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West Virginia University is making great strides on all five goals of its 2020 Strategic Plan for the Future, associate vice president for academic strategic planning Nigel Clark told the WVU Faculty Senate Monday (April 8).
Clark updated the Senate on the plan that reflects the vision and drives the activities at the University. He said WVU has experienced positive change in multiple areas since the plan's unveiling in 2010.
The plan, which bolsters the University's land-grant mission, focuses on five goals:
- Engage students in a challenging academic environment
- Excel in research and innovation in all disciplines
- Foster diversity and an inclusive culture
- Advance international activity and global engagement
- Enhance the well-being and quality of life of the people of West Virginia
"All five goals are moving ahead," Clark said.
In addition to the goals, the University adopted three aspirations for 2020: To attain and maintain the highest Carnegie research ranking; double the number of nationally-ranked programs; and groom graduates to be among the nation's leaders in career readiness.
Clark also noted that individual colleges and departments have instituted their own strategic planning as a result of the university-wide plan.
"Perhaps that's the most important outcome – encouraging people to do their own planning that is aligned with the overarching 2020 plan, and is focused toward the future," Clark said.
Some tangible results from the plan and aspirations include: creation of 145 faculty positions, including 61 at Health Sciences, hiring of Chief Diversity Officer David Fryson, the launch of a new School of Public Health, expansion in the Evansdale campus, establishment of the "Mountains of Excellence" initiative and development of the University College – a centralized support system/program to assist students who have not declared an academic major.
"Nigel is doing a great job facilitating our progress," said WVU President Jim Clements. "I'm proud of the faculty, staff and students for making early progress on many strategic initiatives. We have accomplished a lot and there's a lot more to accomplish. I'm thrilled with the direction we're heading."
Officials rolled out the plan in 2010 after a 40-member Strategic Planning Council, made up of a cross-section of individuals within the University Community, spent several months crafting a vision for WVU for the next decade. The council then developed work groups to look at systems and structures related to innovation, inclusivity, international initiatives and other areas.
A comprehensive website presents progress and archives material related to the Plan; dashboards on the website show baseline data and metrics aligned with the goals.
"One of the biggest strides we've taken has been with diversity," Clark added. "David Fryson, as Chief Diversity Officer, is directly charged to advocate for diversity and inclusion: that's a landmark in itself, as opposed to incremental change."
Clark said the plan also has driven the process of hiring of an associate provost for engagement and outreach, which will advance the land-grant mission of WVU.
Also as part of the strategic planning process, the academic deans last year defined "Mountains of Excellence," five areas where the University will focus its scholarly efforts:
- Achieving international leadership in radio astronomy.
- Utilizing shale gas.
- Promoting stewardship of water resources.
- Improving STEM education and scientific literacy.
- Addressing health disparities in Appalachia.
These "Mountains" represent existing strengths and opportunities for growth at WVU and the initiative can only help push the University as an internationally recognized force in researching those areas, Clark said.
The Plan also created momentum for the University College, which will be home to more than 6,000 students who don't currently have a declared major. Clark said the University College is designed to increase retention and graduation rates, advise students for career success, provide programs for academic advancement, and optimize the first year experience.
The launch of the School of Public Health also illustrates how the University is tackling multiple strategic goals, such as outreach to West Virginia and excelling in research. Some academic departments had formed to lead the pre-accreditation phase of development for the school. One of its missions is to provide primary prevention, intervention and public health research to West Virginia communities and beyond.
Other news from Clark's report:
- The Advance program provided research-based information to 70 faculty on unconscious bias and best practices geared to recruit women and underrepresented faculty. It also funded 21 external sponsorship programs for women and 11 for underrepresented faculty.
- The Blueprint for Student Success, an initiative of Academic Affairs, was implemented to retain and graduate students through its early alert program and resident faculty leader program.
- Officials are working to identify priorities and goals of global engagement by comparing WVU's statistics to other institutions and forging educational alliances with inbound and outbound students across the world.
- The "A State of Minds" campaign will further help the University reach the Plan's goals. The campaign, with a goal of $750 million, is the largest private fundraising campaign in WVU's history. Through Dec. 31, 2012, donors have contributed $605 million toward the campaign, which focuses on these six priority areas that align with the Plan: Enhance the undergraduate student experience and global education; advance the research initiative; enable WVU to improve West Virginia's health, economy and quality of life; foster faculty excellence; enhance WVU through professional and graduate education; and support healthcare through research, education and patient care.
In other business Monday:
- Faculty Senate approved a resolution supporting West Virginia House Bill 2856, which would add sexual orientation to the categories covered by the Human Rights Act, prohibiting discrimination in employment and places of public accommodation. College of Law professor Bob Bastress said that while the bill itself is dead in the statehouse, it is important for faculty to make a statement supporting inclusiveness.
- Members passed the 2014-15 academic calendar, which introduces a new fall break recess on Oct. 13 and 14.
CONTACT: University Relations/News
Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.


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For many, real estate seems like the perfect way to add extra money to their income. They envision the ease of property ownership- a check that arrives promptly each month from agreeable tenants who flawlessly maintain the property, all while they sit back and watch the money flow in. But then reality sets in. Vacant properties, argumentative tenants, emergency calls in the middle of the night, meager returns on the property, assets that eat more money than they produce- these are just a few problems investors are unequipped to deal with. Sound familiar? Here's why hiring a property manager will save you headaches and will deliver the results you want today.
- Emergency Phone Call Buffer: Tired of getting those "my drain is clogged!" calls in the middle of the night? With a property manager on your side, those issues are no longer your problem. Property managers will deal with tenant emergencies any day, any time, without bothering you.
- Dealing With Tenant Disputes: Don't know how or don't want to handle disagreeable tenants who fight you for every rent increase, repair charge, or other lease enforcements? Property managers do. They'll take care of every issue and will act as a liaison between you and squabbling tenants.
- Screening Tenants: Do you consistently seem to pick bad residents? A property manager can help by screening applicants, choosing the best and most qualified ones, and advise you on how to keep the good tenants year after year.
- Rent Collection: No more dealing with late rent payments, chasing down tenants who haven't paid up, or hassling over "the check is in the mail!" claims. Your property manager will collect the rent on time, every time, or will collect late fees from tenants who don't pay on time.
- Local Knowledge of Rent Rates: Property owners can worry about charging too much or too little for the area, and often don't increase rent for long after an increase is due. Property managers know the area, can charge appropriately for your property, and can raise rent, ensuring you'll make the most out of your properties.
- Internal Team of Trusted Personnel: Another hassle property owners deal with is contractors trying to overcharge for their services. Not to fear! Property managers have their team of trusted and affordable contractors, brokers, suppliers, and maintenance personnel who will do the job right and will keep the cost to you as low as possible.
- Knowledge of Lease and Property Laws: Oftentimes, landlords go into the lease drafting process blind. They might miss important disclosures and land in hot water if something goes wrong. Fortunately, property managers know all the tips and tricks of property and lease laws, protecting tenants and saving you hassles later.
- Inspections and Upkeep: You'd like to think your tenants are minding your property and keeping it in great shape, but that isn't always the case. Property managers perform regular inspections to make sure your property is being taken care of, and that no unapproved activities are occurring on the property.
- Easy Evictions: Evictions are a landlord's worst nightmare, but sometimes they're necessary. Fortunately, property managers are equipped to deal with evictions and can make the process much smoother.
- More Time on Your Hands: Property managers take care of all the day-to-day tasks regarding your property, so you don't have to worry about a thing. You spend less time looking after your property, and you have more time to invest in new ones!
If running your property is making you lose sleep at night or you feel you are falling behind, give us a call and we will take your stress and headaches away. Our program is designed to make owning property profitable and enjoyable. We can handle your condos, apartment complexes, single family homes, office, industrial, and retail buildings. We have been in business for over 15 years and manage numerous properties in the Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino County areas. As a full service asset/property management firm, we offer 24/7 emergency contact, eviction and lease enforcement, commercial and residential leasing, accounting and record keeping, maintenance, and construction. Contact us today at 626-339-1000.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Herring River Executive Council
With the September 21, 2016 signing of the Final Memorandum of Understanding (MOU III), the Herring River Executive Council was formed. This is an intergovernmental team which will direct the Herring River Restoration Project. It consists of representatives from the towns of Wellfleet and Truro, as well as the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Janet Reinhart, Chair, Board of Selectmen
Helen Miranda Wilson, Member, Board of Selectmen
Daniel Hoort, Town Administrator
Paul Wisotzky, Chair, Board of Selectmen
Robert Weinstein, Member, Board of Selectmen
Rae Ann Palmer, Town Manager
Brian Carlstrom, Superintendent
The next meeting of the Herring River Executive Council has not been scheduled. Please check back for the next scheduled date.


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March Madness Video Stream Package
Links associated with this release:
Click Here For Month of March Package
CSTV and the Big West Conference introduce the March Madness Video Streaming Package. Catch most of the Big West action during the month of March with this package for only $9.95. The final week of league play as well as the first two rounds of the Big West Conference Basketball Tournament are included in this month's package. Both returning and new subscribers, click the link below to see all the action as teams prepare on the road to Anaheim and the Big West Basketball Tournament.


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Recently, there was a story in my city about a woman that was sexually assaulted while at work. She was a real estate agent who was at an open house by herself, and a man came in and took advantage of her. Thankfully, she was able to fight off her attacker, but I can only imagine the lingering scars she will have to live through for some time.
Sadly, this is not the first instance.
Or the last. I wrote that paragraph a few weeks ago. Since then, there have been more news headlines of women being attacked, beaten by their partners, raped, murdered.
I find myself asking, almost weekly: Why?
Why can't a woman go to work, or take her kids to the park, or go to a party, or go for a run while listening to music, or walk to her car, or enjoy a walk through a forest, or ride the bus, without looking over her shoulder? Why can't a woman go to bed without wondering how she would fight off an attacker, should one break in while she is sleeping? Why should women walk to their car with their house keys poking through their fist as a makeshift weapon?
Why should women be taught to be the ones on alert like it's a sixth sense?
How do we change this? I don't want to claim to have all the answers, but I might have some ideas. Ready? Here goes:
Let's teach our little ones, especially our boys, how to really treat a woman.
How is that? Easy: like a human.
Let's continue to tell them, and show them, that girls have worth. That they are not mere playthings or property. Let's show them that women are partners and equals. Yes, let's teach them to open doors for ladies, stick up for, and never hit, girls. (Aren't those also ways we would like them to treat everyone though?)
I believe we also need to teach our little ones that they are not simply entitled to everything they want. Cause you know what? Sometimes you can't have it. That includes our fellow human beings.
I don't know – my kids are just 6 and 3 at the moment. My mind is at the place of what I can teach them now, today, in this moment, that just might make a difference for when they become young men. Because, when they are men, teaching them then will be too late. Right now, that includes the following:
If our sons tell my husband or me to stop tickling them, we stop.
If they tell us they don't want to talk right now, we wait until they're ready.
If they tell us they don't want a hug or kiss, we don't force them to receive it from us.
Sometimes, we tell them no, because the world will not always say yes to them.
(Hey, I know we are not perfect parents. Life is a series of trial, errors, and sorry's. We are trying our best and learning as we go)
Years ago, I read an article written by Trisha Baptie on SheLoves Magazine. In it, she writes of how she teaches her son to see the world from a woman's perspective.
As I read the article, I had some 'me too' moments as I thought back to the times (as a teenager) I had been humiliatingly catcalled, whistled at, or honked at, from passing cars or porches as I walked down streets. The times I was leered at by male passersby, or simply stared at as I walked passed a crowd of guys. These instances made me feel uncomfortable, unsafe, and vulnerable. This is merely a Lite version of what some women and girls experience and feel.
"May my son be a man who lives life profoundly aware of the space he takes up in the world and what he can do to make women feel safer in it." -Trisha Baptie
That right there is my prayer. I pray that my sons grow up aware of how women feel, of what their world looks like; that it is not always the same world they live in.
And, in turn, if one day my sons have sons of their own, they will teach them these same things.
And if some day my grandchildren have sons, they will teach them, too.
And so on.
And so on.
And so on.


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AUTHOR: Jimmy Gleacher
INFO: Paperback, Fiction, 292 pages
PUBLISHED: Gallery, 2011
SOURCE: Received from Publisher for Review
It's only a week into summer break and already seventeen-year-old Gates has . . .
a) Hustled millionaires on the golf course
b) Tried to stop his mother from having a(nother) nervous breakdown
c) Promised to lose his virginity with his girlfriend, Mel . . . which would be great if he hadn't already lost it to his forty-year-old godmother
d) Almost killed a man
Yeah, Gates has a lot of secrets, but he's determined to keep his heart true. When he's not swinging golf clubs like a pro, he reads pulp fiction to old folks at the retirement home. And despite his occasional slip-ups—drinking before noon and sneaking glimpses through his sexy godmother's open negligees—Gates only has eyes for Mel. But she knows he's hiding something, and she's beginning to lose her patience.
Just as Gates is about to spill his shameful secrets, he gets tangled up in a golf club scandal that jeopardizes his dreams of a normal life. He's never been a fighter, but this time he finally pushes back at the world—which could have been a breakthrough but turns into an epic fail. Probably because Gates fights back dirty. Now his life is on the verge of ruin, and he's got no one to turn to for help.
Or so he thinks. Because what Gates is about to discover might hit him with the most amazing shock of his life.
MY TAKE: This was a fun book to read with quite a few laughs and definitely some groans thrown in. Gates isn't a bad kid by any means, he just doesn't always think with his brain. (Of course that describes how many 17 year old males?)
The characters that populate this book are very well written. Many of them come across as people that we might have in our own lives. Gates is a very sympathetic kid as he really does have a great heart. He loves his girlfriend Mel and really does try to do things right by her, it just doesn't always go well. The fact that he goes to the retirement home on his own and has a close relationship with an old man there is one of his bright spots. Some of his choices in other areas shine a light on his age and his homelife.
Gates' mother is pretty much useless. I flat out didn't care for her at all. Then we have his godmother who is a real piece of work. Alicia is just wrong wrong wrong - on many levels. I won't delve into it as her issues are a large piece of the story. It is a very interesting part she plays.
The plot moves along quickly and it really isn't until close to the end of the book that I figured out where it was going. The author does a nice job of keeping the intensity up and the action flowing. I enjoyed how everything played out and I do hope that Mr. Gleacher is working on a sequel.
Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:
~~~~~ Disclaimer: All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own. I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links. I may receive books in order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one. Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.


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Yesterday, I was feeling very neutral. Neutral feels strange and uncomfortable. I guess when anything is unfamiliar, it can lead to feeling unsettled. As silly as this seems, I am not used to feeling level.
Today I sat at Starbucks for a while with a group of guys. There is one guy that just rubs me the wrong way. Usually, when I see this guy, I get this tight, anxious feeling in my chest. Typically, everything he says, I counter – without even pausing. He says crude and judgmental things about everyone that passes by. I want to yell at him and tell him to shut up. I want to make sure he knows that I know that he is not a nice guy.
Why do we sit in crap? Sometimes I wonder how much annoyance, irritation or pain we have to feel before we get up and change seats. I can spend a lot of time getting upset at myself for not changing fast enough but I really need to learn to be more gentle with myself.
So today I am not feeling anything. I don't like the guy, but I don't feel hostile toward him. The things he says still feel mean, but I just don't care to hand him any of my serenity. There may be a time when it will feel right to say something, but "Shut up" is definitely not it.
Is perception this easy? Maybe… maybe not. It seems to have changed without me thinking about it. Whatever happened, I am really glad I never mouthed off and said anything. So far, in my limited experience with sobriety, silence has been a powerful weapon and an even more powerful defense. Progress? I think so.


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I had "started" cleaning the guest room/craft room...again. It was a health hazard. There is no way a guest could sleep in that room {or even find the bed to be perfectly honest}. Well, when I clean it isn't the "shove things out of the way and go on your merry way" kinda cleaning. NoPe. I'm way to OCD for that. When I clean it's a full on re-organization of every. single. stinkin'. item. kind of deal.
So anyway, I had started cleaning the mess. Which means I was emptying everything out of said room and placing them in massive piles {by category of course...you know, unfinished projects here...fabirc there...etc} in the dinning room when my hubby arrives home from work. The look on his face said it all. Now he had been not-so-subtling sugesting that I clean the craft room for a while so I thought he would have been pleased to see the evacuation in progess. But no...he was not. Instead he threw down the gauntlet. What unfolded next went a little something like this:
Hubs: Honey, this is ridiculous. Look at all this stuff.
me: looking at him in a "so what" kind of way.
hubs: I think you are a horder.
Oh, no he didn't....Oh YES, he did.
me: Are you freakin' kidding me?
hubs: nope. Look around. That room looked like one of the rooms from that hording t.v. show.
me: Mouth wide open, jaw on the floor looking like a deer in headlights...I could muster no response. Which if you know me is a pretty remarkable feat.
hubs: And it's not just the "craft" room, it's half the garage and basement too.
me: but, but, but...
hubs: You have to stop buying stuff just because "it's a good deal" or "it's so cool" and you think you could make something with it.
me: but, but, but...
hubs: I think you need to take like a 6 month break from buying things that don't have an immediate purpose. If your not buying it to finish off an existing project or order then don't buy it.
Yep...THAT was the gauntlet.
You know what really gets me? He's right. Man, you don't know how it pains me to say that...I mean really PAINS me! It's yard sale season...St. Louis just got a Goodwill Outlet for goodness sakes. Grrrr.
So, I'm starting a marathon of project finishing. I'm going to work my way through the pile. Start using what I bought and get those "some day" projects done.
Wish me luck.
First on the list: Grain sack pillows. I'll post pictures when they are done.


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10 Adorable Short Haircuts for Women
In the market for a short haircut? Haircuts for women this season are trending shorter if you've been paying any attention to the celeb red carpets these days. Here are 10 of my favorite short haircuts:
Jennifer Lawrence – Short Crop Haircut at the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards 2014
None of them are more coveted than this adorable short crop haircut Jennifer Lawrence wore at the 2014 Golden Globes. This cut is styled forward on top from the crown with a round brush. Also full side swept bangs with the absence of a part helps define this short haircut!
Michelle Dockery – Short Haircut with Long Choppy Layers
Michelle Dockery looks amazing in this short haircut with long choppy layers.This is the perfect length and fullness to give balance and width to a longer face shape.This cut works best with wavy hair and requires minimal styling with the texturized layering.
Frankie Sandford – Asymmetrical Short Haircut with Heavy Side-Swept Bangs
This short-chic asymmetrical haircut that Frankie Sandford is wearing is a quick and easy style for those with straight hair. Simply blow-dry smooth with a round brush. This cut suits all face shapes with the exception of round faces. The long heavy side-swept fringe blends into face framing layers that curve around the jaw line.
Short Haircut with Long Layers
The top and front of this haircut is long while the nape is close-cut tapering into the longer layers. Straight hair can easily get this look and lightly wavy hair can also with the use of a blow-dryer and flat iron. For strong wavy hair it is easier to work with the wave rather than fighting it – see Ciara below.
Amanda Forrest – Short Faux Hawk Haircut
Amanda turns up the fun and punk factor with this steely grey highlighted faux hawk. This spiky hawk is versatile, easy to style with just fingers and a dab of product, and will seriously make some women look younger! This works best with oval, heart, round and square face shapes with straight or wavy hair that is medium or thick textured.
Miley Cyrus- Edgy Short Haircut with Long Top
Miley's edgy hairstyle is cut short all around with the top left long and heavy. It has an edgy appeal (this one more is refrained) and she is creative at styling i.e.; pompadour, full side-swept bangs, hawk, spike. This short haircut works best with straight or wavy hair and oval, heart and square face shapes.
Halle Berry – Short Textured Haircut with Wispy Bangs
This short haircut is fun and feminine with long, wispy layers in front and shorter ones throughout. This cut works with medium to thick hair that is straight or slightly wavy. Create height on top with a blow-dryer and brush, or just ruffle hair with fingers for texture. This cut works on all face shapes.
Ashlee Simpson – Short Asymmetrical Bob
This asymmetrical bob suits all face shapes and is the perfect short haircut for fine hair (although it works with all hair types.) The sides are cut to push hair forward, giving it movement and fullness. A deep side part gives Ashlee's short bob haircut an edge. The zigzag parting shows off dimensional lowlights adding the illusion of thickness.
Ciara – Short Wavy Graduated Haircut – Full and Sexy
A short haircut that showcases naturally curly or wavy hair like Ciara's, is classy, elegant and sexy. This haircut is quick and easy to style as long as it's done on full wavy or curly hair. It's flattering on all face shapes and it won't go out of style when it looks effortless and is suited to the hair type.
Karlie Kloss – Shaggy Chic Short Hair at N.Y. Fall Fashion Week 2014
Short razored bangs with some spikes at the crown and graduated notched ends might be called a grown-out pixie cut . . . but it seems more than that. Oscar de la Renta dressed runway models with these short head-turning wigs. Suited best for straight hair and oval face shapes, this style is totally on the cutting edge!
Barb Quinn on Google+


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I don't know about you, but personally I have some pretty painful memories of dental care during my childhood and adolescence. It generally went something like this: Once a year I went to the dentist for a checkup. The dentist counted up my cavities and scheduled one visit for each. After a month or so, I thought I was set until next year, but then the inevitable midyear toothache attacked and the torturous cycle began all over again. There was likely the odd kid back then who never got a cavity, but memories of waiting rooms bursting with classmates tell me I was probably pretty typical.
Things seem to have changed. And a little research on the subject proves that it's not all in my head...or in my neighborhood. According to a study published by the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA), researchers at the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) found that the number of children without cavities doubled in the last two decades. The scientists determined that 55% of all children ages 5 to 17 (60% of those under age 10) had no cavities in their permanent teeth.
Researchers attribute the decline in cavity rates to a number of things-an increased use of dental sealants, fluoridated water, improved oral health products, better diets and a higher rate of dental visits...in other words, preventive maintenance.
Attitudes have changed, too. Neither of my two young daughters has ever had a cavity. I think that if they ever did, my wife Lynn and I would probably feel like bad parents.
Under the circumstances, you might think that dentists would be standing on unemployment lines all across America and dental colleges would be shutting their doors. The math seems simple enough: Half the number of cavities requires half the number of dentists, right? Wrong!
The fact is that today's dentists are not just surviving, they're thriving, by performing some of the very preventive maintenance that is responsible for the decline in what was their root business of filling cavities. Between 1982 and 1995, the number of practicing dentists in this country has risen 23%, from fewer than 127,000 to more than 153,000.
With so many dentists, they must be just getting by, right? Wrong again. In 1994, the average net income of general practitioners was over $117,000; the mean net income of dental specialists was almost $178,000!
Repairing cars is not the same as filling cavities, obviously, but there is a lesson here. When professionals see a large portion of their traditional business disappear, it may be beyond their control. Healthier teeth and gums are good trends for the general population, just like increased dependability of cars is a good trend for the motoring public. The winners understand that there's no sense in fighting the inevitable, and they find new opportunities that will ensure their survival. The fact is preventive maintenance can be a win-win situation for the consumer and the service provider in many businesses.
We strongly believe that recommended scheduled maintenance work is important to the future of your business. And we want to provide you with the information you need to understand and capitalize on this opportunity.
In January, Motor Magazine launched a new six-part series on OE scheduled maintenance. The first installment focused on oil, filters and chassis lubrication. Next month, then again every other month in 1998, we'll focus on another subject of scheduled maintenance.
In addition to a report on each topic, you'll also find an invaluable pullout wall chart, made possible by the support of NAPA, listing vehicle manufacturers' recommended maintenance intervals for domestic and imported cars.
So smile. After all, the future may be as bright as a set of cavity-free, flossed, sealed and bleached pearly whites.


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- Invest in vice or virtue? – In most countries, sin stocks comfortably beat the market. The "sin" industries in this study included alcohol, tobacco, "adult services," weapons, and gambling.
- Recent warming of Pacific Ocean could be early indication of El Niño – Recent warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean has primed the Pacific for El Niño. However, history has shown El Niño does not always develop from the ocean trends currently observed. International climate models monitored by the Bureau [of Meteorology] indicate the central tropical Pacific Ocean is likely to continue to warm, with all models predicting El Niño thresholds will be reached or exceeded by mid-year.
- No Easy, Reliable Way To Screen For Suicide, Specialists Say – Even a careful psychiatric examination of the co-pilot involved in last week's Germanwings jetliner crash probably would not have revealed whether he intended to kill himself, researchers say. "As a field, we're not very good at accurately predicting who is at risk for suicidal behavior," says Matthew Nock, a psychology professor at Harvard. He says studies show that mental health professionals "perform no better than chance," when it comes to predicting which patients will attempt suicide.
- Greek Voters Want Their Government To Show Some Fight – The leftist Syriza party swept into office on a promise to stand up to European austerity demands. But the new government has had to soften its tone. Some Greeks worry the party is giving in.
- Fortress of Nationalism: Russia Is Losing Its Political Morals – The murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov reveals that Russia has become morally unhinged. The country is transforming into a nationalist fortress and the powers that be are happy to ignore the potentially dangerous implications.
- China's New Normal and America's Old Habits – China is generating a lot of confusion nowadays, both at home, where senior officials now tout the economy's "new normal," and abroad, exemplified by America's embrace of Cold War-style tactics to contain China's rise. On both counts, the disconnects are striking, adding a new dimension of risk to the impact of the "China factor" on a fragile world.
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
The cost of investing in virtue and punishing sin
Posted by Richard Farmer at 21:51 0 comments
Friday, 27 March 2015
Dementia and the coherence of self
- The disremembered – Dementia undermines all of our philosophical assumptions about the coherence of the self. But that might be a good thing
- Senate to launch broad inquiry into wine industry – South Australian Senator Anne Ruston, who lives in the state's Riverland wine region, moved for the inquiry to investigate whether there was market failure in the industry and whether government policies could help the industry become more profitable.
- Mortgaging the Future? – In the six decades following World War II, bank lending measured as a ratio to GDP has quadrupled in advanced economies. To a great extent, this unprecedented expansion of credit was driven by a dramatic growth in mortgage loans. Lending backed by real estate has allowed households to leverage up and has changed the traditional business of banking in fundamental ways. This "Great Mortgaging" has had a profound influence on the dynamics of business cycles.
- Xi Jinping's challenge is to be strong enough to loosen control – China's president will face resistance if he fails to readjust
- Nissin Offers Virtual Date Experience for Ramen Lovers – Nissin Foods Holdings Co. has launched a special site for ramen lovers who feel a bit lonely slurping down their instant noodles alone. The website, called Mitsumete Light+, features Japanese actor Takumi Saitoh gazing at the visitor from the other side of the screen while they prepare and enjoy their snack. Users are asked to click on a button once they pour hot water into their ramen cup, at which point a timer starts counting down the three minutes until the food is ready.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 21:53 0 comments
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
The Newspoll influence
I am not sure why it is but Newspoll is the pollster that has the most influence in Canberra. Perhaps it's because of the regularity of appearing every second Tuesday. Perhaps it's because of being published in the nation's only remaining broadsheet. Whatever. It is so. So Tony Abbott will leave the Parliament hothouse this week with his position secure.
But overall the opinion polls as a whole show his government is still in serious trouble.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 21:56 0 comments
Labels: opinion polls
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Cash from Australia sending Indonesians to fight with IS
This morning's Jakarta Post reports:
Another Post story reports claims by an Indonesian official that Australia has sent back 15 illegal immigrants from Nepal, Iran and Bangladesh into Indonesian waters off West Java's Sukabumi.
The illegal immigrants had reached Australia's Christmas Island and stayed there for three days, an official of the Sukabumi Immigration office, Markus Lenggo, quoted the immigrants as saying."They said they crossed to the Australian island from the Pamengpeuk coastal village of Garut [in West Java] on March 17, but after three days they were sent back to Indonesian territory," Markus said.The 15 illegal immigrants — six from Iran including three girls, seven from Bangladesh and two from Nepal – were found stranded on the coast of Pangumbahan in Sukabumi by the police on Sunday.They were then sent to the Sukabumi Immigration Office, which put them in its detention center, he said. Nine of them were in possession of official documents from the UNHCR refugee agency showing that they were asylum seekers, but the rest claimed that they had lost their documents."We are awaiting directions from IOM [International Organization for Migration] and the Law and Human Rights Ministry on what to do with the immigrants," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.One of the asylum seekers, Muhamad Baleyet Husain from Bangladesh, said the Australian authorities told them they had to be sent back to Indonesia as the two countries were in the midst of a political row following the planned execution of two Australians drug convicts."We arrived on Christmas Island but the local authorities sent us back to Indonesian waters using a boat accompanied by Australian officers," Husain said.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 21:59 0 comments
Give us all a pill – making people more sensitive to inequality
- Altering brain chemistry makes us more sensitive to inequality = What if there were a pill that made you more compassionate and more likely to give spare change to someone less fortunate? UC Berkeley scientists have taken a big step in that direction. A new study by UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco researchers finds that giving a drug that changes the neurochemical balance in the prefrontal cortex of the brain causes a greater willingness to engage in prosocial behaviors, such as ensuring that resources are divided more equally.
- An exceptional autumn hot spell in northern and central Australia – Many records were set during this hot spell. The Northern Territory and Queensland had their hottest March days on record in area-averaged terms, whilst the event also included the highest temperature ever observed in Australia in the second half of March.
- Why Greek default looms
- The new authoritarianism – In recent decades, new forms of dictatorship based on manipulating information rather than on mass violence, have emerged. This column explores the trade-offs and techniques of the modern dictator. Such dictators can survive using little violence in the face of moderate economic underperformance. Economic downturns often prompt an increase in censorship and propaganda. Though new information-based dictatorships are better adapted to a modernised society, modernisation and access to information, as well as economic contractions could undermine them.
- Thomas Piketty: Student Loan Debt Is the Enemy of Meritocracy in the US - Higher and more equitable growth in the United States requires more public support for higher education, argues economist and best-selling author Thomas Piketty. Changes are necessary for the stark reality of higher education to match the purported American values of meritocracy, hard work, and equal opportunity/mobility. If we really want to promote these things, says Piketty, we need to do something about student debt.
- We're Frighteningly in the Dark About Student Debt – The … United States government … has a portfolio of roughly $1 trillion in student loans, many of which appear to be troubled. The Education Department, which oversees the portfolio, is … neither analyzing the portfolio adequately nor allowing other agencies to do so.
These loans are no trivial matter… Student loans are now the second-largest source of consumer debt in the United States, surpassed only by home mortgages. In a major reversal, they now constitute a larger portion of household debt than credit cards or car loans. … The frightening reality, however, is that we are remarkably ignorant about student debt…, we can't quantify the risks that student debt places on individual households and the economy as a whole. …
- Controlling the past – In his novel 1984 George Orwell wrote: "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." We are not quite in this Orwellian world yet, which means attempts to rewrite history can at least be contested. A few days ago the UK Prime Minister in Brussels said this. "When I first came here as prime minister five years ago, Britain and Greece were virtually in the same boat, we had similar sized budget deficits. The reason we are in a different position is we took long-term difficult decisions and we had all of the hard work and effort of the British people. I am determined we do not go backwards." In other words if only those lazy Greeks had taken the difficult decisions that the UK took, they too could be like the UK today. This is such as travesty of the truth, as well as a huge insult to the Greek people, that it is difficult to know where to begin.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 21:58 0 comments
Monday, 23 March 2015
Another day and another probe into another bank
Benjamin Lawsky, the New York regulator known for taking a hard line against overseas banks, has shouldered his way into the long-running Libor scandal, investigating Deutsche Bank for alleged manipulation of the benchmark borrowing rate, according to people familiar with the matter.
The probe by New York's Department of Financial Services adds to a litany of US regulatory problems for Germany's largest lender.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 22:05 0 comments
Labels: ticket clippers
Labor gains in Morgan Poll
Posted by Richard Farmer at 22:01 0 comments
Labels: News and views, opinion polls
Friday, 20 March 2015
Arctic sea ice extent hits record low for winter
Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has fallen to the lowest recorded level for the winter season, according to US scientists.The maximum this year was 14.5 million sq km, said the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
This is the lowest since 1979, when satellite records began.
A recent study found that Arctic sea ice had thinned by 65% between 1975 and 2012.
Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics said: "The gradual disappearance of ice is having profound consequences for people, animals and plants in the polar regions, as well as around the world, through sea level rise."
The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said the maximum level of sea ice for winter was reached this year on 25 February and the ice was now beginning to melt as the Arctic moved into spring.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 22:08 0 comments
Labels: global warming, sea ice
Monday, 16 March 2015
Warming world trend continues
- NASA: Earth Tops Hottest 12 Months On Record Again, Thanks To Warm February – NASA reported this weekend that last month was the second-hottest February on record, which now makes March 2014–February 2015 the hottest 12 months on record. This is using a 12-month moving average, so we can "see the march of temperature change over time," rather than just once every calendar year.
- How Many Mutual Funds Routinely Rout the Market? Zero – The bull market in stocks turned six last Monday, and despite some rocky stretches — like last week, when the market fell — it has generally been a very pleasant time for money managers, who have often posted good numbers. Look more closely at those gaudy returns, however, and you may see something startling. The truth is that very few professional investors have actually managed to outperform the rising market consistently over those years. In fact, based on the updated findings and definitions of a particular study, it appears that no mutual fund managers have. …
- Vatican backs military force to stop ISIS 'genocide' – In an unusually blunt endorsement of military action, the Vatican's top diplomat at the United Nations in Geneva has called for a coordinated international force to stop the "so-called Islamic State" in Syria and Iraq from further assaults on Christians and other minority groups. "We have to stop this kind of genocide," said Italian Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's representative in Geneva. "Otherwise we'll be crying out in the future about why we didn't so something, why we allowed such a terrible tragedy to happen."
- Bad thinkers – Why do some people believe conspiracy theories? It's not just who or what they know. It's a matter of intellectual character
- Media blackout: would I be happier if I didn't read the news? – Writer Jesse Armstrong couldn't go even a few minutes without checking the headlines. So he set himself a challenge: no news for a month. Would he feel better about the world – or just out of the loop?
Posted by Richard Farmer at 11:53 0 comments
Labels: global warming, News and views
Sunday, 15 March 2015
Advice on Greens for Labor from Labour
The Australian Labor Party has struggled in recent federal and state elections to work out how it should treat the threat of Greens candidates snatching their votes in previously safe inner city seats. A vote for a Green risks giving the Liberals extra seats has become a familiar Labor cry without there being much evidence to support such a claim with the electoral system's preferential voting. An end result of such misguided thinking is for Labor to play preference games in voting for upper houses where a seeming desire to punish Greens for their inner city naughtiness has led to some real opponents of a conservative bent being elected.
This phenomenon of a traditional left of centre party having trouble dealing with another leftist party is not uniquely Australian. European socialists have been dealing with it for 20 years with an acceptance of coalition governments making it relatively peaceful. Not so in Britain where the Australian born leader of the Green Party of England and Wales is being cast in the villain's role by British Labour as that country's election approaches.
From The Observer this morning:
Labour is trying to scare leftish voters away from the Greens with the thought that they will go to bed with Natalie Bennett and wake up to find David Cameron back in Number 10. One Labour MP who has tried this on the doorstep reports: "It doesn't work. Your 18-year-old who is going to vote Green doesn't give a toss about that. They want to make a statement by voting Green." A statement about the world, about Westminster, about themselves.
The comment of that anonymous Labour MP pretty much sums up what I believe to be the situation in Australia. Rather than trying to beat the Greens the task should be finding more ways to join with them in presenting a united left of centre coalition to combat our governing right of centre one. Surely preferential voting makes that possible.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 10:01 0 comments
Labels: political snippets
Saturday, 14 March 2015
Cardinal George Pell carries out sweeping reforms
- Pope Frances's Financial Reforms Rattle Vatican's Old Guard – Pope Francis has made significant progress in bringing transparency to the Vatican's finances. Cardinal George Pell is carrying out sweeping reforms.
- To fix inequality, Democrats are pushing unions – At a time when GOP is gaining ground in very public attacks on labor, the left is coming to the defense of collective bargaining. … In recent months, a collection of left-leaning politicians, economists, and public intellectuals have started making a renewed case for collective bargaining as a tool to heal the ailing middle class. The pitch doubles as an effort for Democrats to preserve a key constituency they've long relied on to win elections, at a time when conservatives are making strong gains in often very public attacks on union power.
- The Next Internet Is TV – Websites are unnecessary vestiges of a time before there were better ways to find things to look at on your computer or your phone.
- The Biology of Being Good to Others – Altruism may seem a good thing—unless you happen to be an evolutionary biologist. Then it may seem a mixture of a mystery and a curse. The reason isn't hard to see. How could a ruthless process like Darwinian natural selection give rise to altruistic organisms, human or nonhuman, that act in ways that are costly to themselves and helpful to others?
- Can the world get richer forever?
- To tip or not to tip? – Tipping is confusing, and paradoxical. We tip some people who provide services but not others who work just as hard for just as little pay. It is insulting to leave any tip in Tokyo but offensive not to leave a large one in New York. It is assumed that the purpose of tipping is to encourage good service but we leave one only after the service has been given, when it is too late to change it, often to people who will never serve us again. Tipping challenges the sweeping generalisations of economists and anthropologists alike. To understand how and why we tip is to begin to understand just how complicated and fascinating we human beings are.
- CU Denver study shows product placement, branding growing in popular music – Many people thought music was the last bastion free of marketing but that train has left the station. Many musicians these days make less money from their recorded work so they must become marketing entities since the music doesn't entirely pay the bills
Posted by Richard Farmer at 23:59 0 comments
Friday, 13 March 2015
Turnbull and the Keating influence
The more I see, hear and read of Malcolm Turnbull these days, the more inclined I am to believe my informant that the would-be Prime Minister is getting some tactical advice from former Prime Minister Paul Keating. See my political snippet from back in February The new besties – Malcolm Turnbull and Paul Keating where I mentioned that what I'll call "a normally reliable and well informed Sydney friend" assured me that the pair have developed a close friendship. They are regularly, I was told, in each others company as the Liberal leadership pretender gets a tip or two on playing politics from the former Labor master.
For further evidence, take these comments as recorded by Simon Benson in a thoughtful Daily Telegraph column this morning:
"Labor had committed to several high-profile promises that if delivered would vastly increase outlays over the next decade, with much of their cost conveniently hidden beyond the budget's four-year forward estimates window."Kevin Rudd's 2010 deal with the states to fund hospitals, Julia Gillard's 2013 Gonski reforms to schools funding, and the National Disabilities Insurance Scheme (NDIS) are the iconic examples. According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, these three types of spending will have a joint annual cost of $73 billion by 2023-24 (equal to 14 per cent of total budget outlays). If we allow this situation to continue we will put the security of every family and every business at risk. The deficits continue, our debt and interest payments balloon — and all this at historically low interest rates. What happens when rates rise again, as they assuredly will?"Treasurer Joe Hockey's 2014-15 budget attempted to address these trends. Evidently by doing so it disappointed many in the community. In addition there was a deeply felt sense in much of the community that our proposed budget measures were unfair to people on lower incomes when taken as a whole. In my view the failure to effectively make the case for budget repair was our biggest misstep, because it was a threshold we never crossed."We — and I include myself and every member of the government in this criticism — did not do a good enough job in explaining the scale of the fiscal problem the nation faces, and the urgency of taking corrective action."
To my mind that's exactly how the author of the banana republic comment would summarise things.
And for good measure think about the similarity of the views Turnbull and Keating have on the purpose of superannuation. They argue as one on the silliness of allowing first home buyers to raid their super balances to get a deposit.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 00:02 0 comments
Labels: malcolm turnbull, Paul Keating
Thursday, 12 March 2015
Has Tony Abbott committed Australia to a never ending war?
A couple of stories this week that make me wonder what Tony Abbott has got us into by sending our troops back to Iraq to tackle the ISIS threat.
One is on the Foreign Policy website – Let Me Make This as Unclear as Possible. It makes the case for "why the Obama administration's authorization for the use of military force against the Islamic State is intentionally an open-ended ticket to forever war … again."
The author, Micah Zenko, who is the Douglas Dillon fellow with the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations, looks at recent congressional hearings on an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that the Obama administration sought even while claiming a president did not need such a thing. Two bits of evidence stood out:
In a telling exchange last week, [Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Christine] Wormuth was asked by Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) how she would define victory against the Islamic State. Wormuthdeclared: "When ISIL is no longer a threat to Iraq, to its existence, to our partners and allies in the region, and to the United States." O'Rourke pushed the Pentagon's top policy official further: "So as long as ISIL is seen as a threat to ourselves or any of our partners around the world we have not won?" To this, Wormuth replied: "I think that's fair."At Wednesday's Senate hearing, Gen. Dempsey was similarly asked what victory over ISIL would look like. The most senior uniformed U.S. military officer answered: "That's not for us to declare. Their ideology has to be defeated by those in the region." But just who declares victory on behalf of the U.S.-led coalition, or how air strikes help in defeating an ideology, was not explained.
Zenko concluded that these two contrasting depictions of victory are a long way from Barack Obama's previously articulated strategic objectives to "destroy" and later "defeat" the Islamic State.
But the Obama administration has been consistent since Aug. 7 in its use of fuzzy language, the gradual mission creep, and shifting implausible objectives. Now, 216 days and more than 2,200 strikes later, Congress is assuming its expected role of debating the language of what is, by all accounts, a meaningless AUMF. A uniquely brave senator or congressional member might better use hearings or floor debates to explore how this has become the normal state of affairs for how the United States goes to war.
And as is clear since the Abbott decision to send extra troops to "train" the Iraqi armed forces, as goes the United States, so goes Australia.
The second story for the week to set me wondering about where this renewed Australian intervention in the Middle East might end up was in London's Independent - Isis in Afghanistan is a disaster waiting to happen – Its black flag has replaced the white ones of the Talibs in a swathe of areas including in Helmand.
Kim Sengupta the paper's Defence Correspondent, that Isis spreading tentacles in Afghanistan has, internationally, gone largely unrecorded.
The gains for Isis are not purely military in Afghanistan. Like the Taliban they are grabbing chunks of the narcotic stocks which can then be moved west along the parts of Iraq under its control. This is of great value at a time when their income from sale oil from captured fields, said not so long ago to be a $1 million a day, are being hit by US led air strikes: the latest ones were today at a refinery in Tel Abyad. …It has taken a while for official recognition of the Isis threat in Afghanistan. Last month General Ali Murad, of the Afghan army, stated that "elements of Isis, masked men, are active in Zabul [another Taliban dominated province] and Helmand and have raised black flags. Now, they are trying to spread their activities to the north." …Afghanistan is a war and a place the West would like to forget, there's too much of a sense of futility about the very long mission there. But that is the way we also felt about Iraq. There, too, Isis started on a slow burn and look what happened. Like Iraq, the West may have to revisit Afghanistan as well, this time facing an enemy more implacable and savage than the Taliban ever were.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 12:20 0 comments
Labels: Iraq. Afghanistan
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Another remarkable Telegraph column – Do as I say not as I do
A wonderful addition from this morning's Sydney's Daily Telegraph to my "Journalists talking about each other" section. The regular Tuesday purveyor of the paper's vitriol column – Sarrah Le Marquand – has reached heights of which her peers Piers Akerman, Miranda Devine and Andrew Bolt surely would be proud.
Ms Le Marquand spent a couple of hundred words putting the boot into Mark Latham for his "I hate-youse*-all bile dressed up as an opinion column" that appears in the Australian Financial Review.
Nothing wrong with that. If you hand it out like Latham you must expect to get it back, and as the Le Marquand writes, that "is the very result he so craves."
Rather it is the "do as I say rather than what I do" hypocrisy that follows that puts this column onto the Tele's top shelf.
Latham has proven beyond a doubt he has nothing of substance or merit to impart.His columns are little more than the attention-seeking tantrums of a self-entitled toddler, so why waste time and energy in reading them? Responding hysterically to every new insult he hurls is only prolonging his shelf life.Left to his own devices, he is nothing more than a washed-up, embittered has-been.Ironically it is only the noise made by his detractors that affords him any oxygen. Only when his work attracts the attention it deserves — which is none — will his supply be cut off.
Practising what you preach might have been a good way to start such a process.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 00:00 0 comments
Labels: Media note
Sunday, 8 March 2015
Changing views on drug smugglers by the Sydney Daily Telegraph
Contrasting front pages – then and now.
(Click to enlarge)
My thanks to James Carleton for drawing this change in attitude to my attention.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 19:13 0 comments
Labels: Media note
Friday, 6 March 2015
Spanking kids still overwhelmingly acceptable
- Millennials like to spank their kids just as much as their parents did
- The new nuclear age – A quarter of a century after the end of the cold war, the world faces a growing threat of nuclear conflict
- Russia after the Nemtsov murder – Boris Nemtsov's murder may be a turning point in current Russian history. Unfortunately, it is almost surely not a turn to the better, but one to something bad or to something even worse. This point needs to be made clear from the beginning. It is an illusion to think that this event will lead to anything positive, such as a backlash in the population at large against nationalistic rhetoric or even some kind of liberal revolution, or "Russian Spring.
- Google wants to rank websites based on facts not links
- How you've been 'tricked' by targeted painkillers
- Why America fell out of love with golf
Posted by Richard Farmer at 12:49 0 comments
Thursday, 5 March 2015
China's slower growth rate – Australia to feel the pain
- China Warms Up to 'Low' Growth Rate Other Countries Would Kill for – Today, China's leaders are increasingly aware that what really matters is ensuring adequate employment and growing incomes. That's particularly true of Li, premier since March 2013, who has a law degree and a Ph.D. in economics from Peking University and who is known as an advocate for more economic reform. The leadership can even afford to miss its GDP target, as arguably it did last year, when the goal was "about 7.5 percent," as long as Chinese are employed and keep earning more. It's been working. Last year, Li promised that China would add 10 million urban jobs and then handily beat the target, with 13 million. People's livelihoods improved, too. … Expect the real pain to be reserved for resource-rich countries such as Australia and Russia. The value of crude oil, steel, and iron ore imports to China is already falling rapidly, a trend likely to continue as China's property sector and new construction cools.
- Insectophilia – In Japan, beetles are pets, grasshoppers a delicacy and fireflies are adored. Is the creepy-crawly a Western invention?
- Eurozone meltdown: how can it be avoided? – Resolving the eurozone crisis is one of the greatest challenges facing the global economy. Steady global growth cannot resume until a proper solution is found, as nearly all major economies – the US, China and Brazil – are impacted by failure in the common currency area. But, for the past five years, the euro area has lurched from one disaster to another, amid bitter argument over who is to blame and with reform and key initiatives moving at a snail's pace. [ Free registration required]
- Renewed warming in the tropical Pacific Ocean – The Bureau's ENSO Tracker has been upgraded to El Niño WATCH. This is due to a combination of warmer-than-average temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean and models showing that further warming is likely in coming months. El Niño WATCH indicates about a 50% chance of El Niño forming in 2015.
- Mugabe's New Best Friends in Brussels – Why is Europe suddenly cozying up to Zimbabwe's nonagenarian kleptocrat?
Posted by Richard Farmer at 12:49 0 comments
Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Tony Abbott the flag man
- Surge in poles: Tony Abbott's flag count hits a new high – The PM's latest speech at Parliament House was backed by no fewer than eight Australian flags, marking a steady rise in recent months
- Cash Today – Student loans are in principle a straightforward business. The government lends students money; after they graduate, they begin repaying it. From the perspective of politicians and the Treasury the advantage of loans over grants is clear: the money isn't simply given away, it comes back over the lifetime of the loan. Even better, in the national accounts the loans are classified as 'financial transactions', not 'expenditure', and are excluded from calculations of the deficit.
- Saudi Award Goes to Muslim Televangelist Who Harshly Criticizes U.S. – He has publicly declared that "the Jews" control America, that apostates can be killed, that the United States is the world's "biggest terrorist" and that the Sept. 11 attacks were an "inside job" by President George W. Bush. But last weekend, Dr. Zakir Naik, a prominent Muslim televangelist from India, appeared at an elaborate ceremony at a luxury hotel in Saudi Arabia, where the new monarch, King Salman, gave him one of the country's highest honors. The award for "service to Islam" highlighted the conflicted position of Saudi Arabia as an American ally that continues to back Islamists who espouse hatred of the West.
- Iran's biggest threat to the world isn't the one Netanyahu will describe today – Netanyahu's Ahab-like fixation with his white whale—Iran's nuclear program—draws attention away from the many other ways that the regime in Tehran represents a clear and present danger to the world. He is right that sanctions relief will empower that regime, but it's hardly a given that the billions of dollars unlocked ($1.6 billion a monthin oil income, by some estimates) will be poured into a clandestine program to build The Bomb. Much more likely, the money will accelerate and amplify the many conventional (as in non-nuclear) programs Iran conducts in the open—supporting despots, exporting terrorism, destabilizing the Middle East. And, yes, threatening Israel.
- Finland: Speeding millionaire gets 54,000-euro fine – Finland's speeding fines are linked to income, with penalties calculated on daily earnings, meaning high earners get hit with bigger penalties for breaking the law. So, when businessman Reima Kuisla was caught doing 103km/h (64mph) in an area where the speed limit is 80km/h (50mph), authorities turned to his 2013 tax return, the Iltalehti newspaper reports.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 20:48 0 comments
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Some thoughts on lobbying and other interesting reads for today
- A Lobbyist Just for You – And two other solutions to counter corporate influence in Washington.
- Has the global economy slowed down? – Big macroeconomic changes happen slowly, sometimes they aren't clearly visible until years later. We may currently be living through a structural change in the global economy as big as any since World War II without fully realising it. The world economy may be becoming less integrated, with one of the important drivers of globalisation swinging into reverse. This week the Dutch Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis released its latest estimates of world trade. This widely-followed measure showed that world trade grew by 3.3% in 2014, that's up from 2.7% in 2013 and 2.1% in 2012 but still well below the long term average of growth of 5%.
- What would happen if an 800-kiloton nuclear warhead detonated above midtown Manhattan?
- The war at home: how Russia is winning the battle for hearts and minds – Recent attention on the Kremlin has focussed on its revanchism abroad and its treatment of opposition at home. But its soft-power advance into Britain has gone almost unnoticed.
- The Robots Are Coming – It says a lot about the current moment that as we stand facing a future which might resemble either a hyper-capitalist dystopia or a socialist paradise, the second option doesn't get a mention.
- The Girl from Karak – A Pakistani woman's frustrated quest for justice
- Benjamin Netanyahu's long history of crying wolf about Iran's nuclear weapons – The Israeli Prime Minister is expected to warn the U.S. Congress an Iranian bomb is imminent — just as he warned in 1992, 1995, 2002, 2009, and 2012.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 22:25 0 comments
Toss a coin on Australian interest rate decision
The Owl's market election indicator cannot pick which way the Reserve Bank board members will vote this afternoon on official interest rates.
And my opinion? I am as confused as the rest of the punters.
Posted by Richard Farmer at 11:11 0 comments
Labels: interest rates
Monday, 2 March 2015
Explaining electoral gerrymanders
- This is the best explanation of gerrymandering you will ever see – Gerrymandering — drawing political boundaries to give your party a numeric advantage over an opposing party — is a difficult process to explain. If you find the notion confusing, check out the chart above — adapted from one posted to Reddit this weekend — and wonder no more.
- Protecting Fragile Retirement Nest Eggs - A new study by the White House Council of Economic Advisers has found that financial advisers seeking higher fees and commissions drain $17 billion a year from retirement accounts by steering savers into high-cost products and strategies rather than comparable lower-cost ones. The report has rocked the financial services industry — not because it is news but because the industry sees it, correctly, as a forceful statement of the Obama administration's determination to do something about the problem.
- Australia's top 20 greenhouse gas emitters
- Food Waste Grows With the Middle Class
- That ugly fruit and veg – EndFoodWaste.org believes at least 20% of all produce is wasted just because of it's size, shape, color, or appearance.
- Despicable Us – Maybe those of us who write about politics and campaigns should adopt a bristly uniform of hair shirts, so that we're constantly atoning for our sins. Maybe we should wear targets, the better for our critics to take aim at us. Oh, how we're hated.
- Is the Junk-Food Era Drawing to a Close?
- Brazil – In a quagmire: Latin America's erstwhile star is in its worst mess since the early 1990s
Posted by Richard Farmer at 23:02 0 comments
Labels: gerrymanders
Harassment of Jews worldwide reaches a seven-year high
- Latest Trends in Religious Restrictions and Hostilities – Worldwide, social hostilities involving religion declined somewhat in 2013 after reaching a six-year peak the previous year, but roughly a quarter of the world's countries are still grappling with high levels of religious hostilities within their borders, according to the Pew Research Center's latest annual study on global restrictions on religion.The new study finds that the share of countries with high or very high levels of social hostilities involving religiondropped from 33% in 2012 to 27% in 2013, the most recent year for which data are available. These types of hostilities run the gamut from vandalism of religious property and desecration of sacred texts to violent assaults resulting in deaths and injuries.By contrast, the share of countries with high or very highgovernment restrictions on religion stayed roughly the same from 2012 to 2013. The share of countries in this category was 27% in 2013, compared with 29% in 2012. Government restrictions on religion include efforts to control religious groups and individuals in a variety of ways, ranging from registration requirements to discriminatory policies and outright bans on certain faiths.Looking at the overall level of restrictions – whether resulting from government policies or from hostile acts by private individuals, organizations and social groups – the study finds that restrictions on religion were high or very high in 39% of countries. Because some of these countries (like China and India) are very populous, about 5.5 billion people (77% of the world's population) were living in countries with a high or very high overall level of restrictions on religion in 2013, up from 76% in 2012 and 68% as of 2007.
As in previous years, Christians and Muslims – who together make up more than half of the global population – faced harassment in the largest number of countries. Christians were harassed, either by government or social groups, in 102 of the 198 countries included in the study (52%), while Muslims were harassed in 99 countries (50%).In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of countries where Jews were harassed. In 2013, harassment of Jews, either by government or social groups, was found in 77 countries (39%) – a seven-year high. Jews are much more likely to be harassed by individuals or groups in society than by governments. In Europe, for example, Jews were harassed by individuals or social groups in 34 of the region's 45 countries (76%).
- South Korean court decriminalises adultery – South Korea's top court has ruled that adultery is no longer a crime, revoking a 1953 law under which cheating spouses could be jailed for up to two years. South Korea was one of only three Asian countries to criminalise infidelity – about 5,500 people have been convicted since 2008.
- Shake it off? Not so easy for people with depression, new brain research suggests – Rejected by a person you like? Just "shake it off" and move on, as music star Taylor Swift says. But while that might work for many people, it may not be so easy for those with untreated depression, a new brain study finds. The pain of social rejection lasts longer for them — and their brain cells release less of a natural pain and stress-reducing chemical called natural opioids, researchers report in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
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At the heart of our TAaaS imparting is our test auup to datemation answer, Calliope.
up-to-date speakme, a calliope up to date the first guy-made gadget up to date be powered via a script, which up-to-date some thing of an proposal for us.
clearly positioned, we up to dateok the open supply Ruby/Cucumber stack, placed it inup to date our personal private cloud, and built a number of price added features that you might want in a commercial provider. With Calliope, you get all of the power of BDD take a look at auupdatedmation that is provided through Cucumber, however you get all of it brought via a browser-up to date internet front-cease that makes for a sincerely collaborative experience for all people that can and up to dateupdated be concerned inside the checking out hobby.
With Calliope:
you're unfastened of having up to date manage all the complexity of preserving Cucumber and walking.
you are unfastened of having up to date have hardware up to date host it on.
you can involve as many human beings as you would love.
We do not forget it a professional manufacturing environment for Ruby/Cucumber that every body can use, anywhere.
The real power of Calliope is that up to dateupdated now provide check auupdatedmation up-to-date any up-to-date, regardless of their workplace place. the times of having up to date have your TA crew sat up-to-date office are effectively over. i might even move up-to-date as up-to-date obsolete.
Having more than 3 years experience at TekSlate.com in IT professional with expertise in providing Enterprise Performance Engineering solutions.
Mon Oct 16, 2017 3:02 pm
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text:
Performance Details
Event 100 Meter Dash
Mark 13.79
Meet Many Tiger Relays
Place 4th
Round Finals
Heat 1
Team Oakdale High School
Native Country USA
Season Outdoor 2015
Level HS
Meet Date Apr 10, 2015
Date Added Apr 11, 2015
Grade 2017
Timing FAT
Personal Best? No
Season Best? No
Venue Many HS, Many, LA, USA
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1. Ceramic-Coated Cookware || 2. 2014 weekly planner || 3. Jacket (photo from here) || 4. Floral lace bra || 5. Jackalope Cotton Tail Canister
It's Friday again! Time flies!
On my wishlist today are some of my recent favorites.
Cookware that matches perfectly with the kitchen of my dreams that I showed you the other day.
New year is just around the corner and this planner looks lovely!
I'm obsessed with this jacket. It's so perfect!
Lace is seen everywhere lately, and this bra is just adorable.
Finally, to always have on hand in the bathroom. Loved it!
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!


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"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything"
― Katharine Hepburn, Me: Stories of My Life
"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained."
― C.S. Lewis
"My wish is that you may be loved to the point of madness."
― André Breton, What is Surrealism?: Selected Writings
"Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect."
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
"When we meet someone and fall in love, we have a sense that the whole universe is on our side. And yet if something goes wrong, there is nothing left! How is it possible for the beauty that was there only minutes before to vanish so quickly? Life moves very fast. It rushes from heaven to hell in a matter of seconds."
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes
True Love Quotes (Depressing Quotes)
Below are some True Love Quotes (Depressing Quotes), hopefully it can be your inspiration.
Feel free to share, if you think some True Love Quotes (Depressing Quotes) above inspired you.
Thanks :)


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Georgia Perry is an Australian graphic artist
and accessories designer.
Born from a love of pop-culture and collecting souvenirs, Georgia's products are
designed to bring art and irreverence into everyday moments.
Since launching her eponymous range in 2014, the label has moved from strength
to strength, being profiled by the likes of Paper Magazine, High Snobiety and
Interview Magazine and garnering product collaborations with BONDS, Colette,
Shop Bop and Clinique.
As an art lover and global traveller, Georgia's imagination knows no bounds.
She is constantly moving, exploring and absorbing inspiration for new designs.
Now with over 100 stockists worldwide, Georgia's bold collections have
a strong international following; her adventurous and playful products
resonating strongly with those unafraid to go against the grain.


text:
Dutko Worldwide consulting firm has hired Robert Stephan, the former assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the Homeland Security Department, to head a new global risk management unit, the company announced March 16.
Stephan, in his former role, was responsible for the National Infrastructure Protection Plan released in 2006 and updated in 2009, the National Incident Management System in 2004, the National Response Plan in 2005 and the National Strategy for Countering Improvised Explosive Devices in 2008, the company said.
The risk management consulting group hopes to obtain clients among federal, state and local agencies, as well as corporations and foreign governments, on security, accountability, operational continuity, resiliency planning and federal regulatory issues.
Also joining the Dutko risk management group is Managing Director Theodore Macklin, an emergency response authority who has worked with the DHS Operations Directorate, and Vice President Christopher Krebs, who helped lead the development and implementation of DHS' Chemical Facilit Anti-Terrorism Standards regulatory program.
About the Author
Alice Lipowicz is a staff writer covering government 2.0, homeland security and other IT policies for Federal Computer Week.
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text:
I don't always stand up for myself and if I do, I don't often do it effectively, forcefully, or immediately. I spend a lot of time thinking of what I should have said, analyzing what I did say and figuring out how I got myself into that situation.
A couple weeks ago, we were at a car dealership, dealing with a gentleman who had plenty of years experience selling cars. He knew his stuff. But he did not know us. When he was walking us through the first car, he sat me in the driver's seat, but brought Scott upfront to show him the engine. When talking about the layout of the interior, he spoke to Scott about hauling sports equipment, and me about strollers and groceries. On the test drive "experience" (which involved a prescribed route, and him driving the first stretch of it), he kept instructions to a minimum for Scott. He walked me through how to adjust the mirrors properly.
While it seems terrible when you write it out, everything was said in such a way that it managed to go right up to, but not cross that line into misogyny.
But there is no doubt that he didn't take the time to get to know us at all. I am the one that knows about the benefits of an engine with double overhead cams. I am the one that is more likely to coach soccer. I am the one that feels more comfortable in the driver's seat. Other than when I measured the trunk space to see if I could get a 2×4 in there (no, not with an 8′ length), we let him keep trafficking in gender stereotypes and it did made me feel kind of scuzzy. We didn't buy the car and weeks later, I still wish I would have said something the first time.
Yesterday, M had an appointment for new boots for her brace at the local children's hospital. The technician switching over the footplates was running through the usual information. These boots are leather. They will soften and stretch the longer they are worn. As a result, the strap will need to be pulled hard to get it tight enough, so you may want to get your husband's help.
I cringed. But again, it's like the tech went up to but didn't quite cross the line. After all, when we were first shown how to put the boots on, it was a two person job. (And some days it still is with the way M likes to roll around). Before I had enough time to debate whether to say something, he said: "there, the footplates are on. Kids tend to kick a lot, so the screws could loosen over time. You'll want to get your husband to grab his screwdriver every once and a while to tighten them."
Now that certainly was over the line.
And for once, I said so.
"So why can't I use my own screwdriver to tighten them myself?"
He looked flustered and replied "it's just in my relationship, I am the one who is stronger"
"Well your relationship is not my relationship. I'm plenty strong, thank you very much."
And for once, I was.
I know M is too young to remember that fleeting moment of time but in that moment I spoke out because I didn't want her to grow up in a world that assumed men own the tools, and that men were automatically stronger. I didn't want her to inherit my tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt, to keep my mouth shut to avoid discomfort, to only push for change on a theoretic level. If I wanted her to believe she could do and be anything, I had to show her how to do that.
Walking away, the only regret I had was that C wasn't there to witness it, too.


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Service Info
Logan's "Turn-Key" Christmas
Logan's takes all of the hassle out of the holidays! With our "turn- key" Christmas services, we take the struggles of the season out of your hands.
*Stop by Logan's to see our gorgeous selection of live trees straight from the North Carolina mountains!
*Take advantage of our covered shopping bays where our trees hang and spin so you can choose the PERFECT one for your home!
*Order up your custom greenery, wreaths, bows, floral arrangements, centerpieces and more. Our crew can create one-of-a-kind piece exclusively for you that will make your front door the talk of the neighborhood!
*Don't forget to bring your stand! We'll make a fresh cut on your tree, install it the stand, and load it in your car! All you have to do is select and go! We make it easy for you!
Turn Key Christams*Want us to deliver? Logan's delivers your tree and puts it right where you want it! All you have to do is bring in your stand and set up the delivery with customer service. Our crew will walk it right through your front door to the perfect spot! Come before 11 am for best chance of same day delivery!
*Are you a business or church? We do LARGE tree and wreath orders too. Let us help you get your facility all set up for the holidays! Call early in the season for best selection.
*FIRE RETARDANT SPRAY is also offered at Logan's for those who need to follow special guidelines. Just mention it to one of our team members and we'll add that to your order!
Logan's does this and much more to provide you with
EVERYTHING you need for the holidays!
We're "Here to Help" you enjoy the season that much more!!


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Hi, The minutes of our teleconf today are available at: http://www.w3.org/2008/10/07-mwts-minutes.html linked from http://www.w3.org/2005/MWI/Tests/ and copied as text below. Dom MWI Test Suites Working Group teleconf 07 Oct 2008 [2]Agenda [2] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-mwts/2008Oct/0002.html See also: [3]IRC log [3] http://www.w3.org/2008/10/07-mwts-irc Attendees Present dom, Wilhelm, Kai, Dmitri, Carmelo Regrets Chair Dom Scribe dom Contents * [4]Topics 1. [5]Performance test 2. [6]Device Independent Testing Guidelines 3. [7]Cookies test suite 4. [8]Widget test suite 5. [9]Plugin test 6. [10]DOM3 testing * [11]Summary of Action Items _________________________________________________________ Performance test <scribe> ACTION: Dom to blog about performance tests and mobile [recorded in [12]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action04] [DONE] [12] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action04 <dom_scribe> [13]MWI Blog on "Performance tests and mobile browsers" [13] http://www.w3.org/blog/MWITeam/2008/10/06/performance_tests_and_mobile_browsers <scribe> ACTION: Wilhelm to run the performances test on a few devices [recorded in [14]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/09-mwts-minutes.html#action03] [DONE] [14] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/09-mwts-minutes.html#action03 <dom_scribe> [15]Wilhelm's finding on performances test [15] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-mwts/2008Sep/0022.html <scribe> ACTION: Kai to run the performances test on a few devices and report back to the list [recorded in [16]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/09-mwts-minutes.html#action04] [DONE] [16] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/09-mwts-minutes.html#action04 <dom_scribe> [17]Kai's findings on performance test [17] http://firstname.lastname@example.com Dom: so, where do we go based on this sorry state of support for performances test on mobile devices? Kai: we could compile a list of platforms which do well vs those that don't <hendry> [18]http://flickr.com/photos/hendry/2894931307 [18] http://flickr.com/photos/hendry/2894931307 Kai: I think we should draw attention to the Web compatibility test for mobile browser ... I've been thinking about modifying some of the sunspiders test to have them skip tests that obviously failed dom: sounds promising Wilhelm: I think the coming generation of mobile browsers will be able to run these tests without any help from us ... not sure we need to spend much time on this <hendry> [19]http://static.webvm.net/js/frame-message.html # tests for error [19] http://static.webvm.net/js/frame-message.html Kai: agree with Kai; I like the performance tests because they give an idea of the speed of the device ... and measure how far they are behind the desktops UAs RESOLUTION: we're not going to invest more time on performance testing for the time being Device Independent Testing Guidelines <scribe> ACTION: Carmelo to start a draft of guidelines on writing device independent test cases [recorded in [20]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/02-mwts-minutes.html#action02] [DONE] [20] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/02-mwts-minutes.html#action02 <dom_scribe> [21]Carmelo's draft [21] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-mwts/2008Sep/att-0020/Guidelines_for_Writing_Moibile_Tests.html <scribe> ACTION: Wilhelm to review DI testing guielines [recorded in [22]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action06] [DONE] [22] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action06 <dom_scribe> [23]Wilhelm's comments on DI testing guidelines [23] http://www.w3.org/mid/op.uiapzhkjm3w6te@kugalskapet <scribe> ACTION: Dom to review DI testing guidelines [recorded in [24]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action07] [PENDING] [24] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action07 Wilhelm: would like to have it in CVS for shared work <scribe> ACTION: Dom to put the document in CVSV [recorded in [25]http://www.w3.org/2008/10/07-mwts-minutes.html#action07] Wilhelm: [summarizing comments] Cookies test suite <scribe> ACTION: Wilhelm to look into opera's test suites for cookies [recorded in [26]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/02-mwts-minutes.html#action04] [PENDING] [26] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/02-mwts-minutes.html#action04 Wilhelm: just need to release them; probably going to happen in the next 2 weeks ... there will be cookies, but a much broader package Widget test suite <scribe> ACTION: Carmelo to come back with a plan for helping test widgets specs [recorded in [27]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action09] [DONE] [27] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action09 Carmelo: this will be discussed during the WebApps WG F2F in Cannes <scribe> ACTION: Carmelo to send details about meeting in WebApps WG F2F re testing [recorded in [28]http://www.w3.org/2008/10/07-mwts-minutes.html#action10] Plugin test <scribe> ACTION: Dom to look closer at the plugin support test [recorded in [29]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action10] [PENDING] [29] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action10 Kai: we also have a basic ActiveX test now ... Does Opera has any extension system? Wilhelm: nope DOM3 testing Carmelo: the DOM3 group of the web applications wg is very interested in using our harness for DOM3 events Dom: they're welcomed to, if the harness fit their needs <dom_scribe> [30]Mobile Test Harness code [30] http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/2007/mobile-test-harness/ Summary of Action Items [NEW] ACTION: Carmelo to send details about meeting in WebApps WG F2F re testing [recorded in [31]http://www.w3.org/2008/10/07-mwts-minutes.html#action10] [NEW] ACTION: Dom to put the document in CVSV [recorded in [32]http://www.w3.org/2008/10/07-mwts-minutes.html#action07] [PENDING] ACTION: Dom to look closer at the plugin support test [recorded in [33]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action10] [PENDING] ACTION: Dom to review DI testing guidelines [recorded in [34]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action07] [PENDING] ACTION: Wilhelm to look into opera's test suites for cookies [recorded in [35]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/02-mwts-minutes.html#action04] [33] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action10 [34] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action07 [35] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/02-mwts-minutes.html#action04 [DONE] ACTION: Carmelo to come back with a plan for helping test widgets specs [recorded in [36]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action09] [DONE] ACTION: Carmelo to start a draft of guidelines on writing device independent test cases [recorded in [37]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/02-mwts-minutes.html#action02] [DONE] ACTION: Dom to blog about performance tests and mobile [recorded in [38]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action04] [DONE] ACTION: Kai to run the performances test on a few devices and report back to the list [recorded in [39]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/09-mwts-minutes.html#action04] [DONE] ACTION: Wilhelm to review DI testing guielines [recorded in [40]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action06] [DONE] ACTION: Wilhelm to run the performances test on a few devices [recorded in [41]http://www.w3.org/2008/09/09-mwts-minutes.html#action03] [36] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action09 [37] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/02-mwts-minutes.html#action02 [38] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action04 [39] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/09-mwts-minutes.html#action04 [40] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/16-mwts-minutes.html#action06 [41] http://www.w3.org/2008/09/09-mwts-minutes.html#action03 [End of minutes]Received on Tuesday, 7 October 2008 15:26:00 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Tuesday, 6 January 2015 20:08:02 UTC


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Do you tell other people you are a writer?
Why or why not? If you do tell, do you tell everyone who asks what you do or just a select few? If you don't tell, what do you think will have to happen before you feel comfortable saying it out loud to others? What are people's reactions when you do tell them? What's the most annoying response you've received from someone when you told them? What was the best?
**This week I'm am on a cruise, so I apologize for the short posts and the lack of responses to comments. I look forward to reading all of your answers when I return! See you on Monday!**


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Finally, after almost 7 months of living in this house and poor Halie living with her windows looking like this...
I finally got her curtains made. They make such a huge difference, dontcha think? They just add to the soft, feminine look of the room and they provide a nice color balance to all the pink and white.
It took me this long because I was hoping the fabric would go on a 50% off sale at Hobby Lobby. Y'all know by now....I'm cheap. But every time I was there to check it was always 30% off. So finally I just bit the bullet and used a 40% coupon. (If you didn't know this already, you can forgo the sale price and use your coupon on the regular price of the item.)
I paid about $12 for the fabric, and I got the ribbon 50% off so I paid $8 for 4 rolls of that. So, about $10 per curtain. My sewing skills are beginner level at best, and these certainly wouldn't win any sewing contests, but I'm kinda proud of 'em. I think they look purdy cute.
I even took the extra step of lining them! Aren't I so professional? I just used an old sheet I had in storage.
Once, again, purely for your viewing pleasure....
Now....two more projects and I can consider her room D-O-N-E!
Linking up to: