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The need for new ideas- even if they seem crazy at first
Filed under: Enterprise
There is something that is quite corrosive in our public life. It is our reaction to new ideas. If we were societies facing few challenges, completely at ease with ourselves, in a state of domestic and international tranquillity then this might be explicable. But given the scale of political, social, economic and environmental challenges, now more than ever we need access to creativity. Sometimes this creativity will seem crazy and it may even, on an occasion, risk serious harm. But we have to find a way of allowing creativity into our democratic processes – we don't even know all the possible answers as things stand.
It is in this context that two developments are particularly eye-catching- one of international significance and one that is more parochial. Yesterday, Syriza won the Greek election. The received wisdom is that this will be a complete disaster. And it could be. However, what is clear is that the EU (or Troika's) Greek bailout put in place a debt maintenance plan but failed to establish an economic recovery plan. Consequently, you have a deflating economy with an enormous debt. You don't need much by way of mathematical nous to see this as unsustainable.
The wrong battle over the economy fought, lost and now the war could be lost too
Filed under: Enterprise
For a while, a graph called the 'jaws of death' did the rounds. It showed how social care expenditure was increasing at such a rate that it threatened to constitute more than the whole of local government expenditure by 2020. Well, yesterday the Office for Budget Responsibility produced a graph that may well come to replace it. Let's call it the 'graph of doom':
Essentially, the graph shows that the size of the state will be at the lowest level in 80 years. The last time it was at anywhere near this level in the late 1990s, the Conservative Government of the day was kicked out in a landslide election. This change is a consequence of the Conservative approach to austerity which relies on at least 80 per cent of deficit reduction coming through public expenditure cuts.
This is the most significant re-shaping of the British state since Margaret Thatcher came into power in the late 1970s. Yet, there has been next to zero public debate about what this smaller state might mean, whether it's desirable, and whether this is the democratic choice that we would make when given a range of options. The debate instead has been about whether we should undertake a process of austerity or not. The left of British politics, where one might expect to find the most articulate defence of the public value of state investment and expenditure, has instead locked itself into a battle against austerity. That has given George Osborne his opportunity.
Could public procurement reduce excessive pay?
Filed under: Enterprise, Social Economy
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation today published a useful report on tackling poverty through public procurement. The ideas, building on the methodology created back in 2002 for including social and community benefits in public procurement. are practical and sensible. With public procurement as a percentage of GDP barely declining at all during or since the recession, the impact of taking up these recommendations could be significant. Public procurement has already been affected in London and elsewhere by the Living Wage campaign. Building commitments to local training and employment into contracts and enabling smaller tender 'lots' to give smaller local enterprises a chance of successful bidding could create maximum value for the taxpayer by reducing welfare dependency and keeping the financial fruits of procurement within communities. Read more
Megacity 2: the right solution to mending the gap?
Filed under: Enterprise
Recently moved from London to Bristol, a friend of mine asked me last month: "How is life in Megacity 1?". While she moved to be closer to her work as a retail manager, she finds herself frequently coming back to London to buy clothes for her small chain of shops in the South West.
The problem is not that London is getting too big, it's that other UK cities are too small. This is how the adversarial relationship set up in the two-part TV series Mind the Gap: London v The Rest was resolved last night. As Evan Davis wrote "Britain does not have a second city. Instead, it has a first city and a couple of thirds…it is as though Britain has a great world city but lacks a great national one."
As a recent report suggested, London's 'primacy' – its size relative to the national economy – is not particularly unusual by international standards.
It's not just population size where UK 'second-tier' cities underperform. Along with other factors, their smaller size means they are less productive, in terms of economic value produced per resident. As Lewis Dijkstra notes "a range of cities allows each firm to find its optimal city". Illustrating this point with bar graphs, and noting that costs to firms (wages, rent) and workers (housing, commuting) also increase in larger cities, he likens the ideal city distribution to a staircase. If the steps between cities are well-spaced, as in Germany and the Netherlands, firms and workers are less likely to make a compromise. In short, we can imagine that there are firms and workers who want to "downshift" out of London, but can't stomach the loss in the benefits of locating in the capital; and firms and workers who want to move to London – but are unsure they can afford the costs relative to the likely benefits. Both scenarios lead to inefficiencies: the gaps in our city staircase are too big.
The solution proposed Monday night was that "the real second city of the UK is a northern, trans-Pennine strip that extends the relatively short distance across northern England, joining the built-up areas that lie second, fourth and sixth in the UK ranking". This idea has been suggested before. As we highlighted in our Metro Growth report last month, 22,000 people cross the Pennines every day to commute. Other research shows connections and relationships between Leeds and Manchester are less strong than we would expect for these cities given the complementary nature of their economic activities. The Pennines are both a physical and psychological barrier. City boundaries don't correspond to their economic footprint.
So, should we use national investment in infrastructure which better connects a 'northern necklace' of cities? The Northern Hub scheme now underway will improve the speed and frequency of trains, but over a distributed pattern of urban settlements car travel is likely to be much more convenient for the majority of trips. Without investment, the northern trunk road network is forecast to become more congested in the next decade. Which government – local or national – has the conviction to resurrect the motorways once planned? The M64 (Stoke to Derby), the M67 (Manchester to Sheffield), or the M650 (northwest of Bradford) to slice through the Peak District National Park? Furthermore, at our seminar last week, Henry Overman was sceptical that creating a network of northern cities was sufficient; we may be better off with one city of "over 3.5 million" for 'agglomeration' effects to kick in.
— Jim (@geographyjim) March 11, 2014
Evan posed the difficult question as being how to fund public transport infrastructure in both London and other parts of the UK, when the needs of London are so evident. It's easy to get upset when you consider that, on a per person basis, London gets many times more infrastructure investment than other regions. But much of London's investment is private, not public; and London's scale means authorities are able to borrow more affordably against future fare returns. London's public transport network carries half of all the journeys on public transport across the country every day. On a net basis, each day, London also imbibes over a million workers from beyond its borders and a million visitors from the UK and abroad (tourists and those on business trips). But beyond transport, if government is to guide development of Megacity 2, how will specific policies and priorities change? What sacrifices will be made?
The first question is whether we are confident we can make the right kind of spatial plan. As referenced in the programme, Birmingham's economic success in the post-war era was stunted by the Distribution of Industry Act 1945 and later the Control of Office Employment Act 1965. By 1957 the council had explicitly accepted that it was obliged "to restrain the growth of population and employment potential within the city." Seeking the opportunity to rebuild bombed-out British cities at higher housing standards, many planners at the time sought to reduce urban densities, protect the newly created Green Belt around cities, and rely on motor vehicle transport supporting new suburban settlements such as Peterlee and Harlow. This was anti-agglomeration, perhaps even contributing to subsequent inner city decline. Only Milton Keynes – the largest of all new towns – has the scale and location today viable enough to have its own economic dynamism as an employment centre.
We have a poor record of predicting the future dynamics of economic geography, and many of the key forces shaping the UK at the moment are little understood. Despite being important long-term trends, the spatial implications of household dynamics and the changing nature of work remain largely unexplored. As more women enter the workforce, more households are made up of two earners. Larger cities offer the additional benefit of having a higher likelihood that both partners will be able to pursue careers in different sectors, occupations or industries. Some argue London has benefited from a 'trailing spouse' effect. For example, with schools benefiting from (otherwise mobile) teachers attracted to London by the work of their partners working in less mobile professions tied to London. And new technologies of production are accompanying different career structures, growing rates of self-employment and different types of workplaces.
This #mindthegap programme on BBC2 is beyond awful. How about interviewing some critical urbanists instead of "growth is great" economists?!
— Tom Slater (@tomslater42) March 10, 2014
Mind the Gap barely engaged with the dynamics of the housing market, where growing anxiety is deepening the British obsession. Cambridge featured in the show as a success story, hungry for growth. Like Oxford, it's a historic city endowed with a Green Belt and now bursting at the seams and increasingly unaffordable. London housing pressure needs a release valve, and London seems unable to provide it for itself.
The Green Belt in fact covers more land than the entirety of England's urban areas which it was designed to constrain. It's the jewel of strategic planning policy, but stifles other strategic thinking. For example, HS2 takes fast long-distance trains off the existing line. New commuter services will therefore offer drastically more capacity: from Willesden and Watford up towards Milton Keynes. Who is talking seriously about Green Belt release for new significant new housing development in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire? Welcome to a property-owning democracy.
Perhaps, therefore, we need a change in the geography of democracy itself. City growth needs local champions. Central government consented to London's Congestion Charge in part with the comfort that Ken Livingstone – rather than national politicians – would be held to account if it failed. Lord Adonis noted last week that more people in Newcastle could name the mayor of London than their own council leader.
According to the boldest propositions, perhaps we should consider moving our capital. This question was asked at the launch of the City Growth Commission, and continues to be posed. Moving the political machinery could bring with it not just lobbyists and central government departments, but much of the private sector too – as the links between the two become more complex.
@JSchifferes should the seat of government be moved from London? Would make government cheaper and decrease focus on London
— Nick Humfrey (@nickhumf) October 28, 2013
The north needs a Boris/Salmond-style figure to champion its interests. Mistake to reject elected mayors/assemblies. #mindthegap
— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) March 10, 2014
According to Professor Alan Harding "we have slowly redesigned our institutions of government and our major policy frameworks so that they respond to the pressures of growth in southern England and rarely see what happens beyond. We have a national policy regime that not only does not mind the gap, it extends it." Last week we saw northern Lib Dem MPs calling for a High Speed 3 rail line across the North. The broad debate is gaining momentum and Mind the Gap was a substantial contribution. While cleverly pitched to stir debate, we need to move beyond 'London or' to 'London and'. To be successful, the City Growth Commission will need to build the most important links: those between the political rationale and economic rationale for reforms which will produce a better system of cities. London and other cities will each, inevitably, evolve in their role nationally and globally.
Jonathan Schifferes is research lead for the City Growth Commission hosted at the RSA (@jschifferes)
London v the Rest: Did Evan Davis find the gap?
Filed under: Enterprise
Evan Davis brought the economic geography textbook to life on the nation's TV screens Monday night, with Mind the Gap (available on iPlayer until March 17th), in which he "asks what the rest of the country can learn from London's success". Alex Salmond has recently referenced London as the "dark star of the economy, inexorably sucking in resources, people and energy", echoing criticisms made by Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable, who described the city as "a great suction machine". Mind the Gap featured sweeping shots of London's skyline and plenty of insight into the property and infrastructure developments underway, alongside snazzy data visualisation of how London's exceptional economic productivity and worker density, in a UK context. Oh, and some nice archive footage.
Here are five insights and five oversights from the narrative Evan presented.
At the City Growth Commission, hosted at the RSA, we're funded by the Mayor of London, London Councils, and the Core Cities. Our role is to influence policies which will ensure that all cities (and the wider metro areas) are able to maximise their growth potential.
Cities depends on agglomeration economics: the productive benefits that come when people work closely alongside each other between organisations and between industries and sectors. Firms want to be close to other firms to collaborate and compete, stealing staff and ideas and customers and suppliers. It was great to hear about the importance of networks – social as well as digital. As Evan says, "We were told technology meant location doesn't matter; but it matters more than ever". The great irony, highlighted by Manuel Castells 20 years ago, is that the more ubiquitous electronic communication becomes, the greater value we recognise and ascribe to in face-to-face interaction.
Jules Birch @jules_birch Mar 3 Funny how 'networking economics' concentrates everything in one place when theoretically it shouldn't matter where you are #mindthegap
Few people have been able to define if and when there are downsides of ever-greater concentration and densification start to outweigh the benefits. London is building up, more than out, due to the Green Belt, but is still only half the density of New York City. While I'm not as sure as Ed Cox that of IPPR North "all the evidence shows" that London will overheat and topple over, we didn't hear enough about the co-dependent relationship between London and other towns and villages across the South. Another aspect of London's economic geography was conspicuous in their absence: the relationship between migration, diversity and urban growth. As well as economic opportunities, do migrants feel especially inclined to settle in London, because of its size and capacity to host multiple communities? And what about evidence that there is an economic benefit from diversity?
Agglomeration plays a role in the economics of urban development, for example leading to infrastructure projects to expand transport capacity. Economic success feeds itself: it's a self-fulfilling positive feedback loop. "You can't design an ecosystem, it evolves", said one tech investor in Shoreditch. The best government can do is shine a spotlight in order to "nudge on" these successes. This means, essentially, "there is no formula to copy" – except perhaps bigger is better?
It wasn't clear whether these dynamics are particularly strong in London, now or historically, or common to all large cities. Urban development depends on other factors including political power (such as compulsory purchase – used very differently in China and India), and factors such as the international economic climate and currency exchange rates which make London property a particularly attractive place for those with financial wealth to invest. Furthermore, I wonder if Evan has ever been to Silicon Valley? It's the most exciting tech community in the world, it got a turbo-charge from federal investment, and one of the least exciting suburban landscapes to explore. Economic dynamism and great urbanism don't always go hand-in-hand.
London's leaders want growth, and have won the national argument to invest in growth. "London is the flywheel that drives it" said Mayor Boris Johnson; "the gateway", which "exports tax and jobs…the better London does the better the UK does". As Transport for London added: "there are certain sectors which choose locations at an international level; if we don't get it in London we don't get it in the UK."
Part of London's success has been a projection, nationally and globally, as a place where exciting things happen;it's a city which can represent itself well visually – with plenty of new skyscrapers crammed upona medieval street pattern. But the programme fell into the trap of assuming "London" speaks with one voice At one point Evan Davis claimed that "Londoners have an insatiable appetite to expand". Do they? As we highlighted in our recent Metro Growth report, parts of Outer London have fallen behind the rate of recent national economic growth, and there is greater variation in economic activity within each UK region, than between them.
We're in the middle of the greatest industrial restructuring since industrial revolution, fuelled in part by the 'Big Bang' of financial deregulation in 1986. London now has the greatest concentration of "producer services" in the world, and millions of workers are also millions of consumers. Their consumption in turn fuels millions of jobs, locally, in other service industries.
That restructuring was in part a political project. Heseltine's leadership on redeveloping Docklands created space for a second office district and financial services hub in London.
Malcolm Tait @TaitPlanning Mar 3 Getting frustrated with#mindthegap – regional imbalance isn't just 'natural' – it's shaped by political decisions
Before the 1980s, things weren't looking so bright. Evan said "London lucked out by having the right industries at the right time". But, as the Telegraph noted, financial deregulation was a conscious effort to drive employment growth and economic activity. There was no mention of how the financial value that is captured by different types of activities is negotiated between managers, staff, shareholders and those who regulate the economy. In short, London has always been a financial hub; but finance has not always been the economic nexus of the economy, nor such an extremely lucrative profession.
George Eaton @georgeeaton Mar 3 Worth recalling that London's population fell between 1960s and 1980s. Not a story of inexorable growth.#mindthegap
There are winners and losers in the process of economic growth. Evan suggested "It's a much more brutal process than most of us would like", focusing on the displacement of homeowners on the Heygate Estate. If we want to save national icons like Battersea Power Station from the wrecking ball, we need global investment. But affordability is a concern: "[London] has to watch it, and make sure it is a place open to the nation. It will be tragic if someone from Staffordshire thinks they can't get a job there because they can't afford to live there."
Did Evan find the right gap? According to Evan, "everywhere I go in London, I see signs that the city's success is becoming entrenched". But Mind the Gap did not consider the gaps between people in London: walk a mile in any direction from the Shard and you'll see success is not distributed. Like other places, average wages have not kept up with rising prices.
Having coffee with Boris at the top of the Shard makes for great TV, but we'd learn something different if Evan had coffee with staff at one of London's 1500 coffee shops. We saw the gold plated plates of a £39.5m Mayfair house, and Evan remarked at how rising prices for such "prime housing" had endured the recession. It would be equally eye-opening to consider the sacrifices many people are making. Those on low wages in London jobs have economised by converting living rooms in shared housing to bedrooms. The number of overcrowded homes in outer East London grew 41% in the last decade.
Ampp3d @ampp3d Mar 3 This is all lovely so far on#MindTheGap, but food bank usage in London has quadrupled in two years http://bit.ly/Nh36gQ
From pubs to think tanks – people struggling with London's housing affordability wonder whether these two trends are related, and London's leading academics have denounced London's latest housing strategy as woefully inadequate. Meanwhile the deputy director of research at the IMF, writing in the pages of the FT, concludes that "measures that governments have typically taken to reduce inequality do not seem to have stunted growth."
I am sure we could make compelling TV which considered the relative merits of important policy options for mending the gap: how to use taxes, public spending, regulations like the minimum wage, and public services like education to improve the fortunes of a broader constituency: those in London and across the country. We heard from a recent Core Cities meeting that central government policy has a long way to go be more sensitive to the differences between different places. By contrast, Evan's cinematic homage to a booming place was perhaps insensitive to the policies which have enabled that growth. Filming the differences between places is a visually seductive way of talking about differences between people.
Before the programme heads North, next week, spend two minutes and give the last word to a Londoner: George the Poet
Jonathan Schifferes is research lead for the City Growth Commission hosted at the RSA (@jschifferes)
Decentralisation is no longer a question of 'if' – it's a question of 'how'
Filed under: Enterprise, Social Economy
Last week in Greater Manchester, the City Growth Commission welcomed a dozen individuals from academia, businesses and local authorities to publicly share their thoughts on the role of cities in stimulating economic growth. On the heels of the Commission's first report, Metro Growth: The UK's Economic Opportunity, the Commission is seeking to identify the main factors limiting cities' growth and the policy levers needed to maximise growth potential.
Those providing evidence were incredibly forthcoming in their analysis of what was holding cities back, but also optimistic about the ability of cities to overcome these barriers in future. The consensus in the room was that while there may be specific issues with skills, connectivity, and housing for example, problems in these areas continue to persist because 'one-size-fits-all' policies are rolled out across the nation to address differing needs locally. Autonomy at a local level is denied because, as Lewis Atter (who leads on Infrastructure Strategy at KPMG) explained, "Central government doesn't have a view at all on local growth. There is only a cost side, scorecard and resource capture. There is no sense of how interventions contribute incrementally to national growth." For instance, cities would be better equipped to raise qualification levels and tackle worklessness if they could oversee skills provision, which is a prospect the Commission will be exploring in our next report.
Where efforts have been made to decentralise power, government should still be cautious about claiming success. Eammon Boylan, Chief Executive of Stockport Council, warned that there is danger in seeing combined authorities and elected mayors as a panacea. What may work for one city is not necessarily right for another, a point which also clearly emerged from a retrospective of the past 30 years of attempts to devolve power to the UK. The Institute of Government categorised the success of combined authorities and elected mayors as 'mixed', concluding that the limited adoption of such evolutionary or 'opt-in' models of reform signals that the shift in power has yet to be embedded.
It's not that Whitehall is oblivious to calls for decentralisation. When Lord Heseltine proposed devolution of funding from central government to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in 2012, heads in government were quick to nod along in harmony, although hands unfortunately didn't loosen up on the purse strings of the Treasury – fiscal devolution creates anxiety at the centre. Drawing on her experience from local government, Lorna Fitzsimons of The Alliance Project and former MP of Rochdale, explained to the Commission that while central and local government may agree on the outcomes they want to achieve and roles they each play, but the centre often has difficulty letting go. The Treasury in particular needs to feel that the risk of relinquishing control is minimal, which is why phases or pilots should be seriously considered as devolution is pursued.
The feeling in the room was that in spite of previous setbacks, devolution of political power to the local level is inevitable. Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, highlighted the recent lecture given by Ed Miliband, committing to a reimagining of public services which aims to put power back in the hands of people and their local government. Leese felt that Miliband made it clear that politicians had not only been listening to arguments in favour of devolution, but are now ready to respond in a meaningful way. If the next election hinges on who can be the most radical on this front devolution will certainly be back on the table. The most pressing question is how powers should be best distributed at different scales. In making the rhetoric a reality, the economic outlook for cities will improve as cities are allowed new freedoms to pursue their growth agendas.
Follow #citygrowth and @CityGrowthCommission on Twitter for updates.
Metro Growth: the UK's economic opportunity
Filed under: Enterprise, Social Economy
Today marks the launch of the first output of the City Growth Commission, featured on www.citygrowthcommission.com. Building on feedback from our launch event at the RSA in October 2013, the report takes on a striking infographic-led template to deliver the message.
We argue that the UK's opportunity for strong economic growth – which addresses wider long-term challenges – requires strengthening our urban system. Our scale of analysis starts with looking to the 15 areas with the largest population, which we term 'metros'. The Commission will consider the potential of UK cities large and small.
In Metro Growth: the UK's economic opportunity, we argue that a new global picture of growth is taking shape. This is not about a transfer of economic power from North to South, or West to East. It is about the rise of cities.
The UK is home to one of the world's truly global cities. But too many of our urban areas outside London are failing to achieve their growth potential. We will explore what political powers and governance arrangements are needed to deliver this; and how public service reform can improve fiscally sustainability in all UK cities. The report highlights that public spending Greater Manchester exceeds tax take by £4–5bn – equal to roughly £2,000 per person per year, yet metros have little power to change this: over 90% of all tax is collected by central government.
Led by renowned economist Jim O'Neill, the City Growth Commission will argue that UK cities have the potential to foster higher, more sustainable productivity, growth and living standards. Metro Growth sets the scene for the Commission's work. It explains why 'metros' not only drive most of our economic activity, but shape how nearly all of us live and work. Cities, and their economic success, matter to us all.
The data tells us that we need a sophisticated understanding of the dynamics of population. For example, while both Manchester and Liverpool grew over the last decade, Manchester added 11,000 young people (under 15) while Liverpool lost 9,000 young people.
Focussing on skills, infrastructure and devolution of fiscal and policy-making powers, Metro Growth makes an early exploration into some of the factors currently limiting UK cities' growth. The report found that:
Skills are consistently identified by businesses as a big barrier to growth. Whilst universities play an important role in developing skills and clustering talented people, graduate retention and attraction strategies are relatively unexplored aspect of economic development.
Although many UK cities are close in distance, weak infrastructure links between regions mean that potential economic relationships are under-developed. Despite the 22,000 commuters that cross the Pennines every day between the largest metros of Yorkshire and the North West, the economic relationships between Manchester and Leeds are less strong than might be expected for cities of their size.
There remain large differences between metros in qualifications. South Sussex Metro (Brighton, Hove, Worthing, Littlehampton and Shoreham – combined population of half a million residents) was found to have 23 residents who are university graduates for every 10 who have no qualifications. By contrast, the Potteries Metro is home to 22 residents with no qualifications for every 10 university graduates.
Metro Growth concludes by looking at the wider conditions in which people are able to contribute economically. The social context matters – for example health and well-being varies greatly between and within metros. Having people will low mental well-being, and poor physical health, limits the opportunities for productive participation in the economy.
As we develop more in-depth research over the next eight months, important areas of investigation remain for the City Growth Commission. Most fundamentally, how can we ensure that the case for metro growth is connected to salient issues for citizens – how to improve living standards – and for government – how to reform public services in light of long-term challenges.
The City Growth Commission runs for 12 months and will seek to influence all political parties in the run up to the next General Election, and make the case for cities to take a new role in our political economy. Following an open call for evidence which ran from October 2013 to January 2014, the Commission will host its first evidence hearing on Tuesday 11 February in Manchester Town Hall.
Follow #citygrowth and @CityGrowthCommission on Twitter for updates.
The right kind of growth: boosting UK cities in the global economy
Filed under: Enterprise, Social Economy
The economic geography of the 21st Century is different from the last. We are at the dawn of an age of unprecedented global connectivity driven by technology. The channels of economic growth and participation this century provide a virtually bypass to the world's traditional hubs, entrepots and gateways. Bangalore – a sleepy university town 20 years ago – is now India's booming IT capital. German factories hum in Poznan and in Puebla, and as Bruce Katz highlights, the US is experiencing a metropolitan revolution, as small and medium post-industrial cities capitalise on their rich inheritance.
Globally, "small middleweight" cities – those with 200,000 to 2 million residents – are home to 7% of the world's population, but McKinsey estimates they will generate 19% of global GDP growth to 2025. The UK, as the seventh largest global economy, must act now to realise the potential of its cities: the ONS defines 32 urban areas in England with populations over 200,000. Despite decades of urban regeneration initiatives from civic and business leaders, only London currently makes a net contribution to the Treasury. In the last 15 years, no cities outside London have grown their proportion of national Gross Value Added.
The neglect in developing a national urban growth strategy by national government must be in part due to the complacency that Westminster feels, comfortably astride the prosperity flowing up the Thames. This wealth doesn't provide sufficient irrigation for business and industry nationwide. Our river of capital streams into non-productive investment in housing and consumption, led by southerners borrowing to fund both. Will Hutton made this plain in 1995: Britain needs to invest more in its future. Since then the ONS has warned that investment, as a proportion of the economy, has fallen to its lowest level since the 1950s, and 30% lower than the G7 average.
As Mariana Mazzucato has recently highlighted, the wider supporting environment for growth is influenced heavily by government. No entrepreneur is an island. Cities need autonomy in regulating and taxing business, and in supporting a skilled and fluid labour market. This reform is needed at a time when local authorities are hugely challenged. They must redefine public services in an era of constrained spending and increasing demand for health and social care. Public services must be fundamentally transformed to support people to thrive in 21st Century cities, matching contemporary social geography. This isn't a competing agenda to the challenges of stimulating productive economic activity – it is fundamental, complementary and necessary.
Over 15 million people live in England's 15 largest metropolitan city-regions outside London. If they are to lead socially productive and fulfilling lives, investment must be attracted and enterprise must flourish, providing jobs that pay sufficiently to raise living standards. Growth needs to deliver for all who propel it, and adapt to the increasingly apparent environmental limits.
The potential for people to work, to learn, to find funders and collaborators, will only be realised at scale in cities. Cities offer critical mass: providing enterprises the breadth of markets – labour markets and consumer markets – to grow. Currently, getting people back to work is not delivering growth because worker productivity is stagnant; we have returned to pre-2008 levels of numbers of people employed and number of hours worked, but not of GDP. If we are to address labour market challenges, this must mindful of the scale at which these markets operate.
A London growth strategy for the UK will not suffice. We must develop a network of cities to serve as centres of productivity, home to businesses which power the UK on the world stage. We face a delicate balance between capitalising on agglomeration effects and concentrating economic power, and providing assistance to people and areas currently less competitive – potentially undermining that power.
Last week, the RSA launched the City Growth Commission – chaired by Jim O'Neill, outgoing chair of Goldman Sachs Asset Management – to develop a comprehensive roadmap to deliver a programme of change. Recently the Heseltine Review, the City Deals, and the London Finance Commission have suggested an array of levers that could alter the relationship between our national government and our cities, and the current RSA Journal brings together several innovating voices on the power of cities. There is a growing consensus that cities represent the best scale at which prioritise investments and redesign the political economy, thus unleashing the potential of the innovators, social entrepreneurs and active citizens to pull the UK through its current challenges.
A century ago, municipal government in the UK was among the most progressive and ambitious in the world, pro-actively investing in the transport infrastructure and human capital to fuel an industrial economy. The next national government of this country must empower urban authorities and urban residents to join the global momentum of city-led growth for economic, social and environmental benefit.
The City Growth Commission asks for your evidence, seeks to champion this movement in coming months, and reports next autumn.
Jonathan Schifferes is a Senior Researcher contributing to the City Growth Commission team. Follow him and @CityGrowthCom on Twitter for updates.
Sharing our way to prosperity (Part 1)
Filed under: Enterprise, Social Economy
Sharing is popular again. It's been 25 years since Harry Enfield mocked 1980s greed and individualism as his Loadsamoney character – a cockney plasterer. Now, a quick and exciting route to riches is promised by the sharing economy. Airbnb, its posterchild, is worth $2.5bn (£1.5bn) and Silicon Valley is buzzing again. Does sharing represent a scalable opportunity for a socially productive economy? This blog grounds the sharing economy in some context, and is followed by Part 2, analysing of who profits from sharing.
Since 2008, our dominant economic and financial structures have come under increased scrutiny, from many directions. Many argue that existing systems have delivered material wealth at great environmental cost, contributing to (or even relying upon) growing inequality at many scales, and that as we get wealthier, wealth is increasingly an ineffective means of delivering well-being. As the public sector started talking about "doing more with less' and "sweating the assets" politicians and business consistently urged the public back on to the treadmill of buying more stuff a generation of social entrepreneurs said "let's use what we have better", and were spurred to develop their own peer-to-peer circuits for production, distribution and consumption. They were driven by objectives which ranged from getting rich themselves to meeting their neighbours to minimising overall consumption, and we now have a carnival of applications which connect individuals to one another to exchange in new ways.
The sharing economy in a tweet: "#whyishare is making MORE, for LESS and with NEW people".
The sharing economy is how we describe this system which widens access to goods, services, assets and talents, through arrangements of collaborative consumption, a term first applied in 1978 to car-sharing. The sharing economy is a bunch of new ways to connect things that aren't being used with people who could use them. It often does this through internet-based applications, and therefore does this radically better than previous systems in achieving higher utilisation of the economy's 'idling capacity'. According to Professor Clay Shirky, "the world has over a trillion hours a year of free time to commit to shared projects".
In 2011, the RSA hosted Rachel Botsman and Time magazine said collaborative consumption was one of ten ideas to change the world. Now sharing economy initiatives are squaring up to entrenched businesses, and regulators and tax collectors are becoming interested.
Rachel Botsman defines three types of collaborative consumption: product service systems (like Barclays bikeshare in London and Netflix, where you rent for short periods rather than owning), redistribution markets (like eBay, Freecycle, Gumtree, where you sell or give away unwanted stuff) and collaborative lifestyles (like Landshare, Streetbank, and Couchsurfing), where people swap skills, time and other assets.
Like efforts to build a circular economy the sharing economy often promises environmental efficiency. Reducing waste appeals to our moral sentiment (waste is a feature in two of the seven deadly sins) while sharing means we get access to more, and perhaps put individualistic materialism (the envy and jealousy associated with coveting thy neighbour's goods) in the back seat. To paraphrase Neal Gorenflo, the idea is that instead of keeping up with the Joneses, we are inspired and enabled to collaborate with the Khan's, rent our under-used assets to the Cheng's and get tips from strangers on how to hack, fix and rejuvenate objects at a makerspace with shared tools. We meet new people (online and offline) and make a living in new ways, while using money less, hoping to reverse declining social capital.
Sharing can get really creative: through Waze (which Google just bought for $1bn), drivers share their live data on traffic to help others travel more efficiently. GoGenie shares information about disabled access. Carrotmob organises campaigns for people to vote with their money, giving businesses positive incentives to make sustainable investments. On TaskRabbit, people bid to perform chores and…tasks, while Instacart specialises in matching your shopping list with someone to do your shopping and deliver it to you.
Of course, sharing goes way back. We've always been sharing, bartering, lending, gifting, and swapping. Collaboration has been our primary competitive advantage as a species. Before we had money, we had a gift economy – "you owe me one" – rather than a barter economy. Within modern capitalism there have emerged a range of redistributive institutions such as co-operatives (800 million members globally) and credit unions. Good 360 has taken $7bn in corporate donations over the last 30 years and distributed them to charities. We often lose sight of the fact that efficient resource allocation is what the (old) economy is fundamentally driven to do, but often fails. The sharing economy might be best conceived as a system to address market failures in personal consumption; to share market information, lower transaction costs and lower barriers to entry, therefore expanding the market of buyers, sellers, donors and recipients.
In contemporary society, what some have dubbed the core economy – the unpaid care, support and nurturing we provide for one another – structures our lives as much as the monetary economy. Sharing mechanisms have long supported the core economy, through informal networks and more formal institutions: 28,000 people have collectively pooled their skills and support at 300 local Timebanks across the UK, on the basis that an hour of my time is worth an hour of yours, and there is potential for institutions and business to do the same – e.g. Hackney Shares.
We are at a moment of hyperbole, so there is a risk that new tech applications divert our attention from the breadth and heritage of sharing structures in society, and the risks of failure. Many sharing platforms struggle to reaching critical mass in activities which represent a natural monopoly based on a network effect, so efforts are now being made to build infrastructure to consolidate the sharing economy – comparison websites and sector-wide initiatives (…is this meta-sharing?). But the growing consensus is the sharing economy could be as transformative as the industrial revolution; and Natalie Foster says sharing "will be the defining economic story of the 21st century."
The sharing economy is beginning to look like a panacea: an all-conquering system of innovations which can drive can drive economic growth and social outcomes. It's more complicated than that, and Part 2 on this blog discusses profiting from a sharing economy.
Jonathan Schifferes (@jschifferes) is a Senior Researcher and leads on the 2020 Retail project for the RSA.
Profiting from sharing (Part 2)
Filed under: Enterprise, Social Economy
As the sharing economy is booming (Part 1 – Sharing our way to prosperity), its millions of participants now face a choice. There are ways of swapping and collaborating for free, and there are also ways of commercialising idling capacity.
In reality, many of the most successful sharing economy platforms are simply commercial platforms with a personal touch. eBay works because buyers and sellers leave feedback for one another; enough to grease the wheels on $175bn of transactions in 2012. In an era of self-checkout supermarkets, it's ironic that it is through internet applications we've reawakened to the fact that business can be personable and customised. Airbnb now call themselves a "community marketplace". Etsy is an online shop for $1bn of products sold direct by artists and craft-workers who make them. Every sharing platform seems to have spawned a commercial sharing platform: eatwithalocal might be devoured by eatwith and Google Hangouts (video chats) looks set to expand to Google Helpouts where people buy and sell services via video link.
Should we commercialise sharing? In working with Benoit Passot investigating the logic of impact investments, I became convinced that we all place values on achieving financial returns and social outcomes, but those values vary. What we need are opportunities to discover what our values are. Technology makes it easier for us to join timebanks, and easier for us to make a living selling our skills. When money is involved, obviously, these values are made explicit. There are platforms which will enshrine free sharing as principle and policy, and there will, simultaneously, be ever more sophisticated commercial platforms – with a social dimension – making up an ever greater proportion of economic activity. In other words there is sharing, and there is the economy. We will vote with our feet and vote with our money.
Commercial sharing platforms can't be fully inclusive if some potential participants are excluded by a lack of money, but commercialising traditionally non-monetary assets such as spare bedrooms could support someone to pursue other socially productive activities in a volunteering or caring capacity. We know sharing gives us a feeling of solidarity and identification, more than selling and buying, and can (re)build social capital in a way that traditional market transactions can't.
Does this mean money contaminates exchange relationships? Not always. People form meaningful relationships with their bosses, and the people they manage. Shopkeepers befriend their customers, consultants get chummy with clients. In each case, physical interaction and proximity usually matter. Money-free sharing platforms are probably best realised at the local scale. There is stronger potential for ongoing reciprocity in dense urban areas. Money, as it has always has been, becomes a unit of trust which can reduce the friction of distance. Whether free or commercial, the promise of the sharing economy is about the alignment of self-interest and common good; at distance, the ability we have for realising common good together diminishes, and money is more helpful as a proxy for trust.
However, there is a fundamental challenge to achieving collective and inclusive "common good" if the sharing economy continues to grow: non-monetary activity doesn't register as GDP.
The more we try to gain economic and environmental efficiency through generating activity outside of – or reclaiming activity from – the market, the more we stifle the monetary economy. While we already know GDP is an insufficient measure of progress – as Rachel Botsman says we need to measure the number of holes drilled not the number of drills sold – our primary system for realising life opportunities is built on it. One of the buzzwords of tech recently has been disruption. In this regard, the sharing economy is highly disruptive.
As a society, we tax consumption, employment, income and profit. More money on the books and circulating in the economy – i.e. rising GDP – generates more tax revenue. Tax then gets spent on government services, further contributing to GDP. Government, therefore, has an implicit incentive to both formalise the informal economy, support recorded and taxable economic activity, and bring online commercial platforms, and their users, into the tax regime. Government in fact represents the ultimate level of sharing: we are practicing collaborative consumption through societal organisation of public services.
As Caron Suchecki says, "paying tax is participating in a sharing economy, dodging it is not."
Public services in 2020 need to look a lot different – in their structure, relationships, delivery and funding – and they have a long way to go. There is a lot to learn from the sharing economy in unleashing idling capacity. But collaborative consumption doesn't work in every context: a recent report found that it is difficult to reconcile the need for personalised care and support packages with the economic advantages of collective purchasing power: "service providers and commissioners can't impose collective approaches or assign people to groups that don't matter to them".
We therefore face competing quandaries. On the one hand, the more we rely on each other in non-monetary ways through systems of mutual aid and support, turbo-charged by new innovations, the more we withdraw from the circulating flow of money which ultimately funds public services: our democratically-controlled, societal support network. (The prevalence of the informal and undeclared peer-to-peer economy may already be undermining public institution-building in the developing world.)
On the other hand our GDP treadmill is increasingly frustrating: its failing to improve well-being in rich countries. The cost of our basic requirements – for example housing, food and childcare – are increasing faster than wages for most people. Many work all day to make enough money to pay someone else to work all day looking after children, elderly parents, or others needing care, and the primary destination for our tax money is to subsidise low wages and provide health, education and social care.
In conclusion, the expansion of economic activity in its current form is eroding our time, quality of life and environment. The sharing economy has some promise to challenge this by making better use of existing assets – through monetary and non-monetary sharing. But unless GDP is uncoupled from the funding and delivery of the public services, and environmental resrouces are valued properly, simultaneous efforts to personalise public services, stimulate economic growth and expand the non-monetary sharing economy risk undermining one another and stifling the realisation of our collective aspirations.
Jonathan Schifferes (@jschifferes) is a Senior Researcher and leads on the 2020 Retail project for the RSA.


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The Boston Boneheads II – Things That Make Me Lose Faith In Most of Humanity
Good morning, @davidaxelrod. Could you tell us some more about your "tax day" theory? #BostonMarathon #Watertown
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 19, 2013
I wasn't quite sure how I'd go about taking NPR's Dina Temple-Raston's advice and celebrate Hitler's Birthday this year. I thought about baking cupcakes and holding a polka-dance. It's suitably outdated for a humble right-wing reactionary like moi' – but somehow it just wouldn't work. And then a funny thing happened on the way to the media-circus.
It seems David Sirota should be jubilant this morning. He wanted and I mean really wanted the Boston Marathon Bombers to be Caucasian – and boy did he get his wish!* They're from Chechnya even, and boy are they into that old-time religion. Oh, wait…wrong one as you can see in the film below.Read More »

subset: commoncrawl


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Photo by Jeff Pouland In order to prepare for a successful season, attendance at the BYSO camp is mandatory for all members (if applicable). The Schedule for BYSO Summer Camp 2015 is: Boston Youth Symphony: August 11 - August 22, 2015 Repertory Orchestra: August 16 - August 22, 2015 Junior Repertory Orchestra: August 11 - August 16, 2015
Tuition includes all meals, housing, musical instruction, recreation and round trip transportation by chartered bus from Boston University. Financial aid is available based on need.
Photo by Jeff Pouland Founded in 1937, the New England Music Camp has been dedicated to providing a superb summer environment for music-making. The camp site offers comfortable housing and dining accommodations, a canteen, an infirmary staffed 24 hours a day with a full-time registered nurse, plus many spacious rehearsal and practice facilities. Alumni Hall, a 500 seat concert hall, serves as an ideal venue for orchestra rehearsal and performances and chamber music recitals while the "Bowl-in-the-Pines" presents the perfect setting for summer performances of large ensembles.


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By: A.K. Anderson
Number of Reviews: 1179
Average Score: 66
Maiko Creampies
We no longer link to this site.
We no longer link to this site.
Once upon a time there was a town of horny porn lovers and the residents would spend their days watching porn. While most would do so in their homes, they still needed to go out sometimes to buy food, go to work or buy more lube. And that's where their mobile devices came into play. However, watching all that porn meant that one day it finally happened – they ran out of smut to look at. All at once the citizens flooded into the town square, nobody knowing what to do.
People were without porn for the first time in their lives. It was mayhem all around! They all needed a new site to look at, but no one knew how to find one. That's when they all turned to the smartest boy in town. He knew that the town's survival was at stake and agreed to find them a new site.
So he sat down, opened his laptop and asked for directions. That's when a man from the back yelled, "We want Japanese chicks. And not those Asian American girls. We want ones who actually speak Japanese. And it's okay if there aren't any subtitles. And, of course, no genital pixelation." Then a women called out, "Make sure the action is straight and ends with creampies, no facial cumshots!"
That was followed by another guy who said, "We want at least 156 videos and 156 photo sets, with new content being added to the collection twice a week. And we want the videos to be downloadable in at least one Full HD format. There should be a streaming option as well." Finally the town's oldest man chimed in, "Make sure there are bonus videos, about 300 of them, covering more Japanese women in other niches like mature and teens." And with that the town went back into their homes to wait.
After a while the boy still hadn't found anything, but he was feeling lonely, so he called out, "Porn site!" Within seconds the entire town surrounded him with huge smiles on their faces and lube in their hands, only to return to their homes disappointed when he admitted to having nothing to show them.
After more searching and still nothing, the boy once again was feeling sad and alone and yelled out, "Porn site!" This time about a third of the town didn't even come, but the rest arrived quickly with hope in their hearts (and pants) only to head back home sad, horny and angry. The third time the boy called out, it took about a minute, but less than half the town showed up.
After watching everyone walk home angry for a third time, the boy hit a few buttons and, to his surprise, Maiko Creampies appeared on his screen. He signed in and saw that the site met all the town's desires. He couldn't believe it. He had done it! He couldn't wait for everyone to see. He was going to be a hero. He yelled out "Porn site!" and waited.
A minute passed. Then two minutes, then five, then 10, then 20. No one came. Days passed and then weeks, months and years. Eventually the man passed away, his computer died and no one ever knew that he had found what the town wanted in MaikoCreampies.
Take that as a warning, folks. Don't be like the boy who cried, "Porn site!" If you know someone with similar desires to that of the town, just tell them that Maiko Creampies is worth joining and you can be the hero and live happily ever after.
* Please include a pro and a con about the site. Balance is essential in making a comment worthwhile. Scores without comments will be deleted.
* Watch out for ratings of zero and 100. In our opinion, there is no such thing as a site that is absolutely perfect or completely worthless.


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The trial of five men charged with the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus began on Thursday.PT0M0S 620 349
DELHI: Campaigners in India gave a guarded welcome to a 630-page report recommending wide-ranging legal and other reforms as the trial began for five men accused of the rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in Delhi last month.
The report, presented by a special commission set up following the attack and given to the government by Jagdish Sharan Verma, a former chief justice of India, amounts to a harsh indictment of policing, the courts, successive governments and social attitudes, which together have contributed to the wave of sexual violence against women.
Failure of good governance is the obvious root cause for the current unsafe environment.
Key recommendations include police and judicial reforms, an end to intrusive testing of rape victims, heavier sentences for some crimes as well as new offences to cover stalking and marital rape.
Mass vigil ... one of the many demonstrations held in Dehli shortly after the death of a student who was gang raped. Photo: AFP
''It is a landmark,'' Meenakshi Lekhi, a lawyer, activist and opposition politician told the local NDTV channel. However, Ms Lekhi and many others said most of the recommendations in the report had already been made several times before.
Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research and a prominent women's rights activist, said she doubted the political will was there to implement worthwhile reforms.
''The government may act on the easiest recommendations but nothing more,'' Ms Kumari said.
Protests ... people took the the streets to demand better security for women as a government panel reviewing India's sex crime laws proposed tougher jail terms but stopped short of calling for the death sentence. Photo: AFP
Police were on alert outside the sprawling court complex in south New Delhi as the men arrived for the trial on Thursday.
Inside, about 30 policemen blocked access to the courtroom, while scores of journalists and curious onlookers crowded the hallway.
The suspects were whisked into the courtroom by a phalanx of armed policemen for the start of the trial, which will be held in a closed court room after Judge Yogesh Khanna denied a defence motion to make the proceedings public.
■Five suspects, their faces covered with woollen caps, arrived in court on Thursday for the start of their trial for the rape and murder of the young physiotherapy student on a bus.
Police were on alert outside the sprawling court complex as the men arrived. Inside, about 30 policemen blocked access to the courtroom.
The suspects were whisked in by a phalanx of armed policemen for the start of the trial, which will be held in a closed courtroom after the judge denied a defence motion to make the proceedings public.
A sixth suspect is expected to be tried in a juvenile court.
Guardian News & Media, Associated Press


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KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) — Dylan Orbaugh gave up his study hall this year to take a physical therapy class at the Kokomo Area Career Center.
He was almost certain he wanted to pursue a medical career after graduation. That's where his plan ended, though.
Orbaugh enrolled in the new career center course in an effort to narrow his focus. He would either hate the class and figure out that physical therapy wasn't the career for him, or he would love it and make it his major in college, he told the Kokomo Tribune (http://bit.ly/SGa7IR ).
The Kokomo High School senior just submitted his application to Indiana University. He's crossing his fingers and hoping he's accepted into the university's pre-physical therapy program.
"This class was perfect for me," he said. "It will save me the hassle of taking a class in college thinking it's something I want to do and being completely blown out of the water realizing it's not for me. I'm saving a lot of money I'm sure."
Orbaugh is among the more than 1,300 students from 10 area schools who are enrolled at the career center this year.
Enrollment has continued to climb over the past two years.
More students are realizing the value of career and technical education courses, said James Stradling, the career center director.
State officials are beginning to see that value, too.
"The time has come to make career, technical and vocational education a priority in every high school in Indiana," Gov. Mike Pence said in his State of the State address Tuesday night.
Not every student is going to be college bound, but they all deserve the same opportunity for success, he said.
Stradling said it's about time Indiana officials realize what he's known for years — that these classes are important, too.
"It's great news that the state is finally catching on," he said.
The governor called for creating regional councils that would work with businesses and educators to tailor high school vocational programs to available jobs.
Stradling is already envisioning the benefits of that.
"These councils could open up some avenues for our kids," he said.
He sees it leading to more internships and work cooperatives with local businesses. Stradling called that a "double win."
The employer gets to see the student's work ethic and potentially train a future employee.
It would also benefit students like Orbaugh who aren't initially sure what kind of job they want, he said.
But Stradling pointed out that the career center is ahead of the pack in some respects.
Officials there already choose programs that are in high demand. As part of that, they consider the local job market.
They're constantly monitoring the labor market statistics.
Traditional jobs like doctors and lawyers aren't in as much demand anymore, Stradling said.
"We need the same percentage of doctors and lawyers as we did when our moms and dads were in school," he said. "If you want to go where the job market is growing, you need to go to these technical careers."
These are careers that need more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree, Stradling said.
The career center has 15 programs.
Some of them are stepping stones to an associate's degree or even a bachelor's degree, like the physical therapy course Orbaugh took.
Stradling said the beauty of their programs is that many of them offer dual-credit courses.
A student could potentially be halfway to an associate's degree by the time they graduate high school, he said.
Last year students earned 834 credits from Ivy Tech, 444 from Vincennes University, 25 from the University of Southern Indiana and 21 from Purdue University.
Students in the cosmetology and certified nursing assistant programs are ready to launch their careers as soon as they leave high school, though.
The career center courses prepare them to take their state boards after graduation.
The bottom line is that career and technical education courses provide students with an alternative path to success, Stradling said.
That's part of the reason the career center expanded to allow some eighth graders to attend.
Career and technical education students seem to enjoy their classes more and are more likely to stay motivated in school, he said.
"We have students getting A's in our classes who aren't doing so well in math or science or social studies," Stradling said. "They're motivated. Hopefully that reduces dropout rates and increases graduation rates."
Pence agreed.
He said in his address that vocational courses can launch entrepreneurs, give kids a reason to finish high school and create a well-qualified workforce that will encourage businesses to build here and grow here.
Stradling said he was encouraged by Pence's words. But maintaining good vocational programs will require the state to fully fund public schools. Whether that will happen remains to be seen, he said.
"We need to wait and see if he's going to put his money where his mouth is," Stradling said
Information from: Kokomo Tribune, http://www.ktonline.com


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|Wrestling Approaches Final Stretch of Season
|Hannah Schutter
Staff Writer
Although wrestling is on its way out of the Olympics, Spartan wrestling is still in full swing.
This past Tuesday's wrestling meet at Trine University in Angola resulted in four wins for the Manchester Spartans. Although MU ultimately lost 28-16 to the Trine Thunder, first-year Kalib Jackson's win (8-0) over Trine's Nick Ader helped give Manchester a fighting chance. In addition to Jackson, Spartan wins from Bryce Roberts, Jason Pedigo and Chuck Holmquest ensured Manchester made its mark, and this match ceremoniously marked Holmquest's fiftieth career win.
In order to prepare for the Mid-States Conference that was held at Alma College in Michigan on Feb. 16, the wrestling team did the opposite of what might be assumed: they made practices shorter. Although this seems to go against the norm of preparation routines, the decision was well thought out. "We were trying to peak at the right time," said Josh Jaurez, a first-year wrestler.
Although the team was hoping to reach their full potential, some Spartans did not peak. The men earned 20 points at the Mid-States Conference putting them at seventh place.
Next up for the Spartans is a home meet against the Mount Saint Joseph Lions on Feb. 21, the season concludes soon after with regionals and championships.
The end of the wrestling season also shuts the book on senior college wrestlers' careers due to the removal of wrestling from the Olympics, starting with the 2020 Olympic Games.
Because there is no minor or major league for wrestling, the Olympics are these athletes' only chance at continuing their sport after their education ends. The only chance wrestlers have at going pro is with organizations like the WWE, which as the name states, is more entertainment than a contest of athleticism.
With the removal of wrestling comes the removal of the chance to wrestle at the Olympic Center, limiting wrestling experiences for these athletes. Although wrestling was a founding sport of the Olympics, it does not seem to matter.
"How is speed walking an Olympic sport?" Wajda asked.
Although the removal cannot be explained, hopefully this unlucky occurrence will cause the Spartans to relish and maximize their potential at the limited amount of experiences they are given.


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MOSCOW, May 25. ALEXANDER Popov, the "Czar" of sprint swimming, heads up a small but powerful Russian team that will compete in this summer's Olympic Games in Athens.
"We picked 26 men and four women following the conclusion of the national championships," Gennadi Alyoshin said today. "But we also have six other women who are close to Olympic qualifying standards and will have another chance to prove themselves in the next few weeks."
The Russian team includes three European champions aside from Popov: Yuri Prilukov (1500 free), Stanislava Komarova (200 backstroke) and Natalia Soutiaguina (50 butterfly). Former breaststroke world record-holders Roman Sloudnov (100 breast) and Dmitri Komornikov (200 breast) were also named to the team.
Others include: Andrei Kapralov (100 and 200 freestyle), Arkady Vyatchanin and Yevgeny Alyoshin (both 100 and 200 backstroke), Igor Marchenko and Yevgeni Korotyshkin (both 100 butterfly), Nikolai Skvortsov and Anatoli Poliakov (both 200 butterfly), and Elena Bogomazova (100 and 200 breaststroke).
For Popov, 32, this will be his last Olympic Games. He won both the 50 and 100 freestyle at the 1992 and '96 Games, an unprecedented double- double. The former world record-holder in the 100m free (48.21), he still holds the global standard in the 50 (21.64).


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The official opening of the new Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom is just a few weeks away and Disney have released some news about live entertainment for the area.
With the opening of New Fantasyland, were excited to introduce several new atmosphere groups that will become part of the storytelling experience youll find there, said Creative Director Reed Jones. Theyre going to bring the neighborhoods of the land to life in really fun ways.
The first of these groups, the Royal Majesty Makers, makes its debut next week, when New Fantasyland opens in previews for Magic Kingdom Park guests.
The Royal Majesty Makers engage boys and girls in random acts of royaldom, endowing them with the skills to become princes and princesses. These royal consultants, official ambassadors of Cinderellas court, inspire and delight visiting villagers with magical moments throughout the land.
Led by retired knight Sir Sterling and royal etiquette expert Lady Llewellyn, the Royal Majesty Makers also include squire extraordinaire Tobias and flirtatious lady-in-waiting Bridget. They may be found in the Castle Courtyard, conducting Knight School, delivering invitations to a royal ball, leading royal dances or even playing a game of Sir Sterling Says.
These new atmosphere acts will surely add to the wonderful memories well all be making soon in New Fantasyland!


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360 Degree photography Turntable
Started Aug 16, 2012 | Discussions thread
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Phil • Veteran Member • Posts: 3,009
Re: 360 Degree photography Turntable
IconaSys wrote:
Here's a pretty good article I found discussing how to build a manual turntable.
Again, I know you had mentioned automated however I have yet to find any automated turntables that are reasonably priced.
There's also a good possibility, within the operation weight limits, you can take the camera off something like this and replace is with a table.
That should yield a very intelligent set-up at a relatively low cost that can index, settle, and take the shot stepping through an entire sequence.
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My weekend started Friday, since I'll be in training all day Sunday.
My girlfriend and I rode the lovely Gordon Valley loop, which at 8 a.m. is cool and refreshing as well as pretty. We stopped by a bridge on Gordon Valley Rd. and discovered a couple of cherry trees bordering the creek. In stead of Gu, we ate cherries. Mmmmm.
Today hubby & I rode with the group. First ride in nearly a month in which we did not take the tandem. The ride was fast but not insane, with little wind and few cars. We did a Winters loop and went through the orchards. One of the master racers challenged me to some sprints, which I gladly accepted. That was fun. I'm still feeling my legs, always a sign that I rode harder than I'd planned. :D


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HTC Returns to Profit Despite Sales Decline
Published on: 10th Feb 2014
Note -- this news article is more than a year old.
Taiwan's HTC reported its fourth quarter results today and said that revenues fell although it was able to return to quarterly profit. The company posted an underlying operating loss.
HTC saw revenues fall to NT$42.9 billion (USD1.4 billion), from NT$60 billion a year ago. The operating loss came in at NT$1.6 billion, compared to an operating profit of NT$600 million a year earlier.
Gross margin continued to fall, down to 17.8 percent and operating margin was -3.7 percent.
Net profit came in at NT$310 million (USD10.2 million).
"We will continue to stay focused on making the best smartphone and building a compelling mid-range portfolio. Meanwhile, we are going to communicate better with consumers," said Peter Chou, HTC's CEO.
The comment about the mid-range portfolio seems to support previous statements by the CEO that the company will be moving downmarket from its flagship devices and will expand its range of cheaper devices.
The company's results presentation did not go into detail though about handset shipment volumes.


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According to the developer documentation on Apple's website: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#qa/qa1719/_index.html
Starting in iOS 5.0.1 a new "do not back up" file attribute has been introduced allowing developers to clearly specify which files should be backed up. (com.apple.MobileBackup)
I'm wondering if this is supported in PhoneGap / Cordova, as I want to be able to store some offline data (data that can be downloaded or otherwise recreated, but that the user expects to be reliably available when offline) that is not backed up on iCloud.
Persistance is clearly documented (LocalFileSystem.PERSISTENT - http://docs.phonegap.com/en/1.5.0/phonegap_file_file.md.html#LocalFileSystem) on the PhoneGap website, but there seems to be no way of ensuring a saved file is not backed up to the iCloud.


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Man to be sentenced in vehicular homicide case
SCRANTON — A Jessup man will return to Lackawanna County Court on Monday to be sentenced for the crash that killed a sister and brother from Rochester, N.Y.
Wayne Stephen Kichar, 35, was expected to be sentenced Friday by Judge Michael Barrasse on counts of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence, along with unrelated charges from two child endangerment cases.
However, a resolution could not be reached on all of the charges. Mr. Kichar is scheduled to be sentenced Monday on the crash-related counts and face trial July 7 in the other cases, Deputy District Attorney Robert Klein said.
Twins Lynn and William McKernan died in 2011 when a dump truck driven by Mr. Kichar hit their car on Interstate 84 in Dunmore. He pleaded no contest to homicide by vehicle and DUI in November.
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Manufacture: Eheim
The perfect solution to those problems with difficult-to-reach and sticking taps or priming buttons. Moving parts, which are in regular contact with water become difficult to move after some time. Therefore EHEIM has developed a water neutral spray for use with all makes of aquatic and pond filters and pumps, using a special silicon. Maintains and lubricates all moving parts for aquarium and pond filters. You can easily reach even the most inaccessible areas with the practical spray tube - just point and spray!


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BOD & COD Companies in Honduras
Category: Water & Wastewater ×
Subcategory: BOD & COD ×
Location: Latin America ×
Location: Honduras ×
Microbial Solutions Limited (MSL)
based in Yarnton, UNITED KINGDOM
Microbial Solutions Limited is a spin-out from research conducted at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, a research centre owned by the Natural Environmental Research Council located in the University of Oxford Science area. The Company has developed an innovative wastewater treatment, known as Microcycle™, which uses a patent protected collection of 'clever' ...
Bibby Scientific Limited
based in Stone, UNITED KINGDOM
Bibby Scientific focuses on the design, manufacture and distribution of four world leading benchtop laboratory equipment brands, Jenway, Stuart, Techne and Electrothermal. The Jenway extensive product range includes UV/Vis Spectrophotometers, Life Science and Environmental Spectrophotometers, Flame Photometers, Colorimeters, Portable and Laboratory meters and probes, for ...
Biowater Technology
based in Cumberland, RHODE ISLAND (USA)
BioWater Technology is a company focusing on development of sales of innovative technologies and solutions for biological treatment of water and wastewater. Products include but are not limited to: MBBR, IFAS and Package Plants. We have offices in the United States and Norway and partners and representatives around the world. We provide Combined Fixed-Film Activated ...
Ozocan (formerly Hankin Water Technologies)
based in Scarborough, ONTARIO (CANADA)
Ozocan Corporation is a leading manufacturer of Ozone Generators and Purifiers. Our Ozone Generators are used world wide in commercial, industrial, and institutional applications. The Ozocan group has provided technology and service for nearly 50 years and continues to meet the needs of our customers.Ozocan generators have been used primarily for bottled water, ...
based in Guelph, ONTARIO (CANADA)
MANTECH INC., is the global leader in simplifying laboratory and process operations for institutional, municipal and industrial sectors worldwide. Through its proven portfolio of automated multi-parameter, titration, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) instrumentation solutions, MANTECH is creating value for its clients by reducing costs and ...
Galgo (UK) Limited
based in Berkhamsted, UNITED KINGDOM
Galgo (UK) Limited are the official UK and Ireland distributor CHEMetrics Portable Water Analysis Testing Kits. Patented self-filling reagent ampoules for colourimetric water analysis. These extraordinary, snap-and-read test kits may have a lower cost per test than the labour intensive versions you may be currently using. Measure your water samples by visual colour ...
ECHO d.o.o.
based in Slovenske Konjice, SLOVENIA
ECHO design, deals with manufacture and marketing high quality, innovative instruments, software and integrated systems for biotechnology, biology, medicine, industry and environmental research. The ECHO is specialized in consulting and measuring physical and chemical parameters in the occupation and safety, control of technological processes, environmental emission and ...
K.I.Abdulkadir & Partners Co. Ltd. (KIAK)
based in Jeddah, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Incorporated in 1981, K. I. Abdulkadir & Partners Co. Ltd. is a leading supplier of analytical, Material Testing, Material Testing Nano, Environmental, Petroleum Testing, General Labware, Technical Education and Lab Furniture. KIAK represents world renowned brands in the science industry from Europe, Japan and USA to provide reliable solutions to our customers.All our ...
Skalar Analytical BV
based in Breda, NETHERLANDS
Skalar is a Dutch company, established in 1965 as a producer of analyzers for the laboratory and process industry. It has since grown into a multinational organization with its own subsidiaries in most European countries, North America and India and with over eighty representatives throughout the world. Our organization is daily focused on servicing and providing the best ...
Lemna Technologies, Inc.
based in Minneapolis, MINNESOTA (USA)
Lemna Technologies Inc. works in North America and provides both industrial and municipal wastewater treatment solutions including: water storage floating covers with a unique modular design for lagoons, ponds, basins or tanks, biological treatment, odor control, ammonia reduction, nutrient removal, gas collection, and heat retention. Lemna Technologies, Inc. has develped ...


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Comments: for 4611 NE 75th St in View Ridge, pictured above:
sublime! Clean lines of true mid-century modern architecture speaks
volumes with this modestly proportioned home. Endless walls of glass
create seamless transitions between the indoor and outdoor spaces. The
living & family rooms are centered on the double sided fireplace
and the open kitchen looks out to a spacious backyard replete with koi
pond, lush gardens and a Japanese inspired tea house designed by
conceptual artists SuttonBeresCuller. A home, garden & backyard
retreat to treasure!
Please keep in mind
that the MLS also WILL allow me the freedom to SEND you any and all of my personal picks and blogs comments etc etc of cool listings but you'll
have to email me and request that from me and then I can send those
directly TO your email. But
ONLY if I have your email.
Email me to join and to see the listings directly: email@example.com
Thanks! Tom Holst managing broker, my cell/text is: 206-841-0003.
listing (no longer available of course) was described thusly: Sensual
fully updated mid-century home with panoramic tree house view. Located
in North
Capitol Hill. Top of the line appliances including 48 inch
Wolf double oven range, 36 inch Sub-Zero refrigerator w/drawers
and separate 32 inch Sub-Zero freezer w/drawers. Designed for living
and entertaining. Original teak
floors. Each of the 3
bedrooms (actually all three could be defined as "master suites") each
with spectacular
views spanning from the Aurora Bridge, Lake Washington, UW Stadium to
downtown Bellevue. Whole house touchpad/smartphone "Control 4" Home
Automation System built in to control lights, industrial quality power
window blinds, 3 fireplaces
(2 of which are double-sided) heat, Air Conditioning, audio, video and
more. Located 5 min from 520 and I-5/I-90.NWMLS listing #446976.
Located on an 8,000 sq ft corner lot, the home is
3,500+ sq feet. Heated bath floor, infinity edge spa/tub adjacent to
see thru fireplace. 3 car parking in back.
of the houses from these lists that WAS listed, NOW SOLD but shown
per nwmls rules as "sold". It sold right
away, located in
Magnolia, punch in the numbers below to see all details:
Good luck
and contact me to list or feature properties, or to see them or write buyer's
offers on anything!! thanx: Tom: (206) 841-0003 email@example.com


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Volunteer at Finlandia
Home » Alumni and Friends » Volunteer at Finlandia
Please enter a search term to begin your search.
Alumni & Friends Volunteer Opportunities at Finlandia
Are you interested in volunteering for Finlandia? A number of university departments always welcome alumni, parents and friends who are willing to give some of their time. If any of the following opportunities seem a good fit for you, please contact the persons listed below to learn more and express your interest.
Alumni Relations & Special Events
Finnish-American Heritage Center & Archive
Special skills needed include administrative support (i.e. database maintenance), Finnish and/or Swedish language fluency, graphic design/creative ability, sewing capabilities, sound and light knowledge, technical/computer abilities, and website development/maintenance skills.
The Finnish American Reporter


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Royalty Free Music Unique To Your Project - Every Time
Royalty Free Music » Emotions » Slick » Soothing » Smooth Jazz
Royalty Free Music — Slick & Soothing & Smooth Jazz
Browse Keywords:
(How To Use Search tutorial)
Track Search Results Switch to ALBUM VIEW
The following tracks match: Smooth Jazz, Slick, Soothing
Just Say JazzEasy and mellow, this cool, unassuming jazz piece can be used across the board. Its upbeat, yet unobtrusive, tones work for corporate overviews, product montages or music-on-hold.https://www.smartsound.com/music/images/scoring.jpgSingle213-ST$ 39.95213-EX$ 59.95213-W$ 149.95Emotions: Energetic, Positive, Confident, Motivating, Refreshing, Slick, Soothing Genre: Funky, Sophisticated, Themes, Smooth Jazz, Easy-Going, Indie, Jazz Production Types: Indie Film, Short Film, On Hold Music, Background Instrument: Instrumental
Just Say Jazz from the album Scoring Essentials
Choose your license:
|Customizable with Sonicfire Pro and Quicktracks
|Unlimited lifetime customizations
|Personal and professional use
|Promote a product or service
|Videos created for a third party
|Monetized videos on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Etc.
|Display at Film Festivals
|Display in theaters
|Unlimited In One Country
|Unlimited, Internationally
|Assign Distribution Rights
|DVDs & Downloads
|Up To 10000
|Local TV/radio broadcasting/advertising
|National TV/radio broadcasting/advertising


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Got a minute?
Got a minute?
Unemployment insurance exists to help people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. It is neither severance pay nor paid vacation.
(Photo Credit: Moyan Brenn/Flickr)
An eye-popping conversation at CBS MoneyWatch starts with an employee asking the Evil HR Lady how to finagle quitting and collecting unemployment insurance to extend her time off before starting a new job. Good thing for the writer that she gets to remain anonymous. She is asking for help committing fraud.
Unemployment Benefits
The federal Department of Labor website explains in clear and easy to understand terms: "The Department of Labor's Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs provide unemployment benefits to eligible workers who become unemployed through no fault of their own, and meet certain other eligibility requirements."
Unemployment benefits are a safety net for workers who are, for example, downsized. Employers and employees both pay a tax to help fund unemployment benefits for those who need them and are eligible to receive them.
Unfortunately, federal and state governments use up resources tracking down improper payments to ineligible recipients. Not all improper payments are the result of fraud, and some improper payments are recovered. It takes time and money to track down improper and fraudulent payments, decide whether to recover or waive the payments, and go about attempting to recover payments. Sometimes recovery efforts are successful, sometimes they are not.
You can see how your state is doing by clicking on your state at the Department of Labor's State List.
Fired for Cause
The anonymous writer wanted to make a deal with her employer that she would work for another five months, then be fired for no cause when she really wanted to quit. If she were fired for cause, she would be ineligible to receive unemployment benefits. "Cause" means you did something wrong and you were fired because of your mistakes, inadequacies, or inability to do your job well.
If you quit your job, then you have not left your job "through no fault of your own." You choose to quit, you don't get unemployment benefits.
If your employer downsizes or has to let you go but you have done nothing wrong, you are probably eligible for unemployment benefits.
Quitting Your Job
Evil HR Lady does mention the possible scenarios in which negotiating termination and unemployment benefits may be appropriate:
"That is not to say there aren't times and place to negotiate an exit that will allow you to receive unemployment -- there certainly are. For instance, if you were on the verge of being fired, or if your boss was causing you extreme psychological or physical trauma and you needed out of that job immediately for your own well-being."
Outside of that, if you are planning on taking time off, save your money in anticipation of doing so.
Tell Us What You Think
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Welcome to Stone Soup Cafe & Market
993 S. Cooper
Tues & Wed 7a-3p
Thurs- Sat 7a-9p
Sunday 9a-3p
Dinner Specials for May 28, 2016
Roasted Pork Loin & Dressing
Chicken Parmesan
Crawfish Bisque
Extra Special
• SoYo Chili Dog with Chips- local smoked sausage stuffed with cheddar & kraut, bacon wrapped and topped with chili
· Grilled Chicken Philly-grilled onions, mushrooms, & bell peppers topped with provolone cheese. Served with Chips
· Blackened Catfish Acadian-blackened catfish filet on a bed of rice, topped with a creamy shrimp and crawfish Cajun sauce. Served with 1 veggie
· Gulf Shrimp & Grit Girl Grits-topped with parmesan cheese and a creamy lemon bacon sauce. Served with 1 veggie
Tomato Salad
Kale Salad
Turnip Greens
Watermelon Feta Salad
Potato Salad
Purple Hull Peas
Lentil Salad
Pickled Beets
Lima Bean Confetti Salad
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Macaroni Salad
Roasted Brussels Sprout Salad
Pasta Salad
Mashed Potatoes
Side Salad
Cucumber Salad
Spinach Bacon Salad
Tomato Pie
Fried Green Tomatoes
Baked Cinnamon Apples
Sammies- served with chips
• Grilled Reuben 9
• BLT w/ Egg 8
• Grilled Shrimp Po' Boy 10
• French Dip 9
• Cuban 9
• Grilled PB & J 7
• Adult Grilled Cheese 9
Pizzas - 7in. Roasted Garlic Naan Bread, served with side salad
• BBQ Chicken 9
• Margherita 8
• 5 Cheese 8
Beer List
Bud Light
Miller Lite
Blue Moon
Dos XX
Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan
Wiseacre Tiny Bomb
Wiseacre Gotta Get Up to Get Down
Lasgunitas IPA
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Angry Orchard Crisp Apple
Not Your Father's Root Beer
Ghost River Golden
Ghost River Riverbank Red


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I've been working my butt off to get Dead Wake game in releasable shape (target: next Saturday if everything goes well). I took a small break now to write this blog post. I started browsing indiegamer forums and googled a bit about sales of multiplayer only games (out of curiosity, Dead Wake won't have the multiplayer mode) where the message was that multiplayer is not a good route. Interestingly, there's a growing number of board game makers that think that designing physical board games is not done for the money (since there ain't money to get). These guys think that doing board games in the video game industry could be good (Reiner Knizia, one of the world's most known board game designer, also pointed out this same in one interview – unfortunately I don't have link at hand right now). And physical board games are multiplayer games…
To me this sounds like a mixed message: common answer at the indiegamer forums at it pretty much can't be done. Tribal Trouble sold $60,000 in one year (several fulltime and part time developers), which doesn't sound too much indeed (and they have single player option too).
My zombie-friend Nexic has been working on his free zombie MMO – which I think is a really cool concept (and even though the game is free, I recommend you buy stuff or donate to this guy, since any zombie game maker deserves the money, right?). In one Indiegamer thread, Nexic pointed out that it's a load of work to make a zombie MMO, but that the money is decent. I don't know how much Nexic makes money but I suppose the interesting concept and the fact that the game is free are helping him to build an audience. There aren't any zombie MMOs in the world, so Nexic has a small monopoly right now (which is good in any business) – and it can help him.
With all these posts and comments, I'm pondering that making an online-multiplayer game only (PC by indie) is risky, but it could also potentially wield a big success if pulled right. Battlefield 1942 (non-indie game by still) was said that it will "never work", but after the launch… it started like a new genre in the field of gaming. (And is continuing even more). Could same happen in the indie field?
I guess a multiplayer-only (indie) game could require:
- Free (but selling stuff inside game, ranging from visual aids to perhaps some attributes or new expansion packs or similar)
- Community building right from the start (how this is done is not the topic of this blog post…)
There's not many competitors, but attaining the critical mass can be really tricky… but a free fun game. Made for the community. Maybe it could work?
Has it worked?
Your thoughts?


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An aerial photo showing the damage track of the Shawnee Tornado that struck on May 19, 2013, in Oklahoma.
The May 18-21, 2013, tornado outbreak was significant, affecting parts of the Midwestern U.S. and lower Great Plains. This event occurred just days after a deadly outbreak struck Texas and surrounding Southern states on May 15. On May 16, a slow moving trough (an elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure) crossed the Rocky Mountains and traversed the western Great Plains. Initially, activity was limited to scattered severe storms; however, by May 18, the threat for organized severe thunderstorms and tornadoes greatly increased. A few tornadoes touched down that day in Kansas and Nebraska, including an EF4 near Rozel, Kan. Maintaining its slow eastward movement, the system produced another round of severe weather nearby. Activity significantly increased on May 19, with tornadoes confirmed in Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. In Oklahoma, two strong tornadoes (one was rated EF4) caused significant damage in rural areas of the eastern Oklahoma City metropolitan area; two people lost their lives in Shawnee. However, the most dramatic events occurred on May 20 as a large EF5 tornado devastated parts of Moore, Okla. Twenty-four people were killed and thousands of structures were destroyed--many were completely flattened. Several other tornadoes occurred during the day in areas further eastward, though the majority were weak and caused little damage.
This image was taken by Roger M. Wakimoto while performing tornado research for the University of Colorado, Boulder. Wakimoto is the assistant director for the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences.
You can read about NSF funding for tornado research in the Discovery story Long-term federal investments improve severe weather prediction. (Date of Image: May 2013) [Image 2 of 6 related images. See Image 3.]


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Mary Harron
Indie Theater Roundup: 7 Movies to See This Week
By Rossiter Drake on January 12, 2012 6:00 PM
The third and final German Gems, a single-day showcase for new and vital German-language cinema, arrives Saturday for its farewell appearance at the Castro Theatre. Otherwise, it's a week of birthdays at the city's historic movie palace.
1. Army of Darkness
Where: Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., 415-621-6120
When: Jan. 13