best ipad apps chris paul chicago bulls gift card exchange tj holmes waste management two fat ladies
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Helicopter Parents Can Put Their Silhouette On a Rattle and Never Be Apart From Their Kids [Kids]
?Girls Around Me? Creeper App Just Might Get People To Pay Attention To Privacy Settings
Cult of Mac has a great write-up of an app for iOS called Girls Around Me, which essentially displays check-ins and public profiles of girls around you. With a little shift in context it could easily be confused for a hot new startup (discoverability meets speed dating!), but no, it really is just a way for guys to creep on nearby girls who have failed to lock down their info. It's sad, but maybe something like this is what people need to shock them into understanding just how much information they put online.papelbon papelbon anita hill penn state football schedule carrier classic j edgar hoover j edgar hoover
How to Protect Internet Reputation Assets | Business Management ...
March 30th, 2012 Filed under: Business Management ? Business Author
There are billions online today? Did you know that a very high percentage of people trust the opinion of strangers when shopping online? Billions of strangers giving advice. It?s unlikely that you will be surprised at the power of the internet in today?s world, but you might be surprised at how easy it is for someone to inflict damage on your online reputation when just one of those billions posts something negative about your brand.
?
Why would someone want to do damage to you? You?re a nice company right? If you are a company that has figured out a way to do more business than an opponent, the answer is very easy: competition. Even though you won your market share fair and square, it can be taken back in nefarious, underhanded and virtually demonic ways.
?
The smartest way to proceed in the modern business climate is to have a way to protect an online reputation from the beginning. While your brand is making its way into the public consciousness, you will able to refine your message and clearly state your goals. It?s a process called online perception management. You can and should influence the way your company is seen in the world. You do it by building relevant sites, keeping content fresh, claiming every social media profile you can, and using SEO to boost the inbound link popularity of the media properties you control online.
?
The other way to protect an online reputation is to know how to respond to an attack that has already been leveled against you. Most likely slander will be delivered cold by a dark and unnamed waiter in the night. They?ll be impossible to locate, and the bill will be tremendous. The problem impossible to fix. In this case, the answer is to request that the site hosting the comment remove it; since they probably won?t, your next step is ?negative suppression?. The practice of pushing a negative search term off the first pages of search results.
?
?
?
bay bridge raul ibanez downton abbey season 3 presidents day war of the worlds band of brothers presidents
Thinking about refinancing? Now is the time ... - Real Estate Marbles
30 Mar 2012
Author: Nevin Williams-FHA-VA-Jumbo | Filed under: UncategorizedCurrent mortgage rate trends remain unchanged.? Consensus is that we are finally recovering from the housing meltdown and mortgage rates are likely to begin rising in coming months.? If you are looking to buy a home or refinance your home contact us for a free rate quote.
Raleigh mortgages ? Raleigh home loans ? Raleigh mortgage broker
?
Tags: Current mortgage rates, North Carolina mortgages, Raleigh mortgage broker, Rates report
blago mumia abu jamal mumia abu jamal pearl harbor alec baldwin alec baldwin rock and roll hall of fame
Angry Spaniards strike against labor reform
BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish workers angry at a labor reform the government calls an "unstoppable" necessity staged a general strike on Thursday, bringing factories and ports to a standstill and igniting flashes of violence on the streets.
Hundreds of thousands attended largely peaceful marches throughout Spain, waving red flags and beating drums against the budget cuts of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was elected by a landslide only four months ago on a mandate to dig the country out of a debt crisis that has unnerved its European neighbors.
Police fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds in downtown Barcelona after hooded youths threw rocks at windows and set rubbish bins alight in Spain's second city, where - as in much of Spain - unemployment has been devastating among the young.
In Madrid, demonstrators chanted slogans and carried banners protesting against the conservative government's measures, which will make it cheaper for companies to fire workers and will dismantle a nationwide system of collective pay bargaining.
"We're here because we are really angry," said Alba Valle, a 23-year-old media technician in the capital who, like almost one young Spaniard in two, cannot find work.
"It's a step backwards for the country."
Though organizers said millions attended evening marches in 110 cities local media estimates, in the absence of data from authorities, put the crowds in only the hundreds of thousands.
Some observers see a degree of resignation about the prospects of avoiding new austerity goals dictated by concerns in the European Union that Spain risks going bust.
At the same time, however, the country is tipping into its second recession since the end of 2009 and some observers expect at least another million people to join already swollen unemployment lines, straining the budget. The jobless rate is already 23 percent, the highest in the 27-member EU bloc.
Spaniards have so far been largely tolerant of Rajoy's efforts to reform labor law, much of which dates back to times when levels of employment were substantially higher. His aim is to meet strict EU-imposed targets for the government budget deficit to ensure Madrid avoids a Greek-style debt crisis.
But the general strike, the first in 18 months, showed that patience may be wearing thin. The largest union put support among its members for the strike at 77 percent. The government said the work day went normally but gave no overall tally.
"We don't have much hope, but this is just the beginning," said Trini Cuesta, a 58-year-old employee at a public hospital in Barcelona. "It's not just about labor reform, we're against policies that are provoking social and economic ruin," she said.
"Social protests must increase."
ALHAMBRA SHUT
Police made a total of 176 arrests and there were 104 injuries, the Interior Ministry said, saying the day had been calm and the strike had limited impact.
It halted production at factories from Barcelona in the northeast to Cadiz in the southwest. Unions reported full stoppages at General Motors Espana, Renault, ArcelorMittal and Acerinox. Urban transport networks were mostly cut to skeleton services.
Rajoy's government said it was committed to making reforms that it argues will help to reduce unemployment by making the labor market more efficient. "The agenda for reform is unstoppable," Labour Minister Fatima Banez said on Thursday.
The police presence was heavy around parliament, where politicians put in a longer work day than usual as Rajoy sought approval for five different measures, including funding for indebted local governments to pay their suppliers.
Union members gathered in major cities where some plastered stickers on shop windows reading "Closed for Strike" - but in fact many of the stores remained open for business.
Tourists were locked out of the Alhambra, the 14th-century Moorish palace in the southern city of Granada that is one of Europe's great cultural monuments and a popular attraction.
Many workers crossed picket lines, saying they feared losing their jobs or losing the average of around 100 euros ($130) to be docked from the pay cheques of strikers.
While Spaniards fortunate to have jobs on traditional contracts are fighting to preserve their benefit, many others, especially the young, can find only short-term contracts of typically six months duration which offer little job security.
Many such workers fear employers might punish them if they go on strike and not renew contracts when they expire - an army of unemployed is waiting at the gate for any job going.
Similar labour reforms, for similar reasons, are being battled over elsewhere in Europe, notably in Italy, where Prime Minister Mario Monti, a technocrat appointed to avert a debt crisis in Rome, has also run into heavy opposition this month.
LONG YEAR OF DEMONSTRATIONS?
Fewer than a fifth of Spanish employees are currently affiliated with the country's two biggest unions and many feel these organizations do not represent the wider workforce.
"A lot of people actually blame the unions in part for the rigidity in the labour market and lack of competitiveness, so they aren't exactly in the position to rally a lot of people and the support for the strike reflects that," said David Bach, political analyst at IE business school in Madrid.
However, union members are ready for a long fight. "This is the largest cut in rights since anyone can remember. There has to be a better way to get out of this crisis," UGT union employee Marta Lois, 40, said on Madrid's Gran Via, a central avenue where protesters blocked traffic early in the day.
"Don't forget this is just the first major event of what is likely going to be a long year of demonstrations against government policies," Antonio Barroso, political analyst with the consultancy Eurasia Group said.
Rajoy said on Tuesday his administration would pass a "very, very, austere budget" on Friday. His goal of cutting the deficit this year to 5.3 percent of gross domestic product implies nominal cuts of at least 35 billion euros ($46.63 billion).
The cuts are meant to keep borrowing costs down as well as working towards meeting the EU's 3 percent budget deficit limit next year. But some economists say they will deepen the looming recession, potentially having the very opposite effect.
Despite the promises to push on with reforms aimed at winning approval from Brussels, Rajoy's People's Party suffered a surprise setback in a regional election on Sunday, meaning he must measure his steps to avoid provoking wider discontent.
(Additional reporting by Emma Pinedo, Nigel Davies, Paul Day, Martin Roberts, Blanca Rodriguez and Feliciano Tisera; Writing by Tracy Rucinski and Sonya Dowsett; Editing by Paul Day and Alastair Macdonald)
cleveland plain dealer barry sanders barry sanders john scott jimmie johnson juan pablo montoya crash columbine
GAO says Shell's Arctic spill response plans might be lacking
WASHINGTON ? Days after the Obama administration approved Royal Dutch Shell's oil spill response plan for drilling in Arctic waters off the Alaska coast, an independent federal report said that Shell's plan fails to take into account the risks unique to oil production in harsh, icy offshore conditions.
After years of delays, Shell's plan to drill for oil in the Beaufort Sea as early as this summer has gained momentum as it won necessary permits from the Interior Department.
Shell's project would be the first oil drilling in U.S. Arctic waters since the early 1990s. But environmentalists, some Alaska native groups and members of Congress have argued that there are not enough safeguards in place to contain a well blowout or clean up a spill in rough Arctic conditions.
The report issued Friday by the Government Accountability Office cited Interior Department and Coast Guard officials who said "that a well containment response in Alaskan waters might face certain risks that could delay or impede a response to a blowout."
The report raised questions about whether wellhead equipment could withstand ice that scoured along the sea floor.
Interior officials told the report's authors that if a blowout occurred after the drilling season ended in October, the sea's surface ice could make it difficult for Shell's icebreakers to get to the accident site and install containment equipment.
In response to the report, Interior officials released a statement Friday saying that "exhaustive reviews of the plans" were conducted prior to the approvals and Shell will be held accountable for additional reviews and inspections "to ensure that all personnel and equipment are positioned and ready, if needed."
Shell has spent nearly $4 billion and five years preparing to drill exploratory wells in the Beaufort Sea and nearby Chukchi Sea. It said it hopes to begin drilling as early as July 10 and continue until just before the onset of ice in October, with a brief halt in the late summer to allow for a hunt of bowhead whales by Alaska natives.
Shell has said that the chances of a blowout in the Arctic are smaller in part because pressure in the oil reservoirs is lower than in wells in the Gulf of Mexico, site of the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
If a blowout did occur, Shell and the oil industry might not have enough boats and people in place to deal with it, the GAO report said.
The report said Shell officials "told us that additional personnel would be needed to respond to a subsea well blowout. Moving personnel to the site could delay a response, since harbors, airstrips and hotels necessary to support personnel are limited in number and size along Alaska's northern shore. The facilities are also generally much farther from the drilling sites than they are in the Gulf of Mexico."
Shell defended its drilling plans. Spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh said, "We believe our plan, vessels and equipment are the Arctic standard. In addition to Arctic capping and containment systems, our three-tier response plan was specifically assembled to mitigate environmental impact in the hugely unlikely event of well control incident."
neela.banerjee@latimes.com
the rum diary trailer the rum diary trailer nor easter nor easter st.louis cardinals st.louis cardinals drag me to hell
The best way An auto Lecturer technological innovation May want to ...
You must have a very good know-how associated with vehicles persons along with their own personal relevancy implementing within an automible audio system. Your current see pertaining to advanced appear system and also car audio and video engineering massive advantage for those should you really to operate a vehicle. Many who comprehend good records bear in mind you understand the most suitable great features of their vehicles engineering. Mobile entertainment beds get a hold of certainly will become a recommended the major audio tracks engineering as they?re most likely to better visitors to care for all the time concern. Like the apply zeal our wellbeing and gain traveling a bit excite. /if you are wanting to set up a first-class audio system it is essential to for certain grasp more to do with automobile appear system. Result in a benefit you heaps when you are looking for the ideal vehicles appear system danavox to obtain solution.Almost atv?s, brought on by atv?s and high-class automobile need a radio station beside audio tracks technologies, Compact disk persons, TV sets and many other acoustic apparatus enable traveling build a suitable beside exciting moment when are unquestionably looking in on.
Xbox become a 10 massive amount improvements with the help of technological innovation and individuals needs to know way more relating to own personal car audio and video engineering, only vehicles loudspeaker engineering. Could possibly be choosing the duplicate effective with the help of vehicles appear system like for example loudspeaker danavox engineering they choose due to their personal networks.It can be reasonably easy and inexpensive to generate vehicles appear system caused by important product range computer materials may buy. Users fl choice appear system created from length and girth beside description, power up additionally, the quantity of compelled and vocation find out and share. N auto appear system perhaps quirt very effortlessly fitted into the vehicles choice without help , a an established how much your dealership person indicate.
A grouping of training systems are for sale for placing vehicles appear system in order to each sort pertaining to vehicles and you simply require cling on consumers it is possible to load appear system yourself.If you choose to pertaining to vehicles appear system effortlessly near most of sizing?s, different kinds and kind. Of such 6?9 loudspeaker will be admired. You can even examine where in the motor car interested in possibly will be taught your man, in the most successful , back end in a vehicle naturally get a new massive amount these sorts of appear system. They might associated with distinct sizing?s as well as many cars are not shipped that allows consumers. You will need to consequently pass the even further perform with the help of preparing them in a package floor , with an housing. Vehicle owners such as method of appear system due to capacity intensify mid-range different shades. All appear system could possibly generate a good floor with the help of smallmouth bass ring tones and steadiness bureaucracy.Most certainly don?t these sorts of appear system will probably be reliant on the level of songs achieve turn out. You may get a better fixed amongst appear system danavox to get a vehicles songs audio engineering their big a reasonably priced worth. You wish to load these sorts of appear system it is possible to add to the final results onto your car or truck engineering. Looking for only a bit fair progression, you should Several support icon Inside appear system have got competitive. Perhaps, vehicles appear system which provide top quality frequently most suitable choice for music-crazy motorists.
cyber monday 2011 turkey pot pie turkey pot pie southern university regenesis fanboys ucla usc
Insight: New doubts about prostate-cancer vaccine Provenge
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prostate cancer vaccine Provenge has long incited passions unlike any other cancer therapy.
Doctors who raised doubts about it received death threats. Health regulators and lawmakers faced loud protests at their offices. A physician at the American Cancer Society was so intimidated by Provenge partisans that he yanked a skeptical discussion of it from his blog.
The vitriol dissipated in April 2010, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Provenge for advanced prostate cancer, satisfying investors in manufacturer Dendreon and patients who for years had demanded it be put on the market.
But the bell on Round Two sounded when Marie Huber, a trained scientist and former hedge-fund analyst, made it her mission in the last year to analyze what she believes are deadly flaws in the studies that led to the approval of Provenge by the FDA.
She argues that the main reason Provenge seemed to extend survival - a crucial factor in the FDA's decision - was that older men in the study who did not receive Provenge died months sooner than similar patients in other studies.
She raises the possibility the "placebo" they received was actually harmful and made Provenge, known scientifically as sipuleucel-T, look better by comparison.
As Huber gains traction, most notably with a February paper in the prestigious Journal of the National Cancer Institute, she, too, is receiving threats. One post on an investors' message board last month suggested that "somebody smack her with a rubber hose." An email said "don't think you will be unscathed in this battle you waged on Provenge."
Provenge is Dendreon's only product and the company's stature with investors has waned with disappointing sales. In 2011, product revenues totaled $213.5 million, far from the $400 million Dendreon initially projected.
The company insists Huber's analysis is flawed and that Provenge has helped thousands of men with prostate cancer.
"I'm looking forward to getting this to patients around the world," said President and Chief Executive John Johnson.
FIRST CANCER VACCINE
Since it won FDA approval two years ago, Provenge has been Exhibit A for the idea that a patient's immune system can control or cure cancer. The first therapeutic cancer vaccine to reach the market, Provenge tries to engineer white blood cells, part of the immune system, to vanquish prostate cancer, which killed an estimated 33,720 men in the United States last year.
Its path to approval has all the features of a heavyweight healthcare fight - desperate patients demanding access to a promising therapy, a very expensive drug that extends life only a few months and efficacy data open to interpretation.
The FDA declined to approve the drug in 2007, when a clinical trial failed to show it slowed tumor growth. That incited protests, lawsuits and death threats against physicians on the FDA advisory panel who did not recommend approval, breaking with the 13-4 majority in favor.
"Provenge came along when we didn't have much to offer for prostate cancer," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld of the ACS. "The advocacy community was bursting at the seams for something that worked. When you have that situation, it inflames passions and that can overtake the science."
In the pivotal trial called IMPACT, published in July 2010, but shared with the FDA months earlier, Provenge extended median survival by 4.1 months to 25.8 months from 21.7 months. That was sufficient for FDA approval. The vaccine costs $93,000 and patients also incur physician and other charges. Medicare agreed to cover Provenge last year, as have private insurers, but doctors initially balked at a long wait for reimbursement.
Huber had long been "utterly intrigued" by Provenge and its "huge promise of harnessing the immune system to battle cancer," she said in an interview.
In documents JNCI requires authors to sign, she declared no financial conflicts of interest. Neither she nor her former firm nor anyone else she is connected to stands to benefit financially from her analysis, she said.
Instead, she says she is motivated to help "vulnerable and desperate patients" - so much so that she gave up her job, salary and health insurance. Arguing that Provenge is harming these men, she called "the whole thing utterly horrific. The company got away with hiding data and doctors making $7,000 per prescription won't even engage in discussion" about whether it helps their patients.
After receiving degrees in biochemistry and bioscience enterprise from Cambridge University, Huber began working as an analyst for a hedge fund in 2007. A Thomson Reuters analysis of securities filings confirmed her former firm has not held any positions in Dendreon.
LACK OF EVIDENCE
Each dose of Provenge is custom-made. A nurse or technician withdraws white blood cells from a man's arm in a three-to-four hour procedure called leukapheresis.
The cells are shipped to a Dendreon manufacturing facility, where for two days they are incubated with a "fusion protein:" One protein that stimulates the cells' growth and maturation and another called PAP, or prostatic acid phosphatase. PAP is an antigen that studs prostate cancer cells like antennae, pieces of it sticking out of the cells' surfaces.
Dendreon says the patients' white blood cells take up the antigen and within hours their surfaces bristle with fragments of the telltale molecule. The cells are then shipped back to the physician and infused into the patient. A full treatment includes three such procedures, two weeks apart.
Back inside the body, Dendreon claims the modified cells trigger the immune system to produce T cells that kill any cell sporting the PAP antigen ? namely, prostate cancer cells.
In principle, that should eliminate the cancer, but Provenge does not shrink either the primary tumor or metastases.
Steven Rosenberg of the National Cancer Institute, a leading tumor immunologist, says that raises doubts over whether Provenge helps patients live longer, as the IMPACT trial reported.
"We have a lot of data that supports the idea that the product works the way it was designed to," said Dr. Mark Frohlich, Dendreon's chief medical officer. "We're seeing evidence of immune-system activation. The only question is whether the T cells are killing the tumor."
The FDA acknowledges that data supporting Provenge's approval did not show the drug shrank tumors, but says the overall survival benefit was enough to bring it to market. Spokeswoman Rita Chapelle, citing data submitted by Dendreon, said there is a "lack of evidence of anti-tumor activity," the reason for which "is unclear."
SUSPICIONS OVER SURVIVAL BENEFIT
Huber's analysis comes from data showing that men who received the placebo had very different survival times based on their age. Men older than 65 lived 17.3 months on placebo and 23 months with Provenge. Men younger than 65 lived 28 months after receiving placebo and 29 months after Provenge.
Other studies have shown that age generally does not affect how long a man survives with this form of prostate cancer, says Peter Iversen, a urologist and prostate-cancer surgeon at the University of Copenhagen and co-author of the paper with Huber.
Combining these findings led to the new paper's conclusion: The four-month edge in median survival from Provenge for all patients was due to longer survival among older men who got the vaccine.
"There is no efficacy in the younger patients, the primary group where you would expect it," said Huber.
Since the immune system weakens with age, an immune-based therapy should work better in younger men.
Some experts agree.
"If it was really a vaccine, you'd think younger men would show more response, since they are more immunocompetent," said NCI's Rosenberg.
On that basis, Huber and her co-authors, including two prostate-cancer specialists, argue the placebo used in the trial may have harmed the older men, cutting months off their lives and inadvertently making Provenge seem beneficial.
One way that could have occurred was through leukapheresis. That process removed about 90 percent of certain kinds of circulating white blood cells, according to calculations by immunologist Laura Haynes of the Trudeau Institute, a co-author of the JNCI paper.
The Provenge men got back about 32 percent of those cells, which had been stored at body temperature. The placebo men got back 12 percent, which had been incubated at near-freezing temperatures. Cold storage has been reported to kill "most, if not all, of those cells," notes the JNCI paper. Moreover, said Haynes, "if you return dead and dying cells to older men you are likely to cause inflammation," which can stoke the growth of cancerous cells.
Younger men were better able to replace the lost white blood cells, argued Iversen. Older men could not, resulting in early death.
"These cells are very specialized and there is research suggesting that removing them can harm older men," he said.
Earlier this month, DynaMed, an online database used by physicians, added to its Provenge entry a note on the JNCI paper, but calls the concern "not substantiated." ACS's Lichtenfeld says the analysis "might inhibit some patients and doctors from going ahead with a very expensive drug."
Huber says she plans to approach European regulators as they consider Dendreon's application to approve Provenge.
Investor message boards have lit up in response to the new paper. In February, an anonymous commentator on InvestorVillage.com warned that Huber's work was about to be published "a few days before our earnings. Her agenda is obvious."
IFFY STATISTICS
Critics of the new analysis argue the number of cells removed is too small to suppress the immune system. Charles Drake, an oncologist and immunologist at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, said there is no evidence the placebo men in IMPACT suffered more infections or other effects of a depleted immune system than the Provenge men.
The scientist who led IMPACT, oncologist Philip Kantoff of Dana Farber Cancer Center, said colleagues in immunology "dismissed as nonsense the idea that leukapheresis could hurt individuals."
He takes issue, too, with the statistics. Dividing the men by whether they are older or younger than 65, he said, is "arbitrary" and to pick apart data retrospectively is a statistical no-no.
Dendreon's Frohlich also criticizes the statistics: "If you do enough of these (post-hoc analyses) then by chance alone you'd expect to get one positive finding."
In other words, it is almost always possible to find a subset of patients who do better than others.
When Dendreon divided the men by whether they were older or younger than about 71, he added, they found no red flags.
The FDA agrees that such post-hoc statistical analyses "are exploratory" and their results "must be interpreted with caution, as acknowledged by the authors." Yet a paid consultant to Dendreon before the IMPACT trial agreed with many of Huber's concerns.
"The control vaccine used in IMPACT and in the predecessor trial had never been used anywhere for anything and may well have been detrimental to patients," said Donald Berry of MD Anderson Cancer Center, a leading biostatistician. "Here's a great way to get your drug approved: Kill the control patients."
Despite the heated rhetoric, Provenge may go out with a whimper more than a bang. Promising new agents for advanced prostate cancer include an oral drug from Medivation Inc called enzalutamide, in the final phase of clinical trials, and Zytiga from Johnson & Johnson, which won FDA approval in 2011. A vaccine that targets PSA, from Bavarian Nordic Immunotherapy, is in late-stage trials.
Dendreon does not disclose how many patients have been prescribed Provenge. CEO Johnson said that about 70 percent of its Provenge revenue comes from sales to community hospitals and doctors and 30 percent from academic medical centers. Some of the latter decline to use Provenge, deterred by lingering concerns over whether it provides a meaningful benefit.
Three such facilities in the Midwest, contacted at random by Reuters, confirmed they do not recommend Provenge. All asked not to be named for fear of receiving threats.
"It is my policy not to make public comments about this drug," said one oncologist. Patients who ask for it "are referred to another facility."
(Editing by Michele Gershberg, Ed Tobin and Andre Grenon)
mike starr ufc 141 fight card gli joseph gordon levitt katy perry russell brand mark hurd new ipad 3
Recognizing the Risk of 15-Passenger Van Rollovers | Personal ...
Rollover accidents are one of the most serious types of vehicle collisions and usually result in the severe injury or death of the car?s occupants. Although rollovers are possible with any vehicle, the vehicles that are the most prone to rollover crashes are SUVs, pick-up trucks, and 15-passenger vans.
15-Passenger Vans Defined
15-passenger vans are large vans with five rows of seats to carry up to 15 occupants, including the driver. These vans are widely used for small group trips and transport. Among the many organizations and institutions that make use of these vans are airports, resorts, churches, universities, and tour companies. They are very convenient when the number of people participating is too few for a bus, but too many to easily carpool. There are various problems that outweigh these benefits, however.
Problems with Passenger Vans
Because passenger vans carry less than 16 occupants, the drivers of these vans are not required to hold a Commercial Driver?s License (CDL). Although this means anyone with a regular driver?s license can drive a 15-passenger van, it does not mean that they should. Passenger vans have a higher center of gravity than other vehicles, which means when it is fully loaded, it is top heavy, making handling more difficult for inexperienced drivers. Additionally, these vans are longer, wider, and taller than most vehicles.
Causes of Passenger Van Rollovers
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research, passenger vans have a greater risk of rollover due to the following three factors:
- Inexperienced drivers;
- Improperly inflated and/or sized tires; and
- Incorrectly loaded passengers or cargo which affects the van?s center of gravity.
Getting the Compensation You Deserve
The driver of a 15-passenger van and the driver?s employer are responsible for the safety of its occupants. If the driver is inexperienced or the van is improperly maintained, it endangers the health and well-being of every passenger. If you have been injured in a Massachusetts passenger van rollover crash as the result of a negligent driver or auto manufacturer, you may be entitled to pursue legal action. Contact the knowledgeable Boston 15-passenger van rollover lawyers with the Kiley Law Group today for a free legal consultation at (888) 208-1695.
This guest post is brought to you by the Massachusetts personal injury attorneys at the Kiley Law Group.
Source: http://www.personalinjuryqanda.com/car-defects/recognizing-the-risk-of-15-passenger-van-rollovers/
notorious big biggie smalls lyrics azores emmylou harris disco inferno b.i.g 1000 words
Justices meet Friday to vote on health care case
FILE - In this March 28, 2012 file photo, supporters of health care reform rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on the final day of arguments regarding the health care law signed by President Barack Obama. Arguments in the Supreme Court failed to yield clear hints how the justices would rule on the question of whether President Barack Obama's health care overhaul would be left standing if the high court were to strike down the linchpin provision that all Americans must have health insurance. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - In this March 28, 2012 file photo, supporters of health care reform rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on the final day of arguments regarding the health care law signed by President Barack Obama. Arguments in the Supreme Court failed to yield clear hints how the justices would rule on the question of whether President Barack Obama's health care overhaul would be left standing if the high court were to strike down the linchpin provision that all Americans must have health insurance. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - In this March 28, 2012 file photo, protesters chant and hold a copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in front of Supreme Court in Washington as the court concluded three days of hearing arguments on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Arguments in the Supreme Court failed to yield clear hints how the justices would rule on the question of whether President Barack Obama's health care overhaul would be left standing if the high court were to strike down the linchpin provision that all Americans must have health insurance. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? While the rest of us have to wait until June, the justices of the Supreme Court will know the likely outcome of the historic health care case by the time they go home this weekend.
After months of anticipation, thousands of pages of briefs and more than six hours of arguments, the justices will vote on the fate of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in under an hour Friday morning. They will meet in a wood-paneled conference room on the court's main floor. No one else will be present.
In the weeks after this meeting, individual votes can change. Even who wins can change, as the justices read each other's draft opinions and dissents.
But Friday's vote, which each justice probably will record and many will keep for posterity, will be followed soon after by the assignment of a single justice to write a majority opinion, or in a case this complex, perhaps two or more justices to tackle different issues. That's where the hard work begins, with the clock ticking toward the end of the court's work in early summer.
The late William Rehnquist, who was chief justice for nearly 19 years, has written that the court's conference "is not a bull session in which off-the-cuff reactions are traded." Instead, he said, votes are cast, one by one in order of seniority.
The Friday conference also is not a debate, says Brian Fitzpatrick, a Vanderbilt University law professor who worked for Justice Antonin Scalia 10 years ago. There will be plenty of time for the back-and-forth in dueling opinions that could follow.
"There's not a whole lot of give and take at the conference. They say, 'This is how I'm going to vote' and give a few sentences," Fitzpatrick said.
It will be the first time the justices gather as a group to discuss the case. Even they do not always know what the others are thinking when they enter the conference room adjacent to Chief Justice John Roberts' office.
By custom, they shake hands. Then Roberts will take his seat at the head of a rectangular table. Scalia, the longest serving among them, will be at the other end. The other seven justices also sit according to seniority, the four most junior on one side across from the other three.
"They generally find out how the votes line up at the conference," said Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor who worked for Justice Anthony Kennedy nine years ago.
The uncertainty may be especially pronounced in this case, where the views of Roberts and Kennedy are likely to decide the outcome, Kerr said in an interview Thursday. "I don't think anyone knows. I'm not sure Justice Kennedy knows."
No one's vote counts more than the others', but because they speak in order of seniority, it will become clear fairly quickly what will become of the health care overhaul.
That's because Roberts speaks first, followed by Scalia, then Kennedy. If the three men hold a common view, the Obama health care overhaul probably is history. If they don't, it probably survives.
If Roberts is in the majority, he will assign the main opinion, and in a case of this importance, he may well write it himself, several former law clerks said. If Roberts is a dissenter, the senior justice in the majority assigns the opinion.
The court won't issue its ruling in a case until drafts of majority opinions and any dissents have circulated among the justices, changes have been suggested and either accepted or rejected.
"These justices aren't locked in. Minds have changed during the drafting process and minds have changed after opinions have been circulated," said Rick Garnett, associate dean and professor of law at Notre Dame Law School who worked for Rehnquist 15 years ago.
In one celebrated case decided in 1992, Rehnquist initially assigned Kennedy to write a majority opinion for five justices allowing prayers at public school graduations. In the end, Kennedy ended up writing the opinion for a different five-justice majority striking down the graduation prayers. According to several accounts, Kennedy simply changed his mind during the writing process.
No one will know precisely when decisions on particular cases will be coming, until perhaps Roberts ends a court session in late June by announcing the next meeting will be the last until October. Then it's a safe bet that whatever hasn't been decided will be on the last day. And decisions in the biggest cases very often aren't announced until that last day of the term.
Supreme Court opinions rarely find their way to the public before they are read in the marble courtroom, although the court inadvertently posted opinions and orders on its website about a half hour too soon in December.
The last apparent security breach occurred more than 30 years ago when Tim O'Brien, then a reporter for ABC News, informed viewers that the court planned to issue a particular opinion the following day. Chief Justice Warren Burger accused an employee in the printing shop of tipping O'Brien and had the employee transferred to a different job.
Sometimes, though, the justices themselves manage to let people know something big is coming.
On May 17, 1954, the attorney general, secretary of state and Nina Warren, wife of the chief justice, were in the courtroom when Earl Warren read the historic, unanimous opinion in Brown v. Board of Education outlawing school segregation.
Associated Pressbeing human being human chicago news chicago news golden girls robert e lee dez bryant
Friday, March 30, 2012
House rejects conservatives' deficit-cutting plan
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio takes questions during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 29, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio takes questions during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 29, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., holds her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 29, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE -- In this April 5, 2011 file photo, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. speaks at a news conference at the Capitol in Washington. Republicans are ready to ram through the House an election-year, $3.5 trillion budget that showcases their deficit-cutting plan for revamping Medicare and slicing everything from food stamps to transportation while rejecting President Barack Obama's call to raise taxes on the rich. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The House rejected a budget pushed by its most conservative members on Thursday and moved toward approval of a $3.5 trillion plan backed by Republican leaders that would revamp Medicare, slice everything from food stamps to transportation and reject President Barack Obama's call to raise taxes on the rich.
The conservatives' package, defeated 285-136, featured sharp reductions in planned spending for Medicaid and other domestic programs. It claims to turn this year's $1.2 trillion federal deficit into a balanced budget in five years ? which most analysts consider unachievable because few lawmakers would vote for the package's proposed cuts.
None of the competing budgets by Ryan, President Barack Obama or House Democrats claim to balance the budget within the next decade.
Underlining the growing influence of tea party and other conservative Republicans, a clear majority of GOP lawmakers voted for the conservatives' plan. It was defeated because virtually every Democrat voted against it.
The main GOP blueprint by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was headed for all but certain House passage Thursday, mostly along party lines. It faces a demise that is just as sure in the Democratic-run Senate, which plans to ignore it, but the battle remains significant because of the clarity with which it contrasts the two parties' budgetary visions for voters.
Republicans were focused on sharper deficit reduction and starkly less government than Democrats wanted and were proposing to lower income tax rates while erasing many unspecified tax breaks. Obama and Democrats were ready to boost taxes on families making above $250,000 and on oil and gas companies, add spending for roads and schools and cull more modest savings from domestic programs.
"This is the American taxpayers' money, and we ought to be more protective of it," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Thursday.
Democrats said they, too, were eager to stanch deficits that now exceed $1 trillion annually. But they said it needed to be done in a more balanced way, with rich and poor alike sharing the load.
"It's a path to greater prosperity ? if you're already wealthy," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, top Democrat on the Budget panel, mocking the "Path to Prosperity" title Ryan has given his document. "Because our Republican colleagues refuse to ask millionaires to contribute one cent to deficit reduction, they hit everyone and everything else."
In another vote expected Thursday, Democrats were pushing a measure featuring pumped-up spending for education and new tax credits for companies creating jobs and raising wages, while claiming savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, government waste and reductions in farm payments. It was destined for defeat.
Underscoring the prickly partisan gulf over how to tackle the budget's drastic imbalances, the House late Wednesday on a 382-38 vote easily shot down a compromise, bipartisan deficit-cutting plan by moderates of both parties that mingled tax increases with spending cuts.
The measure was modeled roughly on a package produced by Obama's deficit-reduction commission. The commission's plan drew praise from prominent deficit foes but was treated coolly by Obama and congressional leaders of both parties.
The House also voted 414-0 Wednesday to reject Obama's budget, with Democrats accusing the GOP of forcing the vote to embarrass them. Democrats were concerned Republicans would use campaign ads to link Democrats who supported Obama's plan to all of its details, including tax increases and boosts for unpopular programs.
Congress' budget is a nonbinding road map that suggests tax and spending changes that lawmakers should make in separate, later legislation.
Particularly with voters deciding control of the White House and the Capitol in November, the two parties are sure to stalemate each other's budgetary priorities until after the election.
The House GOP budget would cut spending by $5.3 trillion more over the next decade than Obama's would ? out of more than $40 trillion that would still be spent during that period. It envisions repeal of the president's health care overhaul and sets a course for deep reductions for highway and rail projects, research and aid to college students and farmers while easing planned defense cuts.
It also would cut taxes by $2 trillion more than the president over that time, leaving Republicans seeking about $3.3 trillion in deeper deficit reduction than Obama.
Drawing the most political heat was Ryan's plan for Medicare, the $500 billion-a-year health insurance program for older Americans that all agree is growing so fast that its future financing is shaky. Both parties know that seniors vote in high numbers and care passionately about the program.
Republicans would leave the plan alone for retirees and those near retirement, letting the government continue paying much of their doctors' and hospital bills.
For younger people, Medicare would be reshaped into a voucher-like system in which the government would subsidize people's health care costs, which Republicans say would drive down federal costs by giving seniors a menu of options that would compete with each other. Democrats say government payments won't keep up with the rapid inflation of medical costs, leaving many beneficiaries struggling to afford the care they need.
"It ends the Medicare guarantee," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said of Ryan's budget.
"This plan doesn't end the Medicare guarantee," said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. "Arithmetic does. Unless we change something, unless we put it on a solvent footing, the Medicare guarantee is gone."
Republicans would turn Medicaid, the nearly $300 billion-a-year federal-state health insurance program for the poor, into a grant that states could use as they wish. They also would trim its growth by $800 billion over the next decade.
Associated Presswhitney houston dead 2012 whitney houston passed away cnn heartbreak hotel don cornelius whitney houston i will always love you breaking news whitney houston
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Grandchildren Create New Friendships | Atlanta Active Adult ...
Moving from Wisconsin to live closer to their son and his family, retired Liane and Dennis Dolezar purchased a home at The Orchards of East Cherokee last fall. They found that this active adult and maintenance friendly community built by The Orchards Group had a lot to offer their entire family and immediately fell in love with the incomparable location and gorgeous ranch homes. Little did they know that their own grandsons would actually help them start forming bonds with their new neighbors.
One of the couple?s grandsons goes to the same school as their neighbor?s grandkid. Plus, their other grandson was on a baseball team with another neighbor?s grandson. This has helped them bond more quickly with their neighbors, and they socialize with them often. Additionally, Liane and Dennis enjoy bonding with other couples that have moved in recently as well as spending time with the other residents at community events such as pot luck dinners.
Liane and Dennis? new home features two stories with the owner?s suite on the main level. ?We adore sitting out on our front porch and visiting with friends and neighbors,? explained Liane. They also enjoy their second story bonus room, which she uses for all of her crafting projects. Liane also joked that they could have held their Thanksgiving dinner in the master bathroom because it is so spacious.
The home also suits the needs of the couple?s grandsons. They enjoy using the common space behind the home to play soccer with other residents? grandchildren.
Liane and Dennis are happy they chose to retire at the Orchards of East Cherokee. Their new community has given them the chance to be with family, make new friends and enjoy all of the benefits of the area including the recently refreshed downtown Woodstock.
To visit The Orchards of East Cherokee, please call 770-345-5409.?
Model homes are open every day.
Comments are closed.
Source: http://orchardsgroup.com/index.php/community-news/grandchildren-create-new-friendships/
unitarian new black panther party lost in space elizabeth banks palm sunday battle royale key largo
Politics, Society, Crime, Economy, Business, Sports, Inverview, Travel
Breaking news, feature, World News 2:48 PM 29th-03-2012
NASA has released a computer visualization project called "Perpetual Ocean" that presents a data-created time lapse of the Earth's ocean and sea surface currents over a two-year period.
The animation (see below) shows the globe slowly spinning as white swirls curl and move in the water around landmasses. It looks as if Vincent van Gogh had painted into the oceans -- from the Gulf of Mexico to the Indian Ocean to the Black Sea.
Using NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's computational model called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean Phase II (ECCO2), scientists simulated the world's oceans and seas' surface flows from June 2005 through December 2007.
Typically, NASA uses ECCO2 to model global ocean and sea-ice to better understand ocean eddies and other current systems that move heat and carbon in the oceans. The end goal is to study the ocean's role in future climate change scenarios.
This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through Decmeber 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience.
...
Source: http://www.englishnews.hamrosansar.net/2012/03/29th-03-2012-nasa-has-released-computer.html
gifts for mom pepper spray storage auctions storage auctions les miles les miles beyonce dance for you video
Why Is Internet Marketing Training A Must For Every Business ...
Are you an online business owner that wants to find out how to generate leads to it so you can make it successful? Then you have to take time now to learn why internet marketing training is so imperative for you.
The one thing that a lot of business owners do not realize when they begin marketing their business online is how many methods there are for them to use. Trying to determine which method to start with can be confusing for all business owners, especially if you are brand new to the online business world.
When you get training you will know that any method you select will help you generate leads for your business because if it was not an effective method, then there would not be training for it.
Plus, this will take the guess work out of which method should be used first, since you only want to use one method at a time or you will find yourself overwhelmed quickly with too much information and too many methods.
Another reason to get marketing training is so you can find out how to effectively use each single method. If you really want to generate leads for your business than you have to use every method correctly or you will be wasting your time using it.
The training is going to help you learn step by step how to use one method at a time to get leads for your business right away. After you have that one specific method working for you then you can add another one and use the training to help you find out how to use that one effectively also.
Without the marketing training you are going to become lost and will soon find yourself ready to give up like so many other business owners do online. This can be prevented with the right training for internet marketing and with the desire to build a successful business no matter what.
The training is going to help you use one marketing method at a time, until you have an entire marketing system set up to help you get as many leads as possible for your business. That is definitely the ultimate goal of any business owner that wants to succeed.
Now that you know the most vital reasons for all business owners to get internet marketing training, you need to make sure that you take time to take advantage of a good training course online so you can easily generate all the leads you need to your business. The sooner you begin learning about internet marketing the sooner you will get leads for your business and begin earning an income with it.
Are You Looking To Change Your Life & Experience Financial Freedom? At Virtual Assistant Live We Show You How...gabrielle giffords juliette lewis chelsea handler mitch daniels elizabeth warren shirataki noodles john kerry
Video: Watch your back... Goose on the attack!
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46882842#46882842
kurt warner ricky williams missouri primary minnesota caucus knowshon moreno knowshon moreno sovereign citizen
Omontys Approved for Anemic People With Kidney Disease
[ [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Afghan security forces and police killed three', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/H9BcJE', '[Related: Bales\' wife on his alleged shooting: \'He would not do that\']', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['looking for fireworks between the opposing camps', 16]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSvEsj', '[RELATED:\?It?s going to be a circus\?: Activists begin protests outside Supreme Court]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 8]], 'http://yhoo.it/GE6jSh', '[RELATED: Obama\?s health care law passed 2 years ago, but where are we now\?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Witnesses said the gunman pulled up on a black scooter', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GzwOIW', '[Related: New York police tighten security at Jewish sites]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['test Zimmerman for alcohol or drugs', 11]], 'http://yhoo.it/Gzn6VF', '[Related: White House says Trayvon Martin is local issue]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GUovUP', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/61/261d2c36bccf0971c2734a4d4398aa5a.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP/David Goldman', ], [ [['Can you create commerce in order to regulate it', 9]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSgtu8', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/78/778e2416573870cd705774e92403447d.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP/Charles Dharapak', ], [ [['associated with such a small earthquake', 4]], 'http://yhoo.it/GTco9z', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/0/b4/0b493c1a47b6e3f97f8f48a2b251d7d4.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger', ], [ [['Fox News host Geraldo Rivera sparked outrage', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GKMVTk', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/7c/27c7367bc512d233ae1790b320a5e92c.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['The charges signed against Bales include', 1]], 'http://yhoo.it/wZT5zV', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/a0/7a07c51b2aa0f39b1a23355046d13870.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP Photo/DVIDS\, Spc\. Ryan Hallock\, File', ], [ [['George Zimmerman, if I had a son', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/thousands-protest-fla-teen-death-1332387124-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/03/22/d761a49f3fcc99080a0f6a70670053cd-jpg_150905.jpg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['Mohamed Merah', 10], ['prosecutor Francois Molins', 5]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/four-dead-in-french-jewish-school-shooting-1332173151-slideshow', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120321/2012_03_21t151508z_425380421_gm1e83l1sqs01_rtrmadp_3_france_shootings_raid.jpg', '630', ' ', 'REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier', ], [ [['Shortly after he wrapped up his victory remarks', 2]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/4-straight-romney-wins-washington-gop-caucus-1330835515-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/3/e9/3e9b0082c3c3111dcc19e3527ae94cc7.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/Steven Senne', ], [ [['best understands the problems of average Americans', 2]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/4-straight-romney-wins-washington-gop-caucus-1330835515-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/3/e9/3e9b0082c3c3111dcc19e3527ae94cc7.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/Steven Senne', ], [ [['Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GB2RVy', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/03/20/photo-1332257995646-4-0-jpg_171722.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AFP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
[ [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/omontys-approved-anemic-people-kidney-disease-180408380.html
elizabeth warren shirataki noodles john kerry prince fielder state of the union address 2012 obama state of the union 2012 2012 state of the union address
Why Do Android Tablet Apps Suck So Much Compared to iPad Apps? [Tablets]
fire island fire island diaspora social network diaspora breaking dawn premiere nbpa itunes match
The Goods We Need | Goodwork
It took a while to find a name for this project.? The ideas behind it came more easily.? We?d like to think that in our actions we are making a positive difference in the world.? We?d like to think we are doing ?good work?, but the term is ambiguous.? For some it simply refers to acts of kindness ? feeding the hungry, caring for the elderly.? Will it work as a name for a community of inquiry that aspires to do good work in all our actions in the world?? We?ll have to wait and see.
We aspire to good work ? work that arises from deep within us, that respects the materials we work with and the people we serve and that leaves the world a better place because of our action.? Such work requires active attention to what we are doing, why we are doing it and what is happening as a result.? It requires a mind to gain understanding and make good decisions, and the will to lock onto worthwhile goals.? And this feels like hard work.
Which is why, in my experience, we need two other ?goods? to help us do good work.? We need good friends and good questions.? Good friends are not just acquaintances or buddies with whom we have a lot in common and whose company we enjoy.? Good friends are often quite different from us, and those differences can make them think or act in unexpected ways.? They can sometimes seem like strangers.? Good friends offer us a different viewpoint and, sometimes, a critical perspective on our action.
We don?t just fall into these kinds of relationships.? Friendship like this cannot be taken for granted.? I found good friends in my PhD supervision group.? They challenged my assumptions and wouldn?t let go when they felt I needed to dig deeper in my reflections.? Good friends have the courage to talk back, to push against my hubris.? Good friends, in words from the Book of Hebrews, provoke one another to good work.
The second ?good? intrinsic to good work is good questions.? The point of a good question is not a correct answer.? In this sense the question is just a means to an end.? But good questions don?t have simple answers.? We can, of course, treat interruptions to our action in a simple way by asking ?what can I do differently??? There may be other ways of doing things and we can try them.? But this may not be a ?good? question.? A good question will probe deeper.? Good questions push us to pay closer attention.? They tease out our assumptions about the ends and not just the means.? They suggest different horizons.? They can transform black and white into colour, and help us hear the harmonies behind a simple melody.? Good questions transform looking into real seeing, and listening into true hearing.
Good work doesn?t just happen.? It calls for informed, courageous choices.? I make no claim to do good work but I aspire to it and I know the importance of good friends and good questions in achieving it.? As a learning community, we hope that GoodWork will provides a space for us to explore this, each of us in different ways, in our daily practice.
And so, some questions for us to explore:
To what extent do we experience ourselves as currently doing good work?
To what extent do we hunger to do good work?
Which of these primary goods (good friends and good questions) seems more important or helpful in our pursuit of good work?
Are there other ?goods? that good work depends upon?? Are there other pillars that support good work?
What questions linger in our life, right now, nudging us towards good work?
Are there significant blocks to overcome or dissolve in order for us to do good work?
How can good friends help us address these?
Source: http://www.goodworkacademy.com/the-goods-we-need/
huntsman w.e. episodes idris elba kelsey grammer martin henderson mlk day
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)