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Poland, East Germany & World War II
About East Germany
This World War II tour in Poland and East Germany is the perfect vacation for those who are interested in World War II. Your tour starts in Warsaw and ends in Munich. Along the way, you'll visit cities, concentration camps, and places important during World War II—with overnights in Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, Dresden, Berlin, Weimar, Nuremberg, and Munich.Throughout this tour, you'll visit some of the concentration camps used during World War II. Visit the most famous, Auschwitz and Birkenau, where you'll see chilling reminders of the Holocaust. You'll visit the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar. Constructed in 1937, it was one of the largest concentration camps. You'll also visit the site of the former Dachau concentration camp, which started out as a work camp for German dissidents. In Krakow, you'll visit the Oskar Schindler Factory, a museum devoted to the wartime experiences in Krakow and made famous in the movie Schindler's List. You'll visit the Memorium Nuremberg Trials and Courtroom 600 (if available), where you'll learn about the background and repercussions of the trials at the original location where they were held. You'll also visit the Documentation Center and Zeppelin Field, where thousands of people gathered for Nazi rallies. These experiences are some of the special inclusions Globus offers to ensure your vacation is unique.World War II brought devastation to the cities that were bombed, and you'll visit some of those cities. In Dresden, enjoy a guided walking tour of this city that was badly damaged by Allied bombing in February 1945 and has since been restored. In Berlin, visit the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, a symbol of reconciliation. All of this and much more are included in this fabulous World War II tour in Poland and East Germany.
City Highlights
WARSAW Welcome dinner at a local restaurant; guided sightseeing, visit the Cathedral of St. JohnKRAKOW Guided sightseeing, visit St. Mary's Church; [LF] guided visit of the Oskar Schindler Factory; guided walking tour of Kazimierz, visit the Remuh SynagogueAUSCHWITZ & BIRKENAU Visit the sites of the former concentration campsWROCLAW Guided sightseeing, visit the cathedral and the market squareDRESDEN Guided walking tour, visit the Zwinger Palace Courtyard; [LF] dinner at a local restaurantTORGAU [LF] See the monument commemorating the meeting of the US and Soviet forces; visit the courtyard of Hartenfels CastleBERLIN Guided sightseeing, take pictures of Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial, visit Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial ChurchWEIMAR OrientationBUCHENWALD Visit the site of the former concentration campNUREMBERG [LF] Visit the Memorium Nuremberg Trials and Court Room 600 (if available), Document Center, Zeppelin Field; walking tour of the Old Town; [LF] a special dinner at a local restaurantDACHAU Visit the site of the former concentration campMUNICH Visit Marienplatz; farewell dinnerHeadsets throughout the tour
Full buffet breakfast daily; 7 three-course dinners with wine, including a special welcome dinner in Warsaw, special dinners in Dresden and Nuremberg, and a farewell dinner in Munich.
NOTES: Please check visa requirements with your local consulate(s); responsibility for obtaining visas rests with the travellerHitler's Eagle's Nest is normally open from mid-May to end-September. Check with your Tour Director for the availability of this excursion
Motorcoach; Free Wi-Fi available on your motorcoach and in most hotel lobbies.


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subset: commoncrawl


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The Nature Center in Tyler, Texas has about a thousand stocked rainbow trout that need to be caught. Trout are stocked into The Nature Center's pond for fishing events in January, and they need to be harvested before water temperatures rise to the point the fish cannot survive.
During the Spring Break Trout Fest March 7—10, anyone may fish for free from 8:30 a.m. until 12:00 noon only. No fishing will be allowed after noon. Youth under age 18 must be supervised at all times by an adult. No fishing license is needed. Up to five rainbow trout and one channel catfish per day may be harvested. Anyone intending to harvest fish should bring a stringer or cooler.
Recommended gear is a light-action rod and reel combination (one per child) with very small fishing hooks, light line (less than 12-pound test) small bobbers, and small split shots. For bait, use canned whole-kernel corn, small worms or prepared trout bait such as Berkley PowerBait. Small rooster-tail spinners work well, but single hooks are required on this type bait.
The Nature Center is located on FM 848 (Bascom Road) two-tenths of a mile west of University Drive (Spur 248). Enter through the iron gate and park in the designated area; a path leads to the fishing pond.
For information contact Craig Bonds at (903) 566-1615, extension 200, or Richard Ott at (903) 566-2161.
source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department


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WASHINGTON, D.C.-Fort Polk isn't out of the woods yet, when it comes to force reductions, said Fort Polk Progress Chairman Michael Reese, who was in Washington Wednesday for the annual conference for Association of Defense Communities. On Tuesday, Associated Press writer Richard Lardner reported that the Senate Armed Services readiness subcommittee rejected the Defense Department's request to close installations and facilities in the United States that are no longer needed as the military branches cut the number of troops in uniform. In addition, Lardner reported, the House Armed Services Committee last week also rejected more base closings, and even took the step of adding a provision barring the Pentagon from even planning for another round. The effects of both moves ensure that a final defense policy bill approved by Congress for the 2014 fiscal year won't give the department permission to close excess bases. For Lardner's full story, click here: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/panel-rejects-request-military-base-closings.
Despite Tuesday's actions by both committees in the Senate and the House, Fort Polk still faces possible troop reductions, said Reese. "Base Realignment and Closure is just one of many threats to Fort Polk," Reese explained. "The most looming threat at this point is the Army 2020 Plan, which could reduce troop strength at Fort Polk by as many as 5,000 soldiers." Other options for Fort Polk under the Army 2020 Plan include adding 1,000 personnel to the base or keeping staffing levels the same. The Army 2020 decision concerning Fort Polk is expected by the end of June, said Reese. Other threats to Fort Polk include sequestration, which are automatic cuts that began March 1 when Congress failed to cut the deficit by $1.2 trillion over a decade. Under sequestration, the Department of Defense must cut its 2013 budget by about $41 billion by Sept. 30. Toward that end, hundreds of thousands of civilian workers, including those at Fort Polk, have been furloughed. Most civilian workers at Fort Polk begin taking one furlough day a week in July. In addition, essential training and maintenance programs at bases have been scaled back. Continued sequestration could result in about $500 billion of reductions to defense spending over the next decade. Yet another threat to Fort Polk is in the Budget Control Act passed in 2011, which mandates that the military must cut its spending by $487 billion over the next decade. According to Lardner, Defense Department leaders argued Tuesday that troop reductions will result in unnecessary installations and that the money saved by closing unused facilities can be spent on training and other essential operations. Senators argued that the upfront costs of starting a new round of closures are too high, at $2.4 billion over five years, to cover the initial expense of base closing and that the last round of base closings in 2005 ended up costing $13 billion more than estimated. Leave a Reply. |
November 2022


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Administrative Regions of the British Isles
- Local Government Changes in the United Kingdom
- Administrative Areas of England (Includes maps showing the historic and modern areas.)
- Administrative Areas of Scotland (Includes maps showing the historic and modern areas.)
- Administrative Areas of Wales (Includes maps showing the historic counties.)
- Administrative Areas of Northern Ireland (Includes maps showing the historic counties.)
- Administrative Areas of the Republic of Ireland (Includes maps showing the provinces and counties.)
- Crown Dependencies (Includes maps showing the locations of the islands.)
- Country and County Codes
General Notes
The term "British Isles" is a geographic one describing the two large islands of Great Britain (which contains England, Scotland and Wales) and Ireland, together with numerous smaller islands around their coasts. The major administrative divisions are England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
The term "United Kingdom" is a contraction of "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", that is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but has meant different things at different times. From 1707, when the parliaments of England and Scotland were united, we had the "United Kingdom of Great Britain". Then, in 1801, when Ireland joined the union, it was the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". Finally, in 1922, when 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland left the union to form the Irish Free State (the forerunner of the Republic of Ireland), the present name was adopted.
The adjective "British" is generally taken to mean "of the United Kingdom" rather than "of Great Britain" or "of the British Isles", but "Irish" can mean either "of Ireland" or "of the Republic of Ireland" depending on the context.
In England, Wales and Scotland, the word "County" is not part of a county's name, so it is incorrect to refer to, for example, "County Devon" or "Devon County". There is a single exception to this rule - County Durham, where this form is used to distinguish the county from Durham City. In Ireland (both Northern Ireland and the Republic), however, the opposite is true; county names are usually prefixed with the word "County", for example County Down and County Clare.
The suffix "shire" appears on many county names in England, Scotland and Wales. The general rule is the "shire" is used only where there is a town or city with the same name as the county - hence "Nottinghamshire" to distinguish the county from the city of Nottingham. There are some cases, however, where the suffix "shire" is regarded as optional, for example Devon / Devonshire and Nairn / Nairnshire.
Specific notes relating to individual areas can be found on the relevant pages.
The documents linked from the head of this page list the administrative sub-divisions of the various parts of the British Isles and attempt to clarify the far reaching local government changes made (or about to be made) within the United Kingdom since 1965.
While every effort has been made to achieve accuracy, there may well be errors. Comments, corrections and suggestions are welcome.
Note: The Association of British Counties provide a number of helpful pages, including one on The problem of "county confusion" - and how to resolve it which explains the differences betwee historic counties, counties as designated under the 1972 Local Government Act, and those under the 1997 Lieutenancies Act.
- Whitaker's Almanac 1969
- Bartholomew Gazetteer of Britain 1977
- BSI Standards Catalogue 1991
- Chambers English Dictionary 1988
- The Ordnance Survey Atlas of Great Britain 1982
- Pears Cyclopaedia 1973-74
- Pears Cyclopaedia 1988
- The Statesman's Year-Book 1984-85
- Local Government in the United Kingdom by Dan Wilson and Chris Game 1994 (Macmillan)
- Directory of Local Authorities 1996 (F.T. Law and Tax)


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For homeowners in coastal states, the 2020 hurricane season could mean financial disaster. Named storms are rolling in at a record pace, with as many as 25 expected in the Atlantic this season — twice the average number. After battering the Louisiana coast in late August, Hurricane Laura alone may account for as much as $12 billion in insured losses.
Even if you think you're prepared, you may discover that your homeowners insurance doesn't fully cover damage from a hurricane. To make sure you're protected, avoid these four costly pitfalls.
1. Skipping flood insurance
Flood insurance is optional, and only 15% of American households buy it, says Mark Friedlander, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute.
But when a hurricane or storm hits, flooding causes more residential losses than high winds, according to a 2019 report from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office. That means most homeowners, even those with hurricane or wind coverage, aren't insured for the most severe storm threat they face.
"The biggest error people make is they think it won't happen to them," says Patty Templeton-Jones, president of Florida-based insurer Wright Flood.
Almost nobody is immune. Flooding has affected 99% of U.S. counties since 1996, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And even a little floodwater can be highly destructive; FEMA says an inch can cause as much as $25,000 in damage.
Flood insurance typically comes from the National Flood Insurance Program via one of its authorized providers, and coverage is sold separately for the structure and contents of the home.
2. Not securing coverage in time
When a hurricane is on its way, it may be too late to add coverage to your homeowners policy.
"Don't wait until the storm is coming," warns Friedlander. "Most insurers will put a moratorium in place once a storm watch or warning is issued by the weather service, so you can't make any changes to your policy."
You'll typically need to buy flood insurance at least 30 days in advance. Some states may also impose a waiting period if you purchase a policy for wind damage. Although most standard homeowners policies cover windstorm damage, owners without a mortgage can sometimes opt out.
If you don't have windstorm coverage, or if you are among the 9% of U.S. homeowners who don't have property insurance at all, insurers generally allow you to add it so long as there is no active hurricane watch.
3. Choosing a deductible you can't afford
Many homeowners don't pay a flat dollar amount per hurricane insurance claim as they would for a fire or theft. Instead, they pay a percentage of their home's insured value before the insurer kicks in. The amount can range from 1% to 10%.
This means if your home is insured for $300,000 and you chose a 5% hurricane deductible, you could be responsible for up to $15,000 before the insurance company starts paying.
Since a large deductible generally means a lower insurance premium, you may be tempted to accept a high percentage and hope you never need to file a claim. That can be a mistake, says Lynne McChristian, director of the Office of Risk Management and Insurance Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
"People should never take a higher deductible than they can afford," she says. "The amount you save in premiums is insignificant compared to the amount you would get at claim time."
To avoid a potentially massive financial hit, make sure you're comfortable with your hurricane deductible and the insured value of your home.
4. Not having enough coverage
The purpose of insurance is to ensure you can cover your costs after a disaster. But if you aren't careful, you could come up short as expenses pile up in the wake of a hurricane.
"One big issue is underinsurance," says Jessica Hanna, spokesperson for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. "That only seems to come to light after a major storm."
You may need to extend your coverage to account for high construction costs and demand for contractors after a hurricane. Also consider whether you have enough coverage to replace your personal belongings and pay the costs of living elsewhere while rebuilding.
To make sure your coverage is adequate, Hanna recommends telling your insurer about recent home improvements and keeping an inventory of your home's contents.
"This is a good time to do an insurance checkup with your insurer," she says. "Smartphones make it so easy now — take pictures, take videos, store it in a cloud."
This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press.
More from NerdWallet
- Losing Employee Life Insurance Due to Job Loss: What's Next?
- How to Get Cash From Your Life Insurance Policy
- What to Do if You Can't Pay for Insurance Due to Coronavirus
Doug Sibor is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: email@example.com. This article originally appeared on NerdWallet.


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Kendriya Vidyalaya Thanjavur Online Admission 2023-24 | KV Thanjavur Class 1 Merit List 2023-24
KVS Thanjavur Online Admission Registration 2023-24 for Class 1 Starts from 27.03.2023 and Ends on 17.04.2023
The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) launched online registration platform for all 1252 Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) functioning all over the country including 03 abroad. After completion of registration, the selection list (Provisional Merit List) for the admission for the session 2023-24 will be published on the respective Kendriya Vidyalaya school website at the end of March onwards. Admissions from class I to class XII depending on the number of vacancies in each class and other criteria as applicable. Application form for class I admissions are released online in last week of March while for other classes, the form is made available in offline in the month of April, and hence parents to visit the concerned school official website for the vacant details and admission form. Candidates can find complete details regarding Kendriya Vidyalaya Admission 2023-24.
Kendriya Vidyalaya Thanjavur Class 1 Admission 2023-24: As per KVS Admission Schedule 2023-24, KVS online admission for class 1 will open from 27.03.2023 Monday 10:00 AM onwards. The last date to submit the application form for class 1 is 17.04.2023 Monday 7:00 PM. Once the registration is completed, the admission process begins. All Kendriya Vidyalaya schools will conduct a draw of lots to select candidates for class 1 admission through lottery system on 20.4.2023 and final admission result will be announced online. Kendriya Vidyalaya class 1 admission final process will starts from 21.4.2023.
Kendriya Vidyalaya Thanjavur Admission 2023-24 Classes 2 to 11: According to KVS Admission Schedule 2023-24, registration date for Class II onwards 03.04.2023 (Monday) to 12.04.2023 (Wednesday) in offline. KVS Admission for class 2 to 9 admission list will be released on 17.04.2023 (Monday) at the KV School website or notice board. Kendriya Vidyalaya classes 2 to 9 admission final process starts from 18.04.2023 (Tuesday) to 29.04.2023 (Saturday). Last date of admission for all classes except class XI 30.06.2023 (Friday). Last date of admission for class XI will be 30 days from the date of declaration of class-X results by CBSE.
Kendriya Vidyalaya Admission 2023-24: Application Form, Eligibility Criteria, Fee Structure, Important Dates
KV Thanjavur Official Website: https://thanjavurafs.kvs.ac.in/
- KV Thanjavur Address: Kendriya Vidyalaya A.F.S Thanjavur, Chennai, Pin – 613005
- Phone No: 04362 – 226868
- E-mail ID: email@example.com
All parents and students are requested to check regularly the official website of KV school Thanjavur for admission 2023-24 latest updates.
The official notification for KV admission for 2023-24 expected to release in the last week of February 2023. The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan will provide the Class 1 online admission form for the academic year 2023-24 for all Kendriya Vidyalaya located in India. After completing the registration for class 1 admission, check the application form status on the following link: Check Application Status
Kendriya Vidyalaya Thanjavur Admission Class 1 Merit List Result 2023 Dates: All Kendriya Vidyalaya Class 1 Provisional Selection List and Waiting List for the academic year 2023-24 will be announced through Lottery Result System. Kendriya Vidyalaya Thanjavur Class 1 Online Admission Lottery Result 2023-24 First List Date 20.04.2023 (Thursday), 2nd list on 28.04.2023 (Friday) and 3rd list on 04.05.2023 (Thursday).
Kendriya Vidyalaya Class 1 Online Admission 2023-24
KVS Class 1 Admission 2023-24 Live Updates – Highlights
- KVS Admission 2023-24 conducting authority – Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS)
- KVS Admission 2023-24 official website – https://kvsangathan.nic.in/
- KVS Class 1 Online Admission Portal – https://kvsonlineadmission.kvs.gov.in
KVS Thanjavur Class 1 Admission Lottery Merit List 2023-24 PDF Download
Kendriya Vidyalaya Thanjavur Admission from Class II to XI Selection List 2023-24
Kendriya Vidyalaya Thanjavur Admission Age Limit 2023-24 for Class I to Class XII
A Child must be 6 years old as on 31st March in the academic year in which admission is sought for Class I. (Child born on 1st April should also be considered.)
The minimum and maximum age limit for admission in Kendriya Vidyalayas in various classes is given below: (Child born on 1st April should also be considered.)
For Class 1 Age Limit: 6 to 8 years
For Class 2 Age Limit: 7 to 9 years
For Class 3 Age Limit: 7 to 9 years
For Class 4 Age Limit: 8 to 10 years
For Class 5 Age Limit: 9 to 11 years
For Class 6 Age Limit: 10 to 12 years
For Class 7 Age Limit: 11 to 13 years
For Class 8 Age Limit: 12 to 14 years
For Class 9 Age Limit: 13 to 15 years
For Class 10 Age Limit: 14 to 16 years
Note : The maximum age limit can be relaxed by two years in case of Differently abled children by the Principal.
There is no age restriction for admission to Class XI provided the student is seeking admission in the year of passing Class X examination. Similarly, there will be no upper & lower age limit for admission to class XII provided there has been no break in the continuous study of the student after passing class XI.
Kendriya Vidyalaya Admission Procedure For Class 1
List of documents required for admission in class 1
Parents are advised to keep the following documents ready with you.
1. Date of Birth certificate issued by government authority
2. Cast certificate (if applicable)
3. Domicile certificate
4. Blood group report
5. Student passport size 02 photos
6. Self distance declaration certificate
7. Single girl child affidavit (if applicable)
8. Service certificate of parents (if applicable)
9. EWS/BPL certificate (if applicable)
Admission is subject to verification of all original documents.
Bring one set of Xerox copies along with all original documents for admission.
Documents Required for KV School Class 1 Registration 2023-24
- Service Central Certificate
- Service Certificate for State Government Employees
- Service Certificate for Central Government Employees
- Acceptance Letter Format
- Residence Proof Certificate
- Single Girl Child Certificate
- Transfer Certificate
- Died in Harness Certificate
- OBC Caste certificate
- Kendriya Vidyalaya Self Declaration Format
Kendriya Vidyalaya Thanjavur Fee Structure 2023-24
- Admission Fee – Rs. 25.00
- Re Admission Fee – Rs. 100.00
- Tuition Fee (Class IX & X (Boys) – Rs. 200.00
- Tuition Fee(Class XI & XII Commerce & Humanities (Boys)) – Rs. 300.00
- Tuition Fee (Class XI & XII Science (Boys) – Rs. 400.00
- Computer Fund (Class III onwards wherever Computer Education) – Rs. 100.00
- Computer Fund (Computer Science Fee. (for elective subjects) + 2 stage) – Rs. 150.00
- Vidyalaya Vikas Nidhi (Classes I – XII) – Rs. 500.00 – [To check view in detail]
Important Links for KVS Class 1 Online Admission Form 2023
- KVS Class 1 Online Admission 2023-24 Registration Link: CLICK HERE
- KVS Class 1 Admission 2023-24 Login Link: CLICK HERE
- KVS Class 1 Admission 2023-24 Instructions Link: CLICK HERE
- KVS Class 1 Admission 2023-24 App Download Link: CLICK HERE


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The media left media included has been relatively silent regarding Venezuela's upcoming presidential recall referendum. Little has been reported about the importance of a Chavez win both domestically and internationally.
What exactly is at stake in Venezuela's presidential recall referendum this Sunday?
A "yes" vote on the recall to remove Chavez from the presidency would be devastating for Cuba. The new regime would likely halt the shipment of subsidized oil, presently being exchanged for Cuban doctors, sports officials and educators. An opposition victory would also have broader geopolitical consequences throughout the Caribbean. Venezuela provides Caribbean countries with oil on good terms and as a result these states are increasingly sympathetic to the present Venezuelan regime. (i.e. they are decreasingly submissive in the face of US pressure, especially in the Organization of American States (OAS)). The Caribbean community (Caricom) recently made the decision to refuse to recognize the regime in Haiti. Right-wing commentators, nervous about newfound Caribbean independence, have been citing this decision as example of Venezuela's influence on the region. (In fact, Caricom's action, stem mainly from the fear that accepting such blatant disregard for the democratic process may increase the likelihood similar events in their own countries.) If the opposition wins the recall referendum we can expect any counterweight influence Venezuela exerts on the Caribbean nations to cease.
Victory for the opposition would also have the effect of halting fiery denunciations of US imperialism characteristic of the Chavez regime. Opposition forces would be more likely to send Venezuelan troops to Iraq, Haiti or whichever country is next on Washington's list
Odds are the opposition would harm the various "mission" programs the government has set up. There are ten different kinds of "missions" including food, micro credit and literacy programs. These have been a huge boost in basic services to the poor majority. They have also genuinely empowered the poor, laying the ground for future social gains.
As evidence of the "missions" popularity, even the opposition has been forced to embrace them, publicly at the very least. The opposition's new position is that efficient missions should be kept. In reality it is almost certain that the new regime would abolish the Barrio Adentro (Health mission) mainly because the clinics are staffed by 17,000 Cuban doctors who work in under-serviced slums and poor rural communities.
Venezuela is endowed with a wealth of oil, however, the United Nations Human Development Index ranks it as only the 68th best country in the world in which to live. Decades of pumping black gold have only succeeded in enriching a minority. According to UN figures, the richest 10 per cent of the Venezuelan population has 62.9 times the yearly income of the poorest 10 per cent. (The comparable ratio for the USA is 15.9 and Japan ranks as the most equal country at 4.5)
Latin America remains the most unequal region on the globe. All eyes are turned towards Venezuela in the hope that something can be done about the extreme poverty and inequality. The ratios of income/consumption for richest 10 per cent of population compared to the poorest 10 per cent are as follows:
Brazil 85.0 Paraguay 70.4 Venezuela 62.9 Panama 62.3 Colombia 57.8 Guatemala 55.1 Peru 49.9 Honduras 49.1 El Salvador 47.4 Mexico 45.0 Ecuador 44.9 Chile 40.6 Argentina 39.1 Nicaragua 36.1 Guyana 25.9 Costa Rica 25.1 Bolivia 24.6 Uruguay 18.9
On the international front a large step backwards will be taken on the path towards Latin American integration if the opposition prevails. Chavez has been a vocal opponent of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, preferring to focus efforts on strengthening ties within South America. Washington, on the other hand, has for 200 years actively opposed Latin American integration, preferring to interact with smaller, weaker states.
The process of integration has been advancing on many different fronts. Venezuela recently gained partner status in Mercosur, the common market between Brazil, Argentina, Uraguay and Paraguay. A few weeks ago Chavez announced plans to buy eight new oil tankers from long-slumping shipyards near Buenos Aires, Argentina. Venezuela and Argentina have begun the creation of a common Energy company named Petrosur. Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobas, plans to be associated with this emerging Pan South American oil enterprise.
Venezuela and Colombia plan to build a gas pipeline that will ship natural gas between the two countries. Chavez is trying to bring together the Caribbean countries in the creation of PetroCaribe, which would receive Venezuelan oil under preferential terms. Chavez states that it is necessary for Venezuela to "support our brothers in the Caribbean where small countries are having great energy difficulties and they are exploited. By whom?" he asks, "the transnational oil companies," he replies.
A public TV station broadcasting throughout South American is in the works and the Venezuelan government has discussed the idea of a South American Development bank.
The aforementioned steps towards Latin American integration may be curbed if the opposition wins the recall referendum. Additionally Venezuelan support for various social movements across the continent will come to an end.
And what if Chavez wins the recall election? Will the U.S. intervene to further destabilize Venezuela? The Bush administration has certainly done a lot to get rid of Chavez. That he's alive for the recall referendum is a sign of the Bolivarian process' resilience. Just this Tuesday Spain's El Mundo newspaper reported on a Central Intelligence Agency meeting held in Chile to prepare a contingency plan in the event that Chavez wins the recall.
Still, the current International and domestic situation make it very difficult for Bush to get rid of Chavez until after the US election at the very least. Chavez' supporters, including much of the military, would not take kindly to his ouster (read: assassination). Removing Chavez would undoubtedly cut Venezuela's oil production, driving oil prices even higher. Bush's buddies in the oil industry wouldn't complain, but many within the larger business class certainly would make some noise.
Oil prices have already affected the profits of many companies. Additionally, as the US election approaches, these high gas prices are nothing but trouble for Bush. In a society totally dependent upon cars for transportation, increased gas costs hurt much of the working class, in turn costing Bush votes.
Winning the recall referendum would give the opposition the presidency for just over two years. The Chavistas would still control the Congress. If the "missions" are truly popular and the poor continue to organize, it will be difficult for the opposition to dismantle them. In fact a serious attack by the opposition on these missions would increase the likelihood of a victory for Chavez two years down the road.
Of critical importance it is also necessary to consider the position of the army, who would, in the short-term at least, most likely remain loyal to Chavez. Drastic purges of their ranks or heavy repression against protesters trying to save the "missions" for instance could spur a left-wing military coup. Likewise the opposition's ability to retake control over the state oil company, Pdvsa, is not assured. The newly formed blue-collar oil workers union has already announced plans to strike if the recall is successful.
After Sunday hopefully we will be asking how the initial Bolivarian successes can be expanded not how will the opposition destroy the accomplishments.
YVES ENGLER is author of the forthcoming book playing Left Wing: From Hockey to Politics: the making of a student activist. He's traveled extensively in Venezuela. He can be reached at: email@example.com


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The road to hell
Cormac McCarthy's vision of a post-apocalyptic America in The Road is terrifying, but also beautiful and tender, says Alan Warner.
Saturday, November 4, 2006
The Guardian
The Road
by Cormac McCarthy
256pp, Picador, £16.99
Shorn of history and context, Cormac McCarthy's other nine novels could be cast as rungs, with The Road as a pinnacle. This is a very great novel, but one that needs a context in both the past and in so-called post-9/11 America.
We can divide the contemporary American novel into two traditions, or two social classes. The Tough Guy tradition comes up from Fenimore Cooper, with a touch of Poe, through Melville, Faulkner and Hemingway. The Savant tradition comes from Hawthorne, especially through Henry James, Edith Wharton and Scott Fitzgerald. You could argue that the latter is liberal, east coast/New York, while the Tough Guys are gothic, reactionary, nihilistic, openly religious, southern or fundamentally rural.
The Savants' blood line (curiously unrepresentative of Americans generally) has gained undoubted ascendancy in the literary firmament of the US. Upper middle class, urban and cosmopolitan, they or their own species review themselves. The current Tough Guys are a murder of great, hopelessly masculine, undomesticated writers, whose critical reputations have been and still are today cruelly divergent, adrift and largely unrewarded compared to the contemporary Savant school. In literature as in American life, success must be total and contrasted "failure" fatally dispiriting.
But in both content and technical riches, the Tough Guys are the true legislators of tortured American souls. They could include novelists Thomas McGuane, William Gaddis, Barry Hannah, Leon Rooke, Harry Crews, Jim Harrison, Mark Richard, James Welch and Denis Johnson. Cormac McCarthy is granddaddy to them all. New York critics may prefer their perfidy to be ignored, comforting themselves with the superlatives for All the Pretty Horses, but we should remember that the history of Cormac McCarthy and his achievement is not an American dream but near on 30 years of neglect for a writer who, since The Orchard Keeper in 1965, produced only masterworks in elegant succession. Now he has given us his great American nightmare.
The Road is a novel of transforming power and formal risk. Abandoning gruff but profound male camaraderie, McCarthy instead sounds the limits of imaginable love and despair between a diligent father and his timid young son, "each other's world entire". The initial experience of the novel is sobering and oppressive, its final effect is emotionally shattering.
America – and presumably the world – has suffered an apocalypse the nature of which is unclear and, faced with such loss, irrelevant. The centre of the world is sickened. Earthquakes shunt, fire storms smear a "cauterised terrain", the ash-filled air requires slipshod veils to cover the mouth. Nature revolts. The ruined world is long plundered, with canned food and good shoes the ultimate aspiration. Almost all have plunged into complete Conradian savagery: murdering convoys of road agents, marauders and "bloodcults" plunder these wastes. Most have resorted to cannibalism. One passing brigade is fearfully glimpsed: "Bearded, their breath smoking through their masks. The phalanx following carried spears or lances … and lastly a supplementary consort of catamites illclothed against the cold and fitted in dogcollars and yoked each to each." Despite this soul desert, the end of God and ethics, the father still defines and endangers himself by trying to instil moral values in his son, by refusing to abandon all belief.
All of this is utterly convincing and physically chilling. The father is coughing blood, which forces him and his son, "in their rags like mendicant friars sent forth to find their keep", on to the treacherous road southward, towards a sea and – possibly – survivable, milder winters. They push their salvage in a shopping cart, wryly fitted with a motorcycle mirror to keep sentinel over that road behind. The father has a pistol, with two bullets only. He faces the nadir of human and parental existence; his wife, the boy's mother, has already committed suicide. If caught, the multifarious reavers will obviously rape his son, then slaughter and eat them both. He plans to shoot his son – though he questions his ability to do so – if they are caught. Occasionally, between nightmares, the father seeks refuge in dangerously needy and exquisite recollections of our lost world.
They move south through nuclear grey winter, "like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world", sleeping badly beneath filthy tarpaulin, setting hidden campfires, exploring ruined houses, scavenging shrivelled apples. We feel and pity their starving dereliction as, despite the profound challenge to the imaginative contemporary novelist, McCarthy completely achieves this physical and metaphysical hell for us. "The world shrinking down to a raw core of parsible entities. The names of things slowly following those things into oblivion. Colours. The names of birds. Things to eat. Finally the names of things one believed to be true."
Such a scenario allows McCarthy finally to foreground only the very basics of physical human survival and the intimate evocation of a destroyed landscape drawn with such precision and beauty. He makes us ache with nostalgia for restored normality. The Road also encapsulates the usual cold violence, the biblical tincture of male masochism, of wounds and rites of passage. His central character can adopt a universal belligerence and misanthropy. In this damnation, rightly so, everyone, finally, is the enemy. He tells his son: "My job is to take care of you. I was appointed by God to do that … We are the good guys." The other uncomfortable, tellingly national moment comes when the father salvages perhaps the last can of Coke in the world. This is truly an American apocalypse.
The vulnerable cultural references for this daring scenario obviously come from science fiction. But what propels The Road far beyond its progenitors are the diverted poetic heights of McCarthy's late-English prose; the simple declamation and plainsong of his rendered dialect, as perfect as early Hemingway; and the adamantine surety and utter aptness of every chiselled description. As has been said before, McCarthy is worthy of his biblical themes, and with some deeply nuanced paragraphs retriggering verbs and nouns that are surprising and delightful to the ear, Shakespeare is evoked. The way McCarthy sails close to the prose of late Beckett is also remarkable; the novel proceeds in Beckett-like, varied paragraphs. They are unlikely relatives, these two artists in old age, cornered by bleak experience and the rich limits of an English pulverised down through despair to a pleasingly wry perfection. "He rose and stood tottering in that cold autistic dark with his arms out-held for balance while the vestibular calculations in his skull cranked out their reckonings. An old chronicle."
Set piece after set piece, you will read on, absolutely convinced, thrilled, mesmerised with disgust and the fascinating novelty of it all: breathtakingly lucky escapes; a complete train, abandoned and alone on an embankment; a sudden liberating, joyous discovery or a cellar of incarcerated amputees being slowly eaten. And everywhere the mummified dead, "shrivelled and drawn like latterday bogfolk, their faces of boiled sheeting, the yellowed palings of their teeth".
All the modern novel can do is done here. After the great historical fictions of the American west, Blood Meridian and The Border Trilogy, The Road is no artistic pinnacle for McCarthy but instead a masterly reclamation of those midnight-black, gothic worlds of Outer Dark (1968) and the similarly terrifying but beautiful Child of God (1973). How will this vital novel be positioned in today's America by Savants, Tough Guys or worse? Could its nightmare vistas reinforce those in the US who are determined to manipulate its people into believing that terror came into being only in 2001? This text, in its fragility, exists uneasily within such ill times. It's perverse that the scorched earth which The Road depicts often brings to mind those real apocalypses of southern Iraq beneath black oil smoke, or New Orleans – vistas not unconnected with the contemporary American regime.
One night, when the father thinks that he and his son will starve to death, he weeps, not about the obvious but about beauty and goodness, "things he'd no longer any way to think about". Camus wrote that the world is ugly and cruel, but it is only by adding to that ugliness and cruelty that we sin most gravely. The Road affirms belief in the tender pricelessness of the here and now. In creating an exquisite nightmare, it does not add to the cruelty and ugliness of our times; it warns us now how much we have to lose. It makes the novels of the contemporary Savants seem infantile and horribly over-rated. Beauty and goodness are here aplenty and we should think about them. While we can.
• Alan Warner's latest novel is The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven (Cape)
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Cormac McCarthy's venomous fiction


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Legislation quickly passed by North Carolina's lawmakers this week would prepare a path for Republicans to dump their nominee in a still-undecided U.S. House race marred with ballot fraud allegations.
"I think (legislators are) worried that Mark Harris might be damaged goods and they want to have the opportunity to have a different Republican nominee," said Carter Wrenn, a Republican operative and consultant to former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms and others for more than 40 years. "That's how I read those tea leaves."
If the state elections board decides ballot irregularities or other problems cast the true outcome into doubt and force a redo, the legislation — if allowed to go into law by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper — would require new primary elections in the 9th Congressional District race, in addition to a new general election.
That would allow Republicans another look at Mark Harris, the Republican who led Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in unofficial results. Harris hasn't been certified the winner, and an investigation is looking into missing absentee ballots in rural Bladen County and whether unsealed ballots illegally handled by collection teams there could have been altered.
Bladen was the only county among the eight within the 9th District where Harris won a majority of mail-in absentee ballots over McCready.
State Rep. David Lewis, a Harnett County Republican, said holding new primary elections in the 9th District made sense because unusual absentee ballots results also cropped up during last May's primary. Harris won 96 percent of the mail-in ballots in Bladen County on the way to his narrow victory over GOP Rep. Robert Pittenger.
The Republican-led General Assembly "has a political motive for doing this. They realize that Mark Harris is a damaged candidate and they're trying to find a means of replacing him on the ballot," said U.S. Rep. G. K. Butterfield, a North Carolina Democrat. "So this is a pre-emptive strike, in my opinion, to remove Mark Harris and to get another nominee in there."
U.S. & World
New primaries would open the door to Pittenger or anyone else to carry the Republican banner against McCready or some other Democrat.
Pittenger said he wants to wait until after the elections board reveals its investigative findings at a hearing that was postponed Friday until Jan. 11, meaning the seat will stay empty when Congress assembles Jan. 3.
"I have received calls from a number of friends in the last couple days. My instincts are that I just think we ought to wait for this evidentiary hearing and let all the facts come out. Then after that, maybe I can give more consideration to that," he said in an interview Friday.
State Republican Party Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse said that if there were to be a new primary election the state GOP would stay neutral but "every candidate who enters that primary, if there is one, will have a chance to make their case."
In an interview with WBTV on Friday, Harris stopped short of criticizing party officials when he was asked if he felt under attack by fellow Republicans. "Well I certainly don't feel the circling of the wagons around Harris the way I see the Democrats circling the wagons around McCready," Harris said.
Democrats could sue if primaries are set in motion, Butterfield said. Pittenger and other Republicans didn't contest Harris' nomination though suspicions about absentee ballots in Bladen County were raised then, so now should be too late, Butterfield said.
"It's fundamentally unfair to a candidate who has raised and spent millions of dollars in anticipation of Mark Harris being the opponent, to have to go through that again with a different opponent," Butterfield said. "Dan McCready shouldn't have to face two different opponents."


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The Memphis Bar Association is gearing up for a major public outreach program in the form of an educational campaign.
Gary Smith, the 2012 president of the attorneys' group, along with secretary Tommy Parker and member Porter Feild, have developed a program they're calling "Law Rules: The Importance of the American Legal System."
It's essentially a crash course in civics with a heavy focus on the importance of the rule of law and of an independent judiciary. MBA members over the coming months will be fanning out to audiences throughout the area – to every school, church, business group, political organization and civic entity that will have them.
The MBA's goal is 200 speaking engagements in 2012 as part of this program.
"We want to go wherever people will have us," said Smith, an attorney with Apperson Crump PLC.
Already, some 50 attorneys have volunteered their time to participate in the speaking engagements, and Smith said he won't be surprised if that number quickly swells to 100.
At a training session for the program held earlier this week, the assembled lawyers were told the purpose of the "Law Rules" campaign is to provide factual, non-partisan information about the judicial branch of government and the role played by lawyers and judges.
According to an outline of that presentation, the campaign is not an attempt to steer audiences toward a particular point of view, nor a forum to debate hot-button issues or even an attempt to whitewash current problems facing the judicial system, such as access to justice by those who can't afford it.
"Part of the purpose of the bar association is for lawyers to provide education to the public on topics we have particularized knowledge about, and that's what's led us to take on this effort," said Feild, a member with Burch, Porter & Johnson PLLC.
"This isn't a partisan effort. And this isn't necessarily standing up for the current system. It's just providing information on what the current system is."
Points that will be emphasized, according to the recent training session:
When the Founding Fathers established the federal court system, they created a branch of government accountable to the law and not to political interests.
A fair and impartial judiciary is essential to democracy.
The United States is a country governed by the rule of law, not the rule of men.
The law and judicial system have been instruments of change for the betterment of society.
And lawyers and judges recognize there are challenges facing the judicial system, but they're actively seeking to address them.
"I believe that our message will be well-received even as we recognize that the general public's attitude toward the judicial branch of government is founded largely by lack of exposure to it," Smith said. "That lack of exposure leads to lack of understanding, and that is a gap that we can and should eradicate."
The campaign comes at a timely moment because judicial issues are currently a hot topic in Tennessee. Earlier this month, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, state Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell said they will introduce legislation in support of a constitutional amendment that keeps the state away from popular election of Supreme Court and appeals judges.
The state's current system has been blessed as legal. But a solid block of Republican state lawmakers has long criticized it as out of step with the state constitution, which says Supreme Court justices "shall be elected by the qualified voters of the state."


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Consumer sentiment hits year low in January
U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated for a second straight month to hit its lowest in over a year in January, with a record number of consumers citing the recent "fiscal cliff" debate in Washington, a survey released on Friday showed.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 71.3, down from 72.9 the month before. The index was at its lowest since December 2011.
It was also below the median forecast of 75 among economists polled by Reuters.
"The most unique aspect of the early January data was that an all-time record number of consumers - 35 percent - negatively referred to the fiscal cliff negotiations," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.
"Importantly, the debt ceiling debate is still upcoming and could further weaken confidence," he said.
The survey's barometer of current economic conditions fell to 84.8 from 87.0 and was below a forecast of 88.0. The gauge hit its lowest since July.
The survey's gauge of consumer expectations slipped to its lowest since November 2011 at 62.7 from 63.8, and was below an expected 65.2.
The survey's one-year inflation expectations rose to 3.4 percent from 3.2 percent, while the survey's five-to-10-year inflation outlook was at unchanged at 2.9 percent.
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)


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Elementary school teachers Teresa Moucha and Alice Toepel at the Carl Traeger Elementary School in Oshkosh, Wisconsin started planning their author visit almost six months ahead.
They wrote a grant proposal and a curriculum plan. The idea was to bring art and science together using the fantasy of Dinotopia. Mrs. Moucha and Mrs. Toepel, with the blessing of principal Janna Cochrane, below right, asked their fourth and fifth graders to create their own utopian worlds.
The Oshkosh Public Museum's assistant director Mike Breza, at the center of this picture with his daughters, coordinated the "Return to Dinotopia" museum exhibit in town and worked with the public library to develop a reading list. He received grant money to allow school kids free admission to the museum, which includes not only Dinotopia artwork, but costumes to try on and four full-size dinosaur skulls.
The students at Traeger sketched actual plants and taxidermied animals. They invented an animal character that talks, a plot conflict, and a plausible fantasy setting. During the two and a half months counting down to my visit, they designed maps, landscapes and architecture and wrote stories about their imaginary worlds.
The results included "Dragontopia," "Gerbiltopia," "Fishtopia," and "Dogtopia."
When I arrived on Friday, I gave a quick digital slide show about how I work, and then they performed the "Garden Chorale." Then I visited four classes to talk in more detail with them about their projects and to share my Magic Marker presentation.
The day after the school visit, Mrs. Moucha handed me a beautiful handmade book with thank-you notes tucked into secret compartments. One student named Kaitlyn wrote a note that brought me tears of joy: "Thank you for coming to our school. You really changed my thinking about art."
Here's a link to a newspaper story from the Nov. 4 Oshkosh newspaper, and a report in the District Newsletter.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Science, Art, and Fantasy
Elementary Schools,
Journey to Chandara
2 comments:
Man, the note you refer to in the last sentence is something like a life achievement award, in my opinion. You are obviously doing a great job, congratulations!
- November 5, 2007 at 10:34 AM
- J Gilpin said...
Looks like this was a great success! It's nice to see that your celebrity was not a barrier to getting the kids to talk and share with you. I guess it actually works in your favor - since dinos are so universally loved by the young ones? What is your "Magic Marker Presentation"? Sounds very improv and very fun!
-JG - November 10, 2007 at 1:23 PM
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- Home
- Your Government
- Health & Human Services
- Public Health
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- Human Papilloma Virus
Human Papilloma Virus
Cervical Cancer
Devastating, but Preventable!
Every year 250,000 women worldwide die of cervical cancer. In the United States where access to screening (pap smears) and early treatment are available, the number is much lower-just a little over 4,000 deaths a year. Still, more than 12,000 American women are diagnosed annually with invasive cervical cancer. The saddest part is nearly all of these illnesses and deaths could have been prevented.Cervical Cancer is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). This virus also causes genital warts and cancers of the vagina, vulva, penis, anus and throat. It is transmitted sexually and is extremely common. It is so common, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report most sexually active Americans will have it at some point in their lives.
Why so common? Humans have sex and HPV is very, very easy to spread during sex by skin-to-skin contact-areas often not covered well by condoms.
The Immune System to the Rescue
In most cases the immune system is very good at fighting off HPV. When it cannot, however, a person is at risk for serious complications, including cancer.THERE IS GOOD NEWS!! HPV vaccine prevents most (nearly, all) HPV sub-types that cause cancer.
HPV vaccine works by teaching the immune system to recognize and block the HPV virus and keep it from gaining a foothold in the skin of the genitals and cervix. The vaccine doesn't treat HPV, it prevents it. To be fully effective, it must be given before a person is exposed to the virus.
Timing of HPV Vaccine
A great time to begin the 3-dose HPV vaccination series is between the ages of 11 and 13, when kids are getting their Tdap and Meningococcal vaccines.Physicians and parents who opt to wait until later, run the risk of the vaccine being lost in the shuffle of busy schedules, family dynamics and changing (sometimes challenging) parent-adolescent relationships.
In the US, the average age at which people start having sex is 17. The vast majority (75%) have had sex by age 20.
Eleven year-olds grow up and have sex; with sex, comes HPV. Make sure you've done all you can to ensure a healthy, happy, cancer-free future for your child. Don't wait! Vaccinate now and help make HPV associated cancers things of the past.
Information for Parents, CDC
My Story of Cervical Cancer, American Cancer Society
HPV Champion Toolkit, American Academy of Pediatrics
Last updated 1/18/16


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Golden and gleaming, this convex mirror arrived last week at the Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Md., where it will be mounted on the much-anticipated Webb telescope
. When the telescope is up and running, sometime later this decade, the Webb
will take the title of the most powerful space telescope ever built, ousting even the Hubble. The Boulder-built mirror's color comes from a microscopic layer of gold, 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. The gold will help the telescope better reflect infrared light, making distant planets and the universe's first galaxies easier to see. Image Credit: Chris Gunn, NASA


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Files identified as "ps" are postscript.
Files identified as "ps4up" are 4up postscript files like we hand out in class. Many versions of gv don't know how to display these files, but they print OK if you send them to the printer from gv. They also display OK from gs.
Files identified as ``pdf'' are in Adobe Acrobat format. This format has the advantage over postscript of being viewable on a variety of platforms, including (most) Unix machines, PC's, and Mac's. On Unix machines, you can read these files with the Ghostview program gv. You can also view and print these files using the publicly available Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can also download free copies of the reader from Adobe Systems.
Files identified as ``ppt'' are in Microsoft Powerpoint format. These were prepared using Office 97 on a Windows-based PC.


text: When Jason Njoku graduated from his UK-based university in 2005, he was filled with high hopes of entrepreneurial success. But after his business endeavors failed to take off for years, Njoku had no option but to move back to his mother's house in London. Returning home as a penniless 29-year-old was "a harrowing experience" but provided Njoku, a chemist by training, with his Eureka moment – he realized there's a growing appetite for Nollywood films after noticing how his mother and other relatives had difficulties getting their hands on their beloved movies from Nigeria's booming film industry. The tech entrepreneur spotted the gap in the market and in 2010 he founded iROKO Partners, an internet company that distributes Nollywood films to viewers across the world. Described as the "Netflix of Africa," Njoku's company has today grown to have more than 500,000 registered users. It has offices in London, New York and Lagos with some 100 staff and has secured $8 million in funding from U.S.-based hedge fund Tiger Global, early investors in Facebook. Earlier this week it launched a new internet subscription service which enables viewers to watch exclusive Nollywood films for $5 a month. CNN's Marketplace Africa spoke to Njoku about entrepreneurship in Africa, Nollywood and his plans for the future. CNN: Why did you decide to launch the subscription service? Jason Njoku: When we started the company, iROKO Partners, we were trying to solve the massive, I would say, dislocation in the popularity of Nollywood and the value it's created. A big part of what we did was actually focusing on cleaning up and organizing the content so we can provide a superior user experience, something which Nollywood lovers can really be proud of. Read more: Nigerian blockbusters for the internet generation Having more than 500,000 registered users in a short space of time demonstrates that the appetite is there. People really love this content, which means it should be organized and given to them in the best format possible. We've spent a lot of money – in the industry, licenses, organizing our team, we've got a staff of 100 people – so our view is that some additional value needs to … be given to this new subscription service we're rolling out, (called) iROKOtv+. CNN: Your company has been described as the Netflix of Africa. Do you want to be as big as Netflix? JN: At the moment we are focusing on the 30 million African diaspora. We've just reached 500,000 registered users, we think our additional market in the West is at least five to 10 million people, there are lots of Africans who love this stuff. I guess, ultimately, the big market is Nigeria…this is where the content originates from. If you spend any time in Nigeria, it is difficult to come across a person who hasn't heard of Nollywood. But at the same time, the pan-African nature of it – from the Kenyans to the Ghanaians to Gambians to people in the DRC – there's a massive base of people who really love this content. So because of the broadband restrictions in Africa, we are currently focused on the diaspora. CNN: Do you see the potential in the future to become as big as Netflix? JN: I think Netflix has 25 million subscribers across South America, U.S. Canada and the UK. We are really young, as ambitious as we want to be. Are there 25 million people who love this content? Most definitely there are 25 million people in Nigeria who love this content. Are they willing to pay for it? That's the big experiment we're kind of playing now. So we wouldn't want to compare ourselves to Netflix but we have an interest and opportunity to at least get somewhere along that line. CNN: Where are most of your viewers based? JN: Currently our biggest markets are the U.S., the UK, Canada, Italy and Germany. See also: African cinema at Cannes CNN: What about Nigeria? JN: Nigeria has been growing – I think it's in the top 10, but, again, just to put it in context, I believe we have more people watching just in London than we do have in the whole of Nigeria. CNN: Web connectivity and internet penetration are major issues in Africa. Have there been any improvements recently? JN: Eighteen months ago when I moved to Nigeria, broadband was really expensive and not that great. Now it's less expensive and it's much better. Internet adoption has definitely exploded in Nigeria and we feel it's better – again, we're trying to serve very data-intensive, bandwidth hogging files, so we're always going to be slower on the uptake but it is improving. Read more: Web savvy Africans fuel online shopping CNN: What prompted you to start the business? JN: I went to university to study chemistry with high hopes, my mum was really happy. I graduated in 2005 and then I started an entrepreneurial sort of trail. Whereas my friends went into banking, consulting, finance, I just wanted to be an entrepreneur, to work in projects which really interested me. Unfortunately, for five, almost six years I failed miserably at being an entrepreneur. So, in fact, literally what prompted the whole genesis of iROKO was at 29, almost 30 I had to move back with my mum. That was itself a harrowing experience but the interesting thing was that for the first time in eight years since I'd moved out I was actually able to see the viewing patterns of my mom change…She'd gone from watching western films to watching African films. Watch: Africa's internet awakening Because I was able to observe her and we lived together then I could actually relate and she'd spend hours watching it. Then I had to drive her around to go and see my aunts and uncles who I hadn't seen in a long time – it was exactly the same thing for these guys and I was like 'well, how can it be that so quickly so many people's viewing, video and entertainment habits change.' So it was really intriguing to find this stuff. Watch: Genevieve Nnaji: Nollywood's Julia Roberts CNN: What has been the reaction from the Nigerian film industry? JN: The key thing is that we've invested more money in Nollywood in the shortest space of time – far more than anybody else has done. We are remunerating movie producers who, quite rightly, are receiving additional revenue form their films as we have opened up a new funding avenue for them. Before, they were losing out to the pirates, now they are gaining financially from iROKOtv. Hopefully this new approach to monetizing Nollywood content will lead to producers re-investing in their films.


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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Socks, the cat who won international fame during his years in the Clinton White House, was euthanized Friday after months of treatment for cancer.
Socks was adopted by Chelsea Clinton when her father was governor of Arkansas.
Socks, who was born in 1989, was put to sleep about 10 a.m. at Three Notch Veterinary Clinic in Hollywood, Maryland, said veterinary assistant Rae Dera. Veterinarians say he was probably either 19 or 20 years old.
The cat had been losing weight since November and had been treated at the clinic, Dera said. He had been suffering from a cancer in his mouth and jaw.
Since the Clintons left the White House in 2001, Socks had lived with Betty Currie, former President Bill Clinton's secretary. The Clintons were known to have visited Socks, and Currie, when in Washington.
He had been a stray and was adopted by Chelsea Clinton, the Clintons' daughter, when Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas.
"Socks brought much happiness to Chelsea and us over the years, and enjoyment to kids and cat lovers everywhere," Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a joint statement released by the William J. Clinton Foundation. "We're grateful for those memories, and we especially want to thank our good friend, Betty Currie, for taking such loving care of Socks for so many years."
The black-and-white feline was a fixture at the White House during the Clintons' eight-year run. He was often photographed on the president's shoulder and was given free rein of the presidential residence -- showing up in photos in the Oval Office and White House press briefing room.
He had his own online fan club, appeared at animal charity events and was one of the subjects of now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's book, "Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets."
All About Pets • Bill Clinton • Chelsea Clinton


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Clint Eastwood. What a guy.
You may recall a while ago I was one of the many who took issue with Mr Eastwood for his bizarre interview with a chair during a Republican convention in the United States. I wrote an article asking why celebrities have to belittle themselves by declaring their support for political parties, and basically said that it can't do their reputation any good at all.
Well, it seems I misjudged the great man.
Collared by an interviewer who demanded to know what possessed him, Eastwood's response was the stuff of legends. "If they're stupid enough to ask me to a political convention," he said, "they have to take whatever they get."
One person for whom I doubt this response would work is David Cameron, who was outed as a dunce on David Letterman's US chat show last week.
It isn't stupid to ask what "Magna Carta" means. After all, my next-door-neighbour's four-year-old can work it out.
Perhaps Letterman could have started him off with something easier, though – like maybe, when his party didn't win the election and never stated that it planned to do so, why has he sold off so much of the NHS in England to private companies, and why does he have plans to sell off so much more of it?
The old argument that it creates more choice is clearly nonsense because people were, reasonably, expecting the choice to be theirs. Instead, they have been presented with the company that has bought the contract and told, "This is your choice of NHS supplier. Don't catch anything too serious or you'll be paying it off for the rest of your life."
Or, in the words of an iconic Eastwood character: "Do you feel lucky?"


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World's #1 Blog Platform designed for book bloggers, reviewers, writers - all Book Lovers. Your Reading Life. Redesigned.
It's Friday the 13th! Again! It's perfect time to remind you good luck black cats :)
Whether you believe in Friday 13th bad luck or not, we wish you all the best and all the luck. Btw, we think the superstition about the bad luck black cats was made up by the white cats' gang. Just look at those pics!
Stamp your feet via Lenore on BookLikes
Reading lesson via Lenore on BookLikes
The Sleepyhead via Tina Sandevska on BookLikes
Smart one via
Just sitting via
and sitting via
and still sitting via
Come, sit by via
Mark Twain's vintage cat Bambino via
Lucky 13 via
Comma cat via Tina Sandevska on BookLikes
And if you wish to read some cat books have a look at the collection of several reads featuring cats found by Kagama -The Literaturevixen.
Happy Friday the 13th and good luck! ;-)
P.S. Watch out! Zombie kittens are waiting.
furry zombies via Musings of NerdyNatasha on BookLikes
Originally posted on BookLikes Blog: December 13, 2013, updated June 13, 2014.


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- Home
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Mission Statement
Davidson remains committed to controlling our own destiny as a distinct, sustainable, and sovereign small town. Our sense of community is rooted in citizens who respect each other; in racial and socioeconomic diversity; and in pedestrian and bicycle orientation; all in the presence of a small liberal arts college. Our history and character guide our future.
Davidson's government exists to help citizens in maintaining the town's unique qualities and to provide superior services to every resident. To this end, the town government of Davidson will operate according to the following core values:
Core Values
- Citizens are the heart of Davidson, so town government will treat all people fairly, with courtesy and respect.
- Open communication is essential to an engaged citizenry, so town government will seek and provide accurate, timely information and promote public discussion of important issues.
- Davidson must be a safe place to live, work, and raise a family, so the town will work in partnership with the community to prevent crime and protect lives, property, and the public realm.
- Davidson's historic mix of people in all income levels and ages is fundamental to our community, so town government will encourage opportunities, services, and infrastructure that allow people of all means to live and work here.
- Davidson's traditional character is that of a small, historic college town, so land planning will reflect its historic patterns of village-centered growth including connection of neighborhoods, preservation of our historic resources, conservation of rural area, and provision of public spaces.
- Citizens entrust town government with the stewardship of public funds, so government will provide high quality services at a reasonable cost.
- Davidson's economic health is essential to its remaining a sustainable community, so town government will judiciously encourage and guide the location of new business opportunities.
- Citizens need to move easily throughout the town and region, so government will provide a variety of options, such as sidewalks, bike paths, greenways, connected streets, and transit.
- Citizens must live in a healthy environment, so town government will protect watersheds, trees, air quality, and other elements of the town's ecology.
- The physical, social, and intellectual well-being of Davidson citizens is fundamental to our community, so town government will provide and encourage enjoyable, safe, and affordable recreational and cultural lifelong learning opportunities.
- As home to Davidson College, the town will engage the college's faculty, staff and students in constructive communication and collaboration.
- Davidson exists in proximity to and is interdependent with other jurisdictions, so we strive for local, regional, state and federal cooperation.


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Registered office: Thurngasse 13/18, 1090 Wien, Austria
Registered in Austria as: Association BPD Wien, Central Register of Associations ZVR 209806523
Date of formation: 28.09.2010
Financial status: nonprofit (nicht auf Gewinn gerichteter, gemeinnütziger Verein);
Financed by Member subscription
President: Dr. Richard Straub
The Peter Drucker Society Europe is a practitioner-led, multi-stakeholder group that builds on Peter Drucker's fundamental ideas and ideals with the aim of contributing to the evolution of management as a vital piece of a functioning modern society.
To fulfil its mission, the Peter Drucker Society Europe is establishing Drucker Society chapters in various locations (currently Austria, London, Barcelona and Mannheim).
Each year, the Drucker Society Europe hosts the Global Peter Drucker Forum, a crystallizing event where decision makers convene to discuss the future of management in a pragmatic and solution-oriented manner.
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We have 4 new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) being published recently (newest first):
- How to edit hidden sections of another user's profile? by Vlad Buzila
- How to open PDF attachments from the wiki directly in the browser? by Iulia Balan
- How to display a panel only on a particular page? by Vlad Buzila
- How to fix "Unknown macro", "macro is not in the list of registered macros"? by Vlad Buzila
We now have a total of 68 FAQs about using XWiki. Make sure to check them out!
If you have anything to share about XWiki, feel free to add a new FAQ entry, edit/fix/update an xwiki.org page or to contact the community, either my mail or IRC, whatever you like best.


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By: Fern Sidman
Purchase at Amazon.com
From 2003 through the early months of 2015, I wrote more than 200,000 words about anti-Semitism/anti-Zionism," says Prof. Phyllis Chesler in the introduction of her recently released book, "Living History: On the Front Lines for Israel and the Jews 2003-2015" (Gefen Publishers).
This admission should come as no surprise to anyone even tangentially familiar with the voluminous amount of essays and articles that Dr. Chesler has written on the subject over the last 13 years, donning an impressive variety of hats. As an astute political analyst, researcher and investigative journalist, she has honed these skills in her quest to offer her reader a meticulous examination of a panoply of hot button geo-political issues pertaining to Israel and the Jewish people.
In this anthology-style compendium that contains the corpus of her work in non-redacted form, Chesler prodigiously confronts the seemingly eternal scourge of global anti-Semitism/anti-Zionism, the pernicious nature of radical Islam, the proliferation of visceral Jew hatred and incessant Israel bashing on university campuses, the exposure of the most egregious forms of propaganda in films and books, the truth about the nefarious agenda of multicultural relativism and critiques the role of the left-liberal media in creating the "perfect storm."
Chesler throws down the gauntlet and debunks the "Big Lies" in a brutally honest manner. Crafting cogent arguments with the trademark depth and aplomb that has come to define her writing since 1972, she takes no hostages.
As she takes us on a sojourn that unravels the "slow motion holocaust" that is being perpetrated against the Jew but nary acknowledged or even discussed in "polite circles," Chesler explains that this cognitive war against the Jewish nation is predicated on a corruption of the truth. Fueled by unsavory alliances between the denizens of the leftist/progressive camp and radical Jihadists of all stripes, anti-Zionism (which is tantamount to anti-Semitism, says Chesler) is no longer considered an odious worldview but one that smacks of a perverse sense of moral rectitude; straight out of an Orwellian-style groupthink salon..
Case in point: Chesler speaks directly to her erstwhile colleagues in the Western feminist movement who ostracized her for blowing the lid off the anti-Israel sentiment in its ranks. Shining a light on their misplaced invective against the Jewish state, Chesler writes, "Since 1972, I have been explaining to Ms. feminists that we should not hold the only Jewish state to a higher or different standard than we hold all other nations states; when we do, it is called racism, Jew-hatred, or anti-Semitism."
While Israel continues to be the world's 'bogeyman'; its detractors are clearly multiplying at blinding speed as evidenced in Chesler's writings The Jew is classified by the intellectual elite as the "aggressor', the "cruel occupier" of Palestinians and the ruthless engineer of an apartheid state through a series of sophist arguments and Goebbels-like agitprop.
Chesler writes that Western academics haves became increasingly "Stalinized and Palestinianized." Addressing the burgeoning phenomenon of academic boycotts that emanate from world class universities, Chesler clarifies the gravitas of the situation by writing "they have disinvited Israeli scholars, fired Israeli academics, rejected university applications from Israeli students, refused to stage exhibits by Israeli artists or sell textbooks to Israeli universities, written inflammatory and defamatory editorials in prestigious journals condemning Israel for massacres that never occurred, etc"
Chesler's writing exudes passion, pathos, optimism and melancholy combined with the blunt force of realism. What is most remarkable and at times quite eerie is the degree to which prescience plays a significant role in her assessment of the abysmal failure on the war on terror. In a 2008 essay, in which she offers a critique of then presidential contender Barack Obama, she writes: "He is a United Nations-style anti-American and postmodern multicultural relativist, and that means Obama may refuse to call barbarism by its rightful name if that barbarism is practiced by Muslims," this years before anyone even heard of "Jihadi John."
Most troubling to Chesler is the rapid succession of horrifying events that may indeed presage the type of calamitous scenario that she warns of in terms of lethal Jew hatred. In 2004, she wrote: "Today, the danger to Jews is far graver and more complex than it ever was before, including the 1930s," Lest we forget the murders of the four Jewish men in a kosher grocery store in Paris in January of 2015, the murder of a Jew in Copenhagen earlier this year and the attacks on synagogues throughout Europe.
Dr. Chesler exhorts us to lift our heads out of the sand. Denial by Western liberals of the real threat that Islamic jihadism poses to the glorious civilization they have built and the hard core fact that Israel and the Jews are in existential peril, will, says Chesler, lead us into "a Dark Age."
This page turner is a must read for anyone who wishes to make sense of a world gone mad. With dismal news swirling around us, the keen clarity, vision, and indomitable spirit that Chesler's imparts is a light in a dark tunnel.


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LYFE Kitchen, the lifestyle brand of great-tasting, good-for-you food—including a restaurant in Palo Alto, California, and a retail product line of ready-to-eat meals—announced that Jennifer Garner, globally acclaimed actress, philanthropist, and lifestyle role model, is joining the brand.
Garner will serve as charitable and strategic advisor and a member of LYFE Kitchen's ambassador panel in an effort to spread awareness to active moms and families. She will also further the brand's commitment to practice social and environmental responsibility.
"Ms. Garner is a perfect fit for the LYFE Kitchen team, as someone with a busy, active lifestyle and who cares about good, nutritious food," says LYFE Kitchen founder and retail CEO, Stephen Sidwell.
"During the past year, we've put together the right team of chefs, business leaders, and wellness and health experts to help create the LYFE Kitchen menu, restaurant, and exciting retail offerings," he continues. "Today's announcement of Jennifer Garner as a LYFE Kitchen ambassador also represents a significant milestone in our history, as we work toward our mission of helping moms and busy families by providing great-tasting, convenient, affordable, and healthy meals to meet the demands of their hectic lifestyles."
LYFE Kitchen and Garner invite guests on a nationwide movement to "Taste LYFE," a pledge to live a healthy, active lifestyle, which includes good, nutritious food.
LYFE is an acronym for "Love Your Food Everyday" and represents more than great-tasting, convenient food that is good for you. The brand embodies a lifestyle, represented by three core pillars—"Eat Good. Feel Good. Do Good"—and encourages others to do the same.
"Additionally, we admire Jennifer's cause-related initiatives with her charity work, and we look forward to using her expertise as LYFE Kitchen grows the 'Do Good' pillar," Sidwell says. "The LYFE Kitchen brand is about an all-encompassing lifestyle, and we encourage the nation to experience it by joining the 'Taste LYFE' movement."
LYFE Kitchen, recently referred to by Wired magazine as "the future," announced its exciting partnership with Garner at an event hosted in San Francisco on September 18. Garner and LYFE's vice president of product development John Mitchell led a cooking demonstration and tasting of LYFE Kitchen meals for active and busy moms, demonstrating how delicious and nutritious food can be readily accessible every day.
Today, LYFE Kitchen also announced the expansion of its retail product line of chef-inspired meals to Northern California Safeway stores and to New York City via Fresh Direct.
The meals offer convenience for the on-the-go family and feature fresh, great-tasting, good-for-you dishes that are preservative free, contain zero trans fat and use antibiotic and hormone-free meats.
The product line of individually-portioned frozen meals, which will be available for purchase on Fresh Direct beginning in October and rolling out at 110 Northern California Safeway stores this fall, includes:
- Orange Mango Chickenwith whole grains, kale, and broccoli
- Chicken Chile Verdewith corn polenta and black beans
- Lemon-Spiced Barramundiwith market greens, mushrooms, and soba noodles
- Steel-Cut Oatmeal with quinoa and mixed fruit.
Additional retail products available on Fresh Direct, include:
- Farmer's Market Frittatawith mushrooms, Goat cheese, and sweet potato hash
- Whole Grain Penne Pastawith turkey meatballs
- Nine Grain Pilaf with sweet chile beef and steamed vegetables
- Whole Grain Pilafwith sweet and zesty vegetable peperonata.
LYFE Kitchen looks forward to sharing news on national retail distribution this fall. Currently, all eight meals are also available to Seattle residents on AmazonFresh.
A new line of Prepared Family Meals, which are refrigerated family-sized (four servings per package) will be re-introduced to Northern California Costco stores later this year, after a successful initial debut earlier this summer, including:
- Thai Style Green Curry Sauce with chunky vegetable medley
- Chicken Poblano Verdewith tangy tomatillo herb salsa
- Thai Sweet Chili Beef with tangy chile sauce and crunchy water chestnuts.


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For Immediate Release, February 2, 2011
Feds Will Reevaluate Endangered Status of Longfin Smelt
Latest Surveys Show Key San Francisco Bay-Delta Fish Species Remain at Record Low Numbers
SAN FRANCISCO— A federal district court today approved a settlement agreement between the Center for Biological Diversity, The Bay Institute and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that requires the agency to reevaluate whether federal Endangered Species Act protection is needed for the severely depleted longfin smelt, a native fish and critical component of the food web in the beleaguered San Francisco Bay-Delta. Recent state surveys show that longfin smelt and other native fish in the Bay Delta remain at low numbers and indicate the ecosystem is in ecological collapse.
"Endangered Species Act protection is desperately needed for longfin smelt and other formerly abundant fish in the San Francisco estuary that are being driven to extinction by record water diversions from the Delta," said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. "The new governor should immediately cut excessive water exports that benefit subsidized corporate agribusiness and sprawl development in Southern California while devastating our native fish and once-healthy salmon runs."
"The data clearly indicate that longfin smelt, which were once among the most abundant forage fish in our estuary, are almost gone," said Dr. Jon Rosenfield, conservation biologist with The Bay Institute. "Scientists agree that the San Francisco population is uniquely important to the species as whole and to the estuary's food web. The Service's flawed decision had no basis in the best available science that the Endangered Species Act requires."
The conservation groups petitioned for Endangered Species Act protection for the Bay-Delta population of longfin smelt in 2007. The Service, after an initial positive review of the petition in 2008, initiated a formal "status review" for the species, but in April 2009 improperly denied federal listing. The Service determined that longfin smelt in the Bay-Delta are not a distinct population — a finding that was criticized by leading scientific experts on longfin smelt as "incomprehensible" and contrary to science. In November 2009 the conservation groups challenged that finding in a lawsuit against the Service. Prominent native-fish experts have recommended an endangered or threatened listing for longfin smelt.
The Service has agreed to complete a rangewide status review of the longfin smelt and make a new determination on whether Endangered Species Act protection is warranted by Sept. 30, 2011. The Service will also consider whether the Bay-Delta or any other longfin smelt population from California to Alaska qualifies as a "distinct population" that warrants federal protection.
Background The California Fish and Game Commission responded to a 2007 listing petition by voting to protect the longfin smelt as a state threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act in 2009. According to recent surveys in the San Francisco Bay-Delta by the Department of Fish and Game, native, open-water fish species remain at alarmingly low levels. The Fall Midwater Trawl Survey, which has been ongoing since 1967, shows that although longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) numbers in the Delta rebounded slightly in 2010, the species remains at low abundance and continues to be imperiled. Longfin smelt and delta smelt were once among the most abundant open-water fish in the estuary and are still an integral part of the food web. In the past decade this important longfin smelt population has fallen to unprecedented low numbers.
In addition to catastrophic declines in longfin smelt, major declines of delta smelt, threadfin shad, Sacramento splittail, and striped bass have been documented since 2002. Despite an increased Delta smelt abundance index in 2010 — probably the result of Endangered Species Act restrictions on water exports and improved hydrological conditions last year — this species continues to teeter on the edge of extinction. The Fall Midwater Trawl Survey caught zero Sacramento splittail this year, and only two fish have been caught in the past four years.
Major factors in the loss of longfin smelt, Delta smelt and other native fish populations in the Delta and Central Valley are the massive increases in water diversions and Delta water exports, toxic chemicals and pesticides, and disruption of the food web by invasive species. Federal and state agencies have allowed record levels of water diversions from the Delta in recent years, leaving insufficient fresh water to sustain native fish. Powerful agricultural interests and the state of California have derailed biological opinions by the federal Fisheries Service aimed at protecting Central Valley chinook salmon, sturgeon, steelhead and Delta smelt and promoted a peripheral canal and new dams to divert even more water from the ravaged Delta ecosystem.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 320,000 members and online activists dedicated to protecting endangered species and wild places. www.biologicaldiversity.org
The Bay Institute is the leader in protecting, restoring and inspiring conservation of San Francisco Bay and its watershed — from the Sierra to the sea. For 30 years, The Bay Institute has been developing and leading model scientific research, habitat restoration, education and advocacy programs to preserve California's most important natural resource. Learn more at www.bay.org.
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