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Despite the fact that most microfinance institutions (MFIs) were established to reduce poverty, many are starting to look like traditional financial institutions. To expand their outreach and loan portfolios, they tap into commercial and quasi-commercial sources of finance, which require them to demonstrate consistent profitability to their investors. When the Mexican MFI Banco Compartamos went public in 2007, for example, its existing shareholders earned returns of approximately 100 percent compounded annually over an eight-year period.
This trend toward commercialization has led critics to ask whether MFIs will continue to serve the world's poorest people. They point out that many profit-minded MFIs have either raised their interest rates or failed to lower them when reductions in costs allowed them to do so. They note that some MFIs have cut back on social service programs, infrastructure, and staff training to reduce costs and increase short-term profitability. They show that a growing number of MFIs are not tracking their social impact even though they have the tools to do so.
At the same time, other critics worry that MFIs are not commercial enough. They say that MFIs' commitment to social justice keeps these organizations from becoming profitable. Lack of profitability in turn prevents MFIs from attracting the investment they need to meet the estimated $300 billion demand for their services. (MFIs currently supply an estimated $15 billion to $25 billion in loans.) And when MFIs attempt to lower interest rates and offer nonfinancial services, some observers decry these nonprofit-minded measures.
Yet I believe that the dichotomy between commercial microfinance and pro-poor microfinance is a false one. In its place, I propose a new model that could make microfinance both more relevant to the world's poor and more profitable in the long term. This model views microfinance not as a mere financial product, but as a platform for delivering a host of products and services to the world's poorest, most isolated people.1 The model relies on high volumes, not high margins. And it uses private benefit limits, holistic performance standards, and third-party certification to make sure that MFIs meet both of their bottom lines. All MFIs—nonprofits, for-profits, nonbank finance companies, and any other institutional form—can adopt and adapt this model.
If MFIs can take up these practices, they can avoid making a false choice between serving the poor and acting businesslike. In addition, they may have a longer-term impact on poverty while generating profits up and down the value chain—from poor families to multinational corporations. Finally, by reimagining microfinance MFIs may regain the public's trust, avoiding the regulatory backlash that would put the industry into a defensive stance from which it might never recover.
Platform, Not Product
MFIs' most important assets are not their loan portfolios, but their high-quality relationships with the world's poor.2 In this new model of microfinance, MFIs use these relationships as a platform from which to develop and distribute a range of products and services—not just financial ones.
Although some of these nonfinancial products can be quite profitable, not every new product or service needs to be. As in many commercial spheres, some products are "loss leaders" that exist to attract clients, to strengthen relationships with existing clients, or to help clients take advantage of other, profitable products. For example, an educational loan to a client's child may enable that student to use profitable financial products in the future. Likewise, MFIs that use the platform approach to educate, strengthen, and win the loyalty of clients can generate long-term profits for investors and customers alike.
One example of an MFI that views microfinance as a platform and not a product is Grameen Bank. Established as a pilot project in 1976, Grameen Bank transformed into the world's first commercial microfinance bank in 1983. In its first 15 years, the bank experimented with everything from organizing client-run preschools, to partnering with local government agencies to organize immunization days, to distributing vegetable seeds and saplings at cost.
By the early 1990s, the bank decided to turn most of its nonfinancial initiatives into separate companies. That way, individual CEOs could have more control over their operations, and the bank could reduce the effect of failed enterprises on other Grameen initiatives. Most of these companies use bank resources, such as staff, knowledge, relationships, and facilities, to take on poverty-reduction opportunities that microfinance alone could not adequately address. For example, GrameenPhone, Bangladesh's largest and most profitable telecom company, has helped 300,000 Grameen Bank clients establish profitable mobile pay phone businesses.
Grameen has likewise created nonprofit organizations to address other issues affecting the poor, such as health care. For instance, Grameen Kalyan has set up more than 30 health clinics located alongside Grameen Bank branches. The organization uses a health insurance model in which Grameen clients and other poor families pay a yearly insurance premium and receive preventive and curative services for a small co-payment. They can also buy medicine at a discounted rate. Because health crises are the primary reason microfinance clients default on their loans, the clinics' successes redound to the success of Grameen Bank. Another thriving initiative is Grameen Shakti, a profitable yet nonprofit renewable energy company that sells, finances, and services solar power systems for families and businesses, thus providing clean power without subsidy. To date, the organization has installed more than 120,000 solar power systems.
The Haitian nonprofit MFI Fonkoze similarly partners with its for-profit sister, Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze (SFF), to integrate innovative financial products with social service delivery. Together, Fonkoze and SFF offer a growing number of their more than 160,000 clients an outstanding adult education program with modules on basic literacy, business management, human rights, agriculture, and reproductive health. The program is voluntary, but the MFI strongly encourages its clients—especially those who cannot read or write—to participate. World-class experts designed the program, and cost-effective local field staff implement it. Philanthropic donations currently fund the program, but over time, as it grows and achieves economies of scale, interest rates should cover its cost. In this way, the commercial enterprise will both invest in and benefit from the long-term health and business savvy of clients. Preliminary data on a group of clients who had access to both financial and educational services show an 8 percent reduction in the percentage of people living below $1 a day and a 9 percent reduction in those living below $2 a day. Fonkoze is already generating surplus revenue, and the more recently established SFF is on course to earn a profit in 2008.
The African microfinance community likewise boasts an MFI that both contributes to and profits from its network of relationships. Called Jamii Bora, this Kenyan nonprofit is the shining star of African MFIs. Like Grameen, Jamii Bora observed that the most common reason that its clients failed to repay their loans was illness. To prevent illness-related loan defaults, the organization attempted in 2001 to develop a health insurance program by partnering with insurance companies. But the companies' rates—an average of $80 per year—were too expensive for many of Jamii Bora's clients.
Not giving up, the organization next approached missionary hospitals that were on the brink of bankruptcy to explore the possibility of partnering. Jamii Bora agreed to help keep the hospitals open by paying them for its clients' health care. To finance this plan, the MFI charged clients a $12 annual insurance premium for five family members and $2 for each additional family member. Clients pay the premium in weekly installments—a schedule that poor clients can handle— to trusted loan officers at borrower meetings. The program has not only stabilized the finances of several participating hospitals— a boon for the communities—it has also made Jamii Bora's clients healthier. And loan defaults have fallen as a result. The health program has never received donor funding, and Jamii Bora recorded its first profit in the first quarter of 2004. As of mid-2007, the MFI has served 170,000 clients with an outstanding loan portfolio of more than $5.7 million. Despite recent political upheaval in Kenya, Jamii Bora remains profitable.
MFIs that view microfinance as a platform are not necessarily the ones that earn the greatest profits in the short term. Creating divisions or sister companies that deliver social services can be expensive, even when these organizations are profitable. Nevertheless, the long-term social and financial viability of this new model of microfinance makes it superior to a more narrowly focused approach.
High Volume, Not High Margins
Microfinance has survived by charging relatively high interest rates, with average APRs falling between 25 percent and 70 percent. Interest rates are high in part because servicing unsecured small loans in remote locations is a costly business. Yet many MFIs keep charging high interest rates even after their gains in efficiency and profitability have lowered the cost of servicing loans.
High interest rates have exacted a real cost. For many MFIs, client dropout rates remain unacceptable, sometimes exceeding 40 percent per year. And in Ecuador, Nicaragua, and India, populist politicians have cracked down on MFIs that allegedly charge exorbitant rates, collect payments unethically, and hide rates from clients. The most infamous of these cases took place in India in March 2006. Local government officials in the state of Andhra Pradesh padlocked the entrances to some 50 branch offices of two microfinance institutions and imprisoned their loan officers. The national and especially local press stoked the flames of this dispute, which lasted six months.
An uneasy truce has allowed the MFIs to return to business, but conflict could reemerge, as some of the underlying reasons for the flare-up—such as competition between state-run and private MFIs—remain largely unresolved. Ironically, Indian MFIs charge some of the lowest rates in the world, trailing only Bangladesh and Bolivia in the affordability of their loan products.
To calm regulators and policymakers and enhance their antipoverty impact, MFIs should view themselves as high-volume businesses, rather than as high-margin ones. In other words, MFIs should aim to conduct many marginally profitable transactions, rather than fewer highly profitable ones. The microfinance markets in Bangladesh and Bolivia are examples of high-volume, low-margin models. In Bangladesh, where more than 20 million people receive microfinance services, rates have been low all along, ranging from 15 percent to 30 percent. In Bolivia, interest rates were initially much higher than in Bangladesh, but have come down dramatically, falling from 50 percent in the mid-1990s to just over 20 percent today. During the same period, the Bolivian microfinance industry grew from some 200,000 clients to more than 600,000.
From its inception, Grameen Bank has conceived of its business as one based on volume, not margin. In its early years, the bank could have taken advantage of its near-monopoly and charged much higher interest rates. Experience has shown that in many countries without competition, clients are willing to pay rates of 30 percent to 60 percent (client attrition is usually very high above that level). Instead, Grameen Bank fixed its interest rates for commercial loans at 20 percent, offering lower rates for housing and student loans. Perhaps this business model is why Grameen Bank has enjoyed a reasonably good relationship with policymakers and regulators in Bangladesh.
The commercial MFI Amhara Credit and Savings Institution (ACSI) has likewise adopted a high-volume, low-margin business model. As of 2007, ACSI was one of Ethiopia's largest and most successful MFIs, with a total clientele of almost 840,000 people (including clients who only save and do not borrow), an outstanding loan portfolio of $102 million, and more than $53 million in savings. This market leader in Ethiopia has achieved one of the leanest cost structures in Africa, even in the absence of competition and despite operating in a remote region of the country. Founded in 1995, its clients pay interest rates ranging from 16 percent to 20 percent, which is some 41 percent less than the average microloan APR in sub-Saharan Africa. ACSI's default rate is less than 1 percent, compared to 4.7 percent for African MFIs overall.
ACSI also serves as a platform for other products and services. Through its collaboration with the regional government, it distributes products and services to enhance food security. As a result, its borrowers—who are among the poorest served by any large African MFI—are better able to withstand food shortages and to become increasingly productive and profitable citizens—not to mention ACSI clients.
Limits on Private Benefit
Seemingly excessive executive pay has become a major issue for both multinational corporations and nonprofit organizations. MFIs are especially sensitive to issues of private benefit because of their overarching social objectives, reliance on philanthropy, and periodic requests for special regulatory consideration. Microfinance executives who have received windfalls from public offerings are especially controversial, potentially undermining the public's positive perception of microfinance.
The leaders of some MFIs anticipated these issues and adopted policies that limit how much employees and investors can benefit from their activities. For instance, Grameen Bank adopted the Bangladeshi government's pay scale, which keeps salaries quite modest. (A reasonably generous early retirement package ensures that new blood is always coming into the organization and that those who have served for more than a decade can move into second careers with a cushion.) The bank's founder, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has a simple lifestyle and owns no shares in Grameen companies, setting an example for the rest of the microfinance community.
From its inception, Grameen borrowers could purchase shares in the bank and today own more than 90 percent of the bank. For this reason, if the Grameen Bank ever held an IPO, most of the profits would go to clients. Many Indian MFIs have adopted some form of this ownership structure.
Cashpor, a commercial MFI in northern India, has taken an additional measure to stay true to its antipoverty mission: It uses at least one-quarter of its district-level profits to endow scholarships for the children of clients and to provide health care services. This use of profits made more sense than, say, giving bonuses to field officers or executives.
As Cashpor recently learned, limiting private benefit not only advances MFIs' social missions, but also gives them political cover. After Cashpor fired a politically well-connected loan officer for embezzlement, local elites filed a court case against the MFI. The lawsuit claimed that Cashpor was taking advantage of the poor because the organization charges interest. Because Cashpor uses part of its profits to fund health and education programs, though, local police say that the plaintiffs are likely to drop the case.
Holistic Performance Standards
Over the last decade, the microfinance movement has developed benchmarks for assessing efficiency and financial performance. The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and the Microbanking Bulletin are constructive efforts to accelerate this important trend. Yet practitioners and investors still have no way to measure and compare the poverty-reduction track records of MFIs. Using indicators such as average loan size and repayment rates as proxies for poverty alleviation impact may be nearly useless, if not misleading. (For more on these metrics, see "In Microfinance, Clients Must Come First" in the winter 2008 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review.)
If microfinance is going to live up to its billing as a double bottom line business—that is, a business that charts both financial and social returns—MFIs must develop and agree upon robust measures of and standards for their social impacts. Social performance standards will also redound to MFIs' first bottom line by assuring that clients and their businesses are healthy in every sense of the term. Moreover, regularly measuring client progress will help MFIs focus innovation on lagging groups and regions.
The most straightforward measure of microfinance's social impact is clients' economic status. A relatively new tool for measuring this important outcome is the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI), which the Grameen Foundation, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, and the Ford Foundation all champion. The PPI is a statistically robust, easily used tool that assesses the poverty levels of groups and individuals within and across nations. Using existing data from either national household surveys or the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Survey, the PPI allows MFIs to divide their clients into distinct poverty bands (very poor, moderately poor, and above the poverty line). MFIs can then use this baseline to monitor client progress. To date, almost 20 countries have PPIs, including Bolivia, Haiti, India, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, and the Philippines. (See p. 50 for Peru's PPI.)
Grameen Bank has always encouraged researchers to test its poverty-reduction performance. In the late 1990s the bank began using a 10-point checklist of easily observable indicators to measure its own progress. Among other outcomes, the checklist assesses whether a family has winter clothing for all members, saves money at a good rate, and sends all its children to school regularly. When families meet all 10 criteria, the bank considers them to have crossed the poverty threshold and be "nonpoor." Using this checklist, Grameen has tracked how many families with more than four years of borrowing experience have escaped poverty. For one cohort, the bank found that poverty rates dropped from 85 percent in 1997 to 37 percent in 2006.
Tracking outcomes and aiming to alleviate poverty have not prevented Grameen Bank from turning profits while operating in perhaps the most competitive microfinance market in the world. The bank's profits have allowed it to make higher education and housing loans widely available despite the fact that it charges interest rates—5 percent and 8 percent, respectively—that do not even cover the cost of capital. Profits have also let the bank offer beggars a subsidized loan program, which was reaching some 86,000 clients by late 2007.
Third-Party Certification
For many years, confusion reigned as consumers tried to figure out which products were organic or fairly traded. Once organizations developed credible certification criteria and companies adhered to them, consumers readily discerned their desired products—and paid premiums for them. Both companies and nonprofits then reaped the rewards of third-party certification.
A similar situation exists in microfinance. Investors have no way of knowing whether an MFI is actively and effectively working to alleviate poverty. When MFIs chart record-breaking returns, people question whether individual MFIs or even the entire sector is drifting away from its mission. Investors wonder whether they should continue offering resources, and governments wonder whether they should continue their regulatory support.
I propose that MFIs must receive objective third-party certification before claiming to be double bottom line organizations. Only groups with this third-party certification would have access to subsidized capital. I imagine that MFIs earning this certification would enjoy improved public relations, as well as financial and regulatory benefits. I also believe they would do a better job of pursuing, monitoring, and delivering social returns.
Designing certification criteria and organizing an overseeing body will require much thought and dialogue. But from Grameen's experience, I've identified four areas that merit inclusion: social performance, private benefit, consumer protection, and reinvestment of profits.
Social performance. A growing criticism of MFIs is that their pursuit of investment capital is leading them not only to offer fewer services to their clients, but also to exclude the world's poorest people from their client base. To curb this tendency, MFIs should agree to track and publish data on the percentage of the poor and the poorest among their entering clients, in addition to tracking poverty-reduction outcomes in the ways described above.
In the new model of microfinance, merely reporting on target clientele and impact trends would not be enough to retain certification. Instead, MFIs would have to ensure that a certain percentage of entering clients are below the poverty line, and that a certain percentage of clients overcome poverty within, say, five years. Of course, certifying agencies would take into account extenuating circumstances such as recent natural disasters, as well as regional variability.
Cashpor already measures its social performance with its housing index. This index uses the condition of borrowers' houses—usually their most important asset—to measure their financial well-being. The index first assigns scores based on a house's size, structural condition, and quality of walls and roof. It then uses cutoff scores to distinguish between the poor and those above the poverty line. With this index, the organization can easily exclude people who have assets above a defined threshold.
Private benefit. As discussed above, limiting private benefit would help make sure that profits mainly benefit clients directly (through lower rates) and indirectly (through product development). More importantly, it would enhance the public trust in microfinance and MFIs. MFIs seeking third-party certification would be required to cap overall compensation for senior staff and directors, as well as to limit the returns that IPOs or other liquidity-generating events would yield for executives. Furthermore, when organizations realize windfalls, such as through an IPO, they would have to divert a meaningful amount of these resources to qualified clients—say, those in good standing who have been involved for more than two years. Linking staff and director benefits to client benefits is another idea worth exploring.
Consumer protection. Accusations of MFIs expressing their fees in misleading ways or using unscrupulous collection practices are surfacing more often and undermining the public trust in microfinance. Most of these charges are untrue or exaggerated, but they point to the need to establish a clear code of conduct and reasonable monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. Although the Microfinance Network and other national bodies have made progress down this path, their efforts are not enough.
To be certified, MFIs would have to implement measures to protect consumers, such as disclosing interest rates and fees. They would also have to eschew unethical debt collection practices, such as seizing the assets of borrowers who are behind on their payments without providing reasonable means for rescheduling loan payments.
Profit reinvestment. When MFIs generate profits, they should have an obligation to allocate some portion of their surplus in a manner consistent with their overarching social purpose. Otherwise, they open themselves up to charges of maximizing profits at the expense of their social missions.
Certified MFIs would be required to reduce their interest rates when profits go beyond an agreed-upon threshold—even in the absence of competition. Alternatively, MFIs earning more than a specified level of profits could provide new products and services that address poor clients' needs, particularly those related to accumulating assets, promoting education, and social empowerment. Or as a third option, MFIs could refund profits to clients in the form of nonvoting shares, which would make clients minority owners of the organizations from which they borrow.
Ahead of the Curve
Some microfinance observers have argued that when MFIs rigorously pursue their social impacts, they put themselves at a competitive disadvantage because they sacrifice the short-term profits that many financiers expect. But this argument is misguided: Maximum poverty reduction and long-term business considerations are not only consistent, but also reinforcing. From a purely commercial perspective, the long-term viability of the microfinance business model requires political and regulatory support. If MFIs would protect consumers, limit benefits to staff and investors, and share their windfalls with the poor clients who arguably generated them, they would more likely win the support of politicians and government agencies. Moreover, increased competition with other MFIs will ultimately drive microfinance to be a high-volume business, rather than high-margin business. Encouraging MFIs to shift to that business model now will put them ahead of the curve.
Implementing this new model will not be easy. Increasingly, many MFIs want to strip down their product offerings to achieve higher levels of return on assets and to attract large amounts of capital. MFI executives who have received paltry salaries for years are tempted by the prospect of becoming wealthy in the wake of public offerings. Some investors in microfinance are loath to acknowledge the trade-offs between short-term profit maximization and social impact. And the public is willing to accept anecdotes in place of data as evidence of microfinance's relevance. "In social change, the easiest person to deceive is yourself," says Paul Maritz, a former senior executive at Microsoft Corp. and board chair of the Grameen Foundation.
Still, the benefits of microfinance realizing its two bottom lines are real, and the pathway to doing so is reasonably clear. A first step is to see past the false choice between pro-poor and commercial microfinance. Whether in the economic, political, or scientific spheres, false dichotomies lead to stale debates and suppress creative thinking and action. Looking to the founding principles of microfinance, but reimagining them according to the principles of all successful, long-term commercial endeavors, will lead this important and ever-improving antipoverty strategy to be a major force in creating a more just world. Microfinance will not by itself put "poverty in a museum," as Yunus once said. But with a forward- looking strategy that builds on these promising new ideas and practices, microfinance will play a major role in realizing this breathtaking vision.
1 For an excellent description of this approach, see Marge Magner's paper "Microfinance: A Platform for Social Change," which is available in English and Spanish on the Grameen Foundation Web site. Magner headed Citigroup's consumer bank until her retirement in 2005.
2 "Poor" generally refers to those who make less than their country's national poverty line, and "poorest" to those in the bottom half of those under the poverty line.
ALEX COUNTS is the president and CEO of the Grameen Foundation, a Washington, D.C.–based organization that combines microfinance, technology, and innovation to fight poverty through a network of partners in 25 countries.


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By Claudia Assis
When it comes to quarterly earnings by the biggest names in the energy sector, analysts at Barclays are warning investors to brace for another batch of results in line to modestly below Wall Street expectations.
Refiners — those high-flyers pummeled in recent sessions — are expected to post below-consensus estimates in the period, the bank said.
What's more, the biggest downside surprise could come from mighty Exxon Mobil Corp. /quotes/zigman/203975 /quotes/nls/xom XOM
Second-quarter earnings season opened Monday when Alcoa Inc. reported. Exxon reports Aug. 1, followed by Chevron Corp. /quotes/zigman/289939 /quotes/nls/cvx CVX on Aug. 2. Rounding out the top U.S. oil majors, ConocoPhillips /quotes/zigman/294662 /quotes/nls/cop COP is scheduled to report July 30.
ConocoPhillips is seen reporting second-quarter earnings of $1.26 a share, down from $1.42 a share in the first quarter, according to FactSet Research.
Chevron is expected to post earnings of $3.02 a share for the quarter, versus $3.18 in the first three months of the year. Analysts project Exxon Mobil will earn $1.91 a share in the second quarter, compared with $2.12 in the first quarter.
The Barclays analysts looked at 18 major oil and refining companies and said they expect collective earnings of $24.3 billion, down 16% quarter-over-quarter but up 1% year-over-year.
Oil majors have reported modest results, at best, over the past couple of years, leaving them open to a rash of shareholder unrest and calls for shake-ups at companies such as Hess Corp. /quotes/zigman/417764 /quotes/nls/hes HES and Chesapeake Energy Corp. /quotes/zigman/126832 /quotes/nls/chk CHK , to name a few.
Energy names on the S&P 500 Index have gained 20% over the past 12 months, compared with gains of 39% for financials, the top-performing S&P 500 Index sector in the period, and a gain of 2.9% for utilities, the weakest sector.
Breaking it down by type of company, Barclays said it lowered its earning estimates for refiners by 18% in the second quarter, by 24% for the full year 2013, and by 21% in 2014.
The bank was slightly more optimistic about major oil companies: it cut its projects by 3% in the second quarter, a 1% decrease for the year, and a 2% increase for 2014.
Exxon and Alon USA Energy /quotes/zigman/378351 /quotes/nls/alj ALJ were singled out as the companies with the largest downside "surprise" this quarter.
The Barclays analysts expects Exxon to report second-quarter earnings of $1.63 a share. All business lines are likely to report lower earnings due to lower international oil and gas prices and a heavy schedule of planned and unplanned maintenance at its chemical and refining operations, Barclays said.
Outages at Exxon's refineries in Joliet, Ill., and Torrance, Calif., have resulted in an opportunity cost loss of nearly $400 million, Barclays said. Exxon's chemical business was hit by lower margins as well as downtime at its Baytown, Texas, facility, it added.
For the much smaller Dallas-based refiner Alon, downside potential comes from lower margins and a one-time hit from unplanned repairs at its Krotz Springs, La., refinery.
Follow Claudia Assis on Twitter @ClaudiaAssisMW
Follow Energy Ticker on Twitter @EnergyTicker

subset: commoncrawl


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The Netscape vs Digg war has escalated to new heights over the past few days and is reaching some sort of crescendo today after a Netscape security hole was spotted by – presumably – a Digg fan, who promptly inserted a pop-up with the message: "Hi to all you Diggers out there ; )".
For those of you not following this sometimes hilarious battle of wits, the conflict escalated after Jason 'mad dog' Calacanis offered $1,000 to the top Digg contributors to migrate to Netscape, which is widely viewed as a clone of Digg.
Digg's Kevin Rose suggests that this is nothing more than a "clever PR stunt" and expects it to "do more damage to Netscape than good". He might be right. He too thinks Netscape is a copycat.
Jason has pedigree in the area of PR. He instigated a long-running feud between himself and Gawker head honcho Nick Denton, who both traded veiled and not-so-veiled insults in a blogosphere dominated by their respective companies (Gawker Media, Denton; and Weblogs, Inc, Calacanis, now AOL-owned). People who know them tell me that they are apparently on good terms, but the PR value of their public bickering has done a lot of good to both parties.
But with Kevin Rose, this seems to be getting a bit more personal. It ain't engineered PR, folks, and who knows where it will end?
Rose argues that: "Users like Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit and Flickr because they are contributing to true, free, democratic social platforms devoid of monetary motivations. All users on these sites are treated equally, there aren't anchors, navigators, explorers, opera-ers, or editors."
Meanwhile Calacanis says: "You're making money from advertising and you can easily afford to pay the top 12 users $1,000 a month each – share the wealth dude! Why not carve out 10-20% of your revenue for users? It only makes sense that folks should be paid for community leaders."
No doubt about it, this is superb PR – outrage normally is. I am writing about it. Many others have windmilled into the fray, taking sides, squaring off. Why? Because ultimately this is about a bigger issue: should be paying people for user generated content?
Jason thinks we should: "In six months paying top bookmarkers will seem obvious."
Kevin doesn't. And neither do some of the top Diggers that have been approached (some might say 'poached') by Jason.
What do you think? Do I have to pay you to find out?


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Sculptures of Zimbabwe
Proud Girl
| Visitors and staff alike were thrilled at
the 2002 exhibit
of "Chapungu: Custom and Legend, a Culture in Stone" when the
magnificent Zimbabwean sculptures were here on the grounds, enjoyed by
tens of thousands of people.
"Chapungu" has toured other United States cities -- and internationally -- since 2002; at present the show is in Colorado at the Denver Botanic Gardens, where it opened last July and will continue until n Chicago February 29, 2008. Those who came to appreciate the Shona style of stone sculpture should be aware that Zimbabwean statues and carvings can be seen and purchased at the Zuva Gallery of Scottsdale, which often hosts visiting sculptors and African artists. Zuva has brought fine Zimbabwe art - and artists - to the Grand Canyon State since 1994. Visit Zuva's sculpture gallery at El Pedregal (The Boulders) in the north Valley. For more information about Zuva call 1-800-721-ZUVA
|During 2002 our staff and volunteers were pleased to meet some of the artists, including continue to exhibit sculpture by premiere artists such as Arthur Fata and Sylvester Mubayi, along with musicians Crispen Manyika and Pachawo Pachawo Kashipare. A CD recording of traditional songs played on mbira by Crispen and Pachawo is available in our gift shop; to order one, call our staff during daytime business hours at 520-689-2723.
|Another acclaimed collection is the Shona Sol Sculpture Garden and Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.


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Abhisamayālaṃkāra (Ornament for Clear Realization)
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African American Islam
Herbert Berg
The first Muslims arrived in the American colonies and later in the United States as African slaves. Although a few and noteworthy Muslim American slaves left written records of their lives, Islam was largely extinguished by the white slave owners. Sectarian and racial forms of Islam were introduced into the United States, particularly within urban African American communities, by Ahmadiyya missionaries and the Moorish Science Temple. The rise of the Nation of Islam under Wali Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad and its bifurcation under the latter's son, Warith Deen Mohammed, and Louis Farrakhan deserve special attention, as do the initial appeal of the Nation of Islam's racial formulation of Islam and, decades later, the willingness of most of its members to move to Sunni orthodoxy after Elijah Muhammad's death. The second major, though not entirely separate, strand of Islam in the United States, though often interacting or competing with the first, comes from Muslim immigrants. This group brings unique issues, such as living in a largely Christian society, competing with the Nation of Islam, refuting stereotypes in the media and popular culture, finding a political voice, and coping with post-9/11 Islamophobia, all leading to the consideration of the prospects for a uniquely "American Islam" that reflects U.S. pluralism and (supposed) separation of "church and state."
African Americans and Religion
Sylvester A. Johnson
Beginning with trans-Atlantic slavery, which forced hundreds of thousands of people into what is presently the United States, religion among African Americans consistently featured a complex of efforts toward innovation, preservation, and agential intervention rooted in efforts toward survival against structures of racial domination. Social factors including slavery, black responses to a range of political conflicts, influences of immigration, and the varieties of genealogies that have constituted religious formations among African Americans contributed to the creation of formal Christian denominations, intentional communities of Orisha, and transnational movements of Islam. Also important are the insurgent challenges that African Americans have proffered as a rejoinder to social oppression. But this progressive tendency has been paralleled by sharply conservative religious formations that check any easy generalization of African American religions as being predisposed toward social justice movements. Also important are social sources of autonomous church formation, the role of Black Nationalism, anticolonial forms of religion, and Yoruba revivalism of the mid-20th century.
Agency, Voluntarism, and Predestination in American Religion
Peter J. Thuesen
In the free marketplace of religious ideas that is the United States, Americans have disagreed over many things. The form of church government, the proper way to worship, the extent of the scriptural canon, and the limits of racial and gender inclusion are but a few of the questions on which the nation's majority Christians have erected boundaries among themselves, to say nothing of their differences with non-Christians. Yet an equally important source of denominational divisions has been the nexus of issues surrounding agency (humans' freedom to act as they choose), voluntarism (defined here as the quest for salvation through this-worldly action), and predestination (the otherworldly question of whether God predetermines each person's eternal destiny). Particularly contentious has been the question of predestination, especially the problem of whether God elects persons for salvation conditionally (based on their foreseen faith or merit) or unconditionally (based solely on his inscrutable wisdom). In the 16th and 17th centuries, this debate cut across the Reformation divide, with each position represented among both Catholic and Protestant scholastics. The New England Puritan clergy were the first major bearers of this scholastic tradition, which abounded with paradox and logical distinctions. The intensity of Puritanism's predestinarian psychology generated a widespread anti-Calvinist backlash in the 19th century and contributed to the growth of a number of upstart denominations, including Methodists, Universalists, Restoration Movement "Christians," Mormons, Adventists, and Christian Scientists. Debates over free will and predestination also bred factionalism and even threatened schism in several denominations, including the Congregationalists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Baptists. Less frequently, non-Christians weighed in, occasionally embracing the trope of anti-Calvinism as a way to demonstrate their own traditions' compatibility with American freedom. By the early 21st century, though the rise of nondenominational megachurches and an increase in "nones" (people with no religious identification) had weakened the hold of traditional doctrines on many Americans, the tension between voluntarism and predestination remained basic to theism as it has been for millennia.
The Age of Revolutions
Conrad L. Donakowski
A variety of economic, ideological, aesthetic, and nationalist forces shape Christian worship in its varied manifestations today. Historical perspectives and areas of knowledge which are too often discussed in compartmentalized fashion are presented here as acting with and on each other and often serving each other's purposes. Liturgical, musical, artistic, and architectural expressions are shown to be inextricably bound not only to theology, philosophy, and ecclesial hierarchy but also to political and socioeconomic structural change, technological innovation, and—not least—the culture and the human need for authentic spiritual experience.
The Enlightenment "Age of Reason," Romanticism, the nation-state, and the Industrial Revolution from the 17th through the 19th centuries affected religious practices that were the only mass medium that reached into every town, house, and heart. Connections are established with not only overtly religious events such as urban Evangelism, preservation of old architecture, the Oxford movement, and tradition versus innovation but also socialistic communal experiments and ethnic conflict among US immigrants.
The Alawis
Stephan Procházka
The ʿAlawis are adherents of an Islamic sect, the origin of which can be traced back to 9th-century Iraq. They are an offshoot of early Shiah Islam with ancient Iranian, Christian, and Gnostic influences. Outsiders often call them "Nusayri," after the sect's founder Ibn Nusayr. Practically all ʿAlawis are Arabs. Their total number is about four million, among which some 2.5 million reside in Syria, where they constitute roughly 12 percent of the population. Many ʿAlawi beliefs and rites are still kept secret by the community, being revealed only to initiate male members. One key element in their faith is the belief in a divine triad that has manifested itself to the ʿAlawi community in seven cycles. Other characteristics are an extraordinary veneration for Muhammad's son-in-law ʿAli, the belief in the transmigration of the soul, and a very large number of holy shrines, which are frequent in all regions settled by ʿAlawis. Because of the esoteric nature of the ʿAlawi religion and the scarcity of authentic written sources, many details of their creed are subjects of vigorous public and scholarly discussion.
For many centuries, the ʿAlawis were an economically weak, socially marginalized, and persecuted group whose heartland was western Syria. The public rise of the community began with the establishment of the French mandate over Syria after World War I and reached its zenith when the ʿAlawi Hafiz al-Assad became president of Syria in 1971. Since then, the disproportionate political and economic influence of the ʿAlawis in Syria has fueled confessional conflicts with the Sunni majority, which culminated in the civil war that began in 2011.
The Alevis
Gisela Procházka-Eisl
The Alevis are a religious community on the periphery of Shia Islam. The name "Alevi" means "Adherents of ʿAli," alluding to Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, who enjoys extraordinary veneration among Alevis. Alevism was developed in Central Anatolia during the 13th century by itinerant Muslim mystics. It includes elements of pre-Islamic Turkish shamanism and aspects of mainstream Shia Islam, which influenced it through cultural contacts with Safavid Iran. Alevism never was a unified and homogeneous community but has always had a variety of sub-groups. For centuries Alevis practiced their rites in secret, which created suspicion and rumor among Sunnite Muslims. Today's Alevis still have to struggle with this distrust, and are often regarded as heretics by the Sunnites. The designation "Alevi" came into use in the early 20th century as a collective term for a number of religious groups such as Bektaşi, Tahtacı, and Abdal, and today is used instead of the former, pejorative term Kızılbaş ("Red-Heads"). The Alevis are the largest religious minority group in the Republic of Turkey, where their estimated number is around 15 million. Large Alevi groups also reside in the Balkan states as well as in Central and Western Europe, particularly Germany and Austria. Roughly two-thirds of the Alevis are Turkish speakers. The other third speak Kurdish and Zazaki.
In the 1980s, the community underwent the so-called "Alevi revival," a process of exposure and openness that can be partly explained as a reaction against the re-Islamization of Turkish society. Today Alevis perform their rites and express their beliefs openly.
Although they share certain features with them, the Alevis should not be confused with the Alawis (Nusayris), who live in southern Turkey and Syria and who are all Arabic speakers.
Alternative Religious Movements and Race in America
Emily Suzanne Clark
Alternative religious movements have played a significant role in American history. There is no easy definition for these types of groups; their ideas and practices vary. One clear commonality, though, is their development on the sociocultural margins. Thus, inherent in alternative religious movements is a critique of dominant culture, and this offers a powerful means of engaging issues of race in America. Other groups, however, choose to echo prevailing racial ideas as a means of making themselves mainstream. The typical narrative of American religious history is white and Protestant, and alternative religious movements have provided both criticism and approval of that story.
While a close look at every alternative religious movement would be impossible, even an abbreviated exploration is revealing. During the antebellum period the question of slavery and the white supremacy that supported it prompted alternative religious movements to ask questions about equality. While many Shakers and Spiritualists recognized value in all, other groups, like the Mormons, encoded contemporary racial assumptions in their early theology. Throughout the 19th and into the 20th century, African Americans and Native Americans criticized white supremacy by offering alternative explanations of humanity's history and destiny. The 1890s Ghost Dance movement envisioned an Indian paradise devoid of whites, and in the early 20th century black alternative movements in northern cities emphasized the religious significance of their blackness. Though these groups criticized the white supremacy surrounding them, others continued to emphasize the superiority of whiteness. In the latter part of the 20th century, many Americans associated racialized alternative religious movements, such as the Nation of Islam, the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, and the Peoples Temple, with fear or brainwashing. In examining how alternative religious movements engage racial assumptions, articulate racial discourse, or create religio-racial identities, a study of these movements illuminates the interplay between religion and culture in American history.
American Buddhism during World War II Imprisonment
Michihiro Ama
American Buddhism during World War II imprisonment refers to the Japanese American Buddhist experience between 1942 and 1945 when persons of Japanese ancestry, commonly known as Nikkei Amerikajin, were imprisoned. A discussion of the Nikkei Buddhist experience includes the experiences of Euro-American convert Buddhists who supported them during the imprisonment period.
Immediately after the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested and interned Japanese Buddhist priests and other leaders of Japanese communities in the United States. In March 1942, the Western Defense Command designated the three West Coast states (Washington, Oregon, and California) and Arizona as Military Area No. 1, from which all persons of Japanese descent, and alien Germans and Italians, were forcefully removed. Following Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the US government removed approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans from the aforementioned military zone and incarcerated them in relocation centers built throughout the continental United States. During that time, the Nikkei community consisted primarily of the Issei, the first generation of Japanese immigrants, and the Nisei, their American-born children. As Tetsuden Kashima defines, the word "internment" refers to the imprisonment of enemy aliens, such as the Issei Japanese nationals, by the Department of Justice and the US Army, while the term "incarceration" refers to the confinement of the Nikkei, including a great number of the Nisei American citizens, by the War Relocation Authority. The word "imprisonment" designates the entire process consisting of internment and incarceration.
The study of American Buddhism during World War II is still in its early stages. Finding records and documents related to this subject from the large collections on Japanese American imprisonment is not an easy task. While the National Archives in Washington, DC, maintains the majority of primary sources dealing with Japanese American relocation and incarceration, other institutions, such as the Japanese American National Museum, the University of California-Los Angeles, and museums built around the sites of internment camps, also preserve records. Some of the primary sources are written in Japanese and are located in Japan, which is another stumbling block for researchers who do not read Japanese. Duncan R. Williams's forthcoming book, American Sutra: Buddhism and the World War II Japanese American Experience, however, will change the current state of scholarship on Japanese American Buddhism during World War II.
The forceful relocation of Japanese American Buddhists served to weaken their long-standing efforts to make their ethno-religious practices accepted by America's general public. Mass incarceration, however, forced the Japanese American Buddhists to further Americanize their religion, generated a set of new Buddhist practices, and gave them opportunities to reflect on their national identities. Buddhist faith and cultural practices associated with Japanese Buddhism contributed to ethnic solidarity, even though the Japanese American community was divided over the issue of US patriotism. During the postwar period, Japanese American Buddhists initiated a campaign to improve their image in the United States and to honor the Nisei Buddhist soldiers who fought during World War II. The formation of American Buddhism was closely connected to the development of US political ideology.
American Foreign Mission Movement, c. 1870–1920s
Tracy Neal Leavelle
The American foreign mission movement at the turn of the 20th century adopted as its watchword "the evangelization of the world in this generation." The rapid expansion of missionary boards and the enthusiasm of volunteers and supporters corresponded with European and US colonial expansion around the world. For many evangelical observers, the opening of the world seemed to offer the greatest opportunity yet to share the gospel with all. "The crisis of missions," as one prominent author put it, required that Christians recognize the spiritual importance of this moment. Divine providence appeared to be removing obstacles to evangelization. Failure to act decisively would be a form of apostasy, an abandonment of responsibility toward God and the world.
Inspired by a revivalistic spirit, women and men joined a growing list of missionary and moral reform organizations. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions continued the work it had started in the early 19th century. New organizations like the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions and the World Student Christian Federation created networks that linked Christian evangelists and communities around the world. They published magazines, books, and pamphlets and sent inspectors, organizers, and speakers on tours of the United States and Great Britain and on grand transoceanic voyages. In 1910 the movement celebrated progress and planned for next steps at the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. Steeped in a sense of moral and racial superiority, attendees promised to transform the world.
Women found an increasingly important place in the US foreign missionary movement, especially as evangelical work diversified to include the establishment of schools and medical missions. American women labored in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere and eventually made up the majority of workers in the field. Women brought with them an ideology of domesticity that they hoped to share with their sisters abroad. Women from the US viewed local women in the missions as socially degraded and in desperate need of moral uplift. The moral authority that came with female standing in the home seemed to explain the elevated status and Christian liberty enjoyed by American women. At the same time, as more highly educated single women entered the field, the movement created space for new models of womanhood. These "New Women" lived independent lives out in the world, apart from the confines of the home.
American missionaries at the turn of the century became deeply entangled in the imperial connections of the United States and the world. While it would be a mistake to reduce their work simply to a particular strand of imperialism, it is important to understand their connections to American expansion. Missionaries took advantage of openings created by colonial activity and contributed to the spread of American cultural, political, and economic influence at a critical moment in the development of national power in the international arena.


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· Dubai's first exclusive vacation resort with some of the world's most sought after holiday homes.
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Aerobatic "Snap" LSA, Now From Tecnam
Tecnam produces aircraft ranging from light sport to certified twins, is responsible for more than 3,500 aircraft in the world, today, and has now added a single-seat aerobatic low-wing LSA, the Snap, to its offerings. Snap was previously available from Dallair, which has experience building sub-assemblies for Tecnam. And the Snap's designer, Fabio Russo, is currently Tecnam's head of research and development. Tecnam will build the plane in Italy. SportairUSA, which has been the distributor for the Snap, will continue in that role.
The Snap flies behind a Rotax modified by EPApower to put out 130 hp with electronic fuel injection, inverted oil, an auxiliary alternator and four-into-one exhaust. The engine has been fully balanced and polished, and burns 5 gallons of premium auto fuel per hour. The aircraft carries no more than 10 gallons, has a maximum takeoff weight of less than 950 pounds and is stressed for plus or minus six G's. Tecnam says it "will be certifiable as production light sport (S-LSA), experimental light sport (E-LSA), or experimental-exhibition (EE)." Pricing when it was introduced at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2011 was expected to be near $150,000. More details are available here.


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Historical place of Bač and its Surroundings
Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Serbia to UNESCO
Autonomous Province of Vojvodina
Word File
The Tentative Lists of States Parties are published by the World Heritage Centre at its website and/or in working documents in order to ensure transparency, access to information and to facilitate harmonization of Tentative Lists at regional and thematic levels.
The sole responsibility for the content of each Tentative List lies with the State Party concerned. The publication of the Tentative Lists does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the World Heritage Committee or of the World Heritage Centre or of the Secretariat of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its boundaries.
Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party
On the borders of the Pannonia plain and Danube regions, in the Vojvodina Province, there is the town of Bač which lent its name to the whole region between the Danube and Tisa rivers - Bačka. The flatlands bordered by rivers were once a marshy land with ponds and forests, but with time, man was staring to win battles with water, balancing the ratio between land and water. The area around Bač, with the Mostonga river meanders and its confluence with the Danube, testifies to the geomorphologic changes of the terrain, as well as on how it used to look in the distant past, before the waters started to be regulated and the land irrigated. All around Bač there are forests, ponds and marshes, listed as special natural reservations, with their specific forest ecosystems, habitats to natural rarities and to the globally endangered species. There are also archaeological sites, confirming the presence of man and the use of the marshy lands throughout the millennia. The preserved architectural heritage, built in the vast period from the 12th to the 19th century, under the influence of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Byzantine and Islamic art and the baroque represent a definite testimony to the cultural diversity, interlacing and linking the cultures of the Balkans with the West.
Bač is 62 km away from Novi Sad and 140 km from Belgrade. To the west, the municipality borders with the Republic of Croatia (opposite the town of Vukovar) along a 43 km long bank of the Danube River. The population of about 17,000 is extremely multiethnic (Serbs, Slovaks, Croats, Hungarians, Rumanians, Roma..), who live of farming and animal husbandry. The natural and cultural heritage is an important resource for the underdeveloped local communities, as it provides an only real potential for an accelerated resolution of numerous problems. At the same time, the initiated activities and the obtained results within the frame of the Development Integrative Protection Project "Centuries of Bač", an example of good practice is provided, creating the nucleus to the heritage management, but also to the development and collaboration with the neighbouring municipalities of the Danube region and to accepting the European standards and manners of planning.
It was the left bank of the Danube and its marshy lands and the Mostonga river banks which in the distant past provided refuge to numerous peoples (the Getae, Celts, Sarmatae, Lazyges, Romans, Huns, Slavs). The first mentioning of Bač was in a written document from 535. In the Middle Ages Bač becomes an important historic place, for the most period under the rule of Hungarian kings. Historical sources mention the place under the names: Bache, Baacs, Baach, Bács, Bach, Bath, Latin Bachia, Greek Παγάτζιον. It was an administrative and religious centre and a favourite resort to many a European ruler. A Muslim geographer, Al-Idrisi, marked Bač in his "The Book of Roger" in 1154. In his Geography, a book accompanying the maps, he wrote, "Bač is a famous place, ranking among other major cities. There are markets, merchants' and craftsmen' shops, Greek scholars... However, the wheat is inexpensive, as there is plenty of it" ... "Bač and Kovin are major export-import towns with dense population. These are the major Hungarian towns, with most of the buildings, and there one can live in plenitude on large farming estates."
Bač played an important role in the defence of Western Europe against Turkish invasions, especially after the fall of the Serbian Principality in 1459. The Bač spacious military camp was the place where armies of several different states gathered with one purpose: to stop the Ottoman Empire from penetrating into the heart of Europe. However, from 1526 to 1686 these lands fell under the Turkish rule. Then, the Austrians came to rule the region, as they were victorious in the war for freedom. In the 18th century, Austria colonised the population, which is even today reflected in the structure of the population. Such rich diversity can be perceived in the folk tangible and intangible heritage, still nurtured by numerous cultural and art societies in the region.
The focal point of valorisation and interpretation is on the heritage, classified as heritage of outstanding value. In the overall heritage valorisation and the development perspective, segments of diverse types of heritage are presented as parts of a body of a cultural landscape.
The Bač Fortress (of outstanding significance for the Republic of Serbia)
The Bač Fortress is classified as a "water town", with a defence system adapted to marshy land. It consists of a fortified castle and suburb, located on the river Mostonga meander. A plane where the fortress is located is a significant archaeological site. Under the foundations of visible walls there had been a settlement from the Neolithic period - six millenniums ago and that existed also through the Bronze Age and the older Iron Age. There are also Celtic traces and traces of life in the Classical period during III and IV centuries. The first building phase goes back to the period between 1338-1342 and the Hungarian King Charles Robert of Anjou. From the mid 15th century, intensive building activities start, adapting to new warfare techniques and reinforcing the southern boundary against the Turkish invasions. In 1529 the Turks conquered the fortress and were using it until the year of liberation, 1686. In 1704, during the Rakoczy rising, the fortress was blasted, never to be restored again.
Although its physical integrity is substantially lost, the preserved elements indicate a sophisticated fortification school of High Gothic style, with elements of early Italian Renaissance.
Religious heritage:
Franciscan Monastery of Bač (of outstanding significance for the Republic of Serbia)
The monastery in the centre of Bač, integrated with its mediaeval urban layout. The complex consists of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Church and the square shaped monasterial buildings with an inner court. It started to be built in the second half of 12th century, when the members of the Equestrians of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem built a small one-nave Romanesque church. In the 14th century, the Franciscans restored it in Gothic style, building the monastery and a tall, massive bell tower at the side. When Bač fell under the Turkish rule, the church was turned into a mosque (a mihrab niche in the southern wall) until the year of liberation in 1686. In 1688, the Franciscans from Bosnia take over the monastery. Baroque renewal included the church and the monastery, when the characteristic square inner court was created between 1724 and 1770.
Among numerous works of art, there is a painting the Last Supper from 1737, an icon Virgin of Tenderness (glykophilousa) of Italo-Cretan school, work of a master Dima (1684) and many hand written and printed books from 17th and 18th centuries, the so-called Biblioteca Slavica (Croatica), as well as some sculptures and service garments.
The Serbian Orthodox Monastery of Bodjani (of outstanding significance for the Republic of Serbia)
It is 15 km to the south of Bač, towards the Danube. The complex consists of a church, residential quarters built in the 'U' shape and the accompanying farm houses.
It was demolished and restored several times. The first monastery was built in 1478 by a Serbian merchant Bogdan of Dalmatia, as a token of gratitude to the Virgin for healing his eyes. The present monastery church, the fourth one to be built, is devoted to the Presentation of the Virgin and was built in 1722 by Mihail Tamisvarlija. It is of a cruciform ground plan, with dome, 5.5 m in diameter, rising above the main nave and transept cross. The present quarters were built after a fire, between 1786 and 1810. The sections at the north and south ends have a storey, while the one at the west end is a ground floor structure.
The interior walls are covered with frescoes (app. 600m2), painted by by Hristifor Zefarovic, a printer and a painter. The Bodjani paintings, dating from 1737, displaying both Byzantine and baroque artistic tendencies, represent a crucial point in Serbian art and some of the most valuable frescoes in the first half of the 18th century in south-east Europe. The iconostasis screen is also an outstanding object of art, the work of Kyiv painters with Jov Vasiliyevič and Vasily Romanovič. There is also a miracle-working icon of the Virgin of Bodjani.
St Antun the Hermit Chapel in the Guvniste woods - great value
The Chapel is in the vicinity of Bač, on the road to Mladenovo, in the Guvniste woods. There is an inscription that says that it was renewed in 1817 on a cult place founded before 1526. It is a one-nave building of harmonious proportions, with polygonal altar space in the east section, a sacristy at the north wall and a wooden campanile in the west side. Façades are reinforced with five built buttresses, two placed diagonally at the east angles. Above the main entrance there are two trifora windows, like the gothic ones. In the chapel interior there is a gallery built where a small organ is placed, donated in 1864.
St Paul's Roman Catholic Church of Bač - great value
The church was built between 1773 and 1780 and then extensively renewed in 1838. It is of harmonious proportions, built in the baroque style. It is of a one-nave structure with a semicircular altar apse lower than the nave and in its north side a sacristy was built. The three short columns, decorated by pilasters with Ionian capitals, divide the interior into three bays. Façade decorations are simplified, more representative at the west side, with a tall two-storey bell tower.
A convent of nuns of the Notre Dame of Bač- great value
In 1876, along the north wall of the St Paul's church, a nunnery was built for the Notre Dame order. Ljudevit Heinold, an archbishop and later a cardinal, supervised the construction. A representative portrait of him in his cardinal gown was painted in 1878 by Loschinger and is kept today in the nunnery. The two storey building is of an elongated ground plan and is built in a classicistic style. The west façade is divided into two areas by a string course and the floor windows are shaped in the neo Romanesque style.
Other buildings and sites:
Remains of a Turkish bath, hammam - great value
Hammam in the centre of Bač is valuable testimony to the times of the Ottoman rule in Vojvodina. It was most probably built after 1578, and Evli Çelebi mentioned on his visit to Bač in 1665. According to the archaeological finds, there were six rooms in the hammam (halvat - a waiting room with a cloakroom; sadirvan - a bathroom: hazna - a water tank; kulhan - a boiler/furnace room). It is partially demolished, but a section of the dome over the central rooms has been preserved.
Celtic Oppidum near Plavna, arceological site
Also, significant number of individual structures of cultural interest:
- Vernacular architecture / representative examples of houses in all the settlements (Bač, Bođani, Plavna, Bačko Novo Selo and Selenča), where ethno houses are arranged with museum displays and the necessary services
- Industrial architecture / a pumping station in Plavna, dating from 1912, with preserved machines
- Over 50 archaeological sites
Justification of Outstanding Universal Value
(iv) The Fortress of Bač is of a special value as part of the cultural heritage, a unique example of a "water town" built on the marshy left bank of the Danube, having a fortified castle, reflecting Gothic and Renaissance influences.
(v) From his first prehistoric dwelling places, man has been continuously using this swampy terrain, which resulted in founding specific settlements. Bač was founded on an alluvial terrace surrounded with water, with a natural defence system. The Mostonga river creates a connection with the Danube, the main European waterway. Very early, its position and natural conditions made it possible to become a military, administrative, commercial and religious centre of a much larger region. Additional research is needed in order to find out all the old roads, bridges, ports and embankments and the connections with the right Danube bank. The investigations conducted thus far have helped in better knowing and understanding the cultural diversity of this border Danube region and of the coexistence of communities between the East and West Christian world.
(vi) Bač was a prominent place in the Middle Ages - as a seat of the Bač County and the Bač Archbishopric (in 1149 to be joined with the Kalocsa Bishopric). Its architectural heritage of that period is reflected in the Franciscan Monastery (12th century), the Fortress of Bač (14th century) and the Serbian Orthodox Monastery of Bodjani (15th century).
A Arab geographer, Al-Idrisi, marked Bač in his world maps in the"Book of Roger" in 1154, describing it as a famous and large settlement. All the Hungarian kings used to stay in Bač and even some from the The Árpáds Dynasty were crowned in Bač ( Ulászló I, Stephen IV, Béla III). Some of the kings were engaged here on strengthening and defending the Lower Regions (Partes Inferiores), like Louis I Robert of Anjou or Matthias Corvinus.
Historical sources mention that numerous outstanding historic figures stayed in Bač, like Manuel I Comnenos and Giovanni da Capistrano ...
In the late 15th century, the residential palace of the Bač Fortress housed an extraordinary and valuable library, containing books in several languages, belonging to a humanist and archibishop Peter Varadi.
(ix) The area of the municipality of Bač also embrace forests, ponds and marshy land, all protected as special natural reservations (Vranjak and Ristovača). Those specific ecosystems are the habitat to rare birds (Aythya nyroca..) and other animals and plants. The natural heritage testifies to an erstwhile environment of man, quite characteristic to vast flatlands and swamps, but which could be destroyed because of uncontrolled exploitation.
Statements of authenticity and/or integrity
Considering the outstanding value and the diversity of the cultural heritage, its links with the preserved natural environment, as well as the link with the world great history, there is an imposing conclusion that the region is authentic, featuring universal values.
The natural and cultural heritage of the region is a significant factor for the development of the local community, and the management, as well as the interpretation of the cultural landscape would allow the region to be preserved for posterity.
Comparison with other similar properties
So far, there is no other location recognised or acknowledged with a similar combination of both the natural and cultural heritage, since this is a specific area under particular historic conditions stretching along an unexplored strip of the left bank of the Danube river.


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Meticulously crafted with painstaking attention to detail and released in limited quantities of 500
Anodized aluminum and treated with fine sandblasting for exceptional detail
DOMINATOR PLATINUM's polished aluminum light bar houses a pure white LED pipe to perfectly illuminate the flawless finish
The 3200 MHz modules are carefully screened and selected, and can be safely overclocked up to 3600 MHz.
10-layer PCB and patented DHX cooling technology improve heat dispersion for superior overclocking potential
DDR4 kits are compatible with Intel X99 and 100 Series motherboards for maximum bandwidth and tight response time
The assembly of each DOMINATOR PLATINUM SE kit is supervised by CORSAIR's world renowned memory engineers, numbered in limited editions of 500 and delivered to you to enjoy.
DOMINATOR PLATINUM has been reimagined with a refined, design-forward approach. Premium materials meet meticulous engineering for an unprecedented level of performance and craftsmanship.
The ICs of each DOMINATOR PLATINUM SE DDR4 kit are hand screened and rigorously tested by CORSAIR's memory engineers to ensure maximum overclocking performance and reliability.
Our world-famous memory has an all new look. The ultra-reflective chrome surface starts with anodized aluminum that is precision polished to a mirror finish and trimmed with sandblasted matte edging for an unprecedented display of beauty and power.
The ultra-sleek, stealth exterior of DOMINATOR PLATINUM SE Blackout is engineered from anodized aluminum, finished with polished black edging, and hand sorted to maintain a flawless finish. A perfect companion to your stealth build.
DOMINATOR PLATINUM's clean lines and beautiful, purpose-built heat-spreaders are engineered for superior overclocking, and automatic OC settings ensure the best possible performance and reliability.
DOMINATOR PLATINUM SE modules are meticulously crafted with painstaking attention to detail, manufactured in limited edition quantities of 500, and individually numbered.These rather special and rare products will be enjoyed by an exclusive group of enthusiasts.andy paul | corsair founder and ceo


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Israel's Shabak internal security agency, also known as Shin Bet, has opened a new cyber defense division to help in the escalating cyber war with Iran and other enemies of the state.
In an interview with Yediot Ahronot, an officer in this new division said that in addition to the thousands of low-level cyber attacks Israel fends off every day from individual hackers, there are also a regular number of attacks by foreign government agencies.
In particular, Shabak officials say Iran is working hard to score a major hit on critical Israeli computer systems. Shutting down the computers that control the national water carrier, the electrical grid, the transportation system or Israel's major banks could bring the nation to a catastrophic standstill.
To prevent that from happening, a Shabak team is constantly monitoring sensitive computer systems around the country, while field teams race to those servers that are targeted to defend against incoming attacks.
Israel is not taking the threat lightly.
"The Iranians invented the strategic game of chess 5,000 years ago. They are smart. We must not underestimate them," one official told the newspaper.
Yediot asked another cyber officer if he didn't sometimes get the urge to go out and defend Israel in a more physical sense.
His response:
"I'm already in the field. This war is being fought from the keyboard, and when I press 'Enter' it's no less effective than a soldier opening fire on the battlefield."
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Knight Frank's Home Counties Rental Index is based on a repeat valuation methodology that tracks rental values of Home Counties residential property.
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Butler County (Ohio, USA)
Butler County, Ohio, a county in the extreme southwestern corner of the state, with Hamilton as the county seat. In this county was founded in 1819 the first of the Alsatian and South German Amish settlements in North America, of the Amish migration to America following the European Napoleonic wars. Butler County became a brief stopping place for many of the Amish immigrants later moving on to Illinois and Iowa. Among later Amish leaders who tarried here for a while were Christian Ropp, Peter Naffziger, Joseph Stuckey, all later of Illinois; and Joseph Goldschmidt of Iowa. The present congregation, with a meetinghouse in the village of Trenton, is now called the Trenton Mennonite Church and is a member of Mennonite Church USA.
|C. Henry Smith
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Smith, C. Henry. "Butler County (Ohio, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 20 Mar 2019. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Butler_County_(Ohio,_USA)&oldid=113259.
APA style
Smith, C. Henry. (1953). Butler County (Ohio, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 20 March 2019, from http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Butler_County_(Ohio,_USA)&oldid=113259.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 486. All rights reserved.
©1996-2019 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


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If a city wants to show the world its wealth, power and status, it builds a skyscraper.
And the coming decades will see even more cities across the globe competing with one another to build the tallest, most awe-inspiring skyscraper.
Some of these modern day Towers of Babel seem nothing more than a conspicuous display of wealth: completed in 2010 and standing at 2717 feet, Dubai's Burj Khalifa (pictured) cost a staggering $1.5 billion to build.
But for many other cities, tall buildings are needed to fill a shortage of affordable, innovative and sustainable housing.
Here, we feature the past 10 winners of the Emporis Skyscraper Awards. The awards, organized by Emporis, a global provider of building information, are the world's foremost for 'high-rise architecture' and recognize excellence in design and functionality.
—By Anmar Frangoul, Special to CNBC.com
Posted 8 Jan. 2014


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havihav99 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 36 diseños de 5 diseñadores freelance.
Irvin Abrahamson & Company CPAs (http://www.irvinabrahamson.com)
The office is made up of just a couple partners and employees. They are all really kind, trustworthy and detail focused. They like to play around with numbers and spend a lot of time in Microsoft Excel as well as other accounting software. They are humble and extremely helpful. Much of their business comes from word of mouth from very happy customers.
They would like to attract a younger crowd. Currently most of their business comes from 50+ years old and they would like to attract the 25 - 45 age group. Their desired audience is young professionals (or old) which have started making enough money that their taxes may have become more complicated. They also service small business clients which they would like to appeal to as well.
The main point of this website is to get new and existing customers into their office or on the phone for a free consultation. The main requirements for this are that there are no more than 3 or 4 eye catching things on the page. One of those things must be a link/button to "Make a Free Appointment" (or some other wording). The other 2 - 3 items must 1.) let the visitor know they are at a page for CPA's (Certified Public Accountants) 2.) show why the visitor should make a free appointment as apposed to leaving the page and going somewhere else.
Other than that, have fun with the project!
A couple notes from the partners:
No pictures of money (unless you can make it un cheesy)
They don't like the color of their current website
Words that describe their business: Integrity, Personal Service, Trust Worthy, Detail Focused.
This will be their home page. The first file is the way they would like the logo to look. The second one is a better image but not placed right. They think the font is Times Roman or close to that.
They really like the website below (goldman sachs). It changes almost every day so the image they liked may have changed. If you brows the website you can get a feel for the look they might want.


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Energy Choices Board Game
Energy-related issues are particularly relevant to today's students. The limited supply of fossil fuels, combined with detrimental environmental effects associated with energy use, are dictating dramatic changes in the way we harness and use energy. An educational program that provides students with the ability to critically analyze and problem solve will prepare them to interpret energy issues and make sound actions and choices, as voters, consumers, and professionals.
A board game has been developed by students and staff from Clarkson and St. Lawrence Universities as part of their NSF-funded K-12 Project-Based Learning Partnership Program. The game is used to introduce the concepts of energy use in our lives and the very real impact that personal choices can have on our energy consumption, energy bills, and fuel supply.The game begins as each student selects cards that define their mode of transportation and home design. The players roll dice and move around the board, landing on "choice" or "situation" blocks and selecting cards that describe consumer choices and real life events that impact their energy consumption and annual energy bills. As the players pass gasoline stations or energy bill gates, they must pay annual expenses as defined by their original cards, with amounts altered by the choices they've made along the way. Gasoline cards are collected to represent their total consumption. Too many gas guzzling vehicles can result in total depletion of their gasoline supply - at which point everyone must walk or ride the bus.
The game provides some context for serious classroom discussions about our current energy situation. Discussion points can include:
- How did the choices you made affect how much money you had at the end?
- Which home system wound up with the most money at the end? Why?
- Which car wound up with the most gas cards at the end? What do you know about this type of car? (big, gas guzzler) How did having a lot of gas cards affect the owner's financial state?
- What do you think the carbon tax you paid at the end of the game represents?
- Why did gasoline and home energy prices increase throughout the game?
- Do you think this will be an issue in our own lives?
- Did any teams run out of gasoline cards? What does this represent? Which type of transportation contributed most to the depletion of gasoline cards?


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CORVALLIS, Ore. - A prototype scanner aboard the International Space Station has been taking new images of Earth's coastal regions during the 16 months since it was launched, providing scientists with a new set of imaging tools that will help them monitor events from oil spills to plankton blooms.
The images and other data are now available to scientists from around the world through an online clearinghouse coordinated by Oregon State University.
Additional details of the project will be announced in a forthcoming issue of the American Geophysical Union journal, EOS, and can be found on an OSU website about the project.
The Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean, or HICO, is the first space-borne sensor created specifically for observing the coastal ocean and will allow scientists to better analyze human impacts and climate change effects on the world's coastal regions, according to Curtiss O. Davis, an OSU oceanographer and the project scientist.
"What HICO does that other ocean imaging systems like NASA's MODIS cannot is provide color sensor data down to the human scale," Davis said. "Whereas the normal resolution for an ocean imager is about one kilometer, HICO provides resolution down to 90 meters. And instead of having just nine channels like MODIS, it has 90 channels.
"This allows us to focus the imaging system on a section of the coastline and map the ocean floor in water as deep as 50 to 60 feet," he added. "It gives us the ability to track sediment down the Columbia River, and to distinguish that sediment from phytoplankton blooms in the ocean. It can reveal near-shore eddies, currents, and the influence of coastal streams entering the ocean.
"It is a scientific treasure trove for the coastal oceanographer," he added.
This sophisticated imaging system was developed by the Naval Research Laboratory and installed aboard the space station in 2009. Its development was an experiment - to see if engineers could create an "Innovative Naval Prototype" instrument very quickly, at low-cost, and make it work for a year, said Davis, who worked for several years at the laboratory before joining the OSU faculty.
That first goal was achieved last October and now the focus is on the second goal, conducting useful science with this unique data set.
"We've already talked to 40-50 interested scientists and shared some preliminary data," he said, "and they've been excited about the potential. They all want a piece of it."
Some of the images HICO has provided have revealed interesting data:
"We hope to begin imaging the area around Sendai, Japan, which was devastated by the recent earthquake and tsunami to see what we might learn," Davis said.
The space station orbits Earth about 16 times a day and the researchers are able to get about 5-6 good images daily of targeted locations. Cloud cover and darkness limit the number of possible images, and the transmission of data files is enormous.
Jasmine Nahorniak, a senior research assistant, developed and runs the website through OSU's College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences where HICO images and other data are stored and shared with scientists around the world.
"We have a couple of thousand images and a growing number of scientists who are interested in the data," she said. "It's a work in progress."
The HICO website is at: http://hico.coas.oregonstate.edu/
Click photos to see a full-size version. Right click and save image to download.
Curt Davis, 541-737-5707


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... to read the essays, news stories and other articles in the issue, including the sampling below
October 9, 1989
The fight over the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is in a stalemate.
The fight over the federal Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is in a stalemate.
Most of the region's needs, including protection of its scenic grandeur from regional haze, acid pollution damage to high country lakes and streams, and urban carbon monoxide and particulate pollution, draw little attention in Washington.
In the Bridger-Teton National Forest, timber is losing and wildlife and recreation may be winning.
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