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Session: 2011/2012
Date: Wednesday, 05 October 2011
We welcome Andrew Hamilton, who has stayed with us from the previous session, and John Smith, the newly appointed director of finance in the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL). Is there any point in talking about this subject, Andrew?
Of course there is. We are happy to take your views and submit them to the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP). We do not set the timetable for this matter. There will always be little hiccups along the way where we have to respond by a certain date. However, we can still accommodate your views and make sure that DFP is fully aware of them.
Early in the Committee's life, we discussed the importance of members being aware of the financial implications of decisions. You organised a meeting for us to give a basis of understanding of what finance means, but admittedly, not everyone could go to that meeting. Decisions that are made on certain areas in the next two or three years will impact directly on our bottom line. It is very disappointing that we are dealing with this information now. You may be aware that the Committee for Education held an emergency meeting to discuss the fact that it was getting information late. This Committee was not given that opportunity, and I am not satisfied with that. If it happens again, there will be real problems.
This Committee has a statutory responsibility to scrutinise. We need to know what the monitoring figures mean. When we talked about the impact of tuition fees, it was suggested that the slack might have been taken up by the monitoring rounds or whatever. I am making it clear to you that we need more positive, proactive engagement in sufficient time for the Committee to scrutinise the bids that are being made and to understand the implications if we do or do not get them.
I think, Chairman, it is more than a little hiccup. Our being treated in this manner is an attack on the Committee's integrity and purpose. I really do wonder whether there is any point in us wasting the next half an hour talking about something that is a fait accompli as far as the Department is concerned.
Let me say that there was no motivation along the lines that you are suggesting, Mr Allister. We tried to get the information to you much earlier this time.
If you remember other monitoring rounds, you will know that we have been in a position either to table the information to you or to get it to you the day before the Committee meeting. This time, we tried to meet the standard of five days before the Committee meeting, and we sent it out last Thursday. I had to change the procedures to deal with that. Normally, we base our monitoring round on the very latest monthly information. However, to accommodate the Committee's timetable, I had to rely on the previous month's information. We changed our timing to accommodate the Committee so that we were in the position of being able to get the information to you last Thursday. That was my commitment. I do not determine the date by which DFP requires the information. Unfortunately, that date was yesterday. That is the unfortunate aspect of all this, but rather than present the information on either the day before or the morning of the Committee meeting, our intent was to get it to you as early as we could so that you could have time to consider it.
Do any members want to speak before I go on to deal with the business, or have I said enough for you?
I am a bit frustrated. You will be aware, Andrew, that there was a debate in the Chamber yesterday about additional student places. Figures of 300, 600 and 1,000 were talked about. Even if we agreed, would there be an opportunity for us to go for 750 or 1,000 places? Are you saying this morning that there is a possibility that we could influence that?
I think that it is important that we do not get confused. The issue of places is not a 2011-12 issue; it is a 2012-13 issue. The maximum student number (MaSN) issue is not one for the current year. That is an important point. However, there is still influence to be had. The Committee's support for our main bid is very important to us, because if we do not get it, it will, ultimately, impact on what we can do for people who are suffering more than most in the economic downturn.
Mr Allister said that it was a fait accompli. Are you saying that it is not?
If you were to support the bids, it would be important that the Executive were aware of that. We have submitted the bid, but, at the moment, it is competing against probably many other deserving causes. The level of support that the bid attracts is important, because the decisions have not yet been made.
Do any other members wish to speak? In that case, Andrew, take us through the bid.
I will ask John to do that, if you do not mind, to give him the opportunity to present to the Committee for the first time.
OK, John. I am not normally as cuddly as this.
The priority bid for the Department and the Minister is the £9·2 million Steps to Work bid. That is in the context of the Department's statutory duty to provide for mandatory Steps to Work clients. The bid is directly linked to the increasing numbers of people who are joining the jobseeker's allowance register. You may be aware that claimants on the jobseeker's allowance reach their entry point to Steps to Work after six months if they are aged between 18 and 24 and 18 months for those who are aged over 25.
Jobseeker's allowance numbers have gone up by approximately 145% in the two years from April 2009 to April 2011. At that point, around 13,000 people were on the register. That, in turn, fuels a 75% increase in those who migrate to the Steps to Work programme. About 16,000 people are now on that programme. Clearly, that puts a significant pressure on the Steps to Work baseline. The employment service is already contributing significant efficiencies to manage that increased demand. The forecast at this stage, based on the previous trends and the numbers who are on Steps to Work at the moment, leads to a pressure in the order of £9·2 million for this financial year.
The second bid is for a programme called Step Ahead and is for £3 million. That is in the area of employment services, and, in common with Steps to Work, it is about getting more people back into work. We have a statutory duty to provide employment services, including a work-focused service, to those people who are in receipt of certain working-age benefits. So, in this programme, we will target certain sectors, including young people, lone parents and those who are migrating from incapacity benefit to jobseeker's allowance and employment and support allowance. Those groups of people are being particularly hit by the prolonged economic downturn, and that is why we are proposing this work programme. Initially, we will look to help around 500 people, and we will give them up to six months' work experience with the potential for some training as well. The intention is that that will help them to improve their job prospects by giving them a recently acquired track record of work experience that they can demonstrate to potential employers.
The final bid, which, again, is current expenditure, is for £1 million and is in the area of employment services. It is called Individual Place and Train. That programme will specifically target those people who will move from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance. In that group of people who are on incapacity benefit, particular people will need additional support to get back to work. The programme will involve the community and voluntary sector, with which there will be some targeted work placements and an element of support and training.
John, you are very welcome; congratulations on your new role. I worked with John previously. The Step Ahead programme, which is the second bid, aims to get 500 people up to six months' work experience. Is there a way of targeting that towards people who have long-term or second- or third-generational unemployment to ensure that the people who need it most get that opportunity?
Secondly, I want to ask a question that is somewhat outside the remit of October monitoring, so indulge me, please. Where are we with the capital commitments for the Enniskillen campus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise?
I want to keep on the monitoring round, but I will bring you back at the end, Michelle, to discuss that point. So, just deal with the first bit, please.
We are looking to target a certain group of people who have been hit particularly hard by the economic downturn, including young people aged 18 to 24, lone parents and those who will be affected by the welfare reforms that are bringing people off incapacity benefit and into jobseeker's allowance. Initially, we are looking at 500 people, and the programme will start in November. It is on a smallish scale at this stage. Broadly speaking, those are the three target groups that we are aiming for. By nature, some of those people will have been unemployed for long periods.
Is there no plan at this stage to try to target it towards the most hard-to-employ unemployed people?
The programme has not started, Michelle. I see your point, and we will bring that to the attention of the policy staff who will develop the programme if the resources flow.
I have two questions to ask. You told us what the three bids are. What might they have been? What else did you decide not to bid for that is under pressure? Your paper explains how, in the previous monitoring round, you said that you needed £3 million for ApprenticeshipsNI. You did not get it, and it turned out that you needed only £1 million. That is three times over the estimate. What does that tell us about the veracity of some of the other calculations that were made? Does the fact that the Department can get it so wrong not reflect badly on it, and does it not undermine its credibility when it comes to make a bid?
There are different ways of looking at that. We have to look into the unknown and into the future and make the best estimates that we possibly can with the information that we have available. The information at that time indicated a pressure of £3 million. Time moves on. We were able to identify that, essentially, we had a pressure of £1 million in that area, which we were able to cover internally.
So how did you ever think it was £3 million?
We make forecasts about numbers and the future, about which there is a certain uncertainty. That is always the case. I could go into —
There is not a big difference between £3 million and £1 million, but there is a big difference in percentage terms.
In the totality of the spend, we are looking at a budget of somewhere between £80 million and £100 million a year.
If you do not mind me interjecting, is ApprenticeshipsNI just for young apprentices? What happened to adult apprenticeships? I recall that they were to be done away with altogether but that they were then to be brought back at half the level. Does that have any impact? Perhaps we do not have any commitment simply because we did not ask for numbers. Are we still seeing a reduction, or should we have applied for more apprenticeships?
At the time of the previous bid, we were satisfied that we could deal with the numbers in the system. It was the potential growth for which we were bidding last time round. That is what we believe that we can accommodate in our current financial position. Like any Department, we could always spend more.
I think that this Committee would welcome more expenditure on apprenticeships. If that is not the case, members should please say so. We are concerned about the reduction because of pressure elsewhere. It is surprising that that has not been dealt with. Perhaps the monitoring round is not the right place to do it, but, if more money could have been applied for and the Committee had the chance to influence the monitoring round, I think that you would have found agreement to return the adult apprenticeships to their previous level.
I appreciate and understand that. The difficulty is that that is not an in-year issue. It is a commitment for 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, and the monitoring rounds cannot deal with that. It is an annual budget issue, because, once you start someone on an apprenticeship, you make a commitment to them over a number of years.
If I could come back to my second point, the £3 million for the apprenticeship programme turned out to be only £1 million. Is that because there was not the uptake in apprenticeship applications that you expected?
Perhaps it is that, but there is a volume issue as well. We have used our resources. We have used in-year flexibility as part of the quarterly monitoring process. We also look at easements and pressures. There is a detailed discussion, and moneys would have been identified that have helped us to deal with that problem.
I hope that Jim does not mind me helping in his questioning — the questions are still his — but the argument could have been that apprenticeships were completed earlier than anticipated. People could have been on a two-year programme but were rushed through for whatever reason. That could well be why the budgets are down. Those are questions that we would like the answers to. That is the point that I think Jim is on about. Would that be the case?
I would need to check with the division that is responsible for managing that programme.
My first point was about why those three programmes were chosen. Why are they the bids rather than other things? What else might we have considered?
The quarterly monitoring process is an opportunity to either secure resource for programmes that are under significant pressure or to deliver time-limited new projects. The area in which we, as a Department, are under most pressure in the current financial year is the employment service. So, this is an issue of prioritisation. We could have presented numerous bids for the further education (FE) sector, the higher education (HE) sector or skills and industry. However, we have to be conscious of, and sensitive to, the overall Budget position. The opening position is that there is a £40 million overcommitment across Northern Ireland that has to be addressed in the financial year. Money is tight, which is why you get a prioritised list of bids such as this that focuses on —
We do not get at the pressures. The information that you have provided us with is not letting us understand or feel the issues that you have to deal with. We are asking questions blind. Frankly, Andrew, it is not good enough.
We need an engagement about what information you need. We are not denying you this information deliberately. We are presenting you with the information that we feel will help you to form a strategic view on our bids. Our priority bid is the one for £9·2 million. We have set —
We understand that. It is inescapable and a legislative requirement.
It is a legislative requirement, and there is major pressure. We have demonstrated the significant additional pressures that we are under to accommodate that. That is the driving force of that bid.
Although you mentioned it in passing, you have not dealt with employability services. The Minister informs us repeatedly that it is geared towards 30,000 people. The current uptake is 60,000, and, with an influx following the change in the benefits system, that may go up to 80,000. Regardless of the fact that we do not have sufficient resources to deal with the services that we offer to those people, we do not, as I understand it, have enough resources for staff to actually provide that service.
I suppose that this reflects the distillation of the pressures that we face. We are managing the staffing pressure. The purpose of the quarterly monitoring process is not to present to DFP all the detail of the pressures that you are managing. Departments have a responsibility to manage their budgets and to present at quarterly monitoring rounds only the very significant pressures that it cannot —
The Committee could accept that if we knew in detail what the budget lines are and how you are dealing with issues that are of concern to us, never mind what you are going to do in the monitoring round. We could deal with that information ourselves in some detail, and you could then distil only the bit that goes off for the monitoring round. We can get that, but not when that is the only information that we get. Members have questions about this, that or the other. All that we get is an assurance that we should not worry and that you have it under control. Frankly, we could ask whether we know what is going on, and I have to say that, on the basis of this information, we do not. We have to find a way around that.
I am sorry to have interrupted. I want to make sure that I do not leave anyone out, because I have intervened a little bit. Jim, are you still —
No, I am happy enough.
I wish John all the best in his new role. This question may be for Andrew to answer. We are putting £3 million into the new Step Ahead programme. I am well aware of the present Step Ahead programme, which seems to be very successful. You said that finances are tight. I want to check with you about people who have been placed in the private sector, such as in the likes of Tesco or Asda, for six months. Does the private sector put any money into that or do those companies get someone free for six months?
I do not know that level of detail about that programme, Sammy. We will come back to you on that.
If that is not the case, we are losing income. I know that it is only for six months, but big businesses could get someone free for six months.
We will have a more detailed briefing on 19 October, and we need to think collectively about how we get the appropriate information and detail to deal with this. However, we will deal with that specific area in writing. Do members want to deal with any other monitoring round issues, given that we have to accept the inescapable pressures? There will be support for the other issues raised. We have made our point and are OK on that. Michelle, you wanted to make a point about capital.
It is not completely off the wall. Have the capital commitments on the Enniskillen campus been considered as part of the October monitoring round?
The issue with capital is that it is too late in the year to make new bids and to spend the money before the end of the year. We asked whether there was any scope to extend our capital programme and bid for additional resources, and we thought that, if we did bid for resources, there is a risk that we would be unable to spend the money by the end of the year.
I ask that question with a view to keeping the matter on the agenda and to ensuring that we deal with it early in the next financial year. Presumably, everything else is in place should the money become available and no other issues around planning permission and so on are likely to hold it back. I am very keen for that to be moved forward, Andrew.
I will take that back.
Andrew, I am sorry if you feel that we have been a bit pointed in our questions. We need to work together to find an acceptable level of detail and information to enable the Committee to understand the issues that you are struggling with. If we do not understand, we cannot hold you to account or scrutinise what you are doing, and it is a fundamental part of our role. We need to find a way of tackling that. With the Committee's agreement, I will write to you to explain the issues that we have raised here about the need for more detailed and timely information. I understand some of the pressures that you are under because you and I have talked about that in the past. However, there must be some way around this, even if it is by talking to DFP about the timescales or having emergency meetings on particular issues. We are not able to do the job that we are being asked to do without timely information at a level of detail that lets us ask sensible questions.
We want to help you do your job. We are clearly struggling to meet your expectations, and we want to improve that. We have not had this difficulty with the Committee before, and, if we understand your expectations, we will do our best to meet them.
Just to be clear: perhaps the reason why there has not been so much difficulty in the past is that the Department is now under severe financial pressure because of the issues with tuition fees and the general increase in unemployment, for which we have statutory obligations. We are in a different place now than we may have been in a previous mandate. Regardless of that, it is something that we need to address. We have to find a way around it. We will write to you and then see what we can do by 19 October, when you are coming back up.
Andrew, you should do what civil servants normally do to us: send us so much information that we cry for mercy. We want to see the budget lines and what they mean. When we are up to speed, we will be able to compare. We, likewise, want to support you and the Minister in getting the most appropriate level of resources for the people of Northern Ireland. Thank you both very much. John, I hope that coming here was not too onerous for you. We look forward to seeing you again in the future.
Department for Employment and Learning:
Mr Andrew Hamilton
Mr John Smith
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Events & Trips
- Event Calendar
- Stewardship Trips
- ecoBenefête
- Oyster Roast
- Verde!
- Firelight
- Tight Lines
- The Grand
- Next South
- DIY Trips
- Heartland Rivers
The Grand
On August 9, to kick-off the Georgia Conservancy's celebration of Columbus and the opening of the world-class whitewater course on the newly free-flowing Chattahoochee, our Stewardship Trips Program hosted the largest ever paddling event on this stretch of the river. The Grand Columbus Whitewater Paddle, as it was dubbed, certainly lived up to our plans to put 1,000 paddlers and rafters on the water in day. By day's end, more than 1,100 people had shot the 2 mile stretch of rapids with our partners Whitewater Express.
The celebration on the water extended past the banks of the Chattahoochee and into Uptown Columbus for an after-paddle party. Though treacherous rains and winds put a damper on the evening's events at Woodruff Park and forced the revelers to seek shelter, the party soldiered on at the Whitewater Express headquarters. Paddlers and party-goers were soothed by the sounds of Conservancy favorite, Sailing to Denver, and quenched their thirst with beer from SweetWater Brewing Company.
"We dreamed big and it worked," said Georgia Conservancy Senior Director of Stewardship and Outreach Bryan Schroeder. "Six months ago, we didn't think we could do it. But we kept promoting and word got around about the whitewater course in Columbus and our numbers kept getting bigger. Hats off to our partners at Uptown Columbus and Whitewater Express. We couldn't have done this alone."
Thanks to THE GRAND hosts PricewaterhouseCoopers and TSYS, our presenters Whitewater Express (and their awesome guides) and Uptown Columbus, and our sponsors SweetWater Brewing Company, Atlanta Hawks, Aflac, Hatcher Stubbs Land Hollis & Rothschild LLP, and Seaboard Advisors, Inc.!

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Federally Commissioned Reports
In the last century, there were numerous federally commissioned studies conducted by anthropologists, ethnologists, and historians regarding the Lumbee tribe.
In 1912, legislation was introduced to the Senate to establish a school for the tribe. When the bill was sent to committee, the committee requested information from the Department of the Interior. The Indian Office sent Charles F. Pierce, the Supervisor of Indian Schools, to Robeson County to conduct a study of the tribe. Pierce reported that the state and county were providing funds to educate the 1,976 school-age Indian children. He also stated in his report that "…one would readily class a large majority [of the Lumbee] as being at least three-fourths Indian".
On April 28, 1914, the Senate called for an investigation into the status and conditions of the Indians of Robeson and adjoining counties. The Indian Office sent Special Indian Agent O.M. McPherson to the county to obtain information regarding the educational system of the tribe. In his report, submitted to the Senate on January 4, 1915, he wrote: While these Indians are essentially an agricultural people, I believe them to be as capable of learning the mechanical trades as the average white youth. The foregoing facts suggest the character of the educational institution that should be established for them, in case Congress sees fit to make the necessary appropriation, namely the establishment of an agricultural and mechanical school, in which domestic science shall also be taught.
John Reed Swanton, a noted anthropologist-historian, was called upon in the 1930's to provide his opinion of the origins of the Lumbee tribe. His opinion was as follows: The evidence available thus seems to indicate that the Indians of Robeson County who have been called Croatan and Cherokee are descended mainly from certain Siouan tribes of which the most prominent were the Cheraw and Keyauwee, but they probably included as well remnants of the Eno, and Shakori, and very likely some of the coastal groups such as the Waccamaw and Cape Fears. It is not improbable that a few families or small groups of Algonquian or Iroquoian may have cast their lot with this body of people, but contributions from such sources are relatively insignificant. Although there is some reason to think that the Keyauwee tribe actually contributed more blood to the Robeson County Indians than any other, the name is not widely known, whereas that of the Cheraw has been familiar to historians, geographers and ethnologists in one form or another since the time of De Soto and has a firm position in the cartography of the region. The Cheraws, too, seem to have taken a leading part in opposing the colonists during and immediately after the Yamasee uprising. Therefore, if the name of any tribe is to be used in connection with this body of six or eight thousand people, that of the Cheraw would, in my opinion, be most appropriate.
In 1935, Indian Agent Fred Baker was sent to Robeson County in response to a proposed resettlement project for the Lumbee and an attempt to organize as a tribe under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Baker reported that: …I find that the sense of racial solidarity is growing stronger and that the members of this tribe are cooperating more and more with each other with the object in view of promoting the mutual benefit of all the members. It is clear to my mind that sooner of later government action will have to be taken in the name of justice and humanity to aid them.
D'Arcy McNickle, from the United States Office of Indian Affairs, came to Robeson County in 1936 to collect affidavits and other data from Lumbee people registering as Indian under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. McNickle stated, "…there are reasons for believing that until comparatively recently some remnant of language still persisted among these people".
photographs taken for the Carl Seltzer 1936 Report
In the 1960's, Smithsonian ethnologists Dr. William Sturtevant and Dr. Samuel Stanley describe the Lumbee as "…larger than any other Indian group in the United States except the Navajo", and give a population of 31,380 Lumbee (from North and South Carolina) in 1960.


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At Phiten, we focus our energy on developing products that allow you to be your best. Our founder Yoshihiro Hirata got his start trying to help a friend suffering from chronic pain, and today, after extensive research and development, we continue to help people enhance their quality of life all around the globe, building on the Phiten philosophy of health, energy and well-being. As the makers of the original "titanium necklace," we combine our innovative technology with an athletic design sense to add energy and style to whatever you're doing.
We combine a natural approach to health with innovative applications of our Phiten technology. We want to help people be good at what they do and be their best doing it.
Phiten s signature necklace in the Star Style design. The strands of the soft outer fabric are coated with Aqua-Titanium. The flexible core is a Micro Titanium Sphere and elastomer compound. Double it around the wrist or ankle to target critical areas and help alleviate discomfort and promote relaxation.


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Governor Calvo Vetoes GovGuam Health Insurance Bill #81 Calling It "Meddlesome and Political Legislation"
Guam - Governor Eddie Calvo has vetoed Bill #81, an "Act to Provide Health Insurance to Government of Guam Employees and Retirees for Fiscal Year 2014."
The measure was sponsored by Finance Chairman Senator Ben Pangelinan and Majority Leader Rory Respicio.
In his veto message to Speaker Judi Won Pat the Governor asked "How much money must taxpayers lose and how much time must pass before the finance chairman ends his political with hunt?"
READ the Governor's veto message to Speaker Won Pat HERE
Instead of a bidding process that settles on one provider, Bill #81 would authorize multiple providers and provide GovGuam employees with a choice of various health plans offered by different, pre-qualified, health insurance companies. The authors stated aim is to lower health insurance costs by stimulating competition.
However, the Governor said the proposal would not lower costs and accused Senator Pangelinan of authoring "meddlesome and political legislation" that "will end up costing government of Guam employees and the taxpayers of Guam even more money.""By removing negotiations and simply awarding a contract to everyone who qualifies, the government loses the ability to negotiate the best rates," argues the Governor.
He concludes that Bill #81 is "fiscally irresponsible" and "mathematically and actuarially impossible."


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The moms who are going to participate in the Million Mom March in Washington, D.C. on Mother's Day, this Sunday, May 14, all have one reason in common for their commitment to the cause of enforcing gun control laws: they want to protect their children, and others as well, from the dangers of guns. But additionally, each participant has special private reasons for the day-long trip.
As the Village of Great Neck considers a proposal to establish a new residence district within the village, on Helen Lane off Steamboat Road, once again residents came to a public hearing to protest the zoning change. First, at the April 18 board of trustees meeting, and then again at the May 2 meeting, led by Helen Lane resident Elizabeth Allen, the residents spoke out loud and clear against the rezoning that would turn the right-of-way street into a dedicated village road.
Members of the North boys track team under Coach Adam McKenzie competed in the Penn Relays. North made its tenth trip to the meet. North sent two relays to the meet. The 4X100 relay team consisted of seniors Izzi Henriquez and Brandon Yankowitz, freshman Dustin Emrani, and junior Elliot Ross. The time was 49.8. The 4X400 relay team ran their best time of the season. Their team time was 3:46. Emrani and Henriquez were on the team along with sophomores Eddie Byrnes and Sunny Porras. Izzi had the best time on the team, running a 55 second 400.
The Rebels track team under Coaches Chris Bell and Eamon Flood competed in the 106th running of the Penn Relay's held at the University of Pennsylvania on April 27-29. The Rebels took the 4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay. The 4x100-relay team was made up of seniors Adrian Gad and Alex Yeres, and juniors Noah Bohrer and David Goldberg. Their time was 47.5. The 4x400 relay team of junior Raphael Jeong, whose lead off was followed by senior Josh Merlis, who handed off the baton to sophomore Rob Freeman, and the anchor was junior Albert Tai. The team time was 3:48.0, which is a season's best performance.
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About 12,500 people will wake up today and find they are the newest Fort Lauderdale residents. They have traded the Broward Sheriff's Office for Fort Lauderdale Police, chosen to have a mayor, and voted to be part of Broward County's largest city.
The change, from unincorporated Broward County status to Fort Lauderdale dwellers, comes nearly a year after Melrose Park residents voted to join the city, and six months after the Greater Riverland area voted to also be annexed in.


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Product Description
Our Alluring Initial table cards prominently display the initial of your new last name in the center of an elaborate filigree design - a wonderful way to mark the beginning of your lives together. Create a stunning wedding stationery suite by selecting other accessory cards with the same Alluring Initial design.
Additional Information


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Every recipe, menu, tip and how-to is right here, at your service.


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The Interrupters
Harris TheaterSeptember 23 to October 6
From the director of Hoop Dreams comes this inspirational true story about a powerful initiative to stop urban violence. Shot in Chicago over the course of a year, this absorbing documentary offers an unusually intimate journey into the stubborn, persistence of this tragedy in our cities. The "violence interrupters" are a group of ex-convicts who've joined CeaseFire, an innovative organization determined to stop it. But rather than lecture in schools, they get out on the streets and help resolve conflict. This haunting film has lessons for us all. (Steve James; USA; 2011; 125 min; Digital Projection)
Discussion after the 4:00 screening on Sat Oct 1, includes speakers from local organiztions Hill House , One Vision, One Life, & The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh


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The Naked Spur
91 minutes
Directed by Anthony Mann
James Stewart as Howard Kemp
Janet Leigh as Lina Patch
Robert Ryan as Ben Vandergroat
Ralph Meeker as Roy Anderson
Millard Mitchell as Jesse Tate
James Stewart plays a bounty hunter named Howard Kemp who has been searching for murderer Ben Vandergroat for a long time. Kemp begins to take on a couple of men to help him find Ben, who is traveling with his girlfriend Lina Patch, which are Jessie Tate and a Union soldier who was discharged, Roy Anderson. The men become greedy when they find out there is a $5,000 reward on finding Vandergroat. This helps Vandergroat and he even persuades one of them to help him escape.


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Riviera Beach Police Department
Welcome to our newest community safety project: CitizenObserver.
Local businesses can participate in the Business Alert Network. Be sure to select your correct business category when you sign up so that we only send you alerts that impact your company. You can receive these targeted, instantaneous alerts via email, cell phone, pager and fax.
There is no limit to what we can accomplish if we all work together, stay alert and stay connected!


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November 28, 2014
Washington (AP) The diagnosis is grim for Senator Ted Kennedy.
A malignant Glioma is the worst kind of brain cancer, one that afflicts almost 9,000 Americans a year. Few live three years and for the worse subtype, half die within a year.
Kennedy's doctors have not talked about surgically removing the tumor, an indication it may not be a possibility.
A neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center says, considering the senator is 76-years-old, Kennedy may have a survival of less than a year.
Scientists are studying new approaches to fighting the deadly cancer, such as brewing up customized vaccines to help the body fight back. Glioma experts advise newly diagnosed patients to seek out specialized cancer centers and ask if they're a good candidate for a research study up front.
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Some teens were out and about in South Bend, all to lend a helping hand.
Saint Joseph High School students took part in a Day of Service.
Groups spent hours at places like Portage Manor Health Care Facility nursing home raking leaves and cleaning-up.
Some of the students' parents even joined in, making it a true family affair.


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Title: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha 1)
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Rating: 4
Age Group: YA
Goodreads Rundown: The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with
Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom's magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unraveling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?
The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfill her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.
But what of Mal, Alina's childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can't she ever quite forget him?
Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance.
Review: So I finally went back and read the first book. Everyone said I had to and they were right. Everyone also said I would love the Darkling and understand why so many people want him to end up with Alina. I don't see it. The Darkling didn't pull me in much. Sure he sounds handsome and like he and Alina have a connect but he also sounds like a jerk, like a manipulative politician. I'm not a fan.
My perspective is obviously pretty different from people who read the books in order. Mal didn't come off as wonderful if as he would have if I had read this book first. I like Mal but don't think he and Alina should be together.
Beyond all the romance, I almost wish I had read them in the correct order because the world building is really great. The introduction to the Darkling and the Grisha was interesting.* The full history of the fold and it's potential future. All the great things I missed the first time around like that and the character. I enjoyed meeting characters I was supposed to know last time, seeing how they began and trying to remember how they end. It was also cool to see her training and know why she is so attatched to her mirrors (which I love way more now that I've read this book). The creatures in the shadows made more sense now as well.
This book did give me a bit of insight though - I think Alina is going to die in the last book. Normally I wouldn't say this, normally the mere idea of killing the protagonist would anger me, but not here. First, there is all that foreshadowing to prepare us. The stories of martyr saints, the constant alienation (which is, I think, why so many people love the idea of her with the Darkling - but I'll get back to this in a moment), the fact that she's the first and only of her kind, the weakness that has plagued her all her life, all the men chasing her yet no one is able to catch her. I also think that people love the idea of the Darkling because he would truly understand her, but really, there's no coming back from what he's done. There would have to some real finagling of writing to make this work and I think it might cheapen the story.
Alina and the Darkling need to take each other out, both die** some Shakespearean death. Hopefully he'll pray and she'll call to the caste stars before lighting him up like the last flair of a deserted islander. If they both die everyone in the world can move on with their lives but if she lives I'm not sure they can...without really upsetting reads anyway.
I'm excited to see what happens. It should be interesting.
*Was Bardugo inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender? The worlds are interestingly similar. I should admit I'm a bit jealous as I LOVE the Avatar world and have wanted to write a story in a similar type world but haven't figured out how to do so yet. Bardugo did and that's awesome.
**I should mention that I normally REALLY HATE when protagonist are killed off because I read for enjoyment or to learn. When I read YA I want to enjoy myself and even if the world is harsh I need that light at the end of the tunnel, the good ending. Without it I could just watch the news and get the same bleakness.


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Does Samsung make too many phones and tablets?
Want to buy a Samsung phone or tablet? Can't decide which one is right for you? That's no surprise, we've discovered the South Korean manufacturer has a product range that looks like Argos catalogue with an incredible 26 touchscreen devices.
We rounded up all the Samsung phones and tablets on sale in the UK, from the Galaxy S4 to the Galaxy Note 8.0, and collated them all together in an eye-raising infographic below.
Does Samsung make too many phones and tablets?
As you can see from the infographic above, the main difference between Samsung phones and tablets is their size. Samsung's range of 26 devices spans from the 3-inch Galaxy Y to the 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 3.
We've even been kind enough to leave out the Nexus 10 tablet, which is technically made and marketed as a Google product, even though Samsung is behind its production.
There are distinguishing features between the products. The Galaxy Note range comes with a stylus included for note-taking, while the S4 Zoom is a compact camera hybrid featuring a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor. But these differences quickly become muddled when you delve deeper into Samsung's product range. The company often releases several variations of the same phone based on a single, additional feature.
'When it comes to tablets, I much prefer Apple's approach of offering consumers a premium and budget option,' comments Jessica Moreton, Which? tablets expert.
'This makes it really simple to decide which product you want to buy. At the moment, Samsung runs the risk of confusing its potential customers. You could end up purchasing the new 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 3 and then find out you should have bought the same-sized Note 10.1.'
What do you think of Samsung's 26-strong touchscreen product range? Is it creating too many phones or is more choice beneficial? Let us know in the comments section below.
More like this…
- How to buy the best mobile phone – our handy guide
- Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5 – which phone is better?
- Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 vs iPad mini – which is right for you?
3 comments
It's interesting. I asume the idea is too throw as many products out there as possible and see what it is consumers want. In the short term this is annoying but it probably gives Samsung a good idea of what people actually want. They could certainly make less of a song and dance about every product, though.
nice pictures ! this is one of the best product information sheets about Samsung. With this document, its very easy to find your Samsung. Its better you have more products as Apple for "all".
Sorry for my bad english.
In german words:
Ich finde diese Produktübersicht klasse, wenn hinter jedem Feld sich noch die technischen Daten als Link öffnen würden, wäre dies fantastisch. Mir ist eine Produktvielfalt lieber, als Apple Produkte für die "dumme" Masse. Natürlich können sich Apple Anwender mit dem nötigen Kleingeld alles dazu kaufen, doch clever ist das nicht. Lieber ein System, was ich auf meine Bedürfnisse zu schneiden kann, als ein Apple Produkt, mit dem ich eine hohe Abhängigkeit zu einem Hersteller habe.
Thank you
Don't know who made this infograph, but why is'nt the legend section color coded?
All of the product names are painted blue, but it should have been the same color as the product vector. There are more of a kind color, but one of them is small, other is bigger.
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Cooperative Designs AW 2010 collection was called Stachen and Blocken. Why? 'Oh it's from a Jay Leno joke about Germans,'' explained the (German) designer Dorothee Hagemann. 'It's a reference to how things can only be ordered and disciplined to a certain point and then it all breaks out,' continues Annalisa Dunn, her partner in this knitwear design twosome. This talented couple are very new to
Hitting the big time with a project such as this for a major Italian label while at the same time maintaining cult young designer status is a balancing act that has been made possible in no small way by Stefanel themselves. The girls' third LFW outing is backed by the Italian giant.
Speaking from their venue in a chic gallery off The Strand, Mr Stefanel was as proud as a new dad. 'I am so impressed by
The audience at Cooperative Designs show was an eclectic mix of friends, family and fashion press, all crammed in to watch this tightly edited presentation of 15 looks. Precise geometry relented only to the occasional wayward detail like a knarled trim or asymmetric styling, which evidently was where anarchy was 'breaking out'.
A knitted cocoon coat in big black and white window pane checks, a long black and white striped cardigan buttoned over grey and white striped harem pants, a black and white gingham check knit dresses and looks built out of layers upon asymmetric layers of black white and grey knit with a pop of unexpected red were the backbone of this concise collection.
Mr Stefanel was clearly pleased with his new found patron status. Smiling broadly he said afterwards, 'in a company like ours it is important always to tap into new energy. When Annalisa and Dorothee came to do research in our archive they related to our product and our heritage in a way I never thought possible. A new approach and a different point of view makes us look fresh.'
After an absence of almost ten years, Stefanel is once more back in the British market with a 21st century take on the knitwear collection that was a staple of British wardrobes for most of the 80's and 90's. 'Our sense of tradition is most powerful when it meets innovative thought. The consumer is seduced by new things but is also reassured by the quality that tradition promises. In terms of knitwear, it is as much in the British as in the Italian tradition. A collaboration like this one makes so much sense for us. '
The old guard and the new, the industrial giant and the artisans, the mass market merchant and the niche designer, the David and the Goliath: they sound like polar opposites but these two have become indispensible to each other and out of this alliance something magical has happened for both.
- Paula Reed


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Drumming Up Excitement at The Ralph"
See the Eric English and Tommy Powers interview at: http://cw23.com/2014/09/19/drumming-up-excitement/ For more information on The Stampede check out their website, www.downbeatpercussion.com
The Stampede on "Winging It! Buffalo Style"
See Stampede members Eric English & Tommy Power live with host Lauren Hall on WIVB/WNLO-TV's show "Winging It! Buffalo Style," Friday, September 19th from 9:00-10:00 AM!
The Stampede rock the Ralph!
Bills fans, welcome the Stampede! This talented group of individuals are here to "rock the Ralph' and will perform at the Bills home games! Click here to watch the Bills video.
Introducing Stampede, "The Official Drumline of the Buffalo Bills!" The Line debuted as the Bills official line at the August 23rd pre season home opener vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For booking, call (716) 867-1618 or through this website.
Thank You
"All High" Stadium takes on a whole new meaning when seven of the world's top drum corps take to the field. "To the stratosphere" is more like it. Sunday's Tour of Champions spectacular was a testament to the hard work, dedication and talents of many people. There aren't enough words to express our gratitude to everyone on the field and behind the scenes; the show wouldn't have been possible without you.
First, to the amazing musical athletes on the field and the legions of volunteers, parents, and staff members that keep these corps moving — thank you. The discipline and showmanship of every corps member are unparalleled; the world is bettered through your example of commitment, teamwork, and grit.
Thank you to Drum Corp International Executive Director Dan Acheson and his staff, especially for their support with our last-minute venue change.
Our gratitude goes out to Sue Eager and the Buffalo Public Schools, and the All High Stadium crew headed by Rick Finnegan for stepping up to the plate after Ralph Wilson Stadium and the University of Buffalo became unavailable. We'd also like to thank the Buffalo United Charter School as well as the Buffalo Parks and Recreation Department.
A special thank you to Demone Smith and the Buffalo Common Council for their support. Hats off to the Buffalo Police Department and Chief Kevin Brinkworth for keeping things running smoothly and for providing a caravan escort for the Santa Clara Vanguard as they made their way from Riverside High School to the stadium.
We'd like to thank our media partners: The Buffalo News, WKBW-TV Channel 7, and Town Square Media/WYRK-FM. Your support over many years has been invaluable in keeping the drum corps activity alive and well in Western New York.
To our sponsors Tim Hortons Cafe and Bakeshop and Comfort Suites Downtown Buffalo, thank you for making our event more comfortable and a little sweeter. A special thank you to First Student Transportation for providing the free parking shuttle service, and also to the NFTA for their help.
Special thanks to Drums Along the Waterfront Webmaster Dave Gilbert, Joe Kirchmyer and Kirchmyer Media, Ken Dobmeyer of Media Pros, John Disciullo and WBBZ-TV, Trey Measer of Bee Publications, and Community Papers of Western New York.
For getting the crowd primed for a great show to come, thanks to Downbeat Percussion and Prime Time Brass for your master showmanship during the pre-show.
Thank you to our housing coordinator, Judy Thomas and her crew, and to our host schools, Akron High School, Attica High School, Bennett High School, Eden High School, Lancaster High School, Orchard Park High School, and Riverside High School.
Last but certainly not least, we couldn't put on such a great show without the help of an incredible staff of volunteers including Dave Robbins, Joanne Thweatt, Pastor James Giles and the Buffalo Peacemakers, and volunteer crews from Univera Healthcare and Shea's Performing Arts Center.
Drums Along the Waterfront has been serving drum corps fans of Western New York, southern Ontario, and the surrounding area for many years with music in motion and artistic excellence. We've also been active in community outreach and support for the arts education of young people for almost twenty years. From the smallest of corps to the world champions that you saw on the field this year, none of this could have happened without you, the fans. Thank you for keeping the activity of drum corps alive in Western New York. We hope to see you back for many more shows to come.
2014 DATW Scores
The results are in, the Blue Devils scored 97.55 to win the night.
|Blue Devils
|The Cadets
|Carolina Crown
|Santa Clara Vanguard
|The Cavaliers
View Recap: http://www.dci.org/scores/recap/recap_window.cfm?event=46745b9f-e323-4f0c-a89a-0aa560205349
2014 Tour of Champions
2014 Tour of Champions
Introducing the 2014 Drums Along the Waterfront Tour of Champions Poster!
Click the links below to download a pdf copy of the posters (the posters are high resolution and may take a several minutes to download.)
Drums Along the Waterfront Poster 11 x 17
Drums Along the Waterfront Poster 8.5 x 11
2014 Tour of Champions – Line Up
Leading the charge will be the Casper Wyoming Troopers along with: Co-Champions of last year's event, the reigning World Champion Carolina Crown and 15x World Champion Blue Devils, plus the Bluecoats, The Cadets, The Cavaliers and Santa Clara Vanguard. What a line-up!
Stay tuned for more information!


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Werner Herzog (Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Encounters at the End of the World) presents this visually stunning documentary about the people of the small village of Bakhtia in the remote and desolate Siberian wilderness, snowbound for months at a time. Dmitry Vasyukov and his intrepid film crew shot amazing footage under the most difficult of conditions. Strangely inspiring, the film follows three fur trappers through all four seasons of the year, self-reliant men living harmoniously with nature in a way of life virtually untouched by modernity, free from materialism and bureaucracy. With insightful commentary written and narrated by Herzog. Official Web Site
Werner Herzog, Dmitry Vasyukov
1hr 30mins


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Do you feel like you're taking a step back instead of a step forward when it comes to your fashion choices? If the thought of shopping has you in hives, relax. Fabuliss owner, Sasha is here to turn your fashion don'ts into fashion do's.
With today's deal, you'll meet Sasha at at Nordstrom in the Mall of America for one hour of clothing curation. Sasha will listen to your needs and pull together two outfits including jewelry and shoe options that are within your budget, while taking time to explain why each piece works for your coloring, shape, and lifestyle. Pick up a chic everyday ensemble, a cute work outfit, or a glamorous look for the holiday party circuit. Most importantly take with you a fresh perspective on what clothing and accessories work for you.
Fabuliss and the Fabuliss Style Group are image makeover groups specializing in personalized head-to-toe transformations. Each client's experience is tailored to individual needs, expectations, and aspirations with an emphasis on service, quality, and enhancing natural beauty. They consistently exceed client expectations in all their services, from private appointments to group events.
Check out all Fabuliss's Plum Deals here


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Guess what folks? I won these gorgeous party invitations!!!! It's PERFECT timing too. Little Milton's first birthday is 2 months away and now I've got the cutest little invitations. One less thing I have to worry about. Mommy likey!!
The giveaway was through Little Lovely blog. Please go check them out. They always post adorable things and great party ideas for the little ones.


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David Moyes delivered a message of thanks to Manchester United supporters ahead of the Reds' final fixture before Christmas Day.
Writing in his exclusive column for United Review, the official match programme, the manager cited last Sunday's trip to Villa Park as evidence that the Reds are, as ever, receiving excellent backing on the road. But Moyes is also very appreciative of the reception he has had and continues to have from the vast home crowd in Manchester.
"Your support has been great ever since the first day I walked out here at Old Trafford against Chelsea," said the manager. "I thank you very much for the support you showed after the recent game against Newcastle. Myself and the staff understand that we need to get back to winning games here more regularly. We are all determined to get ourselves back into the race at the top of the Premier League."
The Reds swept Aston Villa aside 3-0 on their own turf last weekend with United's travelling fans in full voice. Moyes said: "I'd also like to say a big thank you to our brilliant support who travelled to Villa Park - you are doing the team and club proud. The reception given to the returning Darren Fletcher, not just from United fans but all sides of the ground, was also greatly appreciated."
Read David Moyes' column in full by picking up your copy of the West Ham match programme at Old Trafford. Subscriptions are available from manutd.com/programme.
More: West Ham preview | Match-day podcast | Team news


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August 2010 Page 4 of 5 SNEAKHYPE
Nixon – The Rubber Re-Run
Nixon just released a new rubber version of the Re-Run watch. The timepiece is available in 5 colors and only costs $90 dollars. Pretty dope. Get yours here. More pictures after the jump.
Deuce Brand Watches Giveaway
We're at it again with the free dopeness. This time you could win 1 of 5 Deuce Brand Watches. If you aren't up on em, these things are the shit. Deuce Brand watches are developed by athletes for athletes to mix practicality with urban trend. I just think they look cool
Circuit Board Art by Gabriel Dishaw
We showed you the "Junk Dunk" a little while back, now we get a look at the entire "Circuit Board" collection by Gabriel Dishaw. Gabriel sculpted these Nikes using bits of computers, typewriters, and other random metal objects. Check out some more pictures after the jump.
A Head For Fashion by Anna Halldin-Maule
I'm not a huge fan of oil paintings but I think I could get used to these. These beautiful oil on canvas pieces were based on actual photographs that Artist Anna Halldin-Maule took. I wouldn't mind seeing those either. Take a closer look after the jump.
Kanye West – "Power" Music Video
Kanye West has finally released the long awaited video painting for his latest single 'Power.' Yeezy claims that the visual was inspired by Michelangelo's frescos in the Sistine Chapel, and depicts "an empire on the brink of collapse from its own excess, decadence and corruption." That's deep. Check it out after the jump and see what you think.
2 Videos Worth Watching
You should probably watch these videos. P.S. Where else are you going to find a video of a caribou surprise-mounting an eskimo lady? Sneakhype.com. Come on now.
Guns by Guido Mocafico
Deadly weapons have never looked so beautiful. I probably own at least half of the guns featured in this collection. Take a closer look after the jump.
Coming Soon: The Salvador Dali Museum
Siiiiick. St. Petersburg, Florida is soon to be home of what is surely going to be one of the most iconic art museums in the world. The museum (to open 1/1/11 at 11:00am) will house the works of Dali, and is constructed in an attempt to "combine elements of the classical and the fantastical." Bla bla bla… just look at the pics.
Pod à Porter – Neckband for the iPod Shuffle
I own an iPod shuffle… and I gotta say, this 27 dollar accessory would certainly come in handy. I always clip mine to the bottom of my t-shirt, but I'm a pretty tall dude (some might call me a beast of sorts) so when my iPod is at my waist, the headphones have no slack when they reach all the way up to my ears. For walks on campus, through the city, or for kickin it at the coffee shop, the Pod à Porter may just be the way to go. You can buy it here.
Anarchy Eyewear
Say hello to Anarchy Eyewear. After putting a few pair of these on my face today, I am now an evangelist Anarchy consumer. These things are well made — solid frame, stiff hinges, excellent lens quality. They're mad clean, and arguably the best part is that most models are around 40 or 50 bucks… which precisely matches my ideal price point. Cheap sunglasses fuckin blow. Designer shades are too expensive and gaudy. Papa Bear's porridge is too hot. Mama's is too damn cold. But Anarchy Eyewear sunglasses are juuuussst right. Check out their full line here.
TITS for BOOBS
For every $3 bracelet sold, $1 is donated to supporting breast cancer research. The bracelets are made of silicone. I frikkin love it. You can buy them here.
Awake Your Inner Vandal by ilan Dei
This is a really cool concept. California based designer iLan Dei designed this collection of furniture that features graffiti hidden inside or underneath pieces making the graffiti only visible from certain angles and interactions. Unfortunately i don't think this collection will ever be for available for purchase but its still worth checking out. Take a closer look after the jump.
Concrete House II by A-cero Architects
Believe it or not, it's actually rather rare that I literally ejaculate in my office chair when looking at pictures of a residential living space. However, the Concrete House II by A-cero just did the trick for me. I tell you this simply so that you can prepare yourself before you check out these 24 pics. The garage looks like it's straight from the movie TRON.
Kenny Powers for K-Swiss Tubes
I have never owned a pair of K-Swiss shoes and never planned on it until now. I may have to buy a pair of "Tubes" just because Kenny Powers told me to. Check out the commercials after the jump.


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Out of hours press enquiries, call 07918 083 774.
Submission by Animal Aid on DEFRA's Animal Welfare Bill
Posted 1 November 2004
While the draft Animal Welfare Bill contains a number of positive measures, there are several serious deficiencies. Not least of which, is that there will be no additional government funding or manpower to ensure monitoring and enforcement.
Most of the burden will fall upon already-stretched local authorities - while DEFRA acknowledges that the RSPCA will find its workload increased.
On the plus side are bans on the sale of pets to anyone under 16 years of age, the prohibition of giving pets as prizes and enhanced powers of entry. Most positive of all is the so called 'duty of care' provision, which allows the authorities to take action where an animal is likely to come to harm, rather than having to wait until actual harm occurs.
The negative aspects of the Bill are considerable. In addition to a failure to commit extra resources, the Bill will legalise one day fairs at which exotic animals, such as reptiles and wild birds, are put on sale by itinerant traders. Such fairs are currently illegal, although certain rogue councils permit them. The only protection afforded such animals under the proposed measures will be a Code of Practice modelled on the current, self-serving Guide drawn up by the traders themselves.
Currently, the rearing of pheasants for 'sport shooting' is governed only by a non-compulsory industry Code of Practice. The Bill intends that this thoroughly inadequate code will be the only 'protection' afforded the millions of pheasants who are bred intensively every year, principally so that they may be shot down for pleasure.
As well as the issues of animal fairs and pheasant rearing, we are making a series of recommendations relating to the welfare of thoroughbred performance horses.
Follow the links below to read on:
- Production of pheasants for 'sport shooting'
- Proposal to licence pet fairs
- Welfare of horses used in racing
The case for a ban on the production of pheasants and other birds for 'sport shooting'
The introduction of a code, initially the industry's own, is not the way forward. Animal Aid, instead, urge the government to introduce a ban on the production of pheasants and other birds for 'sport shooting'. Such a ban already operates in the Netherlands.
The image that Britain's pheasant shooters try to project is one of tweedy Edwardian elegance; of responsible custodianship of the countryside. But rather than 'harvesting' a natural resource, the birds are mass produced inside hatcheries and rearing sheds. From the sheds, they are moved to large pens before being released to serve as feathered targets for shooters who are often charged a day-rate of more than £1,000. Every year in Britain, this is the fate of 20-40 million pheasants (no reliable figures exist). The pro-'country sports' newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, itself acknowledged (December 7, 2002) that the shooting of these birds is 'done largely or solely for pleasure'.
Because of the enfeeblement that results from being reared in sheds, many of the released pheasants die before they can be gunned down. They perish from exposure, starvation, disease, predation, or under the wheels of motor vehicles. And not all the birds who are shot are actually eaten. Some die from their wounds unretrieved. While, some of those who are retrieved - according to a Country Life magazine editorial (February 1, 2001) - are regarded as 'surplus' and buried in specially dug holes.
In an effort to eliminate aggression caused by the crowded conditions in the rearing sheds and release pens, gamekeepers fit the pheasants with various devices that limit their vision and prevent them pecking at their cage mates. These include masks, beak clips and plastic 'specs'. They also have the ends of their beaks burnt or sliced off.
The excesses of the pheasant industry go further still. Large numbers of wild birds and mammals are killed annually with snares, poison and body-crushing traps in 'predator control' programmes. Gamekeepers deliberately target foxes, stoats and weasels, because these animals are attracted to the unnaturally large number of semi-domesticated pheasants. But species ranging from badgers to cats - even protected birds of prey like owls and kestrels - are caught and killed.
Because of the confusion across government Departments about whether shooting is sport or agriculture, not even the meagre animal protection measures that are supposed to govern the production of poultry apply to the rearing of pheasants. The birds' main form of 'protection' is the voluntary industry welfare code. The new Animal Welfare Bill proposes that this self-serving Code is effectively adopted as a mandatory requirement.
Background to the Dutch ban
There is no hunting with horses and hounds in the Netherlands. Shooting game with a shotgun is called hunting.
In the 1980s, public surveys were commissioned by Dierenbescherming Nederland (The Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals) to gauge public opinion about the support for a ban on the release of game for hunting. There was also considerable concern in the Netherlands about the potential for damage to the environment by large releases of pheasants for hunting. More than half of the land area of the Netherlands is used for agriculture. Damage to crops and the agricultural environment are major issues. Dutch ideas about the natural environment run counter to how the British shooting industry strives to connect shooting with conservation.
Earlier Acts of about 10 years ago preventing the release of pheasants for hunting are now superceded by the Netherlands Flora and fauna Act of 2002. This forbids the breeding and release of pheasants so that they can be hunted. Between 1986 and 2002, it was permissible to breed and release pheasants to replace any destroyed by agricultural activity. (Such as the destruction of nests during mowing) Now, even that exception is disallowed.
It is not forbidden to breed pheasants or keep them as pets. But any pheasants reared for food must be humanely slaughtered and/or sold to a poulterer.
Commercial game shooting is forbidden.
Extermination of predators
The Dutch recognise that predation is a natural phenomenon, and do not allow unnatural releases of prey species to create an imbalance. Consequently, there is no scope to claim that the extermination of artificially engendered predators is contributing to conservation or biodiversity.
All netting, trapping and snaring is prohibited, except for the live-trapping of crows, using cages and reared decoys.
'Pheasants: feathered targets or food?'
Editorial from Country Life, February 1, 2001.
"...many large estates now shoot four or even five days a week from November to the end of January, killing as many as 2,000 birds a week. Shooting on such a large scale can be justified if there is a ready market for the birds bagged. This no longer exists. During this past season the price paid by game dealers for a brace of pheasants has fallen to between 60p and 80p a brace. In some areas, over-supply has led to shoots being forced to give away their bags, or, worse still, bury their surplus...There is one simple reason for the slump in demand for pheasants: over-supply. About 13 million pheasants were shot during this past season, which is probably twice as many as the market can absorb...Worryingly, on many commercial shoots, pheasants and partridges are regarded as feathered targets, not food. Many people who shoot even decline to take home their traditional brace of birds... Demand for big bags has led to considerable overstocking with tame, hand-reared birds... the ecological impact of releasing 20 or more birds per hectare - a common stocking figure on many commercial shooting estates - is serious. It not only reduces the breeding success of wild stock, but leads to crop damage, soil erosion round release pens, and a greatly increased risk of disease... Rearing and releasing game for shooting has already been outlawed in Holland, and there seems little doubt that coming years will see the threat of similar legislation in this country."
Animal Aid calls for a ban on the commercial breeding of pheasants for sport shooting.
Proposal to licence pet fairs
We consider this proposal to be retrograde and inconsistent with the Bill's objective to advance animal welfare in Britain.
In the past five years we have gathered abundant evidence at bird and reptile fairs which demonstrates that the makeshift set-ups, overly restrictive housing and excessive transport and handling associated with itinerant trading, are incompatible with high animal welfare standards.
Filmed evidence at the National Cage & Aviary Birds Exhibition in 2002 and 2003 showed birds routinely kept in tiny cages, unable to spread their wings, in direct contravention of the Wildlife & Countryside Act, 1981. This event is the largest and most 'prestigious' in the bird dealers' calendar. Many smaller birds such as finches and budgerigars were kept in severely overcrowded cages that did not afford enough space for each bird to perch. Precariously positioned cages were frequently interfered with by members of the public and fell to the ground. These stressful conditions are compounded by the fact that parrots are neophobic - fearful of new situations. The constantly changing environment and replacement or removal of cage mates accelerates the suffering endured by parrots at pet markets.
Video documentation from more than a dozen reptile markets shows animals stacked in tiny plastic boxes and cardboard take-away containers with ventilation holes that are blocked by the box above. Little regard is given to the temperature, lighting and humidity control necessary for reptiles' complicated biological functions. At most reptile fairs the animals are freely available for public handling, greatly increasing their level of stress and suffering.
Although some bird and reptile dealers also run pet shops that are licensed and inspected, most do not and, instead, travel from one pet market to another. Little is known about the temporary accommodation used by these dealers to house animals between markets. At the very least, these premises should also be licensed.
The impact of this proposal on wild populations of birds and reptiles would also be devastating. According to the RSPB, the EU is the world's largest market for wild-caught parrots, with more than 10,000 birds imported into the UK last year. Ninety-nine species of parrots are currently listed as globally threatened, 45 of whom are specifically threatened by the pet trade. The majority of CITES listed bird species imported into the UK are still wild-caught. Similarly, capture from the wild is still the main source of imported reptiles into Britain. The Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow has reported an alarming 49% increase in reptiles imported, up to 100,000 in 2002. The World Wildlife Fund for Nature recently stated that: '...wildlife criminals see the UK as a soft touch'. The legalisation of pet fairs would only reinforce this view.
An increase in the number of exotic pets in Britain will also lead to an increased number of non-native species released into the wild. Much of the exotic pet trade relies on impulse buying and buyers' ignorance. When these pets become too troublesome or large, they are often released by their owners into the environment. Unintentional escapes also occur as these wild animals seek release from captivity. The ecological problems associated with alien species are well established. Among those which can be directly attributed to pet sources are: European pond terrapin (Emys orbicularis), red-eared terrapin (Trachemys scripta elegans), American bullfrog (Rana catesbiana) and ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri). According to Dr Chris Butler of Oxford University, Britain's wild parrot population currently numbers 20,000 and is increasing by 30% annually. Sadly, but not surprisingly, they are now considered 'pests' by farmers concerned about commercial fruit crops. At a time when Britain is being criticised for its failure to meet targets under the EU Habitats Directive, a relaxation of pet fair legislation will do little to convince critics that this government is committed to preserving biodiversity.
Legalising pet fairs would also bring with it the prospect of more cruelty and neglect cases. The RSPCA report a shocking 200% increase in the number of exotic animal rescues in 2000 compared with 1999. Most of these cases involved ill-informed owners who were unaware that they were causing any suffering. Our investigations at bird and reptile fairs reveal that the average stallholder possesses neither relevant qualifications nor experience in bird or reptile husbandry. Customers are often given misleading and inaccurate advice about the animal's full-grown size, lifespan and complex physiological and behavioural needs. When the 6 inch iguana they purchased reaches 6 feet in length, they are unable to cope and either abandon the animal or dump him/her on an already overcrowded rescue centre.
Many animals purchased at pet fairs, sometimes costing hundreds or even thousands of pounds, become sick or die within a few days. Pet markets provide an ideal environment for the spread of disease between animals and from animals to people. Highly stressed animals suffer from reduced immune competence and increased incidents of common infections. A number of these infections have the potential to result in serious epidemics and can cross species boundaries. Psittacosis in birds and salmonella in reptiles are just two of the pathogens easily transferred to humans. In the US, it is estimated that up to 140,000 people annually contract salmonellosis from direct and indirect contact with reptiles. Zoonotic infections are of particular concern with pet fairs as they are usually held in public venues such as sports halls, community centres and schools. As these pathogens can persist in the environment for long periods, many more people will be put at risk when the building reverts to its usual functions.
The unrealistic enforcement burden that this proposal would put on local authorities would inevitably mean that many fairs would not be monitored and any licence conditions designed to prevent animal suffering would be unenforced. Many taxpayers would surely question the use of limited council funds to administer and licence these commercial events.
Legalising pet fairs would be a giant step backwards for animal welfare in Britain. Animal Aid calls for this proposal to be removed from the Animal Welfare Bill.
Welfare of horses used in the racing industry
Many people believe that betting on a horse is a harmless flutter. But around 300 horses are raced to death every year on British courses or whilst training - they are shot following falls, suffer fatal heart attacks, or sustain some other injury that makes them commercially unviable.
Those who continue racing are pushed to their limits. Serious racing-related illnesses such as bleeding lungs and gastric ulcers are now endemic. 82% of flat race horses older than three years of age suffer from exercise induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) - i.e. bleeding in the lungs. Gastric ulcers are present in no fewer than 93% of horses in training, in whom the condition gets progressively worse. When horses are retired, the condition improves.
Some 15,000 foals are bred for racing in Britain and Ireland every year, but only one third are deemed sufficiently strong and healthy actually to be entered into racing. Most of the others are discarded. They are killed for pet food, fed to hunting hounds, used for less testing equestrian events, or repeatedly changing hands in a downward spiral of neglect. A similar fate awaits the thousands who leave racing every year and who are not retained to serve as breeders. Only a small number enjoy a decent, properly financed retirement.
The above indicates why Animal Aid regards commercial horse racing as being intrinsically exploitative. Calling for a ban, however, would at this juncture be an empty gesture. We recognise that we must play our part in encouraging meaningful debate and help build public and political support for the view that supporting commercial horse racing is incompatible with a concern for animal welfare. In the meantime, we wish to submit for incorporation into the new Animal Welfare Bill, some practical recommendations to improve the welfare of performance horses.
Ban on whipping
The 'whip' is a narrow plastic rod that is used to beat racehorses. A new, cushioned whip has been mandated for National Hunt (jump) racing, but this requirement does not apply to All Weather or Flat racing. Furthermore, there is already evidence that jockeys using the new 'shock absorbing' whip are hitting harder and more often to compensate for the reduced 'purchase'.
Our report, 'A Hiding to Nothing' studied 161 races, involving 285 jockeys and 1500 horses. It is probably the most comprehensive survey of its kind ever conducted in Britain. It details the whip being used on young horses during their first ever race. Horses in a state of total exhaustion and out of contention were also beaten. The whip was used on the neck and shoulders, as well as the hind quarters. Horses were observed being whipped 20, even 30, times during a race.
A statistical analysis showed that whipping decreases the chances of a win. And our filmed evidence shows whipped animals become distracted, unbalanced and lose concentration. In response to our evidence, the Jockey Club (JC) has admitted that 'more races are lost rather than won through use of the whip'.
The JC allows use of the whip for 'safety and encouragement'. Safety is a valid concern, but our evidence demonstrates that whipping often causes rather than prevents accidents. The vast majority of whip use is self-evidently for 'encouragement'. Inflicting deliberate pain and stress on an animal while attempting to secure a better outcome in a 'sporting' event, must surely qualify as 'unnecessary suffering' - a criminal offence under both 1911 Act and the proposed legislation.
Animal Aid calls for an outright ban on the use of the whip. This would create a 'level playing field' and mean that all riders could race to the best of their abilities without resorting to beating the horses.
Rehabilation of retired racehorses
Thoroughbred horses have been selectively bred for racing. In retirement they have very particular psychological and physical needs.
The industry's retirement project - Rehabilitation of Racehorses (RoR) is just four years old and we understand it devotes something like £200,000-250,000 for horse 'rehabilitation' each year.
It costs about £4,000 merely to retrain a retired racehorse for a new career (The Independent, April 12, 2000). This means that £200,000 could retrain only 50 horses. According to research conducted by the British Horseracing Board itself, there are at least 350 ex-racehorses per annum in need of 'retraining'. We regard that total as conservative.
The Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre in Nateby reports (The Guardian, Feb 8, 2002) that they, alone, turn away 'two or three' horses every day during the winter months because the animals cannot be accommodated. We calculate that this adds up to around 300 horses annually - from just one centre that is part of the RoR scheme. Also missing from the BHB's calculations are all the horses who fall by the wayside at varying ages and who are simply not tracked.
The number of ex-racehorses disposed of each year and in need of care is clearly substantial. But even if we assume the figure to be 1,000, given that around £4,000 per horse is required for retraining, we see that £4 million is needed for that task alone. Our research indicates that another £1,000-plus per horse is needed by way of a contribution to feeding, stabling, veterinary bills, care of hooves, teeth and so on. We now reach a total of £5 million per annum.
Such an amount is a pittance in the context of an industry where the prize money for a Derby winner is more than £500,000, and where the horse racing-related income of the major bookmakers runs to hundreds of millions of pounds every year. These Big Three, nonetheless, are reported to have refused to give more than a token amount to the industry's retirement scheme. (Daily Telegraph, April 2000)
Animal Aid calls for the industry to be legally required to provide sufficient funds for the rehabilitation of all racehorses.
Publicly accessible database of thoroughbred horses and their fate
It is extremely difficult to track the identity, ownership and whereabouts of thoroughbred horses who:
- Were bred to be raced but who failed to make the grade and thus dropped out of the system.
- Have retired from racing.
Race horses, for instance, not infrequently arrive at sanctuaries with names that do not show up on any of the records. We are also concerned by reports of horses passed from owner to owner and suffering a downward spiral of neglect. The horse passport system seems to have done little to improve the situation.
Animal Aid calls for the development of the 'passport', on which is logged key identification details, injuries, veterinary treatments, races run and transfer-of-owner details.
Record-keeping should be open to public scrutiny and should continue after the horse leaves racing - or, indeed, be undertaken even if a young animal fails to 'make the grade'. The animal's ultimate fate should also be logged - whether slaughtered for pet or human food, used as a source of meat for the local hunt, or employed in a secondary career in point-to-point racing or at a commercial stables.
The British Horseracing Board and the Jockey Club (or their successor body) should have a duty to ensure such records are properly maintained, centrally located and be open to public inspection. DEFRA and/or local authorities should be assigned powers of enforcement with respect to offences of abandonment, neglect, cruelty and the failure to maintain proper records.
Please visit our campaign pages to find out more about these issues.
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text:
Detection of Imperative and Declarative Question-Answer Pairs in Email Conversations
|Helen Kwong
|Stanford University
Notice: hosted by Neil Yorke-Smith
Date: 2009-07-09 at 11:00
Location: EJ228 (SRI E building) (Directions)
Question-answer pairs extracted from email threads can help construct summaries of the thread, as well as inform semantic-based assistance with email. Previous work dedicated to email threads extracts only questions in interrogative form. We extend the scope of question and answer detection and pairing to encompass also questions in imperative and declarative forms, and to operate at sentence-level fidelity. Building on prior work, our methods are based on learned models over a set of features that include the content, context, and structure of email threads. For two large email corpora, we show that our methods balance precision and recall in extracting question-answer pairs, while maintaining a modest computation time.
Helen Kwong is a recent graduate of Stanford University, where she received an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Symbolic Systems. She was a Student Associate at SRI's Artificial Intelligence Center in the summer of 2008 and also has worked as a research assistant at the Stanford AI Lab. She commences studies in logic at the University of Amsterdam this fall.
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text:
Date: December 10-13, 2001
Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA
Symposium Web Page: www.sabcs.org
Sponsors: Cancer Therapy & Research Center, and UTHSCSA
Who Should Attend: Academic and private physicians and researchers involved in breast cancer in medical, surgical, gynecologic, and radiation oncology, as well as other appropriate health care professionals.
Objectives: To provide state-of-the-art information on the experimental biology, etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of breast cancer and premalignant breast disease, to an international audience of academic and private physicians and researchers.
Registration Info: Online registration is available.English
Dec 13, 2013 - Anastrozole reduces the risk of breast cancer by about half with few side effects in postmenopausal women at high risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 10 to 14 in San Antonio. The research was simultaneously published online Dec. 12 in The Lancet.