latino voters with advertisements, rallies, and key endorsements," said James Thurber, director of AU's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. "And although Latino voters are mobilizing in unprecedented numbers, until recently they have remained a largely ignored voting bloc."
The panel—hosted by American University's School of Public Affairs, Center for Congressional Studies, and the Council on Latin America—will include analysis by representatives from the Obama and McCain campaign and other leading experts on Latino voters, followed by questions from the media and audience.
Below are the participating panelists:
- Daniel Sepulveda manages trade, interstate commerce, immigration, labor, and ethics and lobbying reform issues for Senator Barack Obama.
- Rafael Bejar, national director of Hispanic outreach for the McCain campaign, is an adjunct professor with the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University.
- Maria Teresa Petersen, founding executive director of Voto Latino, was named by Hispanic Magazine as among the top Latinas in government and politics.
- Mark Hugo Lopez, associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center, studies political engagement among young Latinos and helps to coordinate the Center's national surveys.
The Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies provides an integrated teaching, research, and study program focusing on Congress, the presidency, and the interactions of these two basic American institutions. The center, established in 1979, provides a scholarly organization uniquely able to draw on its Washington, D.C., location in the very heart of the city that shapes Congress and the presidency.
American University is a leader in global education, enrolling a diverse student body from throughout the United States and nearly 140 countries. Located in Washington, D.C., the university provides opportunities for academic excellence, public service, and internships in the nation's capital and around the world.