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One of the most difficult concepts to grasp, at times, is the difference between a zero-sum game and a non-zero-sum game. This becomes especially evident when discussing skilled immigration in America. There are many who are quite against the idea of giving visas to skilled foreigners to come to the US, believing that these individuals "take away jobs" from Americans. The only problem is that this is not supported by the data. That's because jobs are not a zero-sum game. There is not a set number of jobs that cannot change. And skilled immigrants have a long history of not just coming to the US, but also in creating a significant number of new jobs.
The importance of skilled immigrants in driving new jobs has been known for years, but the trend has only accelerated over the past decade. That older study found that 25% of Silicon Valley companies were founded by immigrants. A more recent Duke study found that this number has spread throughout the US: of tech- or engineering-related companies founded across the US, over 25% were founded by immigrants. In Silicon Valley, the number is now 52.4%. These companies are creating tremendous new job opportunities, not taking them away. Growing jobs is quite important.
Furthermore, it's difficult to see how keeping skilled immigrant labor out of the country helps the US. Those same workers do not disappear. Instead, they join tech companies in their homeland, where they end up competing against US companies. Shouldn't we want the best and smartest individuals working for US companies and helping to create US jobs, rather than the alternative?
Many of the concerns about skilled labor immigration tend to focus on the controversial H-1b program, with most of the complaints pointing to various abuses with the program. But we shouldn't be throwing out a good idea (encouraging skilled labor to come build companies in the US) with the fact that the program itself has been abused at times. If there are abuses, let's fix the abuses, while looking at better ways to encourage immigration from those we want to help us building our economy.
The Innovation Movement is an effort by the Consumer Electronics Association to make more people aware of such issues, and to make sure that Congress actually takes these issues into account, rather than just focusing on the patriotic headline while ignoring the unpatriotic results.
In this Insight Community Conversation, we're looking for thoughtful and well-written discussions on skilled labor immigration, and how to best encourage it. These can be ideas on how to respond to critics of skilled immigration programs, how to improve our current programs (such as the H-1b), or even brand new ideas for how the US could best encourage skilled immigration and enabling the creation of more jobs in the high tech sector. The best results will be used as posts on the Innovation Movement website.
10 Insights
Immigrants and jobs by Gene Cavanaugh
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 @ 12:43PM
I believe this is a perfect "short-term; long-term" phenomena.
Lowering costs (true, even if it brings up thoughts of "exploitation") and having people who are desperate enough for a better life that they will take chances and create jobs, is obviously a good thing.
Taking advantage of it, and thereby having the "good life" as a consequence, leads us to complacency, and when the bubble of immigrant exploitation bursts????? I don't need to say more, you know what will happen; if only because we just went through that with the financial institutions.
Still, I think immigration and the assimilation of immigrants is a good thing.
Chris DePuy
Wed Oct 14 3:28pm
|The key is to produce things that have value greater than that expended.
If it takes an inflow of immigrants to one particular job or industry to accomplish this, then its good for that company or industry, but also for our country because valuable goods are being produced.
Gene Cavanaugh
Sat Oct 17 5:01pm
|Absolutely true, and well-stated; but only in the short term. Once that crutch is gone (by a rising standard of living in the countries supplying this benefit) we will have Americans who are accustomed to sitting back and "letting someone else do it", and unable to fill the gap!
Gene Cavanaugh
Sat Oct 17 5:01pm
|Absolutely true, and well-stated; but only in the short term. Once that crutch is gone (by a rising standard of living in the countries supplying this benefit) we will have Americans who are accustomed to sitting back and "letting someone else do it", and unable to fill the gap!
Targeted but holistic immigration is the key by Gregory Kong
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 @ 9:20PM
Skilled migration involves not only a flow of expertise, but also cultural and societal expectations and traditions that may clash with the American way of life. It is not enough to judge a skilled migrant on his talents, but also whether or not he is willing to adapt to being an American, with freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of religion, and the equality of everyone under the law.
Firstly, this has to be a non-partisan initiative. Without all parties involved in the immigration process, you will inevitably get sore feelings and accusations of bias in migrant selection.
Secondly, the problem of illegal immigration has to be comprehensively dealt with. "Jumping queue" is not only unfair, it also impedes the actual flow of skilled migrants who are willing to go through the legal process. It generates ill feelings between those here legally and those who are not, and discourages people from the legal migration path.
Thirdly, the process of legal immigration has to be streamlined. Currently, there are too many roadblocks and too much red tape in the way; for example, a company must prove that there is no American who is qualified for a particular job before hiring migrants. While background checks are required, there should be a re-look at the process.
It is also worthwhile to note that the practice of 'anchor babies', migrants sucking off the public teat through welfare payments, and wielding dual-citizenship (hence transferring money out from the USA to their native land) are all issues that cloud the migration of skilled personnel to America, and should be discussed and resolved.
Incoming Income by Ben Nesbitt
Thursday, October 15th, 2009 @ 7:56AM
This is a big argument all the time. I am always hearing about people wanting to move to one of our countries but others against it. I think alot of people have forgotten why they are here. Their relatives were allowed to come. Their relatives who came, alot of times, had bad accents, were poor and needed jobs. Some even were criminals. Yet time and again we conveniently forgot because, as people, we got in and now want to protect our prize from everyone else. We also forget that moving money makes the economy better and that is the most important part of this.
Importing labor and Importing Employers.
There are two groups of people wanting to move to another country. One group has nothing and wants to come and make a name for themselves from the ground up. We try to refuse these people because "they will take our jobs by underselling us." (Competition is good btw.) Due to minimum wages and other considerations, these people aren't such a big threat. You will get the same pay as they do, except you are local and probably easier to deal with because you are already culturally acclimated. These people fill jobs nobody wants or nobody is qualified for and available to hire. For instance: the guy who runs a hog barn but can not find anybody who wants to work their except the convict and the two lazy guys who only applied to say they did and get their payout from the gov't.
The second class is the important one. These people want to come and start new lives from the foundation up. They will build companies and hire people. Ground up people maybe but current citizens. Once the company is in place they will begin moving money around and make our economy better. Some of these people are quite intelligent. Some are wealthy to an extent. Some have skills that make good startups.
My question then is this. Obviously there are more than one type of people wanting to come. We need to find out who is who and focus on the second group. This shouldnt stop the first because we should make amendments to allow the second more easily. We need the first to prevent companies, like hog barns, from going under from lack of labor. This way new money comes in, if only 40% of the companies succeed who cares. They spent money building it, they earned the chance by being willing to try.
P.S. I got the number 40% from a government thing on this subject I recently seen on tv.
Ben Nesbitt
Sat Oct 17 12:06am
|I see others commenting on labor in place losing their jobs to incoming labor. People in the losing job position complain. I would too. Its a hard line to walk because sometimes it is necessary, maybe the incoming guy was better at the job. Maybe the company is falling apart and cannot support the current staff, and I do not mean an attempt to increase the stock price but a legitimate problem. Other cases are possible as well.
People losing their jobs sucks for them and their families but preventing a company from succeeding purely on the principle that people who have their jobs deserve them is stupid. You DO NOT deserve a job. You EARN the PRIVILEGE of having it. You do this by working hard and providing a VALUABLE RESOURCE. If you don't then you are released or replaced. Sometimes companies do this out of greed, which is wrong because you have earned the position but they would rather cheap out and pass a lower quality to the consumers for the same price.
GM used the idea of people deserving their jobs and nearly went bankrupt. You don't deserve 70 bucks an hour, platinum plated retirement package, full benefits etc. It is nice but you do not deserve anything. You do not even deserve to be treated nice.
You earn everything you get, although sometimes you get less than you have earned.
Choose wisely.
H-1B has issues. It needs work. It seems to contribute to people getting less than they earn. People should get what they have earned. If they don't, they will see what they get and either aim to earn only that or attempt to force a revolution, a change. Revolution is good for them, bad for employers. Treat your labor as a precious resource.
David Swan
Mon Nov 15 12:38am
|I would kind of agree with your comment with regards to the split in immigrant background. This questions is one of economics and as such it is a numbers game. The simple fact is that more supply of labour drives down wages. Given that the US has to compete in the world based in intellectual capital the demand for low skilled labour will fall (especially as more and more processes are automated). In this sense the US needs more of the second group than the first. The working class could do without the competition for jobs.
Immigrants and jobs by Gene Cavanaugh
Thursday, October 15th, 2009 @ 10:10AM
I truly believe there is a way to solve the "immigration problem", stop the long term consequences of artificially cheap labor, and still be "fair and balanced" with the ROW (rest of the world). I also believe it won't be implemented, but that is a different thread.
Simply make it easy for immigrants to sue for wage disparity. That would level the playing field for Americans, while not unduly discouraging desirable immigrants. Of course, it would also accelerate the trend toward jobs fleeing overseas, since trying to enforce American minimum wage standards overseas would both be an infringing on foreign sovereignty and impossible; but that, also, is another thread.
Ben Nesbitt
Fri Oct 16 11:29pm
|This has some merit but I believe would cause the problem of cheap and inexperienced labor suing to have the same pay as more expensive and experienced labor. Those in positions then of experience would quit trying because they wouldn't need to. Being better wouldn't gain anything, you wouldn't get paid more, someone would just sue to level it out again. This would lower quality across the board. People would still want to move here because suddenly you make it easy to gain higher paying jobs without much effort. Lawyers typically have a percentage of gain type business model for the plaintiff side. The overall cause if this occurs is very bad if you consider the loss of quality in areas like medical, construction, R&D, and electronics.
Immigrants for Sale by Allan Masri
Thursday, October 15th, 2009 @ 2:36PM
This article does nothing other than recite, yet again, what high-tech companies and their lobbyists want the rest of us to believe. It is full of half-truths and outright lies.
1. Immigrants with H-1B visas do not take jobs away from Americans.
This is plain false. I know, because I lost my job to a guy fresh off the boat from China whom I helped train. Industry-funded studies that supposedly prove this are flawed. They cite statistics that show, for example, that there is little unemployment among software engineers. They don't consider that engineers who have been laid off may have taken other jobs to survive, like the Nobel Prize contributing scientist who, at age 57, was driving a bus for $10 an hour. The study(Saxenian,1999) that showed that 21% of Silicon Valley firms were started by immigrants also showed that rates of entrepreneurship among immigrants were lower than among Americans. So if more Americans were allowed to enter the field, this finding suggests that more, not fewer, new startups would result.
2. If we don't import more H-1B engineers, we will not take advantage of the "best and smartest" engineers.
H-1Bs are not the best and smartest. There are already categories in immigration law to admit those. H-1Bs are the cheapest. The program has been used to bring in cheap labor and push out older engineers, sometimes as young as 40.
This insight topic does not even admit the possibility that the immigration laws have been abused and American workers have lost their jobs because of it. The author assumes that the H-1B program is a good thing and asks for suggestions on how to respond to critics of skilled immigration programs.
So here's my idea: Abolish the H-1B program. Allow American students to major in computer engineering with the expectation that they will get good jobs when they graduate. As for shortages of engineers, don't worry. There will be no shortages. College-educated Americans are crying out for good careers. Let the Consumer Electronics Association join me in promoting engineering education instead of importing our skilled workers from other countries.
Ben Nesbitt
Fri Oct 16 11:48pm
|Adding grants to augment this idea, increasing the ability for current citizens to get the required training, focusing on demonstrated ability, need and desire, would accelerate the outcome of this idea.
On number 2, Allan is right in a sense. H-1B people are quite often cheaper. They are not necessarily less intelligent however. They may be in some cases, average in others and some might even actually be better. The problem lies in proper qualification, this is obviously lacking. A more developed, stricter method of qualification will slow the incoming job market. Eliminating what can potentially be a method to import needed skilled labor is a bad idea. Especially since the government employs some of these, they will just make loopholes to allow it that will degrade the system as a whole. Yes it needs further refinement. Yes it needs better control. Close the problem spots instead of eliminating its flow or other areas will spring leaks.
Allan, my bro is a programmer. I feel your pain. Your field has some brilliant minds. Job security is important to me. I am Canadian but the idea translates to both countries. We should help those already in place, and those who already live here to step up to replace any slack before taking in immigrants to fill these positions. The exception is exceptional applicants. Sometimes someone from somewhere else really is that good. This shouldn't be a method to get cheap labor, instead it should be a method to import serious skill when it is lacking. Perhaps a higher minimum wage for H-1B workers. Unlike lawsuits, a mandatory minimum that only applies to immigrants offers native citizens the edge of working cheaper than the outside labor. The idea needs work but internal labor should be considered valuable.
Allan Masri
Sat Oct 17 8:19am
|OK, Ben, since you are a Canadian you are probably not familiar with American immigration laws. The problem is not that the H-1B program has loopholes. The problem is that the program itself is a loophole. It already contains provisions like the ones you suggest, namely that H-1B workers be paid the prevailing wage. But employers have dozens of ways to get around this, such as giving a job description that doesn't fit the actual job. The program resembles indentured servitude in that the workers cannot quit unless they leave the country, nor can they change employers, since they will thereby lose "time served" in working toward permanent residency status, which usually takes seven years, but is sometimes extended by the employers, who purposely miss deadlines for filing and employ other legal tricks. During those seven years of servitude, the employee does not need to be promoted or given a raise, nor does he/she have any leverage to ask for bonuses or stock options. Anyone interested in the intricacies of the H-1B program should consult Norm Matloff's web page, http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/h1b.html.
The H-1B is not intended for "exceptional" performers. There are other immigrant programs for those people.
Rather than tinker with the program, which will give its abusers and their lobbyists opportunities to replace the loopholes that already exist with others, the whole H-1B program should be abolished. Companies should be required to prove that they need an immigrant before they can simply import one. They should also be required to set up training programs where unemployed residents can develop new skills. They should also be required to show that they have tried to open branches in depressed areas (like Flint Michigan) before they can open them in China and India. Engineering companies can make a profit without screwing their employees. The current laws make it too easy for them to take the low road.
Skilled Immigration Fuels Innovation by Joseph Hunkins
Sunday, October 25th, 2009 @ 10:05PM
Since the earliest days and humblest beginnings of the great American economic experiment, immigration has played a major role in the USA's rise to global economic power and dominance.
Attracted by America's open, innovative economy, personal freedoms, and political stability, wave upon wave of immigrants have moved to the land of opportunity.
There is a strong historical case that America's economic dominance is closely related to how the USA has welcomed immigrants and has economically empowered people regardless of their culture, beliefs or personal background. This idea is based on the likelihood that new and diverse backgrounds and ideas are more likely to spawn new and innovative solutions. However the high value of immigration is also borne out by research such as the skilled immigration study cited above by A. Saxenian that concluded:
... the task for policymakers remains to maintain open boundaries so that regions like Silicon Valley continue to both build and benefit from their growing ties to the Asian economy.
More recently an analysis by the Peterson Institute for International Economics suggested how America's increasingly restrictive immigration policies are actually detrimental to the national interest:
An increasingly vicious combination of long-term trends in the form of retiring baby boomers and stagnating US educational attainment, combined with increasingly restrictive laws on high-skilled immigration increasingly undermines the US position. This will seriously jeopardize long-term economic growth opportunities, especially for US high-tech sectors.
As the the Innovation movement notes above, a key point in this globalized world is that we are not playing a zero sum game. Efficient systems and production rely on using those best suited to working hard and tackling the challenges faced by modern business. History makes it clear that strong partnerships evolve over time with people from many countries and backgrounds. Not only do international workers bring skills and innovation to the American table, they create international relationships - both business and personal - that help bring international understanding and stability to the entire globe. The question is not "how can we make jobs only for Americans", rather it is how can we all work together to get the jobs done in the best way possible using all the human resources at our disposal.
The stakes have never been higher, and economic clear thinkers know that Americans do best when we partner with the skilled, innovative, and hard working immigrants who are themselves seeking the promise and prosperity of a land filled with opportunities for everyone.
Immigrants and jobs by Gene Cavanaugh
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 @ 11:14AM
I have had the opportunity to work with several immigrants lately (mostly Spanish and Chinese), and while people are the same the world over, some good, some bad, the quality of the immigrants I am privileged to work with is very high.
At the same time, since they give back FAR more than they take, they are inadvertently contributing to a general feeling of "entitlement" for the "me generation", and this, while GREAT in the short term, is TERRIBLE in the long term!
We need more laws to (somehow) level the playing field - the only thing that makes sense is to mandate a better deal for immigrants, but human greed makes that not an option.
Not sure what we can do, other than junk another generation.
The Importance Of Skilled Immigration To The Economy by Mike Masnick
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 @ 11:56AM
Since I work for Floor64, I am not eligible for the award, but this is an important topic, and I wanted to contribute as well.
The issue of skilled worker immigration is certainly a hot topic within the technology sector. There are a few key points that are important for anyone to understand to make sure that the discussion stays on point and is not derailed by tangents.
With those four things in mind, it is possible to create a program that helps the overall economy, while recognizing the difficulty for those who face personal turmoil due to a changing workforce. However, for those who insist that "foreigners took my job," it needs to be asked: would you be better off if those same foreigners built a company overseas that forced your entire company to shut down? Isn't it better to have the jobs in America, where productivity and success can and will create new jobs?
As for the H1-b program, it is clearly flawed and abused widely. However, its purpose -- helping skilled foreign workers get jobs in America is undeniably a good thing. The focus should be on stomping out the abuses. The law requires that H1-b's are paid the equivalent wage of others with that same job. This is often ignored or avoided. Cracking down on abuse, while also focusing on ways to make the H1-b program better and more efficient can only help the American economy.
All in all, America is a nation of immigrants. Throughout history, we've welcomed immigrants from all over to our shores, and many of the biggest economic successes in our history were built through skilled immigrants coming to America. It would be a shame if we stopped that now, and slowed down American innovation, while aiding it abroad.
Consider the Scope of the Problem before Pinpointing a Solution by Steven Bergman
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 @ 11:09PM
A major flaw in many discussions of the immigration problem is that they deal with a subset of the overall problem, and as such, cannot really do it justice, much less resolve it, in whole or in part. The title of this discussion is an example of a such partial approach.
The issue of a skilled immigrant is not the same as that of an immigrant operating under H1-b. The issue of what happens to such an immigrant who remains illegally in the country after her/her visa expires is another. What do to about the children of illegal immigrants who nevertheless attend college in this country (often at public expense), excel in their studies, and yet are prohibited from completing a 4-year degree, is still another, and so on.
What no one in the administration or congress seems wiling to do is to address the entire immigration situation. That means revisiting the basic system, which currently favors Northern Europeans. It means addressing persons who are here illegally (whether because they entered illegally or because they overstayed a visa) and those who want to come legally. It includes those who only want to come for seasonal work every year and be allowed to return. It means looking at millions of young, healthy immigrants who earn money that can't report and coupling that with the fact that there are fewer and fewer healthy citizens to support social security.
It means beginning by realizing that this country will never be able to create a solution if it is unwilling to create a system of national ID cards. They exist in Canada and throughout the European Union and democracy hasn't visibly suffered as a result.
Once a means is established to identify who is here, then anyone who has been here and has had children in the public school system can be assessed for for share of the national burden, whatever that may be interpreted to mean. Then, fair policies should be created to determine what sorts of quotas should be extended based on skills that are needed or on the ability and willingness to invest money to create companies and hire American workers or because there are possibly surgeons and medical doctors willing to agree to work in rural areas in the U.S. for 10 years or more in exchange for permanent residency residency -- persons with knowledge or financial assets or professional skills that do not directly complete with the excessive numbers of persons now unemployed in this country. That is the basis for the complete discussion of immigration that should precede attempting to resolve subsets of the discussion.
400 Years of Immigration by David Cassel
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 @ 11:30PM
Perhaps the most famous tech worker to immigrate to the United States was Albert Einstein. And if you look at the Manhattan project, you'll soon realize that skilled tech-sector immigrants helped end World War II. Maybe that's what we need -- a list of America's most inspirational immigrants. The governor of California is an immigrant. Barack Obama's father was an immigrant...
The list goes on and on. In fact, America was founded by immigrants! The pilgrims who settled in Jamestown and Plymouth Rock arrived from England, and ultimately (over the next 400 years) created a slew of jobs! With enough examples, it becomes clear that the problem is just a lack of understanding.
It's important to recognize that these are difficult economic times. But for that very reason, America needs to take advantage of an influx of skilled labor that could help the economy grow. The stimulus legislation passed earlier this year included many thoughtful new policies. Perhaps the struggling world economy also offers a chance to urge new reforms to our immigration policies.
Obviously the word "immigration" has become a hot-button for political debates. It might help to come up with a better label for this issue. ("International technology development program"?) It's important to emphasize that it's skilled immigration that's being discussed. That distinction could eliminate many of the knee-jerk reactions that have blocked immigration reform.
If there's low public support for skilled labor immigration, the solution is outreach and education. Share with your neighbors if you've heard an inspiring story about a skill-labor immigrant, or if you know of a company in need of workers. Make your Congressmen aware of the issue, and ask friends in your community to do the same. But most importantly: talk about the issue. If people can change their minds, then the change in the world will follow.
Jim Laws
Wed Aug 25 11:52pm
|Today's Americans were once immigrants so stopping immigration might not be very helpful as it brings skilled labor.
Ben Fuller
Mon Dec 6 7:37am
|I couldn't agree more with your insight. The simple fact is that the US economy needs to compete on skill and skill is a resource, so why not let skill in from other countries (which hasn't been paid for in terms of education and training costs).


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This Vegan Strawberry Cacao Nibs Smoothie is rich and creamy and tastes as decadent as dessert.
Who doesn't love a good strawberry smoothie?! Well, this Vegan Strawberry Cacao Nibs Smoothie is made with frozen organic strawberries (so you don't have to worry about whether strawberries are in season or not) and your favorite nut or hemp seed milk. The added antioxidant rich cacao nibs give this smoothie the taste of chocolate covered strawberries. Win!
Strawberries are packed with antioxidants that nourish your body with vitality. Strawberries are low in calories and high in antioxidants. I typically use either cashew milk, almond milk or hemp seed milk for this smoothie. My preference is cashew or hemp. The cashew is lighter tasting than almond milk, and I love how my skin feels when I drink hemp milk (super soft), but it is more fattening. One cup of unsweetened almond milk contains 30 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, and 1 gram each of protein, carbohydrate and fiber. One cup of unsweetened cashew milk contains 25 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of fiber, and 1 gram each of protein and carbohydrate. Then there's hemp milk. One cup of unsweetened hemp milk contains 70 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 3 grams of protein. Hemp is loaded with vitamins minerals and essential fatty acids. It contains the perfect 1:3 balance of Omega-6 to Omega 3, which the body needs for good skin health, energy production, nervous system function, and immune system support. Studies have shown that Omega 3 is a good anti-inflammatory – it's also good for lowering blood pressure, bad cholesterol, and triglycerides. Hemp is also a rich source of easily digestible protein, and it contains all of the essential amino acids which are the building blocks of protein. I used to always only use hemp milk for this strawberry hemp smoothie, but then I used cashew milk by default (because I was out of hemp) and loved the delicate flavor of cashew milk. The "China Study", byT. Colin Campbell and M.D. Thomas M. Campbell II, provides some dramatic information about how casein (milk protein) is a cancer promoter. I've never been big on dairy, so switching to almond, cashew and hemp milks for my "milk" needs has been an easy one. After having worked on a dairy farm for a short while, my grandpa never touched a drop of cows milk (and encouraged us not to either). He was a wise man and way ahead of his time!
As for cacao – it's the purest form of chocolate you can consume. Cacao is an excellent source of antioxidants and magnesium.
I hope this dairy free smoothie recipe becomes one of your favorites! It's definitely one of mine!
This post is an updated post from (with updated photos) an earlier post.

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Ground structures for housing the U.S. Space Fence program are to be designed and built by a General Dynamics business unit under contract from Lockheed Martin.The structures - as well as integration of mechanical systems for the project - will start next year on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
{snip}Space Fence is designed to provide assured coverage at Low Earth Orbit for objects as small as 10 centimeters. {snip}
MOORESTOWN, N.J., Sept. 28, 2015 Lockheed Martins (NYSE: LMT) Space Fence System, including the large-scale digital radar and turn-key facility were deemed technically mature and provided evidence that all requirements will be met through the programs Critical Design Review (CDR) conducted by the U.S. Air Force.Government representatives met with Lockheed Martin engineers in Moorestown to review the Space Fence S-band radar system design, which will detect, track, and catalog orbital objects in space more than 1.5 million times a day to predict and prevent space-based collisions. The three-day CDR was preceded by the delivery of 21,000 pages of design documents, and an eight-day Design Walkthrough, to ensure the system will meet performance requirements. The CDR event featured the demonstration of a small-scale system built with end-item components that detected and tracked orbiting space objects.Completion of CDR marks the end of the design phase and the start of radar production and facility construction of the Space Fence system, says Steve Bruce, vice president for Advanced Systems at Lockheed Martins Mission Systems and Training business. "Once complete, Space Fence will deliver revolutionary capability to the U.S. Air Force with a flexible system capable of adapting to future missions requiring new tracking and coverage approaches. We look forward to continuing our successful partnerships with the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Life-Cycle Management Center and Space Command.Within the Space Fence radar open architecture design, Lockheed Martin uses the latest monolithic microwave integrated circuit technology, including Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductor materials. GaN provides a number of significant advantages for active phased array radar systems, including higher power density, greater efficiency and significantly improved reliability over previous technologies.Lockheed Martin has a decade of investment and significant experience in successfully developing GaN-based products. Lockheed Martin is able to procure mature technology that is commercially available, aided by significant investment occurring in the marketplace in areas such as cell phone infrastructure and LED design. This is in alignment with the recent release of Better Buying power 3.0 and the need to leverage commercial technology where applicable to lower development costs and provide greater value for the Department of Defense.In addition to engineering the radar arrays, the Lockheed Martin team also broke ground on the new six-acre Space Fence site earlier this year on Kwajalein Island, 2,100 miles southwest of Honolulu. The construction process is challenging due to the remoteness and cultural and historic significance of the location. The buildings are designed to handle high winds and seismic loads, while maintaining the alignment and accuracy of the radar system.The sensor site installation will include an on-site operations center and an annex to the current island power plant that will ensure the Space Fence system has everything necessary to provide continuous Space Situational Awareness. Once construction is complete, Space Fence will go through testing and validation before its initial operating capability occurs in late 2018.For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com/spacefence.About Lockheed MartinHeadquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 112,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporations net sales for 2014 were $45.6 billion.
WASHINGTON Lockheed Martin has built a scaled-down version of the U.S. Air Forces next-generation space surveillance system in New Jersey as a way to test hardware and software for the Space Fence, the company announced March 28.
A long-awaited update to the hardware and software system that will allow the U.S. Air Force to ingest data from its new object tracking system, known as Space Fence, will not be ready until 2018, about 19 months later than previous estimates, an Air Force spokeswoman said April 11.The Air Force has been undergoing a broad modernization of the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), the processing center of U.S. military space operations headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.The program, known as the JSpOC Mission System (JMS), is a three-phased, $1 billion initiative to replace or upgrade the hardware and software currently used for space surveillance, collision avoidance, launch support, and providing more precise and timely orbital information. The new system replaces the legacy Space Defense Operations Center, or SPADOC, which Air Force officials say is dated and becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
While dodging debris is an improvement over not dodging it, is there any effort or plan or even hint of a plan to actually begin debris clean-up? I suspect that we'll be true to form and wait until we are in the full crisis mode -- Kessler cascade has begun -- before we start a crash (no pun intended) program to fix it.
Colorado Springs, Colo.The head of Air Force Space Command would prefer to have airmen who are doing collision avoidance and orbital analysis focus on other missions, but the military must continue to operate the network for space control, AFSPC boss Gen. John Hyten said. The FAA and Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) both recently proposed moving space traffic management tracking from the Air Force to the Federal Aviation Administration, and Hyten said he is good with providing data to the FAA and having them do the math on collision avoidance. But, he said, the commercial sector will never have a capability as good as the space fence, which cost $914 million and will increase the number of objects USAF tracks in space by tenfold. So, Hyten said, there are some details to work through with the FAA to make sure its all done right, but the vision is correct: We shouldnt be doing flight safety for everybody in the world.


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Wabash Holds Off Wooster 21-17
by Jim Amidon
September 11, 2010
The Wabash College football team dodged two early bullets, jumped out to a 14-0 lead, and then held off a late Wooster rally for a 21-17 victory in the Little Giants' season opener. Sophomore Jonathon Koop's interception in the closing seconds sealed the victory.
The Little Giants fumbled the opening kickoff, which set up Wooster with good field position. The Scots' drive bogged down after a holding penalty and Russ Palm's 42-yard field goal went wide right.
On its next series, Wabash was penalized for a false start, lost three yards on a running play, and sophomore quarterback Chase Belton was intercepted at the Wabash 17-yard-line. The Little Giants had two possessions, ran two plays, and turned the ball over twice.
Fortunately for the 4,381 Scarlet-clad fans present for the dedication of Sewell Field at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium, Wooster quarterback Richard Barnes threw an errant pass on the ensuing play, which was picked off by Wabash's Sam Smith.
Four plays later, Belton hit senior wide receiver Wes Chamblee in the flat, and the All-American returner bolted 72 yards to score the first points on the newly dedicated field.
"When you walk off the field knowing that you didn't play your best, but you still got the win, it makes coming in on Sunday a whole lot better," said Wabash Coach Erik Raeburn, who is now 3-0 in Wabash season-openers. "We know we've got a lot of work to do, but we feel like teams make a lot of improvement between games one and two, and we need to make progress."
See pictures of Wabash's home opener
, and
The Little Giants committed 10 penalties for 97 yards, turned the ball over three times, and were just 1-for-3 in red zone opportunities.
Belton, who led Wabash to a victory at Wooster in his only other collegiate start, showed flashes of brilliance, but also made a few costly mistakes. He led all rushers with 127 yards, but gave back 46 of those yards on four sacks.
"We'll take a sack if it means not turning the ball over," said Raeburn, "but we can't be running backward and giving up more yards. Chase took some sacks scrambling around trying to make plays, but we can't give up that much yardage."
After he hit Chamblee on the 72-yard strike, Belton led Wabash on a nifty 6-play, 66-yard scoring drive by teaming up with Jonathan Horn. Horn caught passes of nine, 15, and used his size to break away from the defender for a 23-yard touchdown grab.
Belton hit 16-of-26 passes for 250 yards and two scores. Horn had eight catches for 108 yards, while rookie James Krause stepped in to make four receptions for 42 yards.
Belton's second interception came early in the second quarter, and Wooster's Petey Jeffy returned the ball 49 yards to give the Scots excellent field position. Barnes hit Mike Redick for 18 yards and later scrambled for five yards on fourth down to draw the Scots within 7, 14-7.
Wabash stuffed the Scots on their first possession of the third quarter, and Belton responded by taking the Little Giants on an eight-play, 79-yard drive that was easily the most impressive offensive display of the day for Wabash.
Belton showed he's a running threat with bursts of 13, seven, and 15 yards on the drive, and Tommy Mambourg stormed in from three yards out for a 21-7 Wabash lead six minutes into the third quarter.
Wooster marched 62 yards at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter to keep the pressure on the Little Giants. Robert Flagg, who rushed for 86 yards, shot up the middle from 14 yards out to cut Wabash's lead to seven, 21-14.
Wabash had a chance to salt the game away, and it appeared the Little Giants would do just that when Belton rushed for 35 yards to get inside the Wooster 20 yard-line. A penalty got Wabash to the four, but Belton gave up 30 yards on a pair of sacks to stall the drive.
Wooster got a 37-yard field goal from Palm with 3:53 to play, and held Wabash on its next possession. But Barnes threw three straight incomplete passes before Koop's interception that sealed the Little Giants victory.
Wabash outgained Wooster 393 to 295 in the contest, though the Scots put up 19 first downs to Wabash's 18. Sophomore safety Sam Smith led all defenders with 13 tackles, plus he added the first-quarter interception and later recovered a fumble.
C.J. Gum, who was unable to practice most of the week, was solid at middle linebacker and posted 11 tackles and three tackles for loss.
Linemen J.D. McClintic and Jake Kolisek each had seven stops and they combined on a sack of Barnes.
"It feels good to win," Gum said after the contest. "Even though I didn't practice, I felt mentally prepared by watching film and watching in practice.
"We've got a lot of stuff to correct, but it's good to win our first game."
Prior to kickoff, Wabash President Pat White formally dedicated Sewell Field, which honors the memory of David Hunter Sewell '76. Sewell played football, wrestled, and appeared in Wabash theater productions as an undergraduate. A gift from Trustee Gary Reamey '77, who was close friends with Sewell prior to his death last year, made the new Field Turf playing surface possible.
"[Sewell's] integrity, honor, and dignity touched the lives of all who had the privilege of knowing him," said President White.
The President also paid tribute to Paul Hawksworth '56, for whom Wabash's new scoreboard is dedicated. On the occasion of his 75th birthday, Paul's Wabash sons — David '88, Mike '91, and Jim '95 — made a gift to the College that made the scoreboard possible.
Wabash will travel to Delaware, Ohio next Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest against Ohio Wesleyan.
In the pictures — At the top: Wes Chamblee celebrates the first touchdown scored on Sewell Field at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium. Above left: Jonathan Horn dragged a defender more than 10 yards to find the end zone. Above right: Chase Belton takes off upfield for a big gain. Bottom left: Austin Hodges (20) and Sam Smith (9) combine to hit quarterback Richard Barnes.
Results: Wabash 21, Wooster 17
Game Stats
Wabash College
301 W Wabash Ave Crawfordsville, IN 47933 765.361.6100


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Edited by Kate Beeching, Chiara Ghezzi and Piera Molinelli
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 292] 2018
Baozi Pink Caramel Women's Elleme Bag ► pp. 197–Baozi Elleme Pink Women's Bag Caramel 218
Elleme Caramel Women's Pink Bag Baozi ppn4R6q8
The evolution of cioè in Contemporary Italian
This chapter analyses the evolution of Italian cioè lit. 'that is' in recent diachrony. Cioè developed a social indexicality as in the 1980s it was associated with a young speech style. Through a corpus-based analysis of listeners' phone-ins to a radio station, this study analyses the functions of cioè in the speech styles of different age-cohorts and its diachronic evolution over the last thirty years. The evolution of cioè shows that speakers employ it creatively, through a progressive bleaching of its original semantic and pragmatic values. The expansion of its functions and contexts of occurrence is so extensive that the expression became stigmatized as a 'verbal tic' characteristic of the language spoken by an age-cohort of speakers. These same social values are at the origin of the progressive decline of cioè in new generations of young speakers and in the community as a whole.


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My computer won't recognize my digital camera. A few of you have already seen these photos on facebook. With a combined board effort Seppel is in Oregon! I was going to go the two week shut down route but Sepp is a wild child and I thought some play time would be good for him.
We got to the cargo place last night and I saw him through the window in the door. Whether you're really squishy and spiritual or not it's almost like he knew who I was. I took him out of the kennel so he could stretch his legs and pee [but he was waaay too amped up to pee!] I handed him to my friend while I loaded the kennel and while she was holding him he was looking for me. It was weird because you'd think he would have attached himself to her too. He settled right down in the car and half laid in my friend's lap. When I dropped her off he slept in the seat. He met my parents last night since I was going to be moving my things to their place today, he was nervous but he warmed up right away and was very friendly to them. I left my dogs at my parents, he was too over loaded to even consider meeting everyone. He came home with me and slept in my bed - he didn't try to kill me in my sleep and he didn't inject any pit bull venom just laid at my feet or next to me. Any time I touched him his tail would go crazy.
I took him to the tennis courts and threw the ball for him a bunch and then brought him to my parents to meet my dogs. So far everyone gets along. He plays with Seth but then he tries to hump him and things go south. They haven't actually tried to kill each other - they just make a lot of noise. He backs down pretty easily right now - we'll see how it goes when the honeymoon phase is over and he actually gets comfortable. Although I think he's doing the humping thing because he's still not sure what's going on. I think he's trying to figure out his place and that will come in time. For a piece of ham I got him to sit, lay down, shake, and speak. So everyone's supervised but everyone so far is co-existing. Just thought I'd share some pictures - as I'm posting this he's trying to attack the leaf blower outside!


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Call for Feedback: How-To Note on Community Mapping for Better Services
The review process for this How-to Note has ended. The paper has been downloaded 36 times and we received 5 comments.
We are grateful to the many reviewers for their valuable comments. The author will carefully review and consider all comments when finalizing the note. The final version of the How-To Note will be published on the Open Development Technology Alliance website and announced in the World Bank blog forum.


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SOURCE: Couchbase
January 16, 2014 08:00 ET
Brings Leading NoSQL Technology to Japan to Support Growing Local Demand
Brings Leading NoSQL Technology to Japan to Support Growing Local Demand
TOKYO, JAPAN--(Marketwired - Jan 16, 2014) - SCSK Corporation, a leading information service company in Japan, announced today that it has signed a reseller agreement with Couchbase, the fastest-growing NoSQL technology provider and the company behind the Couchbase open source project.
Couchbase recently received two of IDG's prestigious InfoWorld 2013 Bossie Awards and was recognized as having one of "the best open source big data tools" and being one of "the best of open source data center and cloud software" products. The company recently announced that software subscription sales grew by more than 400 percent year-over-year in the first half of 2013. The rapid growth was fueled by the success of Couchbase's 2.0 release and associated major competitive wins at many large global companies.
SCSK has been working with Couchbase to market its product in Japan since early 2012, and recently became an official reseller of Couchbase. SCSK has chosen to partner with Couchbase for its industry-leading NoSQL scalability, performance and flexibility.
"The NoSQL market is starting to enter its hyper-growth stage with an increasing shift from relational to NoSQL," said Couchbase CEO Bob Wiederhold. "The first wave has been at the server level, either in the data center or in the cloud. The next wave is clearly mobile, where Couchbase is leading the charge in the shift away from relational, and we're also seeing tremendous potential in the Japanese market."
About Couchbase Open Source Project
The Couchbase Open Source Project is a leading NoSQL database project, with a vibrant community focused on developing distributed database technology that supports both key-value and document-oriented use cases. All Couchbase technology components are available under the Apache 2.0 License, and may also be obtained as packaged software from Couchbase, Inc. in both enterprise and community editions.
About Couchbase
Couchbase is a leading provider of NoSQL database technology and the company behind the Couchbase open source project. Couchbase Server, the company's flagship product, is a NoSQL document-oriented database with production deployments at AOL, Cisco, Concur, LinkedIn, Orbitz, Salesforce.com, Shuffle Master, Zynga and hundreds of other household names worldwide. It is particularly well suited for web and mobile applications, providing easy scalability, consistent high performance, 24x365 availability, and a flexible data model for ease of development. Couchbase is headquartered in Silicon Valley, and is funded by Accel Partners, Ignition Partners, Mayfield Fund, and North Bridge Venture Partners. www.couchbase.com
ContactMichelle Kincaid
LEWIS PR for CouchbaseEmail Contact
Office: 415-432-2467
Mobile: 757-503-1123
ContactMichelle Kincaid
LEWIS PR for CouchbaseEmail Contact
Office: 415-432-2467
Mobile: 757-503-1123
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Dana Meise began hiking nearly 6 years ago with the goal in mind to hike solo across Canada via the Trans Canada Trail. This is no easy feat as the trail a stretches a span of approximately 23,000 kilometers. To date Dana has hiked a whopping 16,000 km over approximately 1,000 days, where some days he has hiked nearly 70 km. With no benefactors or charities involved, this hike is simply an opportunity for Dana to explore, adventure, and experience all that Canada has to offer through the Trans Canada Trail.
We met up with Dana as he hiked the section of the Trans Canada Trail that connects through Westhills. Battling a bit of fatigue from his most recent 7 month hiking stint, he spoke about this journey which started in Newfoundland and has brought him to Vancouver Island and more recently the Westshore. He spoke with such passion about the history, community and beauty that the Trans Canada Trail encompasses. He made mention to portions of the trail that were once used by the First Nations people thousands of years ago. It's amazing to think that something that was an important transportation route so many years ago has been preserved and can still be experienced to today. The Trans Canada Trail displays a unique preservation of the Canadian history with landmarks, the connection of amazing cities and people along the way.
His eyes lit up when he spoke about the beauty of his mission, as many of the things he experienced only those that have walked the trail would understand. From beautifully forested trails to spectacular Albertan mountain ranges to vast British Columbian ocean landscapes, Dana has seen a lot of what Canada has to offer.
Dana also distinguished the community aspect of his journey and all the people he has met along the way. He has come across thousands of people on his hike from all walks of life and from many different cities in Canada and all over the world. Although the scenery may change, the Trans Canada Trail holds true and acts as the rope that ties all these different communities and people across Canada together.
Even though some nights have been treacherous, thinking about Dana's story of the time he slept outside in negative twenty degree weather, the experiences of history, beauty and community are things he will never forget. These same experiences are at our fingertips. With the Trans Canada Trail and the Galloping Goose literally in our backyard at Westhills, we encourage all of you to get out and use these amazing features to your benefit. Meet your neighbours and enjoy the history, beauty and community that Dana spoke about
Check out Dana on Twitter @TheHikingFool and on Facebook as The Great Hike, to follow him on his journey and see some of the amazing things he has experienced.


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Disney Princess Magazine Subscription
Join Cinderella, Belle, and all the other beloved princesses in this delightful fairy tale magazine that is full of magical stories, challenging activities, coloring pages and fun games. For girls ages 3 to 6.
More about Disney Princess Magazine
More About Disney Princess Magazine
More About Disney Princess Magazine: Take your little princess on a journey of the imagination with a subscription Disney Princess magazine from Fun To Learn. Disney Princess provides your children with hours of entertainment. Read enchanting stories starring Disney princesses like Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Arial from the Little Mermaid, Jasmine from Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Mulan. Each activity-filled issue includes fun games, a collectible pull-out poster, and creative ideas for crafty Princess Projects for children ages 4 and up. Your children will love learning about far-off places that could only exist in the magical world of Disney. Subscribe to Disney Princess magazine today and treat the princesses in your life to something special.
Disney Princess Magazine Subscription Review
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Justin Bieber Performs Acoustic Version of 'Boyfriend' on 'Ellen'
To promote his new 'Believe Acoustic' EP, a performance of Justin Bieber on Ellen DeGeneres' namesake show aired on Tuesday (Jan. 29.) He delivered an acoustic version of 'Boyfriend,' showing off his swag, swag, swag in an all-black ensemble, accessorized with more gold chains than Mr. T and bright red kicks.
Despite a minor technical difficulty in the beginning, where has asked to have the volumed turn up and then down and a little mic feedback mid-perf, it was just fine! The Biebs even rubbed his arm when he sang the line about "Keep you on my arm girl / Never let you go." So it was animated.
It was as swagtastic and swagtacular as it gets. It was also a bluesier rendering than we are used to. It showed the scope of the Billboard cover boy's talent.


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Welcome to Cirillo's
Cirillo's Salon, Spa & Laser has been providing day spa services since 1989, taking care of their clients' needs.
At Cirillo's our motto is "Always Accommodate". We truly love and pride ourselves in what we do, and as a valued client, we provide the best service for you.
Our Spa offers a warm, professional, safe and confidential environment conducive to relaxation and healing.
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Join our VIP Club mailing list and get access to exclusive deals and promotions. Please enter your email below and hit Subscribe.
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to the official website of the Castle Shannon Volunteer Fire Department.
Since 1922, the Castle Shannon V.F.D. has provided the borough with fire protection service.
In 1993, the Castle Shannon V.F.D. merged with Baldwin Township's Rolling Hills V.F.D. and now provides fire protection service to the two neighboring communities.
Our fire department is 100% volunteer and depends on the support of the community to continue providing this fine service.
We welcome you to look around and discover more about our fire department and the volunteers that serve your community.


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In The Round with Phil Barton, Bruce Wallace, Melanie Dyer and Sinead Burgess
Early shows at the Bluebird usually feature the best up and coming songwriters (and the occasional hit writer). They may not have a lot of hits yet, but you will see a great show.There are 20 tables and 10 bar seats available for reservation. Pew Seats for these shows are not reserved in advance. These seats are available on a first come/ first served basis when doors open..
Event Date:
Saturday, October 13, 2018 - 1:30pm
Door Time:
Tickets:Sold Out


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Ayy 2-1. Don't get too drunk now!
Happy birthday :)
Thanks Meta!
Happy birthday Galaxy! Your age makes me feel like an old man :)
It's about time! Congrats on the star!
Thanks Galaxy! ;)
Happy Birthday Meta!
Thanks! When I saw this in the color spread, I knew it was time to switch avatars.
As for the second thing, when I see it, I post it, haha.
Gotta give you props. For the Nami avatar and once again, you outspeed me! I was gonna post that Gamexplain interview in the Yooka-Laylee thread XD
Did I? Either I had to go to work / do something else or I had connection problems or something.


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Tuesday, May 31, 2005
"There Was Something Really Missing With This Guy"
He liked publicity, he liked the limelight, and, most of all, he liked seeing his name on things.
He was a charismatic, well-spoken man with an interesting and oft-told personal story ("I happen to be a Cuban refuge," he would say, even though his father had been a Cuban businessman who settled in New Jersey—not exactly the strap-the-Chevy-to-some-inner-tubes-and-row-through-the-shark-schools variety "Cuban refuge").
Nevertheless, he made his fortune in technology stocks, and it was that money he used to fund his favorite cultural institution—specifically, the opera.
He spoke freely and often about his own generosity. It was, he said, about leaving a "moral and intellectual legacy." Those high ideals prompted him to encourage others to be as generous as he: "My goal is to keep this extraordinary part of my culture alive."
Despite the high profile he himself maintained, he had a thin skin when openly criticized:
"They said I only give money to people I like," he grumbles [in an interview]. "You want me to give to people I hate?"
In fact, at times, if you ignored the expensive suits and the money and listened to what he actually said, Alberto Vilar, the world-famous, globe-trotting, recently-arrested-for-alleged-fraud co-founder of Amerindo Investment Advisors, sounded like a good case study for some doctors in Vienna.
He "liked his name writ large," as one opera buff put it, slapping his name not only on Opera House halls but on the tiers inside the halls. He even suggested—I am not making this up—that opera donors should get bigger program billing than composers.
He also complained vocally about others not as generous as he: "I cannot do everything myself," he once wearily proclaimed. He called Bill Gates "hopeless" and said Gordon Getty "gives peanuts."
As Donald Trump put it more perceptively than anyone, in today's New York Times, "there was something really missing with this guy."
Vilar always insisted the dot-com implosion had not crimped his style, despite slow-paying some of the more visible gifts he had made, and the beneficiaries of his largess tended to believe him, because they wanted to. "He reckons he can give away $50 million a year without feeling the pinch," one opera magazine interviewer reported in 2001. Ominously, the Denver Post reported he was behind on mortgage payments for three Vail-area vacation homes, and facing foreclosure, in 2003.
Nevertheless, investors trusted Alberto Vilar. So they gave him their money—$8 billion worth, at the peak. They liked his story, they liked his early success in technology stocks, and many stayed with him way too long.
He was arrested at Newark Airport on Thursday, after returning from giving a speech at an investment conference, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correction Center in Manhattan, because the man who could "give away $50 million a year without feeling the pinch" could not make his $10 million bail.
It is yet another cautionary tale, in a world full of them, about the dangers of believing what we want to believe, and ignoring the reality behind the words.
Jeff Matthews
I Am Not Making This Up
The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of Mr. Matthews. Mr. Matthews also acts as an advisor and clients advised by Mr. Matthews may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog based upon Mr. Matthews' recommendations.
5 comments:
- The Unknown Broker said...
Funny line on CNBC this morning. Noting how he liked his name prominently displayed -- the Vilar Section of the Opera, the Vilar Building, the Vilar this, the Vilar that -- perhaps his new digs will be known as the Vilar Manhattan Correctional Facility.
- ikedim said...
These stories are fascinating to me, mainly because I can't figure out how these guy's brains work - Villar, Robert Maxwell, even Ponzi himself. They must be aware of what they're doing on some level, yet they generally seem to act as though they really believe in their own BS.
I'm actually reading a great book now about a similar case, though in a different field (AIDS research) - John Crewdson's bio of Robert Gallo, Science Fictions. It's hard to generalize, but it does seem that one red flag in these cases is a tremendous need for recognition and ego gratification. Of course this is not uncommon in legit business types as well ...
- Its_strange said...
Empty words....nothing new. Wallstreet , Washington , TV . ....Words have no real meaning anymore. ..ghost words.
- Its_strange said...
Even with Castro gone i have a hard time thinking Cuba wants Trump around. ...He seems to enjoy his empty words as well
- tahoe kid said...
Yet another example of "Those whom the Wall Street Gods destroy, they first make glamorous."


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Doug, Manjo and Adi, Yaser and Williams, Jacky and Paul, Moli and Kelly, Daniel and Petchey, Roland and Carter, Yvonne H. (2011) Transition to adult services for children and young people with palliative care needs: a systematic review. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 96 (1). pp. 78-84. ISSN 1743-0585


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Rustic styles are all the rage these days. And even though the word technically means unsophisticated, when it comes to decor, it's just the opposite. Using a few touches of wood, handcrafted metal and an earthy color palette can change a dull bedroom into one that glows with country warmth backed by quality styles.
A true rustic bedroom gets as much sunlight as possible. To take advantage of light while still keeping in line with your country theme, use wdistressed wood blinds or fauxwood blinds that let in as much as you want. Focusing on natural materials for your discount blinds will not only maintain the rustic theme, but will also save money for antique furnishings.
Once the sun goes down, you'll still want a natural-feeling source of light. You don't need to use a kerosene lamp to make your home feel rustic - instead, try using heavily shaded lamps to keep the light at a nice, tempered glow. This will help bring out the tones of your wood furnishings as well as provide a cozy ambiance.
With a rustic bedroom, vintage is king, or at least objects that have a vintage feel. Souther Living suggests using prints of illustrated wildlife to bring the room closer to nature. Try using simple wood or matte metal frames for your pieces. Anything too flashy can take away from the country look. If possible, consider getting handmade decorations from craft stores or thrift shops. The non-commercial look and quality of these items will help bring together a continuous rustic theme.
Traditionally speaking, rustic decor relies heavily on brown and white. Don't be afraid to use raw cotton materials or other, hardy fabrics like burlap and hemp. These items look great and will often last longer than their heavily dyed counterparts.
However, don't be afraid to push the boundaries of the style. You can till have a soft and feminine look in a country-style home by using touches of pure white against brown and clay colors, notes House to Home. You can also use just about any color that's close to the earth-tone spectrum as long as it's not too bright, so don't be afraid to use pink and purple as long as they're not overpowering.


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Yemen's emergence as a hotbed of Al Qaeda activity against the West was already raising questions about the scale of any US or Western response. Now, by adding Yemen to the agenda of a Jan. 28 international meeting about the Afghanistan campaign, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has touched off a debate about how best to counter a violent strain of Islam as it surfaces in various Muslim countries.
The gathering in London of Western leaders and defense ministers is designed in part to show that the big-footprint approach to counterterrorism – as undertaken in Iraq and Afghanistan – is proving effective. Appending Yemen to the discussion, some security analysts worry, may signal that the coalition against Islamist extremism may simply continue its current approach, at great cost of blood and treasure.
What is needed instead, they say, is a true accounting of what the West has achieved thus far in its battle against radical Islam.
"We need to be honest enough to come right out and say that much of what we've done so far has been futile at best and counterproductive at worst," says Wayne White, a former State Department policy planning official and intelligence officer. "We should be rethinking much of what we're doing, but instead the response is to flip the page to Yemen and continue the knee-jerk reaction of marching into another failed or nearly failed state."
The point of adding Yemen to the meeting, Prime Minister Brown said earlier this month, is to determine what the conflict-riven country on the Arabian Peninsula needs to combat terrorists, to seek pledges to train Yemeni security forces, and to better coordinate development aid.
The United States has already said it will double military and civilian assistance to Yemen – aid last year was less than $70 million, a far cry from the billions the US spends annually in Afghanistan and Iraq. President Obama also nixed sending US troops to Yemen, although he did not categorically rule out that option for the future.
A need to coordinate the West's response
The need to coordinate responses to the threat within Yemen is why the Afghanistan-Yemen meeting in London makes sense, some experts say. The US appears to be the main target of Yemen's Al Qaeda-affiliated groups: Suspects in both the Christmas Day airline incident and the Fort Hood shooting last November are alleged to have links to a radical cleric in Yemen. But other Western countries, too, have come under threat from Yemen's extremists.
"There's always a possibility [the Yemen discussion] could siphon off some political attention from Afghanistan, but there are some obvious similarities ... between Afghanistan and Yemen that are at the heart of what the people [at] this meeting are going to discuss," says James Dobbins of the RAND Corp.'s International Security and Defense Policy Center in Arlington, Va. "It makes sense to use the opportunity to address this new priority."
One "similarity" that even critics acknowledge is that Afghanistan and Yemen are both governed by corrupt regimes that have alienated many of their own people. By propping up these regimes, they warn, Western countries are only abetting the instability that Al Qaeda thrives on.
"The idea that these places are at the center of the global struggle against extremist Islam, or that our survival depends on making another huge international commitment to one more failing place, is ludicrous," says Patrick Lang, a retired senior military officer who served two years as the US defense attaché in Sanaa, Yemen's capital. "For us to get more deeply involved on the side of the government is not going to make our situation any better."
Al Qaeda 'chortling'?
A big international commitment to Yemen may be what Al Qaeda is hoping for, some analysts suggest, in that it would open one more front in a diffused Western antiterrorism effort.
"Al Qaeda must be chortling at the great bargain they just got," says Mr. White, now an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute here. "For the price of an airline ticket and a pair of underpants they've managed to spread out the global counterterrorist effort that much more thinly."
The US and its partners should "consider that what we've done hasn't worked out well anywhere," he says.
RAND's Mr. Dobbins disagrees. America's low-profile, small-scale effort to help the Philippines government fight Islamist rebels is the kind of approach that could work in Yemen, he says.
"I do think there's a general consensus after the experiences in Afghanistan and ... Iraq that we should avoid large-scale military interventions," says Dobbins.
Some urge limited counterterrorist military action
Some security analysts conclude that the answer is limited counterterrorist military activity coupled with a focus on security for population centers (what some call the Biden approach, after the vice president's proposal for an Afghanistan strategy).
"Biden was a lot closer to what is needed," says Mr. Lang. "Jihadists in these places are the guys we should be focusing our efforts on, not on remodeling the whole Islamic world."
Others warn that the US and its partners cannot ignore failed or failing states – and that a limited response now of blasting Al Qaeda operatives using Predator drones may only result in the need for heavier military intervention later.
"We're hoping we can [succeed] by whacking these guys," says Frederick Kagan, an expert in military history at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "But Yemen is a state that is rapidly heading toward … collapse, so either we face the difficulties now or [confront] a much more difficult situation down the road."
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Vega is the author of several popular children and teen books, including "Click Here,"' Access Denied" and "Rock On."
She will present two afternoon workshops, "Show, Don't Tell," and "How a Book Becomes a Book" in addition to joining the students for their small group original writing presentations.
In addition to writing and traveling across the country presenting to audiences of all ages in various settings, Vega maintains a website of her own, denisevega.com, with various features including a "Writing Stuff" page with frequent posts of strategies and tips for writers and teachers of writing.
A Colorado Book Award winner for young adult literature, she holds a master's degree from Harvard and a bachelor's degree from UCLA.
She was a panel presenter at the Colorado teen literature conference in Denver last March. Her first published novel, "Click Here," was the bestselling novel in the Scholastic Book Fairs/Clubs, and other titles have garnered numerous nominations and awards.
A major anticipated event of the annual workshop includes the sharing of original student nonfiction, fiction and poetry in small groups.
For this segment of the day, each student prepares and reads his or her own writing before about 10 other students, with discussion included.
Approximately 40 outstanding seventh and eighth grade middle school writers chosen by schools across the county are expected for the event.
Other presentations and activities throughout the day will include a workshop on developing characters in writing by Jon Erickson, a local writer and annual presenter at the event, and successful interviewing with news reporter Katie Collins of the Brush News-Tribune.
A warm-up activity, door prizes, lunch and snacks will round out the day-long workshop.


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American expelled from South Sudan for anti-corruption work
By Alan Boswell | McClatchy Newspapers, AUG. 20, 2012.
Yet its origins tell of a much deeper story, one in which America's newest friend in Africa has turned out to be far less friendly than hoped, and international efforts to create a reliable democracy in an unstable region are faltering badly.
The author of the letter detailing South Sudan's corruption wasn't a South Sudanese but an Ethiopian-American who previously had been an advocate for South Sudan in Washington and had very recently taken a job with the United Nations. Ted Dagne also had been appointed by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir as a special adviser.
Because of his anti-corruption work, Dagne was forced to flee South Sudan for his safety soon after the letter was released, and for now he isn't allowed back into the country. The United Nations says Dagne remains on contract with its mission in South Sudan.
"He's obviously very affected, very distraught," said a friend who requested anonymity in order to speak freely. "I don't know what kind of impact this is going to have. He was obviously very influential in Washington."
U.S. officials declined to comment on the record or to officially condemn the incident. The South Sudanese minister of information, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, wouldn't discuss Dagne and his role in the corruption letter. Kiir's press secretary, Chaat Paul, also declined to discuss Dagne.
Dagne, who worked for 22 years at the Congressional Research Service as an African specialist, was part of a tight-knit group of U.S. officials with close ties to the southern Sudan rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.
Advocates in Washington call Dagne the movement's point man in Congress. He traveled frequently with the late Democratic New Jersey U.S. Rep. Donald Payne to Africa, where they often met with the southern Sudanese rebels. Dagne was known to play a personal voice mail from John Garang, the movement's founder, to visitors.
His efforts and those of other American officials who were pro-Sudan People's Liberation Movement paid off in a 2005 peace deal that led last year to an independent South Sudan. But Garang died six months after signing the peace accord, and Kiir took over as a consensus replacement. Unlike Garang, who had a Ph.D. from Iowa State University, Kiir had little education and had been a guerrilla fighter his entire life.
This January, Dagne left Washington and moved to Juba, South Sudan's capital, on a U.N. contract to advise Kiir directly and work on curbing a plague within the nascent government that even friends of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement realized could prove fatal to their cause: a free-for-all looting of South Sudan's oil revenue by the movement's officials.
Besides his anti-corruption work, Dagne advised Kiir on international relations and at times wrote government news releases.
Dagne played another less official job: He served as an embedded go-between, and source of intelligence, for the U.N. and U.S. diplomats trying to make sense of South Sudan's decision-making and direction. At no time was that more important than in April, when South Sudan advanced north and captured the disputed Heglig oil field. Kiir later ordered his military to withdraw, an unpopular decision domestically.
Dagne was brought into the mission by Hilde Johnson, a former Norwegian minister of international development who heads the U.N. mission in South Sudan. Johnson was backed for that position by Ambassador Susan Rice, the U.S. representative at the U.N. in New York. Dagne, Johnson and Rice all developed close ties to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement during their careers.
Johnson has referred to Dagne in conversation as a close friend and her best contact in Juba.
The public disclosure that South Sudan was missing $4 billion shocked South Sudan's politicians, who'd spent years denying the scale of the problem.
According to a South Sudanese official who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, Kiir didn't consult his ministers before signing Dagne's corruption letter. An official government investigation afterward found Dagne responsible for then leaking the letter to reporters through one of Kiir's press officers, the South Sudanese official said.
South Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar, who's a political rival to Kiir, has publicly disputed the $4 billion figure, and his spokesman said Dagne was responsible for picking that number.
"The $4 billion was not based on an investigation. It was an estimation," said James Gatdet, the vice president's press secretary. "It was this guy Ted. There was no other source."
In response to emailed questions, the U.N. said it "is not familiar" with how the $4 billion figure was calculated.
Some in the South Sudanese government were also upset that Dagne, as a foreigner, held such a senior position in the president's office.
Fearing for his safety, Dagne fled to Nairobi, Kenya, soon after the corruption letter was leaked. Kiir then passed a message to Dagne that he should remain outside South Sudan. Dagne later tried to return, but was refused entry.
McClatchy spoke with more than 10 people who are familiar with Dagne's situation – friends as well as U.S., U.N. and African officials – none of whom were willing to speak on the record about his case because of the sensitivities around it.
Dagne's fierce partisanship on the Sudan issue has made him a polarizing figure in Washington. His critics describe him as naive, or they say he hurt the reputation of the Congressional Research Service, whose website says its analysis is done "without bias."
"On the Africa side, there've been researchers, and they've been pretty unbiased, and then there was Ted," said a U.S. official who's worked on Africa for years, who wasn't authorized to speak on the record. The official described Dagne as "very smart" but as someone who "had an agenda and knew how to work the system."
Dagne's wide circle of loyal friends praise him for his tenacious commitment to the cause.
Eric Reeves, an English literature professor who worked with Dagne closely in pro-Sudan People's Liberation Movement advocacy, said his friend had made enemies in Washington because "he was too direct, too determined and not sufficiently bound by State Department or congressional protocol, especially on Sudan."
McClatchy interviewed Dagne in April in his Juba office – a prefab container inside the president's open-air arid compound. Dagne vigorously denounced the international response to the ongoing border conflict between Sudan and South Sudan, which he viewed as one-sided in favor of Sudan.
Dagne said he wrote news releases on behalf of the government and was frustrated with U.S. policy on the two countries, which he said he was trying to change to be more pro-South Sudan.
Near the end of the interview, he turned pensive and gazed out his window. He spoke of the country's corruption, the internal tribal wars, the lack of development outside Juba.
"I'm not even South Sudanese, but as someone who waited a long time to see the benefits (of independence), it is frustrating," he said.
When reached by phone last week, Dagne declined to answer any questions, saying only that he was out of the region and with his family. According to a friend, Dagne is now back in the U.S.
"What he gave up to go to South Sudan, the danger he endured, the emails I received about his life there," his friend Reeves wrote in an email. "I hope you at least understand – as Ted most certainly did – what a target he was by virtue of his role in helping root out corruption. Think of who that made his enemies! A lot of guys, with a lot of money, with a lot of followers, with a lot of guns."
Boswell is a McClatchy special correspondent. His reporting is underwritten in part by a grant from Humanity United, a California-based foundation that focuses on human rights issues. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com; Twitter: @alanboswell
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author(s) and do not represent those of the website.


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Megabucks campaigns create barrier
In House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's press conference about her decision to remain in leadership in the new term, she stated "Changing the role of money in politics is a very powerful reason for me to stay." She continued with the reminder that the founders intended "government of the many, not the moneyed."
Many pundits reached the opposite conclusion last week — that money didn't seem to matter in the outcome of the elections. This assumption is dangerously misguided and ignores the more deeply destructive role that money plays beyond the outcome of individual races or the calculations of balance of power.
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The presidential and competitive Senate races saw levels of spending that far exceeded saturation. In Montana, for instance, almost $44 million dollars were spent in the battle for the Senate seat, about $86 dollars for each of the state's roughly 450,000 voters.
This phenomenon was not restricted to races with large amounts of independent spending. The contest between Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown saw the campaigns themselves spend a record-breaking $68 million. In each of those races and many others, a few million dollars or even tens of millions more or less would not have mattered.
But the true lesson of last week is not that money doesn't matter to results, it's that money only matters up to a point. After candidates reach a threshold of spending and communications, additional spending is not as valuable and differences between the candidates and their campaign strategies become more important. In economics, they call this "diminishing marginal returns," and it makes perfect intuitive sense when applied to politics. The value of running your first ad is almost infinitely higher than the value of running another after you've already run a million of them. But what of the honorable candidate who can never make his or her voice heard because he or she can never reach that threshold?
Most analysts overlooked evidence that in races where there is less spending overall, limited differences in resources can have a significant impact on the result. That appears to be the case in a number of House races this year. As one moves further down ballot to state and local elections, the impact of money on results becomes far more apparent. Put a heavyweight in the ring with a lightweight, and you can almost always predict the winner.


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About Canadian Royalties
Since 2001, Canadian Royalties Inc. has discovered and delineated several potentially mineable nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum-palladium-gold deposits which collectively form the Nunavik Nickel Project. The Company currently has NI 43-101 compliant resource estimates on seven (7) of its deposits. Development of the project was initiated in 2007 and continued through mid-2008 when project development was halted as a result of the 2008 financial crisis. Historical site environmental clean-up activities were continued while the project was maintained on care and maintenance during 2009.
On January 13th, 2010, Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co. Ltd. completed its acquisition of Canadian Royalties Inc through its Canadian subsidiary Jien Canada Mining Ltd. During 2010 a $122.4M budget was approved to restart construction and resume exploration of the property. Nickel and copper concentrate production is planned for mid-2012 and represents a tight project schedule with only one full season remaining for project construction. Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co. Ltd. is responsible for arranging or providing funding for the development of the Nunavik Nickel Project.
The revised project includes the construction of a 4,500 tpd concentrator that will be fed by multiple mines. Current on-site work includes the installation of fuel storage capacity, completion of personnel accommodations, building the network of roads, construction of the Bombardier Lake dam and concurrent engineering work.
An integral part of the project is the Nunavik Nickel Agreement (NNA). The Nunavik Nickel Agreement is an Impact and Benefits agreement that was entered into between the Company, three (3) Inuit communities (Kangiqsujuaq, Puvirnituq and Salluit), and Makivik Corporation, the non-profit organization owned by the Inuit of Nunavik whose mandate is protecting the integrity of the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement. The Nunavik Nickel Agreement constitutes the Company's formal commitment to ensure a fair and sustainable distribution of the economic benefits stemming from the Project. The agreement was re-signed by Inuit leaders and senior staff from Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co. Ltd. in Kuujjuaq on December 15, 2009.


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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Saks associates can let you know that your favorite jewelry is on sale. Lowe's can tell you how much garland you bought last year. Somewhere underneath it all, computer programs are tracking every purchase and every social-media "like" to build a better profile of you.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Saks associates can let you know that your favorite jewelry is on sale. Lowe's can tell you how much garland you bought last year. Somewhere underneath it all, computer programs are tracking every purchase and every social-media "like" to build a better profile of you.
Does this feel creepy, or convenient, for customers? It depends on when and how retailers reveal what they know about you.
Expect to have some "Aha!" moments during your holiday shopping this year, said Kurt Kendall, retail specialist with Kurt Salmon consultants. But it's nothing like you'll experience in the near future, when retailers get social media fully integrated into the customer profiles they create. Someday soon, retailers will be pushing you to buy that exact sweater you pinned on your Pinterest account.
Even today, stores are not revealing all they know about the customer because they don't want a backlash, Kendall said.
"You want to be personalized. You don't want to be creepy," Kendall said. "People do not want to feel like they're being stalked."
Retailers operate on extremely tight margins, and pioneers in big data could increase operating margins by more than 60 percent, a recent McKinsey Global Institute report says. Retail is a sizable portion of the economy but has been shrinking, and the industry's overall share of consumer spending has dropped, the study found.
So stores use data mining to try to sell more to the customer.
Natalie Ellis of Lake Worth, Fla., said she gets emails from Amazon pushing a product the minute she buys something online. But as a participant in the online retailer's loyalty programs, she expects the interaction.
"I don't have a problem with targeted marketing as long as they're telling me about a sale or something I buy," Ellis said.
To some extent, stores have better information because they are tracking purchases and behaviors themselves, rather than just buying a report that describes the general demographics of their customers. Retailers supplement this with data mining from outside sources, but even with vendors such as Foursquare, they can access customer information in real time.
Saks Fifth Avenue CEO Steve Sadove said the new information helps associates better serve customers. When a sales associate rings up a customer, he has that person's online and in-store buying history at his fingertips. Data translates to better stores and better customer service, he said.
"We're clientele-based," Sadove said. "The associates build relationships with their regular customers."
Luxury brands invest in a higher level of service and empower associates with these types of information, Kendall said.
But even small shops can use something such as Foursquare, which offers a free dashboard to track customer check-ins.
Eric Friedman, director of sales and revenue operations at Foursquare, said businesses get a free "updates" program, which along with the tracking allows them to push information to their customers. If they choose to pay for "promoted updates," they can push an ad for their store to someone shopping at a competitor.
"Only by them raising their hand and letting us know where they are" can Foursquare promote its services and participating businesses to an individual, Friedman said.
Most of the time, customers cooperate in their tracking. They check in on Foursquare, they join loyalty programs, and they give their email address to receive notices of sales. But not everyone realizes how sophisticated and pervasive data mining has become.
Digital spying is everywhere, said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy.
"Distinctions between offline and online are being rapidly obliterated, and that's because of the growth of mobile phones," he said.
Information about you is being gathered everywhere you go because people use their smartphones to check websites, play games and get directions. And that data is being compiled and sold.
Chester said people should be concerned about their privacy because the government has few safeguards, and we rely on the agreements that companies such as Google and Facebook have made to be more careful when collecting data.
Niko Karvounis, co-founder of startup Quovo, which uses data tracking to shape investor portfolios, said people still would sign up for Facebook and Google even if they realized the extent of the data gathering because the services are so useful.
"I think the issue as a business is, you just have to be sensitive about how you act on that information," he said.
Target found that out this year when it sent baby-oriented product promotions to a teenager based on her behavior, but her family didn't yet know she was pregnant. However, programs such as Lowe's MyLowes account get buy-in from the customer for tracking, and the home-and-garden retailer suggests more things to buy at your request.
Kendall said most retailers conduct basic information-gathering, such as asking for your phone number, home address and email address. This helps identify the customer but also builds the database of mobile numbers and emails for future communication.
Some retailers ask more specifically how you want to receive communications, and this allows the customer to specify the type.
Ellis, for one, said she wishes she got less email from retailers. And Kendall said many people complain about that - and the holidays will make it worse.
"It's being able to customize the message to that customer and not just turn up the volume knob," Kendall said. "During the holidays, you see retailers go over the line."