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Recent Posts
29 October 2009
24 October 2009
Arctic Circle Badges
Arctic Circle Badges also up in my shop! And behind these lovely bits is a preview of one of the fabrics I designed and printed for a super secret upcoming project.
Arctic Circle Mini Mirrors in the Shop
Arctic Circle design mini mirrors are up in my etsy! These are made from one of the Arctic Circle patterns I created for I Heart the Arctic (which is going to print really really soon). These are cute pocket sized mirrors (2.25" in diameter) and extra pretty.
I got my copy of Uppercase Issue 3 in the mail yesterday. It looks lovely through and through. My illustration for a re-design of MWard's Album "Transfiguration of Vincent" is on page 27.
22 October 2009
KIND Boutique, Site Illustration Sneak Peek
I've been working with the lovely Erin of KIND Boutique on some illustrations for her new online shop! They are coming along so nicely, and should be up soon. Here's a sneak peak of the vintage page header and new Adella Ad. KIND stocks designers who are working with sustainable fabrics, and work in an eco-friendly mindset. Keep an eye on KIND, great things are happening!
I went on a super secret adventure with work today. Met secretively at Grand Central in the morning and took a train upstate to go to Dia:Beacon it was an art kid nerd out moment, it's a HUGE renovated Nabisco factory that has been turned into this naturally lit art dream. Above is one of my favorite exhibitions an installation by Imi Knoebel called 24 colors-for Blinky. Each of those panels is at least 6-8 feet tall. The center is filled with different types of art ranging from light installations, to intensely calculated drawings on walls, to monoliths, and 20 foot deep sculptures that give you vertigo just looking at them. It was a wonderfully inspirational day trip. If you're in the New York area, you should plan a trip up yourself.
21 October 2009
Real Mitts in the Mail
Yesterday I got a real printed Arctic Oven Mitt in the mail! I'm so excited with how these turned out. The lovely people over at Envelop did a stellar job. Get your own set here
19 October 2009
Arctic Circle Pillow Covers
I am hard at work finishing the "I Heart The Arctic" Book, it's filled with illustrations and patterns inspired by stories of the arctic. In the meantime head over to my Envelop Shop to see these Arctic Circle pillow covers. I designed them from drawings that are in the book. Wonderful things are coming, hang onto your hood.
15 October 2009
I was invited to create a piece for RVLVR-- an experimental project consisting of different artists using the same given picture material to create new artworks. It's a project curated by Marek Haiduk and sponsored by istockphoto. This piece is also up here and available as a print here
14 October 2009
New Business Cards!
(The person in the top right (above) is our mail carrier, I think she's suspicious
that I was taking pictures of her from my window... )
I got new business cards printed! They came in the mail today and smell like newly cut and printed paper..mmm. These ones are equipped with all the information you could ever need to cyberstalk me with very minimal effort. Send me your address if you'd like one.
I also got some postcards printed which means that new etsy orders will come with extra goodies!
11 October 2009
Cool Kids Climb Mountains Print
A print of this illustration "Climbers" / Cool Kids Climb Mountains, is now available through Society 6. It's excellent fun.
09 October 2009
Amy Borrell TiPi Love
I stumbled upon Amy Borrell's site Cake with Giants the other day (how I hadn't seen her before, I have no idea). She makes beautiful things. These hand sewn Tipi / Teepee sets are wonderful. I want to line a whole windowsill in them. They're available in her shop.
Popshot Magazine
Issue 2 of Popshot Magazine came in the post today! Popshot is a UK based poetry and illustration publication whose self described purpose is being "gently intent on hoodwinking poetry back from the clammy hands of tweed jackets and school anthologies...We are here to showcase the poetry of today and tomorrow with the whimsical arms of illustration wrapped tightly round it"
The new issue is filled to the brim with talented illustrators.
This piece above by Valero Doval is one of my favorites!
This post is also up here
08 October 2009
Magical Mini Mirrors
I made my first batch of mini mirrors this week! I just did a few to start, the 3 starters are "Arctic Girl" "Armadillo" and "Garden Pattern" They're each 2.25" in diameter and are up in my etsy shop.
Here's my semi-messy cotton candy pink desk where all the action happens.
05 October 2009
Spriggy Flower Pattern
I was feeling a bit under the weather on Sunday so I spent the majority of the afternoon drawing and watching movies in bed. Here's a pretty spriggy flower pattern, also up on flickr.
03 October 2009
The NY Art Book Fair
Saturday Morning, I headed up to Long Island City to go to PS. 1 for the NY Art Book Fair (sponsored by Printed Matter this year). It was incredible! Hundreds of presses, booksellers, and independent artists / publishers from all over the world. Above is what came home with me. a Mini Book from: Nathaniel Russell, a fold out Poster size booklet and letterpressed postcard from Rachel Domm, a Book called "My Things" by Gabriela Gründler published by Edition Patrick Frey, and a wonderful book by artist Ryoko Aoki, called Chain Ring that is full of drawings, notes and illustrated bits. Also loads of beautifully printed business cards, pamphlets and publication lists. All in all, a very crazy, inspiring trip. Let's get bookmaking!
02 October 2009
Arctic Oven Mitts on Envelop
I designed some super chilly icy oven mitts over at Envelop. Go get em. They're icy mitts to handle extra hot things
Shiny Squirrel Pop Up Store Poster
The Shiny Squirrel is launching a pop up store! It's going to be a kid friendly tea party celebration. Here's the poster I did for the launch party!
If you're in the NY area mark this down:
Sunday, Oct 18th
Corduroy Kid
231 5th Ave / Brooklyn
Here's the Email version too:
If you're in the NY area mark this down:
Sunday, Oct 18th
Corduroy Kid
231 5th Ave / Brooklyn
Here's the Email version too:
01 October 2009
Sheepless.org is the new online magazine / home for environmental activism / community / news / skillshare headquarters, as part of Sheepless Co. I've been contributing illustrations in anticipation of their official online launch, and it's here! We officially launched this week. There are some amazing articles on activism, community, environmentalism and businesses that are awesome. Be prepared for great things.
The above illustration is for the article "Self, and Importance. A call to reflection and action"
written by Scott Ballum (founder of Sheepless.org, and an all around stand up chap). More illustrations are on the way. I'm proud to be a contributor to this amazing effort.

subset: commoncrawl


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COK Investigation Exposes Cruelty to Baby Birds inside "Humane" Bell & Evans Hatchery
In 2013, a Compassion Over Killing investigator worked inside a chicken hatchery owned by Bell & Evans, a company that prides itself for its so-called "humane animal welfare." Our undercover video, however, exposes the harsh realities forced upon these baby birds on their very first day of life as they emerge from their shells, destined to be raised for their meat.
According to Bell & Evans' website, its animal welfare standard "insures [sic] all of our chickens are humanely raised and compassionately handled, in a minimal-stress environment, throughout their lives." A video posted on the company's site further explains that in its hatcheries, the newly-hatched "peeps" are "carefully sorted from their shells," then counted and "placed" in baskets headed for their new "home."
Sadly, what our investigator witnessed and documented tells a different story. Inside this Bell & Evans facility, where an estimated 20 million baby birds are hatched each year, our video shows chicks being treated like mere inanimate objects:
- Baby birds who are sick, injured, or otherwise deemed unfit for processing being dumped into a grinder while fully conscious
- Hours-old chicks jostled from machine to machine in a highly mechanized process
- Chicks with bloody, open wounds or other apparent injuries, deformities, or illnesses
- Dead chicks, who did not survive this harsh process, left in baskets with live birds
Watch our video and you decide – does this look humane or compassionate to you?
No matter how it may be marketed to consumers, animal cruelty is standard practice in the chicken industry.
More than 8 billion birds are raised and killed for food each year in the U.S. – and with virtually no legal protections whatsoever, their short lives are filled with misery. The most effective way each of us can help end this abuse is to simply leave chickens, and all animals, off our plates.
Start today: Visit TryVeg.com.


text: This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-03-293SP entitled 'Highlights of a GAO Forum: Mergers and Transformation: Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal Agencies' which was released on November 14, 2002. This text file was formatted by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this document to firstname.lastname@example.com. Highlights of GAO-03-293SP November 2002 HIGHLIGHTS OF A GAO FORUM: Mergers and Transformation: Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal Agencies: Why GAO Convened this Forum: The early years of the 21st century are proving to be a period of profound transition for our world, our country, and our government. The federal government needs to engage in a comprehensive review, reassessment, reprioritization, and as appropriate, re-engineering of what the government does, how it does business, and in some cases, who does the government's business. Leading public and private organizations in the United States and abroad have found that for organizations to successfully transform themselves they must often fundamentally change their culture. On September 24, 2002, GAO convened a forum to identify and discuss useful practices and lessons learned from major private and public sector organizational mergers, acquisitions, and transformations that federal agencies could implement to successfully transform their cultures and a new Department of Homeland Security could use to merge its various originating components into a unified department. The invited participants have experience managing or studying large-scale organizational mergers, acquisitions, and transformations. What Participants Said: There are a number of key practices that have consistently been found at the center of successful mergers, acquisitions, and transformations and can serve as a basis for subsequent consideration as federal agencies seek to transform their cultures in response to governance challenges. These practices include the following: 1. Ensure top leadership drives the transformation. Leadership must set the direction, pace, and tone and provide a clear, consistent rationale that brings everyone together behind a single mission; 2. Establish a coherent mission and integrated strategic goals to guide the transformation. Together the mission and goals define the culture and serve as a vehicle for employees to unite and rally around; 3. Focus on a key set of principles and priorities at the outset of the transformation. A clear set of principles and priorities serve as a framework to help the organization create a new culture and drive employee behaviors; 4. Set implementation goals and a timeline to build momentum and show progress from day one. Goals and a timeline are essential because the transformation could take years to complete; 5. Dedicate an implementation team to manage the transformation process. A strong and stable team is important to ensure that the transformation receives the needed attention to be sustained and successful; 6. Use the performance management system to define responsibility and assure accountability for change. A "line of sight" shows how team, unit, and individual performance can contribute to overall organizational results; 7. Establish a communication strategy to create shared expectations and report related progress. The strategy must reach out to employees, customers, and stakeholders and engage them in a two-way exchange; 8. Involve employees to obtain their ideas and gain their ownership for the transformation. Employee involvement strengthens the process and allows them to share their experiences and shape policies; and 9. Build a world-class organization. Building on a vision of improved performance, the organization adopts the most efficient, effective, and economical personnel, system, and process changes and continually seeks to implement best practices; www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-293SP. To view the full report, including the scope and methodology, click on the link above. For more information, contact J. Christopher Mihm at (202) 512-6806 or email@example.com. November 14, 2002: Subject: Highlights of a GAO Forum on Mergers and Transformation: Lessons: Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal: Agencies: The early years of the 21ST century are proving to be a period of profound transition for our world, our country, and our government. This transition is being driven by a number of key trends, including global interdependence; diverse, diffuse, and asymmetrical security threats; changes in the nature of the economy; rapidly evolving science and technologies; dramatic shifts in the age and composition of our population; important quality of life issues; and evolving government structures and concepts. Given the challenges these trends present, the federal government needs to engage in a comprehensive review, reassessment, reprioritization, and as appropriate, re-engineering of what the government does, how it does business, and in some cases, who does the government's business. Leading public and private organizations in the United States and abroad have found that for organizations to successfully transform themselves, they must often fundamentally change their cultures so they are more results oriented, customer focused, and collaborative in nature. The nation's response to the September 11TH terrorist attacks and the continuing consideration of how best to structure a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are manifestations of the transition and transformation under way in the federal government. The creation of DHS will represent an enormous management challenge. Over 170,000 federal employees from over 20 originating agencies or their components with differing missions, cultures, systems, and procedures will need to be efficiently and effectively integrated into a single department. While the events and issues surrounding the creation of DHS represent a major transformation challenge for the U.S. government, there are many other such challenges that also need to be addressed. On September 24, 2002, GAO convened a forum to identify and discuss useful practices and lessons learned from major private and public sector organizational mergers, acquisitions, and transformations that federal agencies could implement to successfully transform their cultures and a DHS could use to merge its various originating components into a unified department. The invited participants were a cross section of leaders in the public and private sectors who have had experience managing large-scale organizational mergers, acquisitions, and transformations, as well as leading academics and others who have studied these efforts. As agreed with the participants, the purpose of the discussion was not to reach a consensus, but rather to engage in an open, nonattribution-based dialogue. Therefore, appendix I of this letter summarizes the collective discussion and does not necessarily represent the views of any individual participant, including GAO. Many major mergers and acquisitions in the private sector do not live up to their expectations or potential. In the short term, the experience of major private sector mergers and acquisitions is that productivity and effectiveness actually decline in the period immediately following a merger and acquisition. This happens for a number of reasons. For example, attention is concentrated on critical and immediate integration issues and diverted from longer-term mission issues. In addition, employees and managers inevitably worry about their place in the new organization. The key is to adopt practices that minimize the duration and the significance of the reduced productivity and effectiveness and ultimately create a new organization that is more than the "sum of its parts.": The research suggests that the failure to adequately address--and often even consider--a wide variety of people and cultural issues is at the heart of unsuccessful mergers, acquisitions, and transformations. But this does not have to be the case. While there is no one right way to manage a successful merger, acquisition, or transformation, the experiences of both successful and unsuccessful efforts suggest that there are practices that are key to their success. These key practices, detailed in appendix I, can serve as a basis for subsequent consideration as federal agencies seek to transform their cultures in response to governance challenges. These practices include the following. 1. Ensure top leadership drives the transformation; 2. Establish a coherent mission and integrated strategic goals to guide the transformation; 3. Focus on a key set of principles and priorities at the outset of the transformation; 4. Set implementation goals and a timeline to build momentum and show progress from day one; 5. Dedicate an implementation team to manage the transformation process; 6. Use the performance management system to define responsibility and assure accountability for change; 7. Establish a communication strategy to create shared expectations and report related progress; 8. Involve employees to obtain their ideas and gain their ownership for the transformation; and 9. Build a world-class organization. A successful merger and acquisition in the private sector can be very difficult. In fact, successful merger and transformation efforts can be much more difficult to achieve in the public sector than in the private sector. Public sector efforts must contend with more stakeholders and power centers, less management flexibility, and greater transparency than in the private sector. Moreover, creating a successful DHS may be especially difficult because of the size, complexity, and importance of the effort. The continuing discussion about how best to structure DHS has raised questions regarding how the Congress can best meet its oversight, authorizing, and appropriation responsibilities for the new department. As currently envisioned, DHS will be comprised of over 20 federal agencies or their components with numerous congressional committees of jurisdiction. Given this significant reorganization of the executive branch, the Congress should explore ways to facilitate conducting its responsibilities in a more consolidated and integrated manner. Whether or not the Congress does so could serve to have an impact on the effective implementation and oversight of DHS. Moving forward, GAO will continue to play a professional, objective, and constructive role in assisting the Congress and the executive branch as agencies implement transformation initiatives and DHS is created and becomes operational. For example, working with a wide range of interested parties, we will seek to identify specific implementation steps along with illustrative private and public sector examples for the key practices raised at the forum. Appendix I provides highlights of the discussion organized around the key practices forum participants identified, as well as subsequent comments we received from the participants on a draft summary of the forum discussion. Appendix II provides a list of the participants and observers. For additional information on our work on federal agency transformation efforts and strategic human capital management, please contact J. Christopher Mihm, Director, Strategic Issues, on (202) 512-6806 or at email@example.com. I wish to thank each of the participants in the forum for taking the time to share their knowledge and to provide their insights and perspectives on the important matters this document discusses. I look forward to working with them on other important issues of mutual interest and concern in the future. David M. Walker Comptroller General of the United States Signed by David M. Walker [End of figure] Mergers and Transformation Forum: Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal Agencies: Highlights of Forum Discussion: The forum's overall purpose was to identify and discuss useful practices and lessons learned from major private and public sector organizational mergers, acquisitions, and transformations that federal agencies could implement to successfully transform their cultures and a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could use to merge its various originating components into a unified department. The forum neither sought nor achieved consensus on all of the issues identified through the discussion. In fact, no two merger, acquisition, or transformation efforts are exactly alike and the "best" approach for any given effort therefore depends upon a variety of factors specific to each context. Nevertheless, there was general agreement on a number of key practices that have consistently been found at the center of successful mergers, acquisitions, and transformations. These key practices can serve as a basis for subsequent consideration as agencies transform their cultures to be prepared to address governance challenges. These practices include the following. 1. Ensure top leadership drives the transformation: There was widespread agreement that strong, inspirational leadership is indispensable to successful transformations. Leadership must set the direction, pace, and tone for the transformation and is essential to provide a clear, consistent rationale that brings together the originating components behind a single mission to guide the transformation. By its very nature, the transformation process entails fundamental change. Top leadership that is clearly and personally leading the change presents stability and provides an identifiable source for employees to rally around during tumultuous times. Consistent leadership helps the process stay the course and can help bridge the differences in leadership and management styles among the originating components. This view is consistent with the views of participants at a recent GAO-sponsored roundtable where they agreed that it was important to elevate, integrate, and institutionalize responsibility for transformation and management issues in agencies across the federal government.[Footnote 1] While the indispensable role of top leadership was cited (in the federal context, the agency Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and other high-level political appointees), it was also noted that it is important to have a cadre of champions (such as political and career executives) from within the organization to work with top leadership to ensure changes are thoroughly implemented and sustained over time. For example, one participant mentioned a senior executive council that was particularly useful in developing leadership's direction and communicating its position. The participants also stressed that while fundamental change in organizations can take years, it is important to move quickly to both "make a statement" about the importance of change and top leadership's conviction to making it, as well as provide early successes. Thus, participants agreed that speed is critically important and decisions about matters such as the basic processes and systems to adopt for the new organization need to be made quickly. For example, an "80/20 approach" was mentioned as a general guide in quickly making decisions. That is, it is more important to take prudent, managed risks and make decisions quickly with the expectation that 80 percent of them will prove to have been the right decision over time, rather than delay decisions in order to get 100 percent of them right. Thus, while making decisions naturally entails risk to the organization, the benefits of acting quickly outweigh those of waiting for the "perfect solution." The participants also noted that top leadership needs to set clear priorities and spend the bulk of its time addressing the most critical issues. Too often, it was noted, top leadership tends to expend unnecessary time and effort on easy and mundane aspects of the integration rather than directly tackle the difficult cultural issues that will ultimately determine if the integration is successful. On the other hand, a successful merger, acquisition, and transformation process will take years and the pace cannot be forced. (Prior GAO work has noted that the experiences of successful major change management initiatives in large private and public sector organizations suggest it can often take at least 5 to 7 years until such initiatives are fully implemented and the related cultures are transformed in a sustainable manner.) One participant noted that the speed of the transformation process is an important difference between the public and private sectors. The private sector is typically thought to be able to implement change more quickly because there are fewer issues with public policy implications that arise during the merger, acquisition, or transformation; fewer legal and political constraints to be addressed; and less transparency to outside parties. Nevertheless, the public sector needs to find ways to act quickly and better manage risk. 2. Establish a coherent mission and integrated strategic goals to guide the transformation: The participants agreed that the mission and strategic goals of a transformed organization must become the focus of the transformation, define the culture, and serve as a vehicle for employees to unite and rally around. Mission clarity is especially essential to define the purpose of the transformation to employees, customers, and stakeholders. In addition, the strategic goals must align with and support the mission and serve as the continuing, visible guideposts for decisionmaking. The mission and strategic goals must be clear to employees, customers, and stakeholders and be seen as the driving force of the changes that are being made. A well-defined mission and strategic goals also are essential to helping the new organization and its customers and stakeholders make intelligent trade-offs among short-and long-term wants, needs, and affordability and to ensuring that program and resource commitments made early in the transformation process are sustainable over the long run. The mission and strategic goals are also important because affected organizations and employees may not at first see a direct personal connection to the transformation or may have other responsibilities separate from the purpose of the transformation. In successful transformation efforts, developing, communicating, and constantly reinforcing the mission and strategic goals give employees a sense of what the organization intends to accomplish, as well as help employees figure out how their positions fit in with the new organization and what they need to do differently to help the new organization be successful. Participants noted that in the public sector, the potential of the mission and strategic goals to unite and motivate the workforce is extraordinary. Patriotism can be an especially powerful unifying theme for public sector employees. In particular, new DHS employees can be shown the direct connection between their work and protecting the security of the American people, making a difference in people's lives, and being a part of history. 3. Focus on a key set of principles and priorities at the outset of the transformation: In bringing together the originating components, the new organization must have a clear set of principles and priorities that serve as a framework to help the organization create a new culture and drive employee behaviors. Leadership identifies these principles and priorities at the outset of the transformation. These principles and priorities range from the core values that are fundamental to the organization to the color of any uniforms. Principles are the core values of the new organization and they define the attributes that are intrinsically important to what the new organization does and how it will do it. They represent institutional beliefs and boundaries. A set of core values becomes embedded in every aspect of the organization and, like the mission and strategic goals, can serve as an anchor that remains valid and enduring while organizations, personnel, programs, and processes may change. For example, a participant cited "success of our customers" as a core value in a recent merger and acquisition and this value was reflected in the employees' work and the culture of the new organization. In developing priorities, leadership should engage employees to learn about what is important to them and what should be included in the new organization. For example, leadership should learn about the symbols that are important to employees. One participant mentioned that employees might want to retain a style or color of a uniform that is based on long-standing tradition, but would be willing to accept the new organization's badge for all employees to wear. 4. Set implementation goals and a timeline to build momentum and show progress from day one: The participants stressed that the merger, acquisition, and transformation process is a substantial commitment that could take years before it is completed and must be carefully and closely managed. As a result, it is essential to establish over the long term action- oriented implementation goals and a timeline with milestone dates to track the organization's progress towards its intermediate and long- term transformation goals. By demonstrating progress towards these transformation goals, the organization builds momentum and demonstrates that real progress is being made. In addition, having implementation goals and milestone dates helps pinpoint performance shortfalls and gaps and suggests midcourse corrections, including any needed adjustments to the organization's future goals and milestones. The participants also agreed that as part of developing the implementation goals and the timeline, it was helpful to think in terms of multiple "Day Ones" for the entire transformation process. The point of thinking in terms of multiple Day Ones is to determine--and focus attention squarely on--critical phases and the essential activities that need to be completed by and on any given date. This is especially true for every major, publicly evident milestone. For example, on the first day of operation--the most prominent public milestone--such activities include determining who will speak for the organization, what information will be provided, and how questions will be addressed. One participant noted that in the private sector, leadership does not begin a merger and acquisition until they know clearly how to launch it and have set a timeline for what they want to accomplish and by when. For private sector mergers and acquisitions, the first Day One is in the early due diligence stage and subsequent Day Ones include the public announcement of a planned merger and acquisition, the ratification of a formal agreement and its effective date, as well as dates that map the key implementation milestones. At a minimum, successful mergers and acquisitions have careful and thorough 30-, 60- , and 90-day plans in place well before the effective implementation date. Thinking in terms of multiple Day Ones may prove a challenge for the federal government, where Day One is usually defined as the effective date of the new organization as specified in statute. While participants offered different perspectives on what is needed to be accomplished by that Day One--ranging from establishing the leadership and infrastructure for the organization to installing uniform telephone, E-mail, and computer systems--there was consensus that the first step is defining the mission of the transformed organization to communicate a common sense of purpose. 5. Dedicate an implementation team to manage the transformation process: There was widespread acknowledgment among participants that dedicating a strong and stable implementation team that will be responsible for the transformation's day-to-day management is important to ensuring that it receives the focused, full-time attention needed to be sustained and successful. A key responsibility of the team is to be able to answer questions from employees and other stakeholders on the transformation process. The implementation team is also important to ensuring that various change initiatives are sequenced and implemented in a coherent and integrated way. Because a transformation process is a massive undertaking, the team must have direct access and be accountable to top leadership. In turn, top leadership must vest the team with the necessary authority and resources to set priorities, make timely decisions, and move quickly to implement top leadership's decisions regarding the transformation. The team leader is a full-time job and should be dedicated for the duration of the transformation process. The size of the implementation team needs to be scaled to the size of the merger, acquisition, or transformation effort. For example, a participant from the private sector noted that a small merger might require only 20 to 30 team members to implement whereas a merger of two major corporations might require over 2,000 individuals to be involved at various points. The composition of the implementation team is also important because of the visual sign it communicates regarding which components are dominant and subordinate or whether the new organization is a "merger of equals." In this latter case, the team should consist of a balance of employees from the various components, rather than just one. This is important to help employees see that they are being represented and that their views are being considered in the decision- making process. An implementation team that has a disproportionate number of members from one of the originating components could convey the unintended impression that that component is dominating the process. The implementation team is also a visible sign that top leadership considers team building in itself to be important and values this approach to carrying out the transformation process and to conducting future business. In the private sector, an implementation team in some form is ideally already in place and fully operating well before a merger and acquisition is publicly announced. This team has a key role in overseeing the due diligence that is part of a successful merger and acquisition. The due diligence should include not only the key financial matters that are central to any transaction, but also important organizational and cultural matters that indicate the forthcoming integration challenges and opportunities. 6. Use the performance management system to define responsibility and assure accountability for change: Participants agreed that the new organization's performance management system must create a "line of sight" showing how team, unit, and individual performance can contribute to overall organizational results. The performance management system can help manage and direct the transformation process. The system serves as the basis for setting expectations for employees' roles in the transformation process. It also evaluates individual performance and contributions to the success of the transformation process and ultimately, organizational results. To be successful, transformation efforts must have leaders, managers, and employees who have the individual competencies to integrate and create synergy among the multiple organizations involved in the transformation effort. These successful efforts measure individual performance and contributions on competencies such as change management, cultural sensitivity, teamwork and collaboration, and information sharing. Leaders, managers, and employees who demonstrate these competencies are rewarded for their success in contributing to the achievement of the transformation process. In this regard, GAO has reported that agencies in other countries use performance agreements that articulate specific competencies as a tool to link employees' roles and responsibilities to specific organizational initiatives and desired outcomes and then evaluate employee contributions to those initiatives.[Footnote 2] For example, in the United Kingdom, executives in the Senior Civil Service are evaluated on and rewarded for their demonstration of competencies such as "adopting a leadership style to suit different people, cultures, and situations." In the Province of Ontario, Canada, senior executives and some managers link commitments contained in their individual performance plans to key provincial priorities such as fostering a culture of innovation. In the United States, GAO has found that there are significant opportunities to use the performance management system to explicitly link senior executive expectations for performance to results-oriented organizational goals.[Footnote 3] There is a need to hold senior executives accountable for demonstrating competencies in leading and facilitating change and fostering collaboration both within and across organizational boundaries to achieve results. Expectations such as these will be critical to achieving transformation changes. 7. Establish a communication strategy to create shared expectations and report related progress: There was consensus that having an effective and ongoing internal and external communication strategy is essential to making transformation happen. In fact, given the importance of an effective communication effort, one participant observed that a successful communication effort will require twice the time and effort that was at first planned--no matter how ambitious the original plan was. Communication is most effective when done early, clearly, often, and is downward, upward, and lateral. Participants noted that the organization must develop a comprehensive communication strategy that reaches out to employees, customers, and stakeholders and seeks to genuinely engage them in the transformation process. Communication is not about just "pushing the message out," but it should facilitate a two-way honest exchange with and allow for feedback from the employees, customers, and stakeholders. This communication is central to forming the effective internal and external partnerships that are vital to the success of any organization. Communicating with employees must include topics such as the new organization's strategic goals, customer service, and in particular, employee concerns. It is important to help employees understand how the changes from the transformation process will affect them and to address the immediate and natural question: "What's in it for me?" Employees will be concerned about whether their jobs will be affected, what their rights and protections will be, or how their responsibilities might change with the new organization. According to one participant, private sector experience with mergers and acquisitions suggests that over 40 percent of executives in acquired companies leave within the first year and 75 percent within the first 3 years. While some turnover is to be expected and is appropriate, the new organization must "re-recruit" its key talent to limit the loss of needed individuals who leave because they do not see their place in the new organization. Communicating with customers and stakeholders should also be a top priority and is central to forming the partnerships that are needed to develop and implement the organization's strategies. Participants suggested ways to keep customers and stakeholders informed and engaged in the transformation process through satellite broadcasts, town hall meetings, Internet sites, and newsletters sent out via E-mail to explain the reasons behind the changes occurring with the transformation. Importantly, if the organization makes the commitment to communicate with employees, customers, and stakeholders from the beginning, it must continue to do so or risk losing internal and external credibility. A communication strategy is especially crucial in the public sector where policymaking and program management demands transparency and a full range of stakeholders and interested parties are concerned not only with what results are to be achieved, but also which processes are to be used to achieve those results. This demand for transparency is a fact that needs to be accepted in any public sector transformation. Leadership can lead by example by creating transparency and engaging in open and two-way communication. One federal participant said that during the transformation he was leading, he fostered open communication by widely disseminating information on his plans when still in draft form. This openness gave employees and other stakeholders an opportunity to provide early input and shape transformation efforts. In addition, employee anxiety about what changes were occurring and why was reduced. Finally, this openness helped top leadership provide a context for its plans rather than having that context be framed by rumors and partial information. 8. Involve employees to obtain their ideas and gain their ownership for the transformation: There was a general consensus among the participants that the new organization must involve employees in the merger, acquisition, or transformation process from the beginning to achieve their ownership for the changes that are occurring in the organization. Moreover, employee involvement strengthens the transformation process by including frontline perspectives and experiences. By participating in transformation task teams, employees have additional opportunities to share their experiences and shape policies and procedures as they are being developed. While it is an important investment to involve employees in the transformation process, there are cautions. Day-to-day operations, service quality, and mission accomplishment must continue to take first priority. Organizations and their employees must guard against being so involved in implementing their transformation initiatives that they lose sight of the fundamental reason for the transformation--improved results. In addition, there tends to be a relatively small group of employees in every organization who will resist any meaningful change and will not or cannot buy into the transformation no matter how compelling the case for change may be. This group of employees may try to "wait out" the transformation and think that it will pass without taking hold. Ultimately, these employees either must accept the changes under way or be helped to move elsewhere within the organization or out of it. Finally, especially while in the midst of the transformation process, the organization should not ignore valuable traditional activities, events, and rituals that are important to employees, such as employee recognition ceremonies. These activities help to provide a sense that the new organization, while becoming fundamentally different from what it once was, will nonetheless retain positive elements of the old organization. 9. Build a world-class organization: Successful change efforts start with a vision of radically improved performance and the relentless organizationwide pursuit of that vision. Fundamentally, a change of culture is at the heart of a successful merger, acquisition, and transformation. The importance of redefining the organizational culture should be not avoided, but rather must be aggressively addressed at the outset and throughout the transformation process. In addition, successful mergers, acquisitions, and transformations require enormous investments in time, leadership commitment, energy, and resources. Participants agreed that it is therefore critical that the organization not suboptimize in making any needed personnel, systems, and process changes. The private sector experience with mergers and acquisitions suggests that success is more likely when the best individuals are selected for each position based on their competencies rather than the originating component where they worked. That is, the new organization needs to avoid a situation where key personnel selections are made on a basis of an understanding that each of the originating components gets its "turn" in the selection process. Such an approach not only undermines the quality of the selections, but also raises questions about top leadership's ability and commitment to creating a new, integrated organization. The participants made a similar point with regard to systems and processes. Successful private sector mergers and acquisitions determine at the earliest opportunity the essential systems and processes that will need to be consistent across the organization and those that, at least initially, can differ across the organization. These decisions, the participants stressed, are based not only on what is necessary from the standpoint of operational efficiency and effectiveness, but also on what messages are to be sent to employees and customers. For example, the decision to use an organizationwide convention for E-mail addresses on the first day of operation can send a powerful message about the seriousness of the effort to create a coherent organization and the speed at which that effort will take place. The participants also noted that successful mergers and acquisitions seek to implement best practices in the systems and processes wherever they may be found and guard against automatically adopting the approaches used by the largest or acquiring component. The risk is that the new organization may migrate less than fully efficient and effective systems and processes merely because those systems and processes are most often used. Over the longer term, successful mergers and acquisitions, like successful organizations generally, seek to learn from best practices and create a set of systems and processes that are tailored to the specific needs and circumstances of the new organization. In the federal context, this means that agencies need to ensure that they are maximizing their use of existing authorities and flexibilities and, as appropriate, making a business case for targeted additional legislative changes. Any additional changes should provide reasonable flexibility to help integrate and optimize the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of the organization while incorporating appropriate transparency mechanisms and safeguards to prevent abuse of employees. Further, several participants observed that the Congress needs to take steps to assure that it can conduct its oversight, authorizing, and appropriation responsibilities for a new DHS in an efficient and effective manner. As currently envisioned, DHS would be comprised of over 20 federal agencies or their components with numerous congressional committees of jurisdiction. Given this significant reorganization of the executive branch, participants commented that the Congress should be strongly encouraged to explore ways to facilitate conducting its responsibilities in a more consolidated and integrated manner. Whether or not the Congress does so will likely have an impact on the timeliness and effectiveness of DHS' implementation efforts. In summary, as the news in the business press shows each day, the private sector experience with mergers and acquisitions is mixed. That experience, which suggests that attention to people and cultural issues is the key to success, provides a valuable set of lessons for the federal government. In that regard, the participants at the forum identified a set of broad practices that have been shown to be essential to a successful merger, acquisition, or transformation effort. Most immediately, the practices provide a starting point for the Congress and the executive branch in ensuring that a new DHS will be effectively implemented as quickly as possible. These practices also provide a general framework that can be used to help other federal government entities transform themselves to meet the challenges of the 21ST century. Mergers and Transformation Forum: Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal Agencies: Facilitator: David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO): Participants: Margot Bester, Attorney-Advisor: Transportation Security Administration: Jay Bourgeois, Professor, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia: Anthony Calenda, Director of Strategy and Business Development, Citigroup, Inc. Jay Connor, Vice President of Strategies and Marketing, Consulting and Integration, Hewlett-Packard Company: Amy Donahue, Special Assistant to the Administrator on Homeland Security, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: John Hamre, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for Strategic and International Studies: Colleen M. Kelley, President, National Treasury Employees Union: Paula Larkin,Managing Director, Business Resiliency and Crisis Management, J.P. Morgan Chase: Wilson Lowery, Jr. Executive Assistant Director for FBI Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation: Marcia Marsh, Vice President, Strategic Human Resources Planning, Partnership for Public Service: Patricia McGinnis, President and Chief Executive OfficerCouncil for Excellence in Government: Bob O'Neill, President, National Academy of Public Administration: Donna Richbourg, Director of Acquisition Initiatives, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense: Charles O. Rossotti, Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service: Larry Schein, Senior Fellow (retired), The Conference Board: Jeff Shuman, Vice President of Human Resources, Information Technology, Northrup Grumman: A.W. Pete Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer,Private Sector Council: Max Stier, President and Chief Executive Officer, Partnership for Public Service: Molly Tschang Senior Director, Business Development Integration Group, Cisco Systems, Inc. Kevin P. Varney, Director, New Threats Program, Business Executives for National Security Paul Yingling, Director, Finance and Restructuring, Lockheed Martin Corporation: Observers: Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., Director, Office of Management and Budget: Mark W. Everson, Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget: (450119): FOOTNOTES [1] U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Roundtable: The Chief Operating Officer Concept: A Potential Strategy To Address Federal Governance Challenges, GAO-03-192SP (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 4, 2002). [2] U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Cultures: Insights for U.S. Agencies from Other Countries' Performance Management Initiatives, GAO-02-862 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 2, 2002). [3] U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Cultures: Using Balanced Expectations to Manage Senior Executive Performance, GAO-02- 966 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 27, 2002). GAO's Mission: The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO's commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability. Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony: The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no cost is through the Internet. GAO's Web site ( www.gao.gov ) contains abstracts and full-text files of current reports and testimony and an expanding archive of older products. The Web site features a search engine to help you locate documents using key words and phrases. You can print these documents in their entirety, including charts and other graphics. Each day, GAO issues a list of newly released reports, testimony, and correspondence. GAO posts this list, known as "Today's Reports," on its Web site daily. The list contains links to the full-text document files. To have GAO e-mail this list to you every afternoon, go to www.gao.gov and select "Subscribe to daily E-mail alert for newly released products" under the GAO Reports heading. Order by Mail or Phone: The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies are $2 each. A check or money order should be made out to the Superintendent of Documents. GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard. Orders for 100 or more copies mailed to a single address are discounted 25 percent. Orders should be sent to: U.S. General Accounting Office 441 G Street NW, Room LM Washington, D.C. 20548: To order by Phone: Voice: (202) 512-6000: TDD: (202) 512-2537: Fax: (202) 512-6061: To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs: Contact: Web site: www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm E-mail: email@example.com Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470: Public Affairs: Jeff Nelligan, managing director, firstname.lastname@example.com (202) 512-4800 U.S. General Accounting Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149 Washington, D.C. 20548:


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The Speech
He should have canceled the speech. It was halfhearted, pro forma and strange. It added nothing, did not deepen or advance the story, was not equal to the atmosphere surrounding it, and gave no arguments John Kerry hasn't made, often more forcefully, in the past 10 days.
It was a time filler: The White House had asked for the time and had to fill it. But at this point in the president's Syria drama an indifferent piece of work only underscores the overall impression that things just aren't working that well in the White House.
It is hard to believe a lot of people watched. It's hard to believe hearts were changed.
I was afraid he was going to do "foaming at the mouth", "blood and hair," "gasping for breath" and "writhing in pain." Presidents shouldn't say words and phrases like that. He should have referred listeners and viewers to the easily available and highly graphic documentation of the attacks, and simply characterized them as the painful thing they are. You're trying to influence and persuade, you're not trying to make people lean away, or remind them that repeats of "Law & Order SVU" are on Channel 47.
Another problem, and there's no nice way to say this: It is hard to believe such a chill man has such warm feelings about the sad end of strangers far away. I think this has been one of his big unspoken problems in the selling of his Syria policy. It is based to some degree on his emotional indignation, and it is not fully credible because it's hard to believe he's so moved.
On the policy: A problem with the limited, targeted strike or strikes that he speaks of is that nobody knows—literally, nobody knows—exactly how strong Bashar Assad is. Nobody knows what position he is really in. A man who uses weapons of mass destruction may simply be a monster. On the other hand he may be a monster who has reason to fear he's losing. He may be a vulnerable monster. And a targeted strike not meant to take him out, may take him out. Which will summon a new version of hell.
The president is looking into Russia's recent proposal, which is among recent "encouraging signs" that have "potential."
They ought to go back to giving major addresses in the Oval Office, because it has a mystique and stature that it lends to those who sit at the big desk. The president's staffers apparently think the Oval is tired, or insufficiently groovy, or something. They have him stand at a podium and talk into an empty room under Bela Lugosi lighting. The groovelocity of this choice is lost on me.
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One reason Janet Kendall White's colleagues applaud her is because she applauds others. In keeping with Human Arc Corp.'s aim to be a "Great Place to Work," Ms. White led the way for the implementation of a corporate recognition program called Applause. Implemented about six months ago, Applause, a high-tech, points-based program, has had "phenomenal" impact. More than 6,330 individual recognitions were given in the first quarter alone, and 100% of Human Arc associates received recognition during that time. Ms. White also has innovated to do more with less, particularly in leveraging her professional network. One example: As plans for training Human Arc leaders were developed, it became apparent that space for such training was limited. Ms. White contacted a nonprofit organization with which she's affiliated and arranged a cost-effective solution: Human Arc would partner with the organization, which had training needs but a limited budget. Human Arc would fund the training while the nonprofit would provide the space. Whereas the "normal" cost of nine full days of training space is about $11,200, Human Arc has executed nine full days of training with no training space costs, all the while augmenting the skills for nearly 50 Human Arc leaders and some 30 leaders from the nonprofit. "She is driving new initiatives … to make Human Arc the employer of choice," the nomination read.
Janet Kendall White
human capital management leader, Human Arc
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Free activities and travel secrets in Rotorua
Rotorua is a wonderful destination with so much to see and do, and the best thing is it does not need to expensive visit.
Rotorua is a wonderful destination with so much to see and do, and the best thing is it does not need to expensive visit as there are plenty of free activities to do. We have put together a few of our favourite locals tips.
1. Kuirua Park – Adjacent to Econo Lodge Cleveland Motel you will find Kuirua Park. Here you can see an abundance of geothermal activity including boiling lakes and mud pools. On Saturday morning enjoy the local market here with plenty of food stalls and local produce. Enjoy the walkways and afterwards relax your feet in a geothermal foot-bath. For the children there is also a nice playground.
2. Hamurana Springs – the deepest natural fresh water spring on the North Island of New Zealand. Enjoy the stunning blue and green waters and an abundance of wildlife. The spring is 280m above sea level and is approximately 15 metres deep. It produces an estimated 4 million litres of crystal clear water per hour at a fairly constant temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. Water so pure you can drink it.
3. Redwoods – Over 5600 hectares of forest awaits you to enjoy and explore at your leisure. If you love the outdoors and want to experience nature at its best this area is definitely for you! Also a great place to take photos of our beautiful red tall giants.
4. Blue & Green Lakes – The Blue lake is a favourite local hang our great for boating, and swimming as well as walking. Right next to the Blue lake is the Green lake, you can find a look out point where you can see both lakes and their amazing difference in colours.
5. Mud Pool – Head out towards Wai O Tapu and discover one of the best opportunities to experience the unique character and sounds of erupting mud in New Zealand where the activity is always guaranteed.
6. Cycling – Rotorua is a great destination for cycling. From family trails to mountain biking through the woods, as well a the national Te Ari Ahi cycleway, you are spoiled for choice.
7. Natural Hot Springs at Kerosene Creek – It's a bit of a mission to get there but it's well worth the 30min drive.Kerosene Creek is a hot water stream located in a bush setting south of Rotorua city. After parking up on the side of the gravel road, a short walk through the bush alongside the hot water stream takes you to a wonderful little waterfall cascading into a naturally formed pool. Just be sure not to leave any valuables in your car here.
8. Okere Falls – A beautiful walkway next to the water ways and waterfalls. On the sunny days you generally see lots of brave-hearts attempting the 7m waterfall in rafts and kayaks. Okere falls is also a popular trout fishing spot.
9. Ohinemutu – Just minutes walk from Econo Lodge Cleveland Motel is the Māori village of Ohinemutu. This place is home to the Ngāti Whakaue tribe, who gifted the land on which the city of Rotorua was built. The location was chosen for its lakeside setting and abundant geothermal energy, used for cooking, bathing and heating. Visitors are welcome to walk around the living village.
10. Government Gardens – Home to the renowned hot steaming Rachael Springs, Rotorua Museum, Polynesian Spa, The Blue Baths and more, this is a lovely photogenic English style government garden.


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Craft Beer & Chili Challenge in East Hartford, August 12
Chefs are always talking about wine pairings, but for all of you who prefer a cold one to a glass of vino, here's your chance for sample some of the best beer CT has to offer. The Craft Beer & Chili Challenge will be held at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT on Sunday, August 12th from 12-4 p.m.
What's better than 100's of beers & dozens of chilis? Really, nothing, but if you require added appeal, attendees will get to vote for their favorites as they crown the best official beers and chilies in Connecticut.
Chili will range from from hearty and meaty, to hot and spicy, to vegetarian, and everything in between, so there's something for every eater.
For one flat admission price of $62.50, attendees can sample dozens of different chilis prepared by area restaurants and hundreds of craft beers from around the state and around the world. In addition, there will be vendors and crafters from around the Northeast displaying and selling their work, as well as a DJ providing a rocking soundtrack of music for the event.
Ticketholders will have head-spinning choices of craft beers to sample, including nut brown ales, blonde lagers, light pilsners, dark stouts and more from every corner of the world. Then, everyone votes for their favorite and Connecticut's favorite beer and chili are crowned. Last year's Craft Beer & Chili Challenge awarded Blue Point top honors, with Old Burnside and Overshores Brewing Co. coming in second and third.
The chili available to taste will be just as interesting and varied. Whether you like your chili spicy, sweet or mild with beef, pork, beans or veggies, there is a delicious cup of chili to please everyone's palate. Last year, the Yardhouse Tavern claimed the best chili in Connecticut award, with Jordan Caterers and Wood 'n' Tap of Southington following in second and third.
Tickets are available for purchase online at beerandchili.org. General admission is $62.50 and includes beer and chili, as well as one voting ballot.
This year, CPTV and WNPR are partnering with AmRide to offer the Safe Ride Home Program. Now everyone can enjoy the event worry free and let AmRide's trustworthy professional drivers drive participants home in their own car. The cost of the service is $44.95, for up to 10 miles, regardless of the number of passengers or stops. Additional mileage is available for an extra fee. For more information and to reserve a safe ride home, go to beerandchili.org, or call AmRide at 855-426-7433.
An alcohol-free Designated Driver ticket is also available. Priced at $46.50, this admission ticket includes chili samples plus one voting ballot. All attendees must be 21 years or older.
The Important Details
CPTV and WNPR's Craft Beer & Chili Challenge
3rd Annual Event Crowns the Best Beer and Chili in Connecticut
Sunday, August 12 from 12 noon – 4 p.m.
Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut
Tickets (prices include all fees):
All-Inclusive General Admission: $62.50; Designated Driver (alcohol-free): $46.50
More information at beerandchili.org
For more information on the event, contact Amy Williamson at firstname.lastname@example.com.
To purchase tickets to this event go to The CPTV and WNPR's Craft Beer & Chili Challenge web site. All attendees must be 21 years or older.


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This company built all the cabinets in our kitchen and bathrooms in our Palo Alto Eichler. They do absolutely top-notch work. Our cabinets were made out of FSC-certified maple with an oiled natural finish. Their prices are very reasonable and they were on time and on budget. We highly recommend them.
Woodmaster Custom Cabinets
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Are your office walls boring and bland? Worse off, if your art off-brand? We've partnered with The Office Stylist to bring your office walls to the next level so your company can follow suit.
We're awarding a $500 gift voucher to one lucky office. And because we hate ugly, empty walls, we're giving a $50 gift voucher to everyone who enters.
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- Winner will be chosen by the awesome staff


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If you think your child may be eligible to free school meals even though they may access universal free school meals please click on the link below.
Our school is situated in attractive and extensive well maintained grounds in a small housing estate, Lancaster Park, which is north of the town of Morpeth. The school first opened in 1972 and was formerly known as Wansbeck St Aidan Church of England Aided First School until it was renamed in 2001.Read More of the school welcome page
Class Pages
Click the below link to view the class pagesView More class pages
Attendance BoardView More attendance points View More school three sixty. our connected classroom


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The Beatles Sgt Pepper framed Lp cover & photo display.
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Meu SciELO
Serviços Personalizados
- Citado por SciELO
- Acessos
versão impressa ISSN 0011-5258
KERSTENETZKY, Celia Lessa. Redistribution and development? the political economy of the Bolsa Família program. Dados [online]. 2010, vol.5Selected edition, pp. 0-0. ISSN 0011-5258.
The article offers a qualitative evaluation of Brazil's Bolsa Família (Family Grant or Family Stipend) Program, viewing it from the perspective of an income redistribution and development policy. Analyzing the program's most striking institutional characteristics -- targeting the poorest and setting conditions such as school enrollment and immunization of the family's children -- the article identifies a major weakness in the program's political economy that could jeopardize its sustainability as a redistributive and development policy. The article suggests that policies with such characteristics in extremely unequal countries like Brazil can make budget limitations endogenous, thus hindering the achievement of the program's own objectives. Two alternative directions are briefly explored: conversion of the program into a hybrid policy, both targeted and universal, and emphasis on the provision of child education services.
Palavras-chave : Bolsa Família; redistribution; development; social policies; child education.


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Ron Morris
Morris: UNC's alleged academic fraud just the tip of the iceberg
THE ACADEMIC scandal that has tainted the University of North Carolina athletics department is disgusting, despicable and altogether not surprising.
There is good reason neither the NCAA nor any college has cried outrage that a reputable university would so blatantly violate every ethical standard established through its academic mission.
The NCAA has a difficult enough time policing its member institutions on athletics-related policies. There exists an inherent trust by the NCAA that colleges and universities will abide by their own rules of operating institutions of higher learning, and not sacrifice those principles for the benefit of athletics.
As for the other NCAA member institutions, they are not about to cry foul. To do so would expose those schools as well. Athletes for decades have remained eligible by taking classes that can be described only as bogus, while boosters, coaches and administrators give it the old college wink-wink, nudge-nudge.
If not bogus classes, then every school in the country is guilty of steering athletes to classes in which they cannot fail. It is an age-old problem, since schools began granting admission to athletes who were not qualified to be college students. That begat the problem of keeping those athletes eligible academically to compete on playing fields.
At some point, eligibility began to trump education for athletes.
If the accusations are true, and there is no reason to doubt they are, then this is precisely what happened at UNC. A system was, allegedly, devised to ensure that athletes would remain eligible by passing no-show or bogus classes.
When a former athlete goes public with accounts that he was not required to be a student to compete athletically, no amount of water is going to extinguish the flames of this academic firestorm.
Rashad McCants said that about his days at UNC. He was a starter on UNC's 2005 men's national basketball championship team. He told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that no-show courses in the Afro- and African-American Studies Department kept him eligible.
"When you get to college, you don't go to class, you don't do nothing, you just show up and play," McCants said on the TV show. "That's exactly how it was, you know, and I think that was the tradition of college basketball, or college, period, any sport. You're not there to get an education, though they tell you that."
Before you think this happens only at UNC, consider the testimony this past week of Ed O'Bannon, a former UCLA basketball star and the lead plaintiff in an antitrust suit against the NCAA.
"I was an athlete masquerading as a student," O'Bannon said, according to The Associated Press. "I was there strictly to play basketball. I did, basically, the minimum to make sure I kept my eligibility academically so I could play."
O'Bannon said he spent 40 to 45 hours per week either preparing for games or playing them, and about 12 hours per week on his studies. So much for the NCAA-created idea that these are "student-athletes."
Granted, the swath of academic abuse among athletes cuts wide across college athletics. Yet it is wrong to say all college athletes participate in the sham. Most college athletes, likely, are legitimate students. It is a minority of athletes in revenue-producing sports that taints the image for all.
I recall a conversation with a North Carolina State assistant men's basketball coach a few decades ago. The coach insinuated that academics stood in the way of that team's successes on the court. I am guessing he was not the only coach in the country who believed that then, and there remain more than a few who believe the same today.
So, until that first school comes forward and states that all of its athletes remain eligible by taking legitimate courses like the general student body, then I have a difficult time condemning North Carolina athletics.
Don't get me wrong, what UNC is accused of doing is as bad as it gets. It is truly despicable and disgusting to know this kind of academic fraud could have existed on a reputable college campus. But the reality is that UNC is the one that got caught. UNC's alleged fraud was exposed.
You can bet every other college athletics program in the country is hoping that none of its former athletes comes forward with charges of academic wrongdoing. Rest assured, there is not an athletics program in the country that has not altered its priorities at some level to place eligibility over education.
That should surprise no one.


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One very boring bento for the day.
In a 4 square Lock & Lock, clockwise from back left:
- mini saltine crackers & cheddar cheese jack o'lanterns
- raspberries
- baby carrots
The cheese was cut with a mini pumpkin cutter and the jack-o-lantern faces were made using a food-safe marker. It looks so simple, but that black marker did not want to cooperate on the cheese! I think a crayon would have been easier to work with.
Sorry for the lame lunch! I'll try better next time. ;-)
Friday, October 8, 2010
(lame-o) jack-o-lantern bento lunch
Posted by Melissa at 2:52 PM
Labels: granola bites, Halloween, holiday, lock and lock
6 comments:
- Libby said... [Reply to comment]
Let me tell you....if my kids got this lunch??? THEY'D BE STOKED! It's darling, festive, nutritious and YUMMY :) Not lame-o in the least!
- October 8, 2010 at 2:57 PM
- Jenn @ BentoForKidlet said... [Reply to comment]
Lunch is never boring when cute pumpkin faces are involved :D
- October 8, 2010 at 7:32 PM
- Rachel said... [Reply to comment]
I agree with Libby - my kids are lucky if they get the crusts cut off their sandwiches :) This is great.
- October 9, 2010 at 6:23 AM
- petrina1978 said... [Reply to comment]
Great lunch...I am starting to make these for my daughter and was wondering what kind of cheese do you use?
- October 9, 2010 at 3:34 PM
- Preppy Pink Crocodile said... [Reply to comment]
How cute! I keep seeing these all over the internet. I would have loved that as a kid.
- October 10, 2010 at 11:21 AM
- JDaniel4's Mom said... [Reply to comment]
I love the pumpkin faces! Great lunch!
- October 11, 2010 at 5:19 AM
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The District of Columbia's delegate to Congress is hoping for answers from the Secret Service about what led to long lines at a security checkpoint for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.
The office of Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., plans to request a meeting this week with Secret Service Director Julia Pierson.
Norton says an "organizational breakdown'' led to a backup at the checkpoint that left many people unable to attend the event.
She says the Secret Service is capable of planning for events with large crowds and she's disappointed that it failed to do so. She calls the long lines "entirely unnecessary.'' She says emergency medical workers had to give assistance to more than 100 people who were waiting in the heat and humidity.


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==Additional Resources==
==Additional Resources==
Revision as of 22:14, 15 June 2011
Series: DisplayBuddy
This plugin add the ability to display image slideshows anywhere on your site with fully customizable animated transitions and advanced effects. Slideshow has two different sliders that you can choose from, Slider and Cycle. Each slider has different animation effects and customizations.
The transitions for this mode focus on slicing up the image into multiple pieces and using those pieces for different transition effects.Since this mode focuses on slicing up the image for transition effects the settings for this mode also allow you to choose how many slices the image is divided into. This mode also offers the ability to display small thumbnail versions of the images in the group as pagination buttons that allow visitors to your site to easily control which image the slider is showing.
Animation transition effects
- Randomly use different effects
- Slice down
- Slice down left
- Slice up
- Slice up left
- Fold
- Fade
The transitions for this mode focuses on shuffling images around. This mode has many different effects to choose from, providing more options so that you can pick the effect that you like the best.
Animation transition effects
blindX, blindY, blindZ, cover, curtainX, curtainY, fade, fadeZoom, growX, growY, scrollUp, scrollDown, scrollLeft, scrollRight, scrollHorz, scrollVert, shuffle, slideX, slideY, toss, turnUp, turnDown, turnLeft, turnRight, uncover, wipe, and zoom.
Carousel has the ability to save multiple groups that can each have different images and settings. The only information required to create a group is a group name.
Adding Images
In order to add images you will need to select a group then adjust the "Slide Image Dimensions" width and height so that the Carousel plugin will know what dimensions it will need to resize the images to. After saving the desired image dimensions then you can add an image by clicking the "+Add image" button. Carousel uses WordPress's built in media up-loader. This will allow you to either upload new images or select images that you have already added to the media library. In order to select an image to add from the list of images click the "show" link for that image and then click the "select this image" button as shown in the image below.
Displaying on your site
Slideshow can be added to your site using two different methods, widgets or shortcode.
Adding to a Widget
Navigate to the Widgets area under Appearance in the WordPress Admin area. Drag the Slideshow widget into the widget area that you would like for it to display in and select the group from the drop-down menu that you would like to display.
The groups table in slideshow will display a shortcode for each different group that you have created. If you would like to add a Slideshow group to a post or page all you have to do is copy that shortcode and paste it the content of the page or post you would like for it to display in.


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The Brain Tumor Program of the Cedars-Sinai Department of Neurosurgery monitors a number of measures in its ongoing commitment to the quality of care it gives to patients. These measures include the volume of procedures done, average length of hospital stay, and survival and mortality rate.
Craniotomy Procedures
To treat a patient who has a brain tumor, a neurosurgeon must usually perform a craniotomy. This is a type of brain surgery in which a piece of bone is temporarily removed from the skull to give neurosurgeons access to the brain. When the procedure is done, the bone is usually replaced using titanium plates, screws, wires or other methods of keeping the bone in place.
The graphs below reflect the number, average length of stay and mortality rate for craniotomies performed at Cedars-Sinai. The data comes from the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), an alliance of more than 300 of the nation's nonprofit academic medical centers and their affiliated hospitals. The majority of these facilities participate in UHC's Clinical DataBase/Resource Manager.
The length of stay and mortality are compared to the expected values, based on data submitted by UHC hospitals. The data were assessed on March 21, 2016, based on patients discharged between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec, 31, 2015.
Craniotomy Volumes at the Brain Tumor Program
The graph below shows the total number of craniotomy procedures performed at the Cedars-Sinai Department of Neurosurgery's Brain Tumor Program. The data reflect craniotomies done for the past three years.
Average Length of Stay for Craniotomy Patients at Cedars-Sinai
The graph below compares the observed or actual number of days that a patient undergoing a craniotomy at Cedars-Sinai spent in the hospital. This is compared with the number of days a patient with a similar diagnosis, procedure, age, gender and complications is anticipated to stay in the hospital. (This is called the expected length of stay.)
Mortality Rates for Patients Undergoing Craniotomies at Cedars-Sinai
A mortality rate is the percentage of patients who underwent a procedure who died before being discharged from the hospital. The observed percent mortality is the actual percentage of patients who died following the specific procedure. The expected percent mortality is the percentage of patients who were anticipated to expire based on a similar diagnosis, procedure, age, gender and complications.
The graph below compares the observed mortality rate of craniotomy patients at Cedars-Sinai with the expected mortality rate.
A lower observed mortality rate is better than a higher one.
Glioblastoma Tumors
Among the most common—and most malignant—of tumors that originate in the brain are glioblastoma tumors.
At the Cedars-Sinai Department of Neurosurgery, patients of all ages are treated for these tumors. The age distribution of patients treated at Cedars-Sinai for glioblastoma tumors is shown in the graph below.
The graph below describes the site of the glioblastoma tumors treated at the Cedars-Sinai Department of Neurosurgery.
Data Source: National Cancer Registry
Glioblastoma Survival Rate
The graph below reflects the percentage of adult glioblastoma multiform brain tumor patients alive by the number of months since their diagnosis. The age of a patient at the time of diagnosis is strongly correlated with survival. Therefore, the 546 Cedars-Sinai patients in this group are compared to patients across the country of a similar age. Patients were diagnosed between 1998 and 2008.
The survival rate for Cedars-Sinai patients is higher than the national average.
Source: National Cancer Institute's SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database
Glioblastoma Survival Rate Following the Use of Dendritic Vaccine
The graph below compares the survival rate for patients who were treated for glioblastoma multiforme brain tumors with the dendritic vaccine developed at Cedars-Sinai with research results by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).
The EORTC Brain Tumour Group is an international, multidisciplinary group of neurosurgeons, neurologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and basic scientists. It conducts, develops, coordinates and stimulates research on the treatment of primary and secondary brain tumors. To this end the Brain Tumor Group is fundamentally based on prospective studies.


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Los Angeles Tech Companies That Use Kotlin
List of Los Angeles tech companies using Kotlin
12 Companies
Hallmark Labs
Consumer Web • Digital Media
Hallmark Labs is the tech hub of Hallmark Cards Inc. We are the driving force behind Hallmark eCards, Hallmark Movies Now and more. Our mission is to add the Hallmark touch to any and every form of digital expression!
135Local Employees
Santa MonicaLocation
Mobile • Social Media
The people we meet change our lives. Tinder empowers users around the world to create new connections that otherwise might never have been possible. With more than 10 billion matches made to date and millions of new connections made daily, Tinder has reimagined the way people meet on a massive, global scale.
250Local Employees
West HollywoodLocation
Lucky Day
Mobile • Software
At Lucky Day, we believe you shouldn't have to lose for the chance to win. Our mission is to create as many lucky days as possible to impact lives for the better.
30Local Employees
Los AngelesLocation
Maple Media
AdTech • Gaming
Maple Media is a media and technology company in Century City, CA. We acquire best-in-class mobile apps and games, on the App Store and Google Play, and deploy our product and ad tech expertise to make them even better - while learning a lot and having fun along the way. So far, we've grown to over 40M MAU & have over 200 apps under management....
20Local Employees
Century CityLocation
Spring Labs
Blockchain • Fintech
Spring Labs is building the Spring Protocol, a network designed to allow participants to exchange information about data without sharing the underlying data itself. Our objective is to lower data costs while simultaneously allowing participants to retain full control over their data, enabling more a transparent and secure data-sharing ecosystem.
34Local Employees
Marina Del ReyLocation
eCommerce • Enterprise Web
Rival is on a mission to transform the $200B live events industry by empowering fans, teams and artists with a modern, authentic and trustworthy commerce experience.
53Local Employees
Playa VistaLocation
Fintech • Mobile
Albert is a new type of financial service that uses powerful technology to automate your finances, with a team of human experts to guide you. Over 1 million people have trusted Albert to help them achieve their financial goals.
38Local Employees
Los AngelesLocation
eCommerce • Marketing Tech
Tapcart is a SaaS platform that enables ecommerce merchants to launch and manage mobile apps for their brand. We focus on providing great experiences for our customers and for mobile shoppers worldwide.
20Local Employees
Santa MonicaLocation
Digital Media • Mobile
Launching next year, Quibi is the first entertainment platform that fits perfectly into any moment of your day. We're on a mission to entertain, inform and inspire with fresh content from today's top talent—one quick bite at a time. Founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, Quibi brings together the best of Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
155Local Employees
Los AngelesLocation
Postmates Inc.
eCommerce • Logistics
Postmates is transforming the way goods move around cities by enabling anyone to have anything delivered on-demand. Our revolutionary Urban Logistics platform connects customers with local couriers who can deliver anything from any store or restaurant in minutes.
5Local Employees
Santa MonicaLocation
Consumer Web • Healthtech
GoodRx is America's #1 prescription price transparency platform. More than 8 million people use GoodRx's website and popular mobile apps each month. Our goal is to provide Americans with convenient and affordable prescription drugs. We offer solutions to provide affordable prescriptions to all Americans.
200Local Employees
Santa MonicaLocation
Gaming • News + Entertainment
Mobcrush is a video streaming company that enables users to broadcast, watch and chat as they play and stream in realtime. Based in Santa Monica, California, Mobcrush has raised $4.9M in funding from backers including Raine Ventures, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, CrunchFund, Rincon Venture Partner.
28Local Employees
Santa MonicaLocation


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Sources: Andretti could join NASCAR
Could there be another IndyCar organization testing the NASCAR waters?
Multiple sources have told FOXSports.com that one of the latest candidates for Dodge Motorsports could be Michael Andretti, owner of Andretti Autosport.
With Roger Penske's departure from Dodge at the end of the 2012 season, the door is open for new organizations to enter the fold. In addition to Andretti, Richard Petty Motorsports and Furniture Row Racing are the top contenders to field Dodges in 2013. An announcement regarding Dodge's lineup, as well as its engine building plans, could come as early as the weekend of the NASCAR races at Michigan, June 15-17.
Andretti currently fields three full-time teams in the IndyCar Series with drivers Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe. Ana Beatriz is running a limited schedule. Hinchcliffe and Hunter-Reay are currently third and fourth, respectively, in the IndyCar points standings.
Michael Andretti, the 1991 IndyCar champion, holds the record for most wins in CART with 42. As an owner under the Andretti Green banner — the precursor to Andretti Autosport — he won three IndyCar championships. Andretti teams have also won 39 races, including two Indianapolis 500s.
Andretti also operates an extensive farm system of open-wheel drivers in Firestone Indy Lights, the Star Mazda Championship Series and the USF2000 Championship Series. However, it is unlikely that Andretti would use open-wheel talent for a NASCAR venture. Two names mentioned as possibilities to drive for the team are Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, both of whom have established relationships with Dodge.
Andretti Green expedited Honda's entry into the Indy Racing League for the 2003 season. In September, Andretti announced the team was switching to Chevrolet. Ilmor Engineering, which currently builds engines for Andretti Autosport, has been mentioned as a possible supplier for the group in NASCAR, although its plate could be full with its current IndyCar responsibilities.


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Seasons - Reclaimed Collection
Seasons - Reclaimed Collection
Part of newest collection- "Reclaimed," by Mary Tantillo. Piece is 21.5"x18.5" and crafted with beautiful handmade stained glass.All the characteristics of the four seasons are condensed into this piece, four, tall trees signifying each one.
Comes with hooks and chain, ready to hang in your sunny window!
Artist Statement for Reclaimed Collection
The seas are alive and restless along with the ancient mythical spirits that move them. We have weathered some storms. What are they trying to tell us? Is there any way to offer something of myself to gain a greater understanding? Is that even necessary, or do we just wait it out and continue to breathe in tune with the waves?. How do we become better stewards of our own seas?. There are calm waters and times of reflection with amazing light. There are rough waters to navigate. This is a mysterious cycle of change and growth.
I am wondering what will it take to appease the spirits; and to please myself?
There are great forces at work here. I have come to trust that all is how it is meant to be. After all, I am water too. I appreciate and look deep into the depths with the ancient spirits floating majestically about me. Under the water and on the sand are pieces of sea glass glowing in pools of light like beautiful castaways. A message perhaps;. a reminder that things can and do break apart from their original unique form. A bottle shattered to bits, seemingly lost in space and time is tossed around in the waves and sand only to be transformed into its new self. This tumbling and friction makes the glass less sharp, more refined and beautiful: a treasure, a unique gem, new again, found; like a reclaimed soul.
With this new knowledge, I go forth. I resonate happiness. I create. I model all that is beautiful. My offering cannot move the tides or shape the waves in the ocean really, but it calms the seas.
~Mary Tantillo, artist