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Soyfoods Giveaway
April is National Soyfoods Month and I partnered with the Soyfoods Association to bring you this giveaway.
Included in the giveaway:
Westbrae Original Soymilk and SoyDreams new Almond, Cashew & Hazelnut Drink
One box of SoyJoy Bars
Did you know that:
Soyfoods are rich in nutrients and promote healthy eating.
Soyfoods are also a great source of iron, fiber, vitamin B-12, magnesium and zinc.
Fruit soy smoothies with soymilk or soy yogurt are a fun way to ensure proper calcium, and soy burgers or soy crumbles in place of ground beef are a great way to reduce calories, cholesterol and saturated fast.
Soy meat substitutes, such as soy ground, cook up in a fraction of the time it takes for traditional meats, and it's ideal for pre-made meals that can be stored in the freezer or refrigerator.
Cooking with soy also provides an excellent opportunity for families to spend quality time together because unlike traditional meats, there is little concern about cooking through or cross contamination, so kids can be more involved in the meal preparation.
Soyfoods make delicious meals. They are great as a staple ingredient or used as a substitute in a favorite recipe.
Here are some of my favorite recipes using soy:
Pumpkin Honey Tofu. This turns out like spongy pumpkin "bread". Very soft, chewy, and pliable infused with pumpkin flavor.
Here's a post with Tofu Preparation & Cooking Tips for how to create bread-like tofu, crispy tofu, firm tofu, and other preparation tips.
Apple Glazed Vegetable & Edamame Stir Fry
Spinach & Artichoke Dip (Fat Free, Vegan) Use soy-based cream cheese
Fig Butter & Cumin Tempeh Stir Fry – This was a 4 minute meal. Tempeh is so versatile and no pressing (or cooking if you're really in a hurry) is required.
Salsa Verde Pepperjack Tofu (Microwave & Vegan) Use soy-based cheese along with the tofu
Avocado, Cream Cheese, and Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastries Use soy-based cream cheese
To enter the Giveaway, comment below to enter:
1. What's your favorite recipe using soy or your favorite soy-based food? (links welcome)
How do you incorporate soy-based foods in your diet? (links welcome)
2. For a second entry, Twitter Follow @AverieCooks and and then tweet the following:
"I entered the Soyfoods Giveaway & want to Win Free Food from @AverieCooks @SocialSANA http://tiny.cc/xi67aw"
3. For extra entries and you must leave a separate comment for each:
Facebook Like LV&Y/AverieCooks
Facebook Like Soyfoods Association
Twitter Follow Soyfoods Association
Pinterest Follow Me & Re-Pin Something of Mine
Stumble Follow LV&Y & Stumble This
or post this Giveaway on your blog
Contest ends Sunday, March 18, 2012 and winner will be chosen randomly. Open to continental U.S. residents only.


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With highly professional staff, a wide range of services, and the outstanding quality that is their trademark, Dedeman Hotels & Resorts International has over 45 years of experience caring for guests in some of the most beautiful city locations.
For more detailed information please visit the Dedeman Hotels & Resorts website.

subset: commoncrawl


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International travel is fun. Unless it's not.
Learn some of the language. "Thank-you" is always good. "Ugh, you eat this?" is bad.
Be thoughtful with your camera. While certain parts of your trip might look great in a frame on your wall, an anonymous building or child may be someone else's home or son. Don't be afraid to ask if it's okay to take a photo.
Dress respectfully, based on the country's culture. In some countries, women should always cover their legs. In other countries, men wear Speedos at the beach. (Feel free to skip that tradition.)
In countries where water can make you sick, remember that water doesn't just come in a glass. Avoid ice and salad, as vegetables are often washed in tap water. Stick with boiled or fully cooked food. Brush your teeth with bottled water and keep your eyes closed in the shower.
Don't play the stereotype of the loud, ugly American. (Think Homer Simpson.)
One large transaction at a foreign ATM often provides the best exchange rates for your money.
Prepaid calling cards are often the cheapest way to call home (besides Skype).
Be sure to contact your credit card or debit card prior to your trip to alert them that you'll be making foreign transactions. Otherwise, your card may get rejected as these transactions may appear fraudulent.
Connecting international flights often depart on one day and arrive into the next. If you're booking a connection, consider the time and day.
Travel agents can be a good deal. Since they're often paid by the airline or hotel, the cost for your trip may actually be lower when using agents. They can give you local advice, locate deals, and help you when you miss your flight.
Bring a brochure or business card of your hotel when you go out on the town. On the return home, it can save you from a confusing, four-hour taxi ride if your driver doesn't speak English.
Consider travel insurance before you leave. (See our topic on travel insurance.)
Some countries charge a "departure fee" at the airport, so don't get to the airport with only a quarter in your pocket.
The US Department of State issues passports (see travel.state.gov). They cost around $100, usually last for ten years, and take between one to three months to get (depending upon the season). You can pay for expedited services to get one a little quicker.
A Visa credit card may be required in order to look fabulous at your friend's wedding, but a visa document may be required if her wedding is in a foreign country. A visa can usually be ordered from an embassy or picked up at the arriving airport. See the State Department website for specifics (travel.state.gov).
Make copies of your passport, visa, credit cards, prescriptions, and itinerary (such as plane and hotel details) and leave a copy in your luggage and with a family member in case you end up in a Thai prison.
Story Time
On Bert's first trip abroad, he ended up eating raw goat meat because he didn't know the language. Now he always keeps a translation for the following phrases when he leaves the country.
- "What time is it?"
- "What do you mean we're married?"
- "Yes! Very good! It tastes like chicken."
- "Can I see your medical degree?"
- "Which one is the toilet?"
- "Where can I get diplomatic immunity?"
- "You've already kissed me, sir."
- "My plane! My plane! Don't close the doors!"
- "One Big Mac, please."


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Croeso to our school website! We believe that every step of your child's education is as important as the one before. With this in mind, we strive continually to provide inspiring learning experiences for children.
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When breathing is obstructed or suppressed, the cells in the body do not receive the full amount of oxygen necessary to carry out their assigned functions. You may feel sleepy or irritable, or develop a headache. One reason that exercise is so valuable is that it forces you to breathe more fully, literally replenishing your dwindling supply of oxygen.
Hindus call it prana—the life force carried in the breath. Many languages use the same word for both breath and spirit, or life force.
In Hebrew, the word for soul or spirit is rauch. In Greek, it is pneuma. In Latin, spiritus. Each of these words also means "breath." In English, to inhale is to "inspire"—to take in the spirit. To exhale, or expire, means to release the spirit. All of life can be observed as a taking in and a giving out, of movement and rest, of controlling and letting go. The way you breathe is an excellent metaphor for the way you live your life.
The information and exercises recommended here encourage you to start paying attention to your breathing as a form of relaxation, stress reduction, and healing.
Breath and Stress
Stress is inevitable—you need it to stand upright against the force of gravity. That's known as eustress, or positive stress, the kind that motivates you to get a job done on time or to do something that you thought was impossible.
When endangered by something in the environment or upset by disturbing thoughts—such as frightening expectations or memories like those associated with grief or panic—the body reacts to protect itself. It triggers a set of automatic responses, including increases in heart rate, in blood flow to the muscles, and in the rate of breathing. These responses are designed to energize the body to do battle, to run away, or to freeze. When the danger is real, the alarm state is necessary and important.
But there are many less dangerous forms of stress in your life that have the potential of wearing you down and causing a variety of health problems. Many people live in a constant state of alarm. "Stress plays some role in the development of every disease," writes Hans Selye, MD, in his classic work, Stress without Distress.
If stress is balanced with relaxation or attitude-change methods, the continual surge of energy supplied by the response to stress can be modified or even channeled for creative purposes. If stress levels remain high, disease and breakdown will often result.
Take a moment to recall some of the stressful situations in your life. Are there difficult people, either adults or children? Interruptions when you're trying to work or rest? Is there too much work, too little time? Are they driving in traffic? Smog and noise? Worries about your own health, or the health of someone in your family?


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4 February, 2012 The Sketchy Challenges #16 My Sketch with Romantic Gwen Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Name * Email * Website Comment You may use these HTML tags and attributes:   <acronym title="">
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June 2000
Some textbooks fail to make important biology ideas comprehensible and meaningful to students. Photo: Microsoft Images.
Note: Because some of the information in this article may be outdated, it has been archived.
In today's society, one cannot read a newspaper without recognizing the central importance of the discipline of biology to the life of every American. Sadly, it appears that our textbooks continue to be distorted by a commercial textbook market that requires that they cover the entire range of facts about biology, thereby sacrificing the opportunity to treat the central concepts in enough depth to give our students a chance to truly understand them.
Dr. Bruce Alberts, President of the National Academy of Sciences
Surprisingly, although the textbooks are filled with pages of vocabulary and unnecessary detail, they provide only fragmentary treatment of some fundamentally important concepts.
Dr. George Nelson, Director of AAAS Project 2061
Biology textbooks: evaluation results
According to the latest study of Project 2061, the long-term science and math education reform initiative of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS):
- today's high-school biology textbooks fail to make important biology ideas comprehensible and meaningful to students
- while the high-school textbooks scored slightly higher than the middle-grades science texts evaluated by the project last year, evidence from the current study points to serious shortcomings both in content coverage and instructional design
In this evaluation of ten widely used and newly developed biology textbooks, none was given high ratings [Editor's note: See end of article for list of books evaluated in this study]. This is the latest in a series of Project 2061 evaluations of science and mathematics textbooks funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Educators comment on the results
"The AAAS reviews highlight some significant flaws in the math and science textbooks available to our students," said Andrea Bowden, chief of the Office for Science and Math Programs for Baltimore City Public Schools. "The evaluations produce a profile of each textbook's strengths and weaknesses across two dozen criteria. Sometimes we have been able to select textbooks with mostly high ratings, and in other cases, we have used the evaluation profiles to make more informed decisions about how to supplement the available texts."
"At their best, the textbooks are a collection of missed opportunities," according to Dr. Jo Ellen Roseman, director of the study. "While most contain the relevant content on heredity and natural selection, for example, they don't help students to learn it or help teachers to teach it. On topics such as cells and matter and energy transformations, information is presented piecemeal. In addition, the textbooks fail to convey the coherence among key ideas in biology or their connections to ideas in physical science, mathematics, and technology."
"There are some excellent teachers who compensate for the poor textbooks," Dr. Roseman said. "But this takes time and resources, often more than they have." She cited some examples of problems:
- Research shows that essentially all students — even the best and the brightest — have predictable difficulties grasping many ideas that are covered in the textbooks. Yet the textbooks fail to take these obstacles into account in designing activities and questions.
- For many biology concepts, the textbooks ignore or obscure the most important ideas by focusing instead on technical terms and trivial details (which are easy to test).
- While most of the books are lavishly illustrated, these representations are rarely helpful, because they are too abstract, needlessly complicated, or inadequately explained.
- Even though several activities are included in every chapter, students are given little guidance in interpreting the results in terms of the scientific concepts to be learned.
"Nevertheless, the evaluation did identify several materials with promising activities that could serve as starting points for future textbook development," Dr. Roseman stated. "At least half of the textbooks have some elements that are worth looking at."
What teachers can do
"The Project 2061 evaluation produces a great deal of detailed information that can help teachers to address the weaknesses of their textbooks," Dr. Nelson emphasized. "This information can also help materials developers and publishers who are interested in thoughtfully revising their textbooks or developing new ones." He urged educators to:
Use some of the excellent trade books that have been published on science topics to enhance their own understanding and help them to compensate for the textbooks' lack of content coherence. Project 2061's evaluation reports, available on the project's web site later this year, will include some recommended titles. [Editor' note: This information is now available at http://www.project2061.org/]
Study the research on student learning cited in the evaluation reports to revise classroom activities and develop new ones.
Take advantage of professional development experiences that focus not only on increasing teachers' knowledge of key biology ideas, but also on strategies for teaching those ideas more effectively.
Encourage the National Science Foundation to support a new round of curriculum development focused on creating a coherent picture of key ideas for specific biology topics, using a research-based development and testing process to ensure that the instructional strategies promote learning the key ideas.
Editor's Note: The evaluation included the following biology textbooks (in alphabetical order):
Biology (Miller · Levine). Prentice Hall, 1998
Biology: A Community Context. South-Western Educational Publishing, 1998
Biology: Principles & Explorations. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1998
Biology: The Dynamics of Life. Glencoe, McGraw-Hill, 2000
Biology: Visualizing Life. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1998
BSCS Biology: A Human Approach. Kendall Hunt, 1997
BSCS Biology: An Ecological Approach. Kendall Hunt, 1998
Heath Biology. D.C. Heath and Company, 1991
Insights in Biology. Kendall Hunt, 1998
Modern Biology. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1999
© 2000, American Institute of Biological Sciences. Educators have permission to reprint articles for classroom use; other users, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com for reprint permission. See reprint policy.


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FRISCO, Texas — If one could win an MLS championship on experience alone, FC Dallas would be entering the MLS Cup Playoffs as the favorites.
The Hoops have six players with postseason experience and two — Kevin Hartman and Ugo Ihemelu — have won MLS Cups. All told, these six players, five of whom have been starters for much of the year, have a combined 90 games of playoff experience.
"I think they'll bring that experience since they're players that have been there," FCD manager Schellas Hyndman said. "If you look at our roster, very few of our players have been to the playoffs. A lot of our games have been in playoff-like environments. The difference is a continuation of competing for a championship or being eliminated. These are high-pressure games."
At the top of the list is goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who holds the league record for most playoff appearances by a goalkeeper (44) while with the LA Galaxy and Kansas City Wizards. Hartman started for MLS Cup-winning teams in LA in both 2002 and 2005.
Right behind Hartman is forward Jeff Cunningham, who has 19 games of playoff soccer under his belt with Columbus and Colorado. Cunningham scored a goal for the Rapids in the second leg of the 2005 Western Conference semifinals against Dallas in Frisco. The veteran striker also converted a PK to help Colorado advance via penalty kicks.
[inline_node:321852]FCD captain Daniel Hernandez has 18 games of playoff experience earned with the Galaxy and the New England Revolution. In fact, his last playoff appearance came in Frisco as he started for the Revolution in MLS Cup 2006. The Revs lost to Houston on PKs.
Though he remembers his previous trips to the playoffs fondly, he admits there is something extra-special about making it with FC Dallas, especially given he is playing for Hyndman, who also coached him at SMU.
"[I'm] really proud to wear the FC Dallas jersey, represent my hometown, be here in front of family and friends," Hernandez said. "I just feel that sense of pride, playing for the Hunt family and for Schellas. Those are the people that you just want to win for."
Ihemelu was a rookie when he played with Hartman in the 2005 playoffs. Those four games remain his only playoff experience until now.
"We won it and being a rookie, I thought this is easy and we're going to do this every year," Ihemelu recalls. "How hard could it be? It's harder than you think. I've gotten close a few years and barely missed it but am excited to get back to the playoffs and get it going."
Goalkeeper Dario Sala is the only member of the group who has playoff experience with Dallas, starting four postseason games in 2006 and '07. Midfielder Atiba Harris also has one playoff game on his résumé, starting once for Chivas USA in the 2008 campaign against RSL.
The fact that so many of his veteran teammates have been there before isn't lost on 20-year-old midfielder Brek Shea.
"You can definitely see it," Shea said on Monday. "I saw it in Kevin and Daniel today when they were training with us. You can see how hyped they are about it. They're excited for it on and off the field. They really want the team to do well. It rubs off onto the younger players and everyone else."
Ready to launch: MLS Matchday 2010, The new official MLS iPhone app. It's FREE! Download it here!


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Freedom, Security and Justice
The leaders, Ukraine and Moldova, are at about the same level of FSJ cooperation with the EU, although Moldova is apparently doing better where Approximation of FSJ is concerned, while Ukraine is doing better where Linkage of FSJ is concerned. Ukraine took the lead for a long time, while Moldova made steps to catch up and even moved ahead after its change of government in 2009. Meanwhile, Georgia has had more success in combating corruption and organized crime, where it outperforms the leaders. Armenia and Azerbaijan have a substantially shorter record of institutional FSJ cooperation with the EU and weaker political will. In the case of Belarus, obvious political limitations dominate.
FSJ cooperation between the EU and EaP countries is an issue of great importance, as it indicates the level of integration/cooperation in the most sensitive areas, which require a high degree of confidence between partners. FSJ cooperation is closely connected with the maturity of democratic institutions and rule of law. Increasing standards of FSJ cooperation may encourage countries to proceed with crucial reforms in combating corruption and organized crime, fighting illegal migration and human trafficking, and stimulate reforms aimed at better protection of human rights, more effective law enforcement and a transparent judiciary.
The specific carrot for FSJ cooperation with EaP countries is visa liberalization, which is expected to stimulate and guide important reforms aimed at making these countries safer for both their own citizens and foreign partners.
At the same time, FSJ cooperation can raise certain risks when it comes to relations with authoritarian and repressive regimes, as in the case of Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski. Belarusian authorities detained Bialiatski in August 2011 on charges of tax evasion as a result of information provided by the Lithuanian and Polish governments on a matter presented by Minsk as "combating money-laundering." This case clearly demonstrates the way FSJ cooperation may be misused and even used against the purpose for which it has been designed. For Ukraine, which has witnessed cases of selective justice against opposition leaders, such aspects of FSJ cooperation as data exchange, extradition and other law enforcement cooperation also entail risks. Providing asylum for some opposition party members in the EU may be the first sign of growing challenges. Thus, FSJ cooperation cannot be assessed automatically with a quantitative approach, but rather, the actual capacity of a partner to cooperate on the basis of democracy, respect for human rights and rule of law should be considered.
As mentioned, Ukraine and Moldova are the leaders of the group. Ukraine launched institutional cooperation with the EU in FSJ back in 2002, when the first EU-Ukraine Action Plan on "Freedom, Security and Justice" was signed, and updated in 2007. In the case of Moldova, there was no separate document on the matter and structured cooperation was launched under the EU-Moldova ENP Action Plan signed in 2005.
Both Ukraine and Moldova have completed negotiations on the chapter on Justice, Liberty and Security in the framework of official talks on the Association Agreements that will replace their PCAs.
For a long time, especially after the Orange Revolution in late 2004, Ukraine was seen as a pioneer in FSJ. It was the first among EaP countries to sign the Visa Facilitation Agreement (VFA) and a Readmission Agreement in 2007. Then the process was synchronized with Moldova and the Western Balkans and all agreements entered into force as of January 2008.
Georgia signed such documents with the EU in June 2010 and they entered into force in March 2011, while the negotiations with Armenia and Azerbaijan were launched in February and March 2012 respectively.
The European Commission also received a mandate for VFA and readmission talks with Belarus. Despite almost frozen relations, the Council of Foreign Ministers stressed the importance of promoting people-to-people contacts between Belarus and the EU on January 31, 2011. At the same time, the EU imposed visa restrictions on some 200 Belarusian officials involved in political repression following the presidential elections in December 2010.
Ukraine unilaterally cancelled visa requirements for EU citizens in 2005, with Moldova and Georgia following suit several months later. Armenia and Azerbaijan maintain a symmetric visa policy approach. Azerbaijan even toughened its visa policies in 2011.
In October 2009, Ukraine was the first country to start an official Visa Dialogue, with the ultimate goal of establishing a visa-free travel regime. Moldova launched its dialogue in June 2010, while other EaP countries can do so after full implementation of VFAs and Readmission Agreements.
Ukraine signed its Action Plan on Visa Liberalization (APVL) in November 2010. Moldova did likewise in January 2011. The initial period of APVL implementation showed that this new instrument was an effective tool to mobilize both countries' governments to proceed with important legislation, including ratification of CoE and UN conventions, in such areas as integrated border management, data protection, countering human trafficking and illegal migration, protecting refugees and asylum-seekers, and so on.
In Ukraine, 13 cooperation agreements on judicial cooperation and assistance with EU Member States are currently in effect, which is the largest number among EaP countries.
Currently, no EaP country has enforced operational agreements with Europol or Eurojust. Ukraine and Moldova have only signed framework agreements with Europol.
In border management, only Ukraine and Moldova have Working Arrangements with FRONTEX, as well as valuable practical cooperation with EUBAM, the EU Border Assistance Mission. Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Armenia have all implemented an integrated border
management concept in domestic legislation, while the first three have also put together the necessary Action Plans or implementation strategy. These three countries are obviously ahead of other three EaP partners in efforts to reform border security structures into a European-style border force.
Moldova can be considered the "laboratory" for new initiatives such as the Mobility Partnership, since 2008, and the Common Visa Application Centre, since 2007.10 Armenia was also offered a Mobility Partnership in 2011 as it signed a Joint Declaration with the EU. In 2011, Moldova became the first EaP country to stop issuing non-biometric passports to its citizens and is now issuing only biometric, ICAO-compliant passports.
Yet, Georgia is the more obvious success story in such key areas as combating corruption and organized crime. This fact has been confirmed by numerous independent studies, such as Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, which gave Georgia the best score, 3.8, among all EaP countries in 2010. By contrast, Ukraine and Azerbaijan were at the bottom, with 2.4, Belarus was marginally better at 2.5, Armenia similarly at 2.6, and Moldova a still-distant 2.9.11
Ukraine and Moldova, although frontrunners on most aspects of FSJ, are more often considered countries of origin for illegal migration to the EU than other EaP countries. The government of Moldova proved most willing to cooperate comprehensively with the EU in migration and asylum. Meanwhile, Belarus and Azerbaijan are source countries for asylum-seekers, but cooperation with them is limited for political reasons.
Ukraine is the most advanced where border management is concerned, while the relative success of Moldova is restricted by the Transnistrian conflict: 450 km of the country's border is out of control of the central government. Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia have similar problems with frozen conflicts and hostile relations with some neighbors.
To sum up, Moldova and Ukraine are at about the same level of FSJ cooperation with the EU, with Moldova being somewhat in the lead. Ukraine's success is due to the longer formal record of cooperation with the EU in this field, whereas the political will to reform is stronger in the case of Moldova. Georgia is also a success story in such key areas as combating corruption and organized crime, while Armenia has started catching up in 2011-12. The more modest success of Azerbaijan is due to a substantially shorter record of institutional FSJ cooperation with the EU, as well as to weaker European aspirations in this country. In the case of Belarus, political risks place serious limitations on existing opportunities.
Where energy is concerned, the EaP Index analyzes the extent to which the energy markets of EaP countries are integrated with and organized similarly to EU energy markets. Since the issues of energy sector and energy policy receive a lot of attention in EU policy towards EaP countries, the Index looks at energy market regulation and the market structures of EaP countries in terms of EU standards.
All EaP countries are engaged, to a greater or lesser extent, into multilateral platforms supported by the EU. However, only Azerbaijan as major oil and gas exporter in the region and Ukraine as a major transit country have signed EU sectoral agreements (Memoranda of Understanding). The structure of Georgian and Moldovan trade with the EU also relies on energy commodities, while Belarus focuses primarily on exporting fuels, minerals and refining products.
The situation looks drastically different, however, if the normative framework and market organization of EaP countries are taken into account. Formal commitments have less to do with the real implementation of acquis communautaire in the domestic legislation of EaP countries. Ukraine, despite being full member of the Energy Community, shows very low progress by having only prepared the ground for gas market reform. It has hardly implemented any other reforms or
10 Moldova's Foreign Policy Statewatch, Issue 30, July 2011, http://www.viitorul.org/public/3466/en/Policy%20Statewatch30_en.pdf
11 Corruption Perception Index 2010 Results http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/res...
requirements within its membership in the Energy Community. Ukraine's heavy activity in implementing some energy efficiency incentives could be explained by its energy and CO2 intensity—the highest among EaP countries.
Moldova, also a member of the Energy Community, and, interestingly, Armenia, demonstrate better performance in implementing European reforms of the gas and electricity markets. The latter, despite having the weakest links to the EU in terms of energy, demonstrates relatively good progress in areas of environment and electricity, in setting and supporting RES targets, and even in solving grid connection issues which are problematic in other EaP countries. Georgia, an Energy Community observer like Armenia, shows partial compliance with the EU directives and regulations, while it pursues gas and electricity market liberalization and is close to full legal unbundling.
EaP countries have only begun to transform their energy sectors in accordance with EU regulations. Advanced reforms within the Third Energy Package and ambitious 20-20-20 targets, which aim at deep market restructuring and wide-scale infrastructure investments are not yet on the agenda. Independent regulators in Armenia and Moldova and free access to infrastructure in Georgia and partly Ukraine are the first steps that have already been taken in reshaping local markets in this direction.
Where such structural indicators as EaP countries' energy consumption are concerned, the energy intensity of these countries is twice as high as the EU average and the RES share in primary energy consumption is still low, though increasing. GHG emission reduction targets remain high because national policies are less focused on production, which is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. This means that even having implemented EU standards, EaP countries will need to make painstaking efforts in order to bring their energy market structures closer to those existing in the EU. This process may take several years if not decades as the direction and pace of reforms are defined not only by political will, but also by economic, industrial and (geo)political factors that often act as intervening variables.
Modern transport policy should be aimed at making transport connections smoother, safer and more reliable for all transport users from the EU and EaP countries. So far, EaP countries have not demonstrated much success in pursuing the goal of deeper integration with the common transport spaces of the EU both in terms of infrastructure and regulatory environment. However, a closer look at some countries reveals some progress. Georgia and Moldova have already signed an Agreement on Common Aviation Area (CAA), and Azerbaijan began negotiations in 2011. At the same time, Ukraine, the first to start talks to join the CAA, is still far from achieving this goal. Nevertheless, these efforts by EaP countries show their intentions to ensure better quality and reasonable prices for aviation services for all users.
All EaP countries are located along transport axes between the EU and Russia and Asian countries. Consequently, they occupy a very advantageous transit position, in particular Ukraine, which is characterized by the largest number of international transport corridors, which are priorities for the EU's transport system. However, transport companies from Belarus and Moldova have also managed to benefit from their location and obtain relatively high numbers of permits to enter the EU, compared to Ukraine. Caucasus countries do not have a common land border with the EU and are therefore disadvantaged in terms of integration with the EU's land transport system. Nevertheless, they have made noticeable efforts in recent years to improve the quality of their transport infrastructure and customs procedures. As a result, being in more disadvantageous geographic conditions, they are now more advanced in logistic performance and infrastructure, which allows them to compete with Ukraine and Belarus, their larger EU-bordering neighbors.
In terms of regulatory environment, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia rank higher. Ukraine comes in only forth and is likely to be surpassed by Moldova in the near future if the current pace of reforms continues. While Moldova has demonstrated some progress, reforms in Ukraine have almost stopped over the last two years. While Ukraine has allowed third parties to access port and airport infrastructure and unbundle different business activities there, it has not established an independent
transport regulator and has not significantly reduced the influence of the state, in particular in railways and roads. Belarus has the weakest regulatory environment by EU standards.
In terms of road safety, Georgia has shown the worst indicator, though this can be partly attributed to its complicated terrain. In general, all EaP countries demonstrate poor transport safety, which means all of them have to work hard to improve this aspect of their transport systems.
To sum up, all countries under consideration are at different progress levels in transport integration and harmonization with the EU. However, the efforts of Moldova and the Caucasus countries are noteworthy and it is expected that these countries will swiftly progress along the European pathway.
Environment and Sustainable Development
In this part of the Index, Moldova, Belarus and Georgia are the best performers, while Ukraine and Azerbaijan are the worst, mostly due to the high strain on their environments and poor environmental conditions.
We assessed performance in two major issue areas: 1) environment, climate change and sustainable development policy and 2) resource efficiency, impact on / state of the environment. In the first set of issues, Moldova shows the highest results. Ukraine comes in second, followed by Armenia and Georgia. Azerbaijan and Belarus close the list.
Moldova is leading in terms of policy, where environmental protection has a crosscutting nature and environmental policy integration (EPI), as demanded by the EU. Major international environmental conventions with compliance monitoring mechanisms assess Moldova as a country that complies with major requirements. Ukraine has showed some progress in terms of policy development and implementation. It recently adopted a new environmental policy consisting of a Law on State Environmental Strategy and the National Environmental Action Plan, where the EPI is a core. Ukraine is also leading among all EaP countries in terms of the number of Environmental Conventions and Protocols it has ratified. At the same time, Ukraine did not comply with the Aarhus and Espoo UN ECE Conventions or the Kyoto Protocol in 2011. Yet, after having implemented the recommendations of the Compliance Committee of the Kyoto Protocol, Ukraine was allowed to resume its participation in trade of greenhouse gas emissions quotas in March 2012. Armenia comes in third and is the only country among the six EaP countries that has ratified the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment to the Espoo Convention, one of the main EPI instruments. Georgia, in fourth place, adopted the second generation of the National Environmental Action Plan in December 2012. Azerbaijan and Belarus lag behind in terms of environmental policy and legislation development.
In sustainable development policy, only Armenia has recently adopted the National Program on Sustainable Development. Notably, this was developed with the active participation of civil society. Also, Armenia has a functioning National Council on Sustainable Development (NCSD) under the President, where NGOs have a seat. Moldova went through a structured process including NGO involvement for the preparation of its own National SD Strategy (NSDS), but the Government did not adopt it, while other sectoral programs on sustainable development were adopted. The NCSD in Moldova was established with the participation of NGOs as well. Azerbaijan has a State Sustainable Development of Regions Program, while National SD Strategies have not yet been adopted in Georgia, Belarus or Ukraine. The latter has the SD principles and elements incorporated into its State Environmental Strategy. All countries, except Armenia, lack effective institutional provisions for the SD at the national level, though preparations for the Rio+20 Global Conference on Sustainable Development revitalized some activities on SD. Armenia, Ukraine and Moldova are all developing 10-year framework policies on Sustainable Consumption and Production.
In Sustainable Development and Trade, several indicators were considered. Ukraine ratified the largest number of International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions, 69, among EaP countries and 60 of them are already in force. Azerbaijan follows with 57 and 55 correspondingly, Belarus with 49 and 42, Moldova with 42 and 40, Armenia with 29 and 8, while Georgia has ratified and implemented 16. There has been little progress in imposing an EU-comparable mechanism for the prevention of illegal and unofficial fishery. Only Moldova adopted a relevant law, while Ukraine's legislation meets
the standards only partially. Control of legal trade in forestry is slightly better, in particular in Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine, but the matter needs further investigation.
The analysis of the 12 indicators on resource efficiency, impact on the environment and state of the environment in this Index demonstrates that Belarus has the best environmental situation among EaP partners, followed by Georgia and Moldova. Ukraine has the worst situation. This result correlates with the recently-published Yale University Environmental Performance Index (EPI) covering 163 countries. In it, Ukraine ranks well below other EaP countries. Armenia and Azerbaijan have the worst water exploitation indexes (WEI), and Georgia and Armenia have performed poorly where water pollution is concerned. While Ukraine's WEI is comparable with the EU-27 average, Armenia's and Azerbaijan's is double. Ukraine is a leader on SO2 pollution, showing approximately 3 times higher emissions than EU-27.
At the same time, the level of individual consumption of all EaP countries is not yet at EU-27 levels, confirmed by lower municipal waste production per capita. Where recycling is concerned, Belarus is recycling 12% and Ukraine 5-8%, while the others are not even at 1%, compared to over 22% in the EU-27.
The analysis demonstrated that, in terms of reducing greenhouse emissions compared to reduction potential, some countries actually increased their emissions in 2010—from 10% to 30%—, which could also indicate a need to re-define reduction potential. At the moment, Belarus is leading in the region with 51% and Moldova with 42%, compared to a 40% reduction by EU-27 in 2010.
Georgia has the highest pesticide input per hectare, almost twice exceeding the EU average, Moldova and Belarus correspond to EU practices, and Ukraine is the best, taking only 0,5-1 kg per hectare making least impact on the soil.
Meanwhile, the level of soil erosion is very high in EaP countries. All of the EaP countries exceed the EU-27 average. The worst situation is in Ukraine, where erosion is up to 57.5%, three times higher than in the EU-27. Armenia follows with 43.7%, Azerbaijan comes in at 36.4% and Georgia – 33%. At 26.0% and 19.3%, Moldova and Belarus look relatively better, although they still have a high share of eroded soil per territory.
In terms of forest area, only Belarus and Georgia exceed the EU-27 share. Ukraine has proportionally half as much forestland as the EU-27 average, while Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova all have only one third. A similar situation is observed with natural protected areas. None of the EaP countries came close to the EU-27 average indicator, with Azerbaijan being the best with 2/3 of EU areas, with Ukraine at 1/3, Moldova with 1/4 being the worst.
A general conclusion can be drawn that despite some success in policy elaboration and international cooperation, implementation of new strategies, plans and laws, all EaP countries lag behind when it comes to resource efficiency and the state of/impact on the environment. For the time being, Moldova is the most successful in its environmental policy effectiveness, while Belarus and Georgia follow. Ukraine is the biggest country in Europe by territory after Russia, with a long history of industrial and conventional agriculture within the former USSR. As such, it inherited heavy environmental consequences that are yet to be solved. This explains the largest gap among all EaP countries between modern environmental policy and the modest results of its implementation.
This part of the Index looks at the mobility of ordinary people, including students, at educational policies, focusing on the Bologna process, and at policies on culture, youth, the information society, media, and audio-visual use.
Where mobility is concerned, Moldova is far ahead of other countries, followed by Ukraine and Georgia, with the remaining three lagging significantly behind. Although Belarus receives the highest number of EU visas per capita and is close to the EU geographically, due to limited domestic opportunities for mobility such as legislation for student mobility and the availability of low-cost flights, it lags behind Georgia, a much more geographically distant country.
Participation in EU programs and agencies is open to all EaP countries that have Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with the EU, i.e., all but Belarus. Several EU programs are open to Belarus for participation as well. Participation in selected Programs and Agencies is defined by the European Commission according to the needs of each country and provided for in bilateral Protocols. A PCA Protocol has been signed by Ukraine and Moldova.
Moldova leads among EaP countries in terms of participation in EU programs and agencies. It is followed by Georgia, Armenia and only then Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Belarus. This is largely due to the fact that we mostly measured per capita participation in different programs. Where absolute figures are concerned, Ukraine, as the biggest country in the region, leads in participation in different programs.
Policies on education, culture, youth, information society, media, and audio-visual use
With regard to the Bologna process and general education reforms, Georgia is the best performer. Georgia managed to make serious reform efforts back in the early 2000s and the situation now in many ways reflects what was done before. Belarus is lagging behind on the majority of indicators. This is due to the fact that education in this country is totally subordinated to the state at the central level, while reforms are mostly formal. Other countries, notably Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan, have so far preserved the soviet legacy with the state trying to control universities and at the same time attempting to implement Bologna principles. The situation regarding the autonomy of universities with regard to academic, institutional, personnel and financial components illustrates this rather vividly: the state controls universities in many respects, denies them the right to issue diplomas and grant qualifications and allows only limited institutional and academic freedoms. Ukraine remains the outsider where the new law on education is concerned, while other EaP countries have reformed education legislation. At the same time, Ukraine is doing better in terms of the National Qualifications Framework. No EaP country has made progress in providing opportunities for foreign students, including students from the EU. The majority of foreign students still come from neighboring former soviet-bloc countries and Central Asia.
Where culture, youth, information society, media, and audio-visual use are concerned, all EaP countries have more or less equal scores. More specifically, Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia are the most progressive in cultural policy, although Ukraine initiated reforms and monitoring through the Cultural Policy Review later than other EaP countries. Specific provisions are defined by the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005) and the activities of the Council of Europe in this field, governed by the European Cultural Convention (1955) and participation in European cultural policy dialogue at the level of the Council of Europe.
Regarding youth policy, we looked at the national concept or legislation on youth policy, the national youth report, and at legal provisions for volunteering and for youth work. There were two different approaches in the region regarding national documents on youth: some countries use or amend old laws from the early 1990s, while others develop new legislation.
Apart from Belarus, all EaP countries are making progress in developing new strategies and laws, such as a law on volunteering. There are strong debates on the provision of youth work and informal education in Armenia. Until 2009, there were only fragmentary provisions for youth policy in Georgia, but the development of a National Youth Policy started in 2009 and the new law was already adopted and will come into force later in 2012. Georgia adopted its cultural legislation rather recently, but it is open to develop a new quality of youth policy. Moldova has no comprehensive youth report—only numerous fragmented studies on youth. There has been progress in preparing a new law on youth. Moldova also adopted a Law on Volunteering and at the moment is the only country that provides conditions for youth work according to an informal educational strategy. Ukraine has passed any number of amendments and also adopted a Law on volunteering, while Belarus has stuck to its old legislation.
The Eastern Partnership countries are the recipients of Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided by the European Union. Despite the fact that the EaP countries are not traditional EU development partners, ODA constitutes an important linkage dimension, as it involves not only the transfer of financial resources, but also the exchange of experience and know-how as well as contacts between people.
In the EaP Index, we focused in particular on ODA delivered by the European Union itself (assistance delivered by the EU institutions, subsequently referred to as "EU"), including ENPI national and regional assistance, participation in thematic instruments and cooperation with European financial institutions. Nevertheless, to measure the real linkages between the EU and EaP countries in terms of assistance, we also examined the volume of aid delivered by Union Member States. In 2010, the volume of aid provided by the EU and EU-27 was almost equal—around EUR 400 million each—), totaling slightly above EUR 800 million.
Among EaP countries, European assistance plays evidently the biggest role in the cases of Moldova and Georgia. In these two countries, EU-27 and EU aid represents each 1-2% of GDP, whereas in the case of the remaining countries the assistance links with the EU are rather marginal. In the case of Ukraine, it stems from the size of the country and its GDP, in the case of Azerbaijan, Belarus and, to a lesser extent, Armenia, the limited level of assistance is a result of the political situation and evident lack of willingness toward European Union integration. This refers to both assistance provided by individual Member States and to EU aid.
The key assistance instrument used by the EU in relation to Eastern Partnership countries is the European Neighborhood Policy Instrument. For the years 2007-2011, the EU committed around EUR 1,5 billion to the EaP countries, with the biggest share—more than one third—planned as aid for Ukraine. The only country that will not benefit significantly from these funds is Belarus.
To measure the linkages between the EU and EaP in terms of transfer of experiences, know-how and contacts between people, we also studied the number of TAIEX projects aimed at providing targeted policy and legal advice, usually by sending an expert from an EU Member State to help a ministry or local government in a partner country with a specific reform task. In 2007-11, two countries, Ukraine and Moldova, each implemented more than 100 TAIEX projects, whereas in other countries, the scope of activities of this kind was much smaller. This somewhat mirrors the depth of engagement of these EaP countries' institutions in approximating its legislation with the acquis communautaire. We also examined the number of Twinning projects focused on sending officials from EU Member State administrations to work together with their counterparts in the administration of a partner country. In this case, the projects implemented in Ukraine—40 over 2007-2011—were most numerous, although other countries, except for Belarus, also benefit from this scheme.
All countries except Azerbaijan are involved in ENPI East regional and interregional projects, in particular Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, which are in closest proximity to the EU and share the longest land borders with EU Member States. Ukraine and Moldova also received additional EU support, on top of the EU funding amounts already allocated for those countries, from the so-called Governance Facility aimed at providing support to those partners who have made the most progress in implementing the agreed reform agenda set out in their Action Plan. Additionally, all countries, with the exception of Azerbaijan and Belarus, benefit from the Neighborhood Investment Facility. On the other hand, only Armenia and Moldova employ high-level EU advisors in their governments.
Regarding European financial institutions, we examined the loans offered by the European Investment Bank—EIB, one of the EU institutions—and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which is outside the EU institutional framework. While all EaP countries have recently benefited from loans offered by the EBRD, the EIB is actively involved in all countries with the exception of Azerbaijan and Belarus.
Management of European Integration
In the 2012 Index, unlike the previous one, we have relied on a more elaborate set of issues and questions to assess the management of European integration in EaP countries. We have studied institutional arrangements for European integration for coordination and implementation, legal approximation for institutional and policy aspects, management of EU assistance, professional development in the field of European integration for civil servants and in universities, and the participation of civil society.
Among EaP countries, management of European integration seems to reflect the level of priority placed on the EU in each country. Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, those that have the greatest EU aspirations, are ahead of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus that have weaker EU aspirations. Georgia and Moldova, the frontrunners, are approximately at the same level of performance, while Ukraine lags somewhat behind. Armenia and Azerbaijan are further behind and show similar results. Therefore, the EU is on the agenda in all six EaP countries, albeit to a lesser extent in Belarus.
Performance in different aspects of European integration management is uneven. Where institutional arrangements for European integration, that is, coordination and implementation are concerned, Moldova and Georgia are far ahead, and Armenia has caught up with Ukraine. This is largely so due to Ukraine's poor performance compared to two or three years ago when the country had a relatively efficient coordination mechanism.
Although none of the EaP countries have established an EU coordination mechanism that is be comparable to the UKIE in Poland, in Georgia and Moldova, the official in charge of European integration is a deputy premier, which entails the power to coordinate the system. This is also the case in Ukraine, although this official has a very broad portfolio in which European integration is just one component. In Moldova, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, who is also the deputy premier, is in charge. In Georgia, the relevant functions are performed by the State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. This office is the main coordinating authority for EU affairs and serves as the secretariat of the European Integration Committee, the latter being a council of ministers that meets regularly. In Armenia, the Special Commission for EU Affairs is headed by the Chair of the National Security Council, who reports directly to the President and is completely in charge, but its powers are more advisory in nature. In Azerbaijan, much like in Ukraine, a deputy premier with a broad portfolio coordinates European integration.
Ukraine leads in terms of legal approximation, closely followed by Georgia. This is not to say that comprehensive approximation takes place in reality, but it reflects developed policy and procedural arrangements that were taken over from the previous government. In fact, this part of the Index looks at policy and procedures, while the impact of approximation is assessed in the Approximation dimension. Georgia probably has the most efficient system of legal approximation given that procedurally any bill or regulation submitted to the legislature has to be accompanied by an explanatory note that scrutinizes compliance with the EU acquis.
Ukraine is also leading in our assessment of training in the field of European integration, both for civil servants and at Universities. This has to do with the fact that Ukraine has a special state program for training in the field of European integration with limited budget allocations, and a National Academy of Public Administration that organizes courses. Other EaP countries mostly rely on international donor support, including TAIEX and twinning instruments of the EU. At the university level, there is no state support for this process, although European studies are slowly developing in all EaP countries. Overall, there is much room for improvement in all EaP countries in regards to the capacity building of civil servants that deal with the EU.
Management and coordination of EU assistance is less developed in Ukraine and Armenia than in other countries. Meanwhile, Moldova has a firm lead. Azerbaijan and Belarus are doing relatively well due to being strongly centralized with a strong vertical system and due to the fact that they receive much less funding than other countries, which in a way reduces the workload for them.
From our perspective, a criterion such as the political position of the National Coordinator for EU assistance is crucial because it consolidates the functions of strategizing national reforms and coordinating the instruments for their implementation. This directly affects the efficiency of EU assistance. In this respect, Moldova is the only EaP country where the Premier is the National Coordinator for EU assistance.
The assessment of EaP countries according to the criterion of a donor coordination mechanism again puts Moldova in the lead. In Moldova, the External Assistance Unit within the State Chancellery is in charge, while in other EaP countries the coordination of EU assistance is less clearly streamlined and sometimes is divided between different institutions or is in the hands of a ministry.
In this Index, we have also examined awareness-raising about European integration and found that activities aimed at making society better aware of the EU and the costs and benefits of European integration are not carried out in any of the EaP countries. If such activities take place, they are funded and implemented by donors and NGOs, while the governments of these countries place little importance on this issue.
Finally, we looked at the level of civil society involvement in European integration among EaP countries. We studied both civil society activities and their impact on decision-making concerning European integration. Moldova and Georgia are the frontrunners due to the fact that civil society in these countries has more chances to be included in the policy process. Ukrainian civil society, although active and vibrant, has enjoyed very limited access to the policy process in the past year.
Political dialogue
Differences in the institutional framework that govern the relationship between the EaP countries and the EU continue to influence the depth and intensity of political dialogue. In this regard, Ukraine has many advantages over the other EaP partners as it is the only country that holds an annual summit and has seven cooperation sub-committees. Although the annual EU-Ukraine summit did not take place in 2012 due to a number of political factors, being postponed to February 2013, Ukraine keeps its leading position concerning activities of bilateral institutions. In contrast, Belarus is the only EaP country that has no contractual framework with the EU, i.e. no Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and, although it is a part of the Eastern Partnership Initiative, its bilateral relationship with the EU is frozen.
Bilateral institutions
Multilateral institutions and Eastern Partnership
CFSP/ESDP Cooperation
Trade and economic integration
Trade flows: goods
Trade barriers: goods
Trade defence instruments
Sectoral cooperation
Freedom, security and justice
Transport: integration with Trans-European Networks
This part of the Index looks at the mobility of citizens, including students, at educational policies, focusing on the Bologna process, and at policies on education, culture, youth and information society.
Mobility, including academic and students mobility
Participation in EU programmes and agencies
Among the EaP countries, Moldova and Georgia are the main beneficiaries of and the most reliant on EU assistance. According to the latest available data funding from the EU and its member states to Moldova and Georgia accounts for about 3.8% and 2.5% of their GDP. Armenia took over the third position from Ukraine in the overall ranking of EU assistance. Belarus and Azerbaijan benefit very little from EU assistance. While the relatively low result of Ukraine is mainly determined by its large population size and high GDP, in the case of Azerbaijan and Belarus the low scores are a reflection of the EU's 'less for less' approach according to which the EU offers little assistance to countries with little democracy.
The European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) is the EU's main assistance instrument in relation to the EaP countries. In 2007-2010 the EU committed around EUR 1 billion to the EaP countries; this amount increased to over EUR 1.2 billion in 2011-2013. Ukraine is the largest beneficiary of the ENPI among the EaP countries receiving around EUR 470 million in 2011-2013. Yet, when ENPI assistance is calculated per capita, Ukraine is on the same level as Azerbaijan and Belarus, with only EUR 3.3 per capita allocated from the EU in 2012. In contrast, the EU allocation per capita to smaller countries is much higher: EUR 35 in Moldova, EUR 24 in Armenia and EUR 19 in Georgia per year.
In 2012, for the first time, the EU distributed funding from the Eastern Partnership Integration and Cooperation (EaPIC) programme. The new instrument worth EUR 130 million for 2012-2013 provides additional funding to EaP countries according to the principle of 'more for more' – the more a country progresses in its internal reforms for democracy, respect of human rights and the rule of law, the more support it can expect from the programme. According to EU assessment and supported by the findings of last year's Index, three countries made good progress on deep and sustainable democracy last year and received additional financial support: Moldova (EUR 28 million), Georgia (EUR 22 million) and Armenia (EUR 15 million). Unfortunately the EU has done very little to publicise and to explain to the people in Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Belarus why their governments were not entitled to increased funding.
Moldova and Armenia were the only countries to continue benefitting from macro-economic assistance from the EU in 2012. While Moldova received a grant of EUR 30 million, Armenia received EUR 39 million as a loan from the EU. In February 2013 the EU committed EUR 610 million in macro-economic financial assistance to Ukraine. However, so far no funds have been disbursed as Ukraine did not meet the IMF requirements.
As a measure of linkage between the EU and EaP countries in terms of transfer of experiences, know-how and contacts between civil servants, the Index looks at the number of TAIEX and Twinning projects. TAIEX provides targeted policy and legal advice, usually by sending EU experts to help a ministry or local government in a partner country with a specific reform task or to provide short term training. The countries most eager to receive EU advice are Moldova (113 requests), Ukraine (100 requests) and Belarus (58 requests). Moldova and Ukraine hosted the largest number of TAIEX events in 2012, 39 and 37 accordingly. Surprisingly, Azerbaijan and Belarus hosted more TAIEX events than Georgia and Armenia. Ukraine and Belarus lead on the number of officials participating in TAIEX trainings.
All six EAP countries are entitled to funding within the Comprehensive Institution Building (CIB) initiative designed to strengthen the capacities of key institutions involved in preparing, negotiating and implementing the new Association Agreements with the EU. The EU support for CIB in 2012 varied from EUR 17 million for Moldova to EUR 7 million for Azerbaijan. Belarus is the only EaP country that did not receive CIB funds. Three countries — Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan — received EU funds for regional and rural development in 2012.
All EaP countries, except Azerbaijan, are involved in ENPI East regional and interregional projects. Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus are the most active participants in cross-border projects taking advantage of their geographical proximity and shared land borders with EU member states.
In 2012 the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) contributed EUR 69.2 million to three regional and seven national projects in Eastern Europe. Armenia received the greatest funding from NIF, EUR 17 million, for two new infrastructure projects. Georgia is the second biggest beneficiary with EUR 12 million for two new projects. Belarus and Ukraine did not receive any new grants from NIF in 2012.
Overall EU Development Aid
European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument
Thematic instruments and programmes
European financial institutions and special technical assistance
Deep and sustainable democracy
Elections (national level)
Media freedom, association and assembly rights
Human rights
Independent judiciary
Quality of public administration
Fighting corruption
Market economy and DCFTA
Market Economy
Business climate
Sector transition
Sectoral approximation
Freedom, security and justice
Energy: legislation convergence and energy policy
Transport: transport regulatory policy
Environment and sustainable development
Policy on education, culture, youth, Information society, media, audiovisual use
Institutional arrangements for European integration (coordination and implementation)
The scores on Management of European Integration explain how EaP countries 'manage' and organise both their links with the EU and approximation to the EU. Thus the Index looks at the institutional framework for European integration, mechanisms of policy coordination and implementation, legal and institutional approximation, management of EU assistance, professional development in the field of European integration available to civil servants and to students at universities, and the participation of civil society.
Legal approximation
Ukraine has the most elaborated system for legal approximation, closely followed by Georgia and Moldova. This is not to say that comprehensive approximation takes place in reality in Ukraine, but it takes into account policies and procedural arrangements that were introduced in Ukraine before 2010.
Management of EU assistance
Training in the field of European integration
Ukraine lost its leading position when it comes to training in the field of European integration, both for civil servants and at the university level. Ukraine's score did not change, but Armenia made significant progress and overtook Ukraine to now be the leader among EaP countries.
Awareness raising on European integration
This dimension of the Index also looks at awareness-raising about European integration. Similarly to last year's Index, the current report shows limited awareness-raising activities in all EaP countries. Most activities are funded and implemented by foreign donors and NGOs, while the governments of these countries place little im portance on this issue. All EaP countries are more or less at the same level. Armenia and Georgia show better results than Ukraine and Moldova. Azerbaijan and Belarus are again the underdogs.
Participation of civil society
Finally, the Index looks at the level of civil society involvement in the Management of European Integration. It looks at both civil society activities and their impact on decision-making. Moldova and Georgia are the frontrunners due to the fact that civil society organisations in these countries have more opportunities to be included in the policy process, using institutionalised forms of public consultations with governmental officials – the National Participation Council in Moldova and the Public Advisory Body under the State Minister on European Integration in Georgia. NGOs in all EaP countries produce regular reports and assess government performance and progress on European integration.


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Kansas State University in Manhattan announced students who earned semester honors for their fall 2012 academic performance. Students who complete at least 12 hours of graded coursework with a grade point average of 3.75 or higher receive semester honors.
Marion — Patrick Hodson, Tonya Hodson, Tristen Snelling, Derek Stuchlik, Adam Svoboda, and Julia Zeiner.
Hillsboro — Alexander Jost and Candace Weinbrenner.
Peabody — Bayleigh Clark, Emily Harris, Alexander Holm-McDowell, Joshua Klarmann, Broderick Kyle, and Derrick Till.
Florence — Jaclyn DeForest.
Goessel — Justine Plenert.
Lincolnville — Taylor Harms and Adam Kristek.
Lehigh — Mark Prieb.
Ramona — Sheila Makovec.


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The Ferris State University men's and women's track and field/cross country program appointed Larry Levine to the full-time assistant coaching post prior to the 2009-10 campaign.
Levine serves as the head assistant coach for Ferris State's men's and women's track and field program, coaching the throwing events and directing the training for fall track and strength & conditioning programs. In his time at Ferris, Levine has brought the throwing events to a national level with numerous national qualifying marks, including several All-Americans and school all-time marks.
Prior to his FSU appointment, Levine had spent 12 years as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Central Michigan where his throwers were instrumental in the men's and women's teams earning a total of seven Mid-American Conference (MAC) team championships. In his tenure at CMU, Levine coached 26 All-MAC performers, including 13 conference champions and multiple school-record holders.
While at Central Michigan, Levine coached 33 NCAA Division I provisional national and regional qualifiers, including national championship competitor David Stallworth in the 35-pound weight throw. Most recently, Levine guided Greg Pilling to NCAA-I All-America status in the discus, where he set the MAC record with the sixth-best throw in the nation (197-2).
Levine arrived at CMU after serving as the assistant men's and women's coach at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, from 1991 to 1997. At Wartburg, he developed weight training and conditioning programs for the throwers and coached 17 NCAA Division III national qualifiers along with six All-America performers. He was also a teacher at Allison-Bristow Community Schools in Allison, Iowa.
As a member of the Iowa Wesleyan College track and field team, Levine competed in the throwing events. After his collegiate experience, he continued to compete in the throws along with both powerlifting and Olympic lifting. He is a USA Track and Field Level II certified coach in the throws and is currently in the Level III certification process.
Levine graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1986 with a degree in education. He and his wife, Barb, reside in Mount Pleasant with their children, Thadd, and Lane. He is a 1980 graduate of Muscatine (Iowa) High School.


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|A cup of hot chocolate, spiked with Kahlua if you like, and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne.
Spiked and Spiced Hot ChocolateThis Spiked and Spiced Hot Chocolate came about thanks to the frigid cold weather that moved into most of the eastern part of this country last weekend, including the deepest of The Deep South, and my apparent need to warm up from the inside out. It was bone-chilling cold for this southern gal, and although I was wearing two pairs of sweats, two long sleeved shirts, socks and slippers, and had the central heat going, none of it seemed to help at all. It was definitely a hot chocolate kind of night, and we have another couple of those heading in tonight for the weekend. Just in time for that last minute Christmas shopping, brrrr!
I love hot chocolate and when I want it, I usually break out a saucepan and make the good ole familiar and well loved, old fashioned Hershey's cocoa recipe that many of us have been making all of our lives. This time, there on the counter sat these inviting packages of semi-sweet chocolate chips waiting for holiday treats, and just begging for a feature spot in a steaming cup of hot chocolate.
I also had those nice roasted McCormick spices in the cabinet from our BlogHer Food swag, so I thought why not spice things up a bit too? And of course, why not a little pinch of cayenne pepper to help boost up the good ole circulation while we are at it? What resulted was a delicious blend of spicy flavor, all of which complimented the chocolaty goodness. I probably used somewhere in the middle of 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne and it was a very nice, healthy lip tinglier. Feeling adventurous? Go ahead and stir in a bit of Kahlua. Give it a try!
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Recipe: Spiked and Spiced Hot Chocolate©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish
Prep time: 5 min |Cook time: 10 mins | Yield: About 4 servings
- 4 cups of milk, divided
- 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Freshly grated nutmeg (about 6 passes on a microplane grater)
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 ounce of Kahlua, or to taste, optional
- Whipped cream or mini marshmallows, for garnish
- Grated nutmeg, for garnish
Add 1 cup of the milk with the chocolate chips and sugar to a saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat, until sugar and chocolate is dissolved and mixture comes to a near boil. Stir in the remaining 3 cups of milk, the cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne; bring to near boil again. Remove from heat and stir in Kahlua. Pour into mugs, top with whipped cream or mini marshmallows, and grate a bit of fresh nutmeg on top.
Makes about 4 mugs - depending on size. Serve hot.
Source: http://deepsouthdish.com
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Italian Hot Chocolate
Hot Buttered Rum
Café au Lait


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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is doomed and his fall is a "blessing" for the Middle East, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was quoted as saying. "A downfall of Assad would be a blessing for the Middle East," Barak was quoted as saying by the Austria Press Agency (APA) at an event in Vienna.
"The Assad family is doomed and no one knows what will happen afterwards."
A statement issued by the Israeli defense ministry quoted him as saying: "We have been witness in the past few days to battles between those loyal to the Assad family and rebel forces.
"This is the continuation of the decline of the Assad family which will lead in the end to the end of its rule. We cannot tell what will happen ... In any event it will be a blow to the Iran-Hizbullah axis."
In the latest bloodshed, 26 people were killed across Syria on Sunday, including five children and a woman, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Among those killed, ten people died in Homs, while six others were killed in Hama, four in Idleb, in addition to three people in the southern town of Dara'a. Two deaths were reported in Damascus countryside.


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8 points - Will a team use a local/taxi to guide them to a destination?
REDO, thanks to Michael now makes Kiwi the highscore for this week! Good job! WTG everyone!!
excuse me!??SLANDER IN THE GAME?disqualified!
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CHICAGO (AP) — Former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas says he'll have no trouble playing "second fiddle" to Gov. Pat Quinn as his 2014 running mate.
Vallas and Quinn appeared together Tuesday for the first time since the governor announced last week that Vallas was his pick for lieutenant governor.
Vallas sought the 2002 Democratic nomination for Illinois governor but lost to now-imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
He says he was initially surprised when Quinn approached him about the job. But he says the Chicago Democrat "wants to assemble the strongest team possible."
Vallas also says he's OK with playing second fiddle, "or whatever instrument in the orchestra Pat wants me to play" because he believes in Quinn.
Both men say addressing Illinois' pension crisis will remain the administration's top priority.


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NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING of San Francisco LIBRARY SELECTION COMMITTEE *
A Special Meeting the San Francisco Public Library Commission's Selection Committee will be held as follows:
Date: Monday, December 6, 2004
Time: 8:00 am
Place: Koret Auditorium, Main Library, lower level
Please note that the Selection Committee meeting will be cancelled if at least four members of the Library Commission are available to meet on or about 8:00 am.
AGENDA FOR Special Meeting of Selection COMMITTEE:
*1. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE APPOINTMENT-City Librarian - ACTION
Open Session:
Public Comment (on all matters pertaining to the closed session item)
Vote on whether to hold closed session pursuant to California Government Code Section 54957(b) (1) and San Francisco Administrative Code Section 67.10(b) - Personnel Matter-Public Employee appointment-City Librarian
Closed Session:
Discussion and possible action
Reconvene in open Session (The Selection Committee shall reconvene no earlier than 5:00 PM or as soon therefater as the closed session agenda is completed):
a) Vote whether to disclose any or all discussions held in closed session (San Francisco Administrative Code Section 67.12(a)).
b) Disclosure of action taken in closed session.
* 3. ADJOURNMENT (motion and public comment required) - ACTION
- NOTICE: Because it is possible that a fourth Library Commission member may attend this meeting and that attendance would result in a majority of the members of the Library Commission being present, this meeting is also being noticed as a special meeting of the Library Commission.
11/19/04 - M. Housh, Commission Secretary
Explanatory documents: Copies of listed explanatory documents are available as follows: (1) from the Commission Secretary/Custodian of Records, Main Library, 6th Floor, (2) in the rear of the Koret Auditorium immediately before and during the meeting, and (3)to the extent possible, on the Library's website at http://sfpl.org/.
Additional materials not listed as explanatory documents on this agenda, if any, that are distributed to the Library Commissioners prior to or during the meeting in connection with any agenda item will be available to the public for inspection and copying in accordance with Government Code Section 54954.1 and Sunshine Ordinance §§ 67.9, 67.28(b)& 67.28(d).


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Soledad O'Brien's Report From Haiti
Haiti needs is to not be continually screwed by the forces around it, whether that be American forces, meaning political, not military forces, or French forces. The history of Haiti, as I'm sure you're well aware, has been one of never giving Haiti a chance.
[Eye Witness To Tragedy]
In the wake of the Haitian earthquake, CNN's Soledad O'Brien rushed to the region to deliver the same sort of high-quality, eyewitness coverage that she has dependably broadcast from various locations, including disaster zones such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.
Because of her seemingly effortless style and her People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People List looks, what tends to get lost about this intrepid, Emmy-winning reporter is that she's also a Harvard graduate with a keen intellect, a razor sharp wit, a great sense of humor and an ever-inquiring mind.
I've interviewed a bunch of bright people in my day and, trust me, Soledad might very well be the brightest. You'll instantly see what I mean, if you ever have the pleasure of engaging her in conversation one-on-one. Until then, I hope that this revealing tete-a-tete about the Haiti relief effort effectively conveys the essence of her brilliant mind
and very likable spirit.
Soledad is never one to shy away from a difficult or probing question, but is rather refreshingly frank and forthcoming in addressing in considerable depth whatever issue she's asked to address. That's the reason I sought her out in the first place to get the scoop on what's really happening in Haiti.
This interview was conducted soon after her return to the States, while she was cooking for and frequently distracted by a house full of rambunctious kids, and she even paused briefly from our conversation to pull one of her 5 year-old twin's baby teeth, all without ever missing a beat.
BSN: How's Haiti?
SO: Haiti's a mess for a host of reasons: because it's historically never been given a chance, because it currently has no real infrastructure, and because, of course, in the wake of the earthquake those factors combine to make for a country that's going to have a very slow recovery. These conditions don't exist in a vacuum but are
correlated to how fast Haiti is going to be able to recover. There's a reason why people aren't getting food and other resources quickly, even when supplies have arrived to hand out, namely, that it's really hard to get to folks in the absence of an infrastructure.
BSN: I told my readers I'd be speaking with you, and they sent in a lot of questions. Larry Greenberg asks, do you think we should be having a dialog about making Haiti the 51st state or a commonwealth of the United States?
SO: No, I think what Haiti needs is to not be continually screwed by the forces around it, whether that be American forces, meaning political, not military forces, or French forces. The history of Haiti, as I'm sure you're well aware, has been one of never giving Haiti a chance. What it really needs is an opportunity. I'm not sure
that there would be an upside to the country becoming a state. Nor do I think America needs for Haiti to become a state. Haiti has a president and leadership elected by the people. It just needs some real infrastructure.
BSN: You also covered the tsunami and Katrina. How do these disasters compare to each other?
SO: To me, the scope of Katrina was so much bigger than where I was in Thailand. In Thailand, after a couple of days everyone could kind of get their act together, except for in the affected area which they needed to continue working on rebuilding. By comparison, Katrina was just giant, space-wise. As for Haiti, the damage caused by the earthquake is even more widespread than Katrina, and they have much less infrastructure. I found the same sort of devastation I saw in Port-au-Prince, when we drove to Jacmel and beyond. Plus, the population density in is so much greater in Haiti where they build homes right on top of each other into these hills.
So, there was a domino effect when they collapsed, especially because of
the substandard construction work.
BSN: To what extent this is an international relief effort?
Are there other countries contributing that might not be mentioned by the American mainstream press?
SO: Oh, yeah. Absolutely! What I found interesting from the get-go, when we went to the hospital in Jacmel, was that the first people I encountered
were Cuban doctors. They already had a longstanding, joint project with Haiti, so they were the ones who immediately set up the outdoor, triage hospital. Those were
Haitian and Cuban doctors. And at that hospital there were also medical teams from Costa Rica, Canada, Sri Lanka and the United States. It was truly an
international response. No question. It was strange to be yelled at in so many different languages.
BSN: After both 9/11 and Katrina, the Red Cross solicited donations but later admitted that it only distributed a small fraction of the funds raised during those ad campaigns. You were down there in Haiti. What's the most effective way people can help?
SO: From my perspective, I would wait now. They have a lot of immediate money in. And people have started bringing in supplies. The initial first phase of the crisis is over. The rebuilding effort is going to take so much time that whether I wanted to send $1,000, or $5,000 or even $50,000, I'd hold on and wait to see what's coming down the line, because that money is really going to be needed later. You might, for instance, be able to help rebuild a school, or some other project that nobody's
thinking about right now. Wouldn't that be a wonderful way to help? But still, if you're not going to send any money when the hoopla dies down, then send it now.
Otherwise, wait to see what projects emerge, because the initial response has been tremendous, financially.
BSN: Any truth to the rumor that they're taking Haitians survivors to Guantanamo Bay?
SO: No, I never heard that.
BSN: How did it feel to be in the midst of the continuing crisis?
SO: It's sort of the same feeling you get at any of these disasters. You don't have a 500 pound bag of rice to feed people who are really hungry, or a dump truck to remove cement from a spot where someone might be trapped. It's frustrating, but I think I've sort of reconciled in my own head that my job is to bring notice to the world of these people's plight. And if I try to get involved in rescuing, too, I'll end up not doing either job very well. Although at one point, I helped out at an orphanage when an overwhelmed doctor pointed out a dehydrated baby that basically had about a couple of hours to live unless she got an IV. At that point, I was wishing that Dr. Sanjay Gupta was with me or somebody who could do it well, because I didn't know how to put an IV in.
And I knew that two doors over, there were another half-dozen kids in the same situation. She was so dehydrated, it was obvious that she wasn't going to make it. And she hadn't even been injured in the quake. She was just dehydrated. Babies who don't have water will die. Dehydration kills them. After I got the IV in, I had never been so relieved in my life, because the risk had been so high. I kept thinking, "God, if this needle doesn't get in, that's it." Fortunately, once we did get the IV running in her, she was fine. A lot of these infants would be just fine, if we could only get a bottle of formula to them.
BSN: I remember seeing a spokesperson for Doctor without Borders complaining on TV about how most of their planes were not being allowed to land. And that the U.S.
military was in control of the airport and was focused more on bringing in 13,000 soldiers than on the medical supplies that were so urgently needed.
SO: I understand, but, they needed so many things, honestly: medical supplies, food, water, excavation machines, doctors, nurses, rescue
personnel, engineers, etcetera. Part of the reason they couldn't land all their planes is that there was simply no space to land. The planes were all stacked up. That's why we went to choppers. Getting in and out by helicopters was just so much easier. So, Doctors without Borders complaint was right that they definitely need more medical professionals, but if you're going to try to distribute, you also need infrastructure. Haiti's just a very messed up place right now.
BSN: Mirah Riben, author of a couple books on adoption asks, what you think of the people rushing to adopt Haitian babies?
SO: I think anybody who is willing to adopt a child in any situation is amazing. That's really a very selfless thing to do. However, I agree with those who say that
adoption should not be rushed. The adoption process in Haiti normally takes several years, and it should. It would be terrible to risk an adoption by someone who should
not be adopting a child. Still, what I find frustrating is that so many people see it as an either or situation. You can do an airlift for kids who are dying, feed them, and return them without adopting them out. It doesn't have to be either snatching babies out of their parents' arms or leaving them there to die. There's a middle ground in there, and what's made me really angry is how the question has been posed as one or the other. Plus, there are plenty of orphanages that don't offer
kids for adoption, but just take care of kids for people who can't afford to raise them. In a way, those kids are currently the most desperate, since they're totally
under the radar. You get a sense that their situation is very dire and that no one is keeping track of them.
So, it sort of annoys me that there isn't a sense of urgency about trying to save them, too.
BSN: ...wondering whether you're aware of the controversy suggesting that children are being taken out of the country before their relatives
can be located.
SO: Absolutely! That's not a controversy. It's a fact. You should never want to adopt children out and give them a new set of parents before you've done your due
diligence to find their biological parents. What I would suggest is that instead of adopting them out, you make sure they're safe and fed. You just
take care of them. We certainly have the resources to do it in Haiti, once the infrastructure is fixed.
BSN: Marcia Evans asks, why isn't anyone talking about the lack of support from Santo Domingo? She says that one Dominican hospital on the border
only belatedly opened its doors to Haitian refugees.
SO: That's not true. That hospital was open from the get go. I was there. That hospital on the border was open very early on, and the Dominicans
were flying in a lot of supplies. I saw Dominican trucks and Dominican soldiers, too. The Dominicans were not dragging their feet. They were triaging people and
flying the more seriously injured to other hospitals that could take better care of them.
BSN: Marcia further suggests that Dominicans might have racist feelings about their darker-skinned Haitian neighbors.
SO: Has there been a long mutual distrust and animosity between Haiti and the Dominican Republic? The answer definitely is "Yes!" In fact, I
interviewed the Dominican President about that. His take is that at one point Haiti and the Dominican Republic were at war with each other, and that the Dominican
Republic won its freedom from Haiti. So, the history of those countries is of not getting along. But in terms of the earthquake, I haven't seen anybody
who's said, "We're not going to help."
BSN: We're you afraid when that 6.0 aftershock hit?
SO: Yes, that was very scary. I grabbed my Blackberry and sneakers, and ran like hell out of my hotel room. It was the craziest thing to see the
entire hotel empty out of people who were running for their lives. After all, we'd been spending our entire days examining the aftermath of what happens when entire buildings collapse on people. And who knew how structurally sound our hotel was?
To see some of O'Brien's reporting please see:
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- Ann GarrisonFebruary 22,2018 @ 08:03 PM
I think you have "Filtered HTML" turned on here. If you switch to "Full HTML," it will probably...
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LOS ANGELES — Golden State didn't know which Los Angeles Lakers team it was getting. And it wasn't supposed to matter, as the Warriors' goal was simply to be prepared for whatever.
They weren't. As a result, they were run out of Staples Center on Friday, 101-77.
"We knew this was a big game," said point guard Stephen Curry, who had 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting with five assists. "We needed this game. We haven't won down here in a while. Especially with what has happened with them, we thought we could get this one."
After the Lakers fired coach Mike Brown early Friday, the Lakers hardly looked to be a resurgent bunch ready to be the dominant power in the West everyone expected when they acquired point guard Steve Nash and center Dwight Howard. Los Angeles started the game resembling the same struggling squad that lost four of its first five to get Brown fired. But eventually they picked it up.
The Warriors (3-3), who said they were focused on doing what they needed to do, didn't seem to have another gear to shift. Their plan was to play with energy, push the tempo, defend and rebound.
Instead — in their first game since starting center Andrew Bogut was shut down seven to 10 days to rehab his left ankle — the Warriors showed little fight in the second half. Instead, they totaled just nine fast-break points while making just 7 of 25 3-pointers. Instead, they were out-rebounded by 11 while giving up 101 points, above their season average.
They were coming in hoping to steal one on the road. Instead, the Warriors stole whatever momentum they'd gained from their 3-2 start.
"We were just out of sync," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "No excuse."
It was the Lakers' offense that was the subject of much controversy. Brown had installed the Princeton offense, which seemed to cripple the star-studded offense. But Lakers assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff, who was named interim head coach, went back to a more traditional offense.
Los Angeles (2-4) managed to shoot just 40 percent. Their 54 second-half points were powered by making 13 of 16 free throws. Big men Pau Gasol and Howard combined to score just 20 points on 8-of-24 shooting.
However, Kobe Bryant looked like Kobe Bryant.
He had 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting with nine rebounds and seven assists.
"I think just by the look of it, the one difference you saw is they definitely were playing more simple basketball," forward David Lee said after needing 10 shots to get 10 points. "I think they were running a lot of pick and rolls, getting Kobe in the post a lot. (Pau) Gasol didn't shoot a great percentage, but he got up 18 shots tonight. So they did some different things. But overall, I felt they were a pretty good team to begin with, they just had a tough stretch to start the season."
The Warriors offense, however, made the Lakers look like a juggernaut. The Warriors shot 33.7 percent. They took more 3-pointers (25) than free throws (20) and had more turnovers (18) than assists (12). Even forward Carl Landry, the Warriors' most efficient scorer this season, was just 3 of 12 from the field with six points.
And the good defense they did play at times was negated on the boards. The Lakers grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, leading to 23 second-chance points.
"If you're going to beat a good team on the road," Jackson said, "you've got to take care of the basketball, you've got to rebound. You're going to miss shots. I'm fine with that. But we've got to do a better job closing out possessions. We came in with the mindset to run, and they outscored us even in fast-break points. Just disappointing overall."
"This is a business," Jackson said. "It's sad to see a very good coach get fired, but this is a business and that's the way it goes. It's disappointing, but at the same time, Mike Brown will land on his feet and be just fine."


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Just a little placeholder to let the world know that we are alive and kicking despite neglecting update of this website!
Working hard on a wide variety of efforts, including:
- Organizational study for Arlington County
- Work in support of the Housing and Supportive Services Consortium (HSS)
- Developed and delivered capture and proposal training for a national nonprofit agency
- Developed and delivered a website for Delta Consulting Group, will add it to my portfolio shortly
- Serving on the board of the Washington Metropolitan Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (WMCCAI)
- Continuing to serve as secretary of the Northern Virginia Joomla! Users Group, President of Talltree South and MapleTree Pool Associations
- Will have an article in Quorum Magazine and shortly, a video
- Supporting other web and proposal-related clients
- And much more. Helping others debug code and write stories!
Joomla! 3.2 was released November 6, 2013. Key new features include:
- Version Control - Enables a Joomla administrator to revert to an older version of content on a website and compare side-by-side to see what changes have been made.
- Rapid Application Development (RAD) - RAD simplifies the process for a developer to write their own Joomla extensions; apps that enhance a Joomla site like calendars, videos or polls
- Extension Finder - This simplifies the process of searching for and installing Joomla extensions by allowing users to do all that directly from within their admin view with just a few clicks. The previous processes included separate steps to first search for and download extensions to a desktop, and then log in to the Joomla admin view and install those extensions.
- Bcrypt - A strong encryption method that scrambles passwords stored in a Joomla website's database.
- Two-factor Authentication - In order for a change to be made to a Joomla website, there can be an optional requirement for a user to fill out another form of authentication (other than a username/password). Two-factor authentication can be anything like entering an auto-generated code that is texted to a person's mobile phone.
- User Interface Improvements - The new Joomla 3.2 administration interface is more streamlined and task-focused.
- Iimproved template manager
- Multi-lingual site installer,
- Improved WYSIWYG editor
- Micro-data semantics library
- HTML form fields and attributes.
We will discuss Joomla! 3.2 at our November 20, 2013 Northern Virginia Joomla! Users Group Meeting. See the event on Meetup.
In addition to the press releases all around the web, here is Tim Plummer's briefing on the new features:


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Notice to Members 05-26
NASD Recommends Best Practices for Reviewing New Products
NASD is concerned about the number of increasingly complex products that are being introduced to the market in response to the demand for higher returns or yield. Some of these products have unique features that may not be well understood by investors or registered persons. Others raise concerns about suitability and potential conflicts of interest. While NASD has and will continue to address specific products as appropriate, NASD also urges firms to take a proactive approach to reviewing and improving their procedures for developing and vetting new products. At a minimum, those procedures should include clear, specific and practical guidelines for determining what constitutes a new product, ensure that the right questions are asked and answered before a new product is offered for sale, and, when appropriate, provide for post-approval follow-up and review, particularly for products that are complex or are approved only for limited distribution.
The purpose of this Notice is to remind firms of the kind of questions they should be asking before offering a new product, and to highlight a number of best practices employed by some firms that NASD believes others should consider in reviewing their current procedures.
Questions concerning these new reporting provisions can be directed to Eric Moss, Vice President and Director of Emerging Regulatory Issues, at (202) 728-8982; or Laura Gansler, Associate General Counsel, at (202) 728-8275.