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Archive for July, 2011

Why Is Obama’s State Department Uneasy About Democracy?

On July 1, Morocco, became the first Arab country to peacefully vote itself into freedom–complete with a bicameral congress, elected president, protections for religious minorities (including the long-established Jewish community) and equal rights for women.

Yet the response from Washington was… cue the crickets.

The noisy silence is telling. President Barack Obama has said nothing about the first Arab country to become a democracy without U.S. tanks rumbling through its streets or mass uprisings of its citizens. Nor have congressional Republicans said much.

Washington, especially Obama’s State Department, has a democracy problem. Too many see democracy promotion as a Bush-era priority, others see democracy as “cultural imperialism,” and still others see dangers, not opportunities. The fear is that the Muslim Brotherhood or some other radical Islamist group may come to power.

The democracy doubters couldn’t be more wrong. The 19th century classical liberal thinkers were right about universal values being universal and people having a natural longing for natural rights.

Only by denying ordinary people their rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly is mass support of extremists born. Give people rights and an outlet and the extremists will sidelined. Of course, this must be done gradually and with care, as Morocco has done steadily since 2000.

The Morocco democracy referendum won with the participation of 73.46% of eligible voters, according to Morocco’s constitution council, the government body that supervised the referendum. By contrast, the most recent national election (for an assembly with far weaker powers) attracted only 37.5% of eligible voters. Almost three-quarters of Moroccans did not see democracy as a foreign import, but as a natural right long delayed in arriving.

And the huge turnout was a remarkable rebuke to the radical Islamists who called for a boycott. Al Qaeda’s North African wing, Al Qaeda in the Magreb (AQIM), has repeatedly thundered its opposition to democracy, which, in their view, substitutes the views of the majority for the strict Sharia law of God. They lost, overwhelmingly.

Some 97.5% of voters voted yes, indicating that almost three-quarters of adult Moroccans want real, Western-style democracy. Another 1.5% voted no, with the balance casting blank or spoiled ballots.

But Washington’s mindset is mired in the late 1960s and 1970s, when many of the senior policy makers graduated from college. Perhaps they read too much Marx and too little Mill, leaving them mentally unprepared for a complex world.

Thus, the few official statements from the State Department have been clueless and damaging.

In the run-up to the July 1 referendum, a State department spokesman used a single tepid adjective to describe the move toward the Arab world’s first peaceful democratic revolution: “encouraging.”

When I went to the Casablanca office of Ahmed Charai, publisher of L’Observateur and number of other Moroccan newspapers and magazines, I could tell the adjective still stung. His English was good enough to know that “encouraging” is what you say about a D student who has finally managed a C+.

Over the next few days, I heard that word “encouraging” parsed by a number of other prominent Moroccans, including the Minister of Interior Saad Husar, who oversees the nation’s internal police forces. The word seemed insultingly small and careful; a word best reserved for a development in North Korea.

It is not a word for a dramatic shift from an absolute (though relatively gentle) monarchy with a weak consultative assembly to a constitutionally limited monarchy with a strong, sovereign parliament and an elected president who can remove executive branch officials without entreating the king.

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to engage the world without Bush’s swagger. Instead, he offers the foreign policy of President Woodrow Wilson; a professor’s policy that is better at lecturing than listening.

Later, on July 1, the day of Morocco’s historic referendum, a State Department spokesman managed to squeak out a slightly longer statement: “We congratulate the people and the Moroccan leadership on the peaceful conduct of the referendum,” said Mark Toner, a spokesman for the State Department, during the department’s daily press conference.

And that’s it. Thanks for not rioting.

A few months ago, the State department seemed to see the big picture. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the King’s proposed transition as “a model for other countries in the region” that has “great promise, first and foremost for Moroccan people” in March 2011.

Significantly, Mrs. Clinton said these words at a joint press conference at State with her Moroccan counterpart, Taib Fassi-Fihri. When forced to be polite, the diplomats can do their job. Too bad she didn’t repeat these words when the referendum’s results poured in.

Of course, there are non-ideological reasons for Washington’s bland response.

One reason for Washington’s virtual silence is timing. Morocco’s democracy referendum was held during the July 4th weekend, when senior decision makers are away.

Another reason: Long lines of Muslims peacefully voting are of little interest to network television producers or print reporters. Just ask the Iraqis or the Afghans. Their messy, historic transitions to democracy (of sorts) got comparatively little attention. And most of it was devoted to the specter of violence from Al Qaeda and related terror groups. Take away the threat of bomb blasts and interest shrinks to nearly zero. If it doesn’t bleed, it doesn’t lead. Without media coverage, government officials are content to be silent.

Finally, Morocco has long been a stable ally of the United States. Indeed, it was the first nation to formally recognize the American republic. The kingdom has been a front-line ally in the wars on terror and narcotics. Unlike other African countries, it is not a pitiful theatre of genocide, civil war or fly-clouded refugees. Unlike other Arab lands, it is not a persistent enemy of Israel or America at the U.N. or in other international bodies. It is akin to Denmark, small, friendly, relatively prosperous and therefore boring.

But these reasons are, upon consideration, unsatisfactory. The referendum was not a surprise; policy makers knew about it for months and could easily have had a prepared statement ready. Lack of U.S. media attention doesn’t prevent State from weighing in on events in Ivory Coast or Sudan. And events affecting our boringly reliable allies get commented on all of the time.

No, the problem is deeper. The multicultural mindset comes with crippling relativism and misplaced humility. Who are we to say how others should live? They act as if multiculturalism was something other than a holding strategy deployed by center-left groups until their new majorities are finally eligible to return the Left to power in Europe and America. (Once in power, the tune changes.) Instead, they treat multiculturalism as a genuine philosophy, a means of re-ordering American foreign policy.

So we reach this strange impasse where the Obama administration is more comfortable preventing genocide in Libya (with bombs) than in promoting democracy in Morocco or elsewhere (with kind words).

Instead, the Obama Administration should be championing the Morocco model—peacefully adopting a pluralistic model with equal rights for non-Muslims and women—to the rest of the Arab world. In it, the king of Jordan should see a way to keep his throne while setting his people free. If the Syrian dictator, who has killed hundreds of people in the past few weeks, wants a peaceful resolution, this is it. If Kuwait and the other Gulf sheikhdoms want to move beyond embryonic assemblies into full democracy, here is the way.

It is not the referendum itself that is important, but the 10-year liberalization process that produced more than a half-dozen political parties and institutions ready to exercise power democratically. While a referendum tomorrow might be a disaster (consider Algeria in 1992, when radical Islamists won the election and touched off a civil war that devoured more than 100,000 lives), a patient march to democracy can work. Morocco’s vote this past weekend shows that it can.

The alternatives are worse: civil war (Libya, Yemen and perhaps Sudan), chaos (Tunisia), military rule masquerading as democracy (Egypt), or dangerous instability accelerated by Iranian or Qatari influences (Yemen, Bahrain).

Usually silence is safest. Not this time. The Obama Administration should be loudly praising every people that peacefully finds their way to freedom, starting with Morocco.

American words are both cheaper and more valuable than American bombs.

McDonald’s China to Open McFlurry of Stores, One Daily

McDonald’s plans on opening a new restaurant every day in China as it challenges dominant Yum! Brands’ chicken, pizza and money-making machine.

“We should be opening a restaurant every day in the next three to four years” in China, Peter Rodwell, company president for Asia excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand, told Bloomberg in an interview in Singapore today. “We’re now opening a restaurant every other day.”

While I guess it makes sense that McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), the world’s largest restaurant chain, focus attention on the country with the world’s largest population, I can’t help but think a lot of Chinese kids are already amply super-sized. Recent data from Johns Hopkins shows that about 20 percent of Chinese kids and over a third of the boys are overweight or obese. A 2004 report from Peking University places the number of overweight kids at less than 2 percent back in 1985, according to a recent story in The Atlantic.

Chunky Chinglings aside, the hamburger chain aims to increase its stores from 1,300 to 2,000 by 2013, writes Bloomberg. For comparison, there are currently over 3,300 KFCs and 531 Pizza Huts in China, according to the Yum! China website. That said, it will take a great leap forward for McDonald’s to catch up with the Colonel.

In semi-related news, a beefed-up version of the Big Mac index suggests that the Chinese yuan is now close to its fair value against the dollar. (The Big Mac index is published by The Economist as an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies, seeking “to make exchange-rate theory a bit more digestible.”)

Tech Privacy Wars Continue: Microsoft Slams ‘Gmail Man’

In their war over American consumers, the tech giants have chosen privacy as an appealing battleground. Earlier this year, Facebook started a whisper campaign about Google’s “Circles,” alleging violations of privacy — which ended up backfiring. Now Microsoft apparently plans to use privacy as a selling point for Office 365 email.

An attack video on “Gmail Man” has popped up on Znet; Mary Jo Foley says it was leaked from a Microsoft sales conference. The spoof criticizes Gmail’s placement of keyword-based ads in its user’s inboxes as both a violation of privacy and a frequently inaccurate match to the correspondence. For example, Gmail man offers one woman anti-itching ointment based on the keywords “burning” and “sensation” in her email. She responds that she had emailed her husband worrying that her lasagna was burning, but that he responded saying it was sensational. (So I have to assume these two lovebirds enjoy conversing over dinner via Blackberry.)

8-core Bulldozer Zambezi FX CPUs

AMD has revealed the approximate retail pricing of its first eight-core Bulldozer processors on a promotional webpage – $300. Part of its upcoming FX-Series, which also includes four and six core processors, the eight-core Bulldozers are codenamed Zambezi, with the first two to be released the FX-8100 and FX-8150 models.

The AMD Bulldozer FX-8150 is the top-end offerin – based on the 32nm process, it has a 3.6GHz core clock that can turbo up to 4.2GHz, all whilst maintaining a TDP of 125W. At the $300 pricing, AMD puts it roughly at the same price as Intel’s current Sandy Bridge Core i7-2600 offering, a quad-core processor. However, AMD expects it to compete directly against Intel’s upcoming Sandy Bridge Extreme processors, expected in Q4 2011, and Ivy Bridge processors, expected in Q1 2012.
The first Bulldozer processors are expected to be the Zambezi offerings, and are to be launched on September 19. Also expected with them are the four-core and six-core FX-4100 and FX-6100.

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36c. The New Tycoons: Andrew Carnegie (History of J.P. Morgan)

il was not the only commodity in great demand during the Gilded Age. The nation also needed steel.

The railroads needed STEEL for their rails and cars, the navy needed steel for its new naval fleet, and cities needed steel to build skyscrapers. Every factory in America needed steel for their physical plant and machinery. Andrew Carnegie saw this demand and seized the moment.

Humble Roots

Like John Rockefeller, ANDREW CARNEGIE was not born into wealth. When he was 13, his family came to the United States from Scotland and settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a small town near Pittsburgh. His first job was in a cotton mill, where he earned $1.20 per week.

His talents were soon recognized and Carnegie found himself promoted to the bookkeeping side of the business. An avid reader, Carnegie spent his Saturdays in the homes of wealthy citizens who were gracious enough to allow him access to their private libraries. After becoming a telegrapher for a short while, he met the head of a railroad company who asked his services as a personal secretary.

During the Civil War, this man, THOMAS SCOTT, was sent to Washington to operate transportation for the Union Army. Carnegie spent his war days helping the soldiers get where they needed to be and by helping the wounded get to hospitals. By this time, he had amassed a small sum of money, which he quickly invested. Soon iron and steel caught his attention, and he was on his way to creating the largest steel company in the world.

Vertical Integration: Moving on Up

Carnegie became a tycoon because of shrewd business tactics. Rockefeller often bought other oil companies to eliminate competition. This is a process known as HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION. Carnegie also created a VERTICAL COMBINATION, an idea first implemented by GUSTAVUS SWIFT. He bought railroad companies and iron mines. If he owned the rails and the mines, he could reduce his costs and produce cheaper steel.

Carnegie was a good judge of talent. His assistant, HENRY CLAY FRICK, helped manage the CARNEGIE STEEL COMPANY on its way to success. Carnegie also wanted productive workers. He wanted them to feel that they had a vested interest in company prosperity so he initiated a profit-sharing plan.

All these tactics made the Carnegie Steel Company a multi-million dollar corporation. In 1901, he sold his interests to J.P. Morgan, who paid him 500 million dollars to create U.S. Steel.

Giving Back

Retirement did not take him out of the public sphere. Before his death he donated more than $350 million dollars to public foundations. Remembering the difficulty of finding suitable books as a youth, he helped build three thousand libraries. He built schools such as CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY and gave his money for artistic pursuits such as CARNEGIE HALL in New York.

Andrew Carnegie was also dedicated to peace initiatives throughout the world because of his passionate hatred for war. Like Rockefeller, critics labeled him a robber baron who could have used his vast fortunes to increase the wages of his employees. Carnegie believed that such spending was wasteful and temporary, but foundations would last forever. Regardless, he helped build an empire that led the United States to world power status.

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Six Vintage Cars Guaranteed To Repel Women

Perhaps you’ve read something lately about how cool vintage cars are these days. To which I say: Take it with a grain of salt.

Just because you’re cruising around in something old doesn’t necessarily mean you’re fly. Au contraire, mon frère. Some contraptions–despite their elite provenance and six-figure price tags–will do you no favors in the image department, at least with the fairer sex.

Take these six set to go on sale next week at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Cernobbio, Italy. I dare you to defend them.

1980 Lamborghini Athon – This 260hp five-speed manual concept is completely topless–it has neither a hard- nor a rag-top, which is fitting because it’s named after an Egyptian sun cult. Its forward-set cabin and long deck are proportioned oddly for a spider, which makes it look even more weird. The taillights are nothing more than thin grooves so as not to mess up the solid appearance of the car. Estimated price: $310,000.

Forbes Images
1978 Lancia Sibilo – This thing gets 190hp from a V8 mid-mounted engine, but those are about the only conventional things about it. Named after the Italian for the hissing sound objects make as they travel through air, the Sibilo has no drop-down windows, and its bumpers are totally integrated into the overall shape. The steering wheel is a one-piece disk, and the body is hand-beaten steel with polycarbonate windows–apparently a glass supplier couldn’t deliver in time for the car’s debut. They should have waited. Estimated price: $140,000.

1974 Lamborghini Bravo – Made as a two-seat, V8 alternative to the 2+2 Urraco, the Bravo is 20 inches shorter than its counterpart, with a significantly smaller engine. The car seems at once sharp-edged and flat, with a snub-nosed hood and cartoon-y wheels with five round holes in them. Pop-up front lights, a three-quarter wrapping windshield and divots in the hood make it distinctive, to say the least. Like most of these machines, it never made it to production. Estimated price: $310,000.

Forbes Images
1963 Chevrolet Testudo – The meaning of its name–a Latin root for the word turtle–should tell you something about this 81hp flat-six-cylinder Chevy. It was a one-off design from Giorgetto Giugiaro, who went on to design some great things (BMW M1, Maserati Quattroporte) but this somehow missed that touch of genius. The sharp waistline divides the car horizontally into two (turtle-shell, anyone?), and the huge nose, pop-up headlights and lazy rear don’t do it any favors. But I always love a targa roof–and this has the ultimate: a completely wrapped glass shell that lifts up and forward as one unit when you want to leave the car. Estimated price: $1.1 million.

1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero – This 115hp prototype was designed at the apex of a design rivalry between Bertone and Pininfarina (Bertone had done the Alfa Romeo Carabo, Pininfarina the P5 and 512S berlinetta). Nuccio Bertone debuted the Stratos HF, nicknamed “Zero,” at the Turin Motor Show in 1970; it’s supposed to look chiseled from solid rock. Design cues include dual exhaust pipes, a mesh grille, 84 tiny bulbs comprising the tail light, and seats that looked like they were upholstered with chocolate bars. At its highest point, Zero sits only 33 inches off the ground. Estimated price: $2.5 million.
1915 Rolls-Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost Limousine – Admittedly this is a beautiful car in its own old-timey way. But even Johnny Depp would have trouble getting women into this thing. It’s a paltry 50hp and upholstered in a stuffy button-tufted leather, with beige carpets and curtains inside. The auction catalog notes that “this car has seen limited exercise. RM strongly advises the successful bidder carry out a thorough service before driving the car on the open road.” Which means don’t even think about driving this thing. Which means you might as well have no wheels at all. Need I say more? Estimated price: $1 million.

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iPhone: Nimble Quest takes Snake to the next level

nimbleI get ridiculously excited whenever NimbleBit releases a new game.  Tiny Tower remains one of my most-played iPhone games, and Pocket Planes was a good ride for a time.  Last night the studio released Nimble Quest, a mash-up between the classic mobile game Snake and RPGs — and it’s pretty addicting.

The basic concept here is that you start with a single hero (that you choose from a list) and walk around a big room while slaying enemies.  You start to accumulate other heroes to follow you in a chain, and their attacks are added to your arsenal.  If you bump into a wall, an object, one of your own heroes, or an enemy with your lead character, you die and have to start aaaaall over.  Your lead character can also be killed with enough attacks.

So you’re trying to get as far as you can in a single game because every new level that you conquer for the first time grants you a new hero for your chain.  There are a number of RPG elements in here: power-ups, leveling up your lead character, permanent buffs, etc.  And since all of the heroes have different styles of attacks, picking the best one for your lead can change everything.

I put a couple sessions into it so far and generally like it a lot.  The controls are simple and responsive, and it creates a zen-like experience as you continue to move and attack without stopping.  There are definitely some strategies in play here and both the look and one hit, one life attitude make me think of old-school console games.

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New Webinars & Training

By Dixon Jones |

Sempo/Covario Webinar On Thursday, Majestic SEO will be contributing to a SEMPO Webinar titled: “Link Assets and Link Liabilities. This is being jointly presented by ourselves and Covario with it’s new technology brad – RIOSEO. It is free to SEMPO members and non-members alike. Just sign up here. Third Party Training Courses Majestic SEO has…

Can Majestic SEO call the US Election?

By Dixon Jones |

There is more than one way to do a poll. The US  Presidential elections… according to the Gallups and the Yougovs are swings and roundabouts or neck and neck… but link domain stats suggest a landslide win for… Well read on… Some time back, Majestic SEO found a great correlation between links to a political…

Fresh Index Approaches 200 Billion

By Dixon Jones |

A quick look at the Fresh Index stats over the weekend showed (at the time) a Fresh Index with 188,575,337,745 unique URLs. Since the index is updating most hours these days, the numbers will be different by the time this blog hits your screen. We are not quite at the 200 billion, but the improvements in…

Majestic SEO finds the Stolen Monet!

By Steve Pitchford |

Well, links to it anyway. This afternoon, Yahoo broke the story of stolen artwork from a Dutch Museum – these screenshots were taken just 1 hour 58 minutes after the stated release time of the page. Majestic SEO Site explorer, following the super fresh release is currently acting like a good… Continue reading

Fresh Links Now Updated (MUCH) Faster

By Dixon Jones |

We just made another milestone. We have moved from updating every day to updating every hour or so! That means that if a new page goes viral, we will be able to report stats about it to you throughout the day. We know that our competition is envious of our Fresh Index with its frequent…

Do you need some extra help using Majestic? Sign up for a free demo and let a Majestic Expert take you on a tour.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact
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TweetReach Blog

Archive for the ‘tool’ tag

Why you should use lists on Twitter

without comments

A Twitter Quick Tip.

Setting up Twitter lists can seem like an imposing task, but they’re a great tool to organize a range of things: resources for your industry, thought leaders to learn from, customers to keep track of, industry verticals, comedians for when you need a break– whatever you can dream up.

If you’re just getting started, you might want to check out other users’s public lists. You can subscribe to these (and they’ll show up at the bottom of your lists so other people will know which lists you’re subscribed to) and get an idea of what works for you on a list and what doesn’t. Best of all? You don’t have to be following someone to put them in a list. A lot of thought leaders, for example, would be people who tweet at high volumes and could flood your feed. Keep them to a list and you can learn from them in a way that isn’t overwhelming, then follow the ones who provide the most value to you. (It’s also a great way to keep track of competitors; and yes, you can make a list private, which you might want to do with that one.)

Twitter's Twitter Lists

Twitter’s Twitter Lists: it’s getting a little meta in here.

How do you use Twitter lists?

Written by Sarah

July 23rd, 2013 at 9:44 am

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Wednesday Jan 30, 2013

Welcome to the 10th Anniversary of the Nordic Applications Day!

Apps Days in the Nordics will be presented by the international moderator Ola Ahlvarsson who is a Swedish serial entrepreneur, author and digital thought leader. We welcome thought leaders, our important customers and Oracle experts for a day with insight, experience sharing and the latest trends and cases. In addition, you will have the opportunity to visit our five tracks. There will be lots of networking opportunities and organized meetings to help you connect with Oracle Executives, our partners or speakers and each other.

Oracle AppsDays in the Nordics:

Helsinki 5.3.2013

Copenhagen 7.3.2013

Oslo 12.3.2013

Stockholm 14.3.2013

Thursday Jan 24, 2013

Sweden Speed Meeting Booking Tool now open for the Oracle Partner Day Sweden – January 30th, Stockholm

Dear Partner,

We welcome you to the Partner Day of the Year in Sweden on January 30th at Courtyard by Marriott Hotel Kungsholmen, in Stockholm. For more information and registration, click here

We are happy to inform you that the The Oracle Partner Network 2013 – Speed meeting tool is now up and running. You can sign up into the system here.

We highly encourage you to upload a profile picture. This way it is easier for your Oracle contacts to book meetings and for you to find each other onsite.

Please feel free to book meetings with your relevant Oracle contacts. We have set one hour and 15 minutes aside in the agenda for Speed Meeting, so you will not be missing part of the program.

Once a meeting has been confirmed (for a meeting to be booked, the receiver of the booking must confirm), you will be able to add it to your Outlook calendar.

Please be aware that your meeting invitations from others unfortunately could end up in your company SPAM filter by mistake. If this is the case, please check your mail regularly.

To your benefit we have split up the different meeting topics and placed them into meetings zones onsite (with the same name as the topics). That’s why we are asking you to choose a meeting topic when you do your booking. Please pay attention to which meeting zone(s) your meetings will be in. You will be informed about this in your confirmation of the booking.

Should you be unsure about which zone to go to, you are always welcome to ask at the Information desk onsite.

If you have any further questions about the Speed Meeting Booking Tool, please do not hesitate to contact oracle-AT-eventually-DOT-dk .

We are looking forward to seeing you at Courtyard by Marriott on the 30th January!

Best regards

Oracle PartnerNetwork

Tuesday Jan 22, 2013

eSTEP TechCast - January 2013 Material available

Thanks to those who attended our TechCast on "Introducing Network Virtualization with Oracle Virtual Networking".

The materials (presentation, replay) from the TechCast are now available for all of you via our eSTEP portal. You will need to provide your email address and the pin below to access the downloads. Link to the portal is shown below.

PIN: eSTEP_2011

The downloads can be found under tab Events --> TechCast.

Feel free to explore also the other delivered TechCasts and more useful information under the Download and Links tab.

The February eSTEP TechCast is scheduled on February 7th with Title: Oracle VM for SPARC Intro and I/O Best Practices, speaker Stefan Hinker. The session will provide a short introduction into the basic concepts of LDoms and give some guidance on how to configure network and disk IO, depending on deployment requirements.

Friday Jan 18, 2013

Invitation to the Fusion Middleware PARTNER COMMUNITY FORUM

Do you want to learn about Oracle Fusion Middleware? Oracle invites you to become updated and trained at our SOA & BPM & WebLogic & ADF Partner Community Forum on February 19th and 20th Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa, Algarve Portugal.

Keynotes: Ed Zou and Alistair Hopkins.

The Partner Community Forum is a wonderful opportunity to:

  • learn how to sell the value of Fusion Middleware by combining SOA & BPM & WebLogic & ADF solutions
  • meet with the Oracle SOA & BPM & WebLogic & ADF product management
  • exchange knowledge and have access to competitive intelligence
  • learn from successful SOA & BPM & WebLogic & ADF implementations
  • network within the SOA Partner Community and the WebLogic Partner Community
During this highly informative event you can learn about partner success stories, participate in an array of break-out sessions and exchange information with other partners.

Additionally to the Community Forum, you can participate in technical hands on workshops on February 21st and 22nd. The goal of these workshops is to prepare you for customer implementations.

Places are limited, so don't delay and register now:  registration website. We look forward to meeting you in Portugal!

The Oracle Partner Communities offer you a unique way to enhance your day-to-day work, find out about the latest news and trainings and network with other community members. Read more about the EMEA Communities and select the community you wish to join.

Monday Jan 14, 2013

Oracle Partner Days in the Nordics – GET SPECIALIZED

Oracle invites all partners in the Nordics to Maximize their Potential. This is the theme of the event this year and it summarizes our this year’s target: we will focus on our mutual business and opportunities in the local markets. We will also help our partners to increase their Oracle-business.

GET SPECIALIZED – maintain and strengthen your Oracle knowledge: You can complete the free of charge Implementation Certified Specialist Tests during the Oracle Partner Days.

Oracle Partner Days in the Nordics:
Stockholm 30.1.2013
Helsinki 13.2.2013
Oslo 6.3.2013
Copenhagen 17.4.2013

Friday Jan 11, 2013

Become EXADATA Sales Expert

Join the event and learn more about how Oracle Exadata can help you win new business among your customers as well as acquire new customers.

This is your chance if you would like to get insight into Oracle's best practice and tools in how to sell and perform proof of concepts with EXADATA.

Oracle is the world's #1 database and we are having a great success in introducing Oracle Exadata as the ideal platform to increase the performance, scalability and reliability of customers applications.

The Oracle Exadata Database Machine is the ideal platform for database consolidation that can deliver real IT cost savings. It's a standardized, pre-built and optimized system that eliminates the need for costly hardware and software integration. Plus, it's built using Oracle Database 11g to help support your most business-critical requirements.

Join Oracle for this exclusive morning event and get insight into our experience selling EXADATA:

Ballerup, Denmark 17.1.2013
Lysaker, Norway 31.1.2013
Espoo, Finland 5.2.2013
Kista, Sweden – the date will be published soon

Register here

Monday Jan 07, 2013

Finland Save your time: Tech Data Will Help You with Oracle Pricing and Licensing

Tech Data arranges Oracle License Training and HW-Seminars to help you to work efficiently.

You will get help for Oracle pricing, making offers and processing the license orders and agreements. In the training you will learn the license regulations and how you should read the price list. In addition, you will learn the most common questions around selling and delivering the Oracle licenses.

The training is for all employees who work with Oracle pricing and licensing.

The training dates for Finland has now been published – check your calendar and sign up!

Tech Data training in Finland (Upseerinkatu 2, Espoo):

8.1.2013 License Training and Enterprise Manager
License Training
License Training and Virtualization
License Training
License Training and Security

« January 2013 »


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The power of You behind the brands

Victoria Marzilli

Blog post by Victoria Marzilli

Oxfam America, New Media Specialist
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Two months. That is all it took for chocolate lovers and social justice activists to stand up to three of the biggest food companies in the world and create positive change in the food system.

Mars, Mondelez and Nestle all agreed to look, listen, and act to make sure women cocoa farmers in their supply chains are respected – and we’re keeping track to make sure they stick to their promises. Check out our Women & Chocolate Action Roadmap to see exactly what the companies need to do to make women’s rights a reality!

Because of the commitment that these three companies have made, their scores are on the move on our Company Scorecard!

Companies are moving

In the Women’s category, Coca-Cola is currently rated #1 with a score of 5 out of 10 (the best of a bad bunch, you could say), but Nestle is quickly chasing them to the top, showing good signs for following through on their promises.

Meanwhile, Mars and Mondelez who scored 1 and 2 respectively are digging their way up from the bottom. All three companies have signed on to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, they have committed to being aware of the role of women in communities and to improving the role of women in their supply chains.

Equal pay, equal rights and equal treatment are the keys to a future free from poverty for millions of women – and their families. While it takes time for real change to be felt, this commitment is an important step in the right direction and it happened because of YOU. Because of your collective voices, a few of the biggest food companies in the world have started to improve, so what about the rest?

Many of them score only a 1 or 2 out of 10 on many issues on our Behind the Brands scorecard. Clearly, the Big 10 still need to do more to make the global food system work for all – but the race is on.

You can make them listen

That’s what the Behind the Brands campaign is all about – the power of you. As consumers, you can raise your voices – online and offline – to tell companies what matters to you and what they can do to change.

This is a new kind of campaigning; we don’t need to stop buying our favorite products to make a difference. Instead, get the facts, find what matters to you, share that information, get your friends involved, send letters, tweet, post to Facebook – the companies will listen, we have proof. The top 10 companies are all racing to the top of the Behind the Brands scorecard, but they won’t get there unless they hear it from you.

What do you think – who will move further up the scorecard in the next six months? Which companies will lag behind? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

#scorecard { display: block; width: 300px; float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; } #scorecard img { display: block; width: 100%; } $(document).ready(function() { var expandedWidth = '620px'; var contractedWidth = '300px'; var newWidth = ''; $('#scorecard').attr({ title: 'Click to enlarge', href: '#' }); $('#scorecard').click(function(event) { event.preventDefault(); if ($(this).hasClass('expanded')) { newWidth = contractedWidth; $(this).attr('title','Click to enlarge'); } else { newWidth = expandedWidth; $(this).attr('title','Click to shrink'); } $(this).animate({ width: newWidth }).toggleClass('expanded'); }); });


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Emerging market sovereign bonds: Does it cost more to issue a bond under the English law?

Dilip Ratha's picture

It seems it does. During 2008-2012, post-crisis, launching under English law increased spreads by more than a third on average. In other words, by choosing the UK law, a nation rated B+ (for example, Ecuador, Ghana, Greece, Pakistan and Zambia) apparently paid 7.7% interest rate per annum instead of 6 percent, and a nation rated BB (for example, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Serbia or Vietnam) paid nearly 5.7% instead of 4.5% (figure 1). Such an increase in spread is equivalent to a rating downgrade of 3 notches or more.

Figure 1: Pay more if you don’t have US SEC registration

These results are from a comparison of spreads at launch for dollar-denominated sovereign bonds issued under English law and U.S. law during 1990-2012. Central Government bonds denominated in US dollar under English or U.S. jurisdiction represented a large component of emerging market debt during 1990-2012 (figure 2). After the crisis in 2008, there was a surge in emerging market sovereign bonds registered under the English law  – indeed, such bonds overtook those listed under the US law in 2012. Most of the bonds under English law relied on Regulation S and were listed in Luxembourg. (Regulation S securities cannot be sold in the United State.)

Figure 2: In perspective – emerging market sovereign US-dollar denominated bonds

The higher-spread effect of the English law seems to be a post-crisis phenomenon, and is contrary to the conventional belief that bond markets are very efficient. It is rather disconcerting that the higher spread persists in the secondary market even after 180 days after the launch of the bond.

The jurisdiction effect holds after controlling for bond characteristics (rating, maturity, size), and a host of factors that affect bond spreads (such as volatility index, global liquidity, growth). English law is normally associated with collective action clauses (CACs); but according to the data at the individual security level, bonds under U.S. law are now just as likely to contain CACs. Thus CAC is not the reason behind the higher-spread in the post-crisis period. We also checked if first time issuance of bonds might explain the higher spread, but that does not seem to be the case either.

The jurisdiction effect of a higher bond spread seems to be a result of the difference between the size of the investor base available to securities under the US law and that under the UK law – the latter is a lot smaller and perhaps of a different kind, one that is seeking shorter-term yield instead of long-term value.

U.S. SEC registration, considered the gold standard for securities registration, is perceived as costly and cumbersome, but the alternative seems too costly for a developing nation trying to access the international bond market.

What are the factors discouraging emerging market sovereigns from benefitting from SEC registration? Has the American investor become wary of buying bonds without SEC registration, and if so, why? What could be other explanations for the higher-spread effect of the choice of legal jurisdiction?

Please take a look at this presentation that has more data and regression results. We will greatly appreciate your comments and suggestions before we finalize this paper.

(Oops, I have just given away a trading secret!)

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Church History Symposium–Program

The jointly sponsored symposium at Brigham Young University, Approaching Antiquity: Joseph Smith’s Study of the Ancient World has now published the program for the event. The details are found here:  A number of speakers are well-known in Mormon Studies.

Elizabeth Ann Whitney (1800-1882)

I’m on vacation for a few days, but I can’t resist sharing this note.

At many of you know we keep a collection of autobiographies and journals of people connected in some way (as contemporaries) to Joseph Smith. At the present time, we have only a short selection from Elizabeth Whitney, wife of Newel K. Whitney. The Whitney’s were among the early converts to Mormonism in Kirtland, Ohio. Elizabeth left a rather extensive reminiscence of her years in Mormonism and we are going to include it in the collection as we (I mostly now) get time to put it there. But to start with, I wanted to give you some flavor of the Woman. Below I insert her very touching opening salvo in her “Women’s Exponent” series in 1878. Take note of her final paragraph. I give you Elizabeth Ann Whitney.
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A Review Post: Joseph Smith and Catholicism

Nearly a year ago, I put this post up about Joseph Smith and Catholicism. It still gets reads all the time apparently. The subject of church design came up in the post including the history of Protestants and the Latin cross in America (see note 1). This and a few other issues in the post were fun, especially Joseph Smith’s noting a relation between Mormonism and Catholicism. You may enjoy some of the comments too.

Joseph Smith and Catholicism

Albert Brisbane – Joseph Smith and Eschatology

This post has been sitting around for a while, has something to do with Joseph Smith’s sermons, and in particular funeral sermons, because it poses some questions on the idea of community and eschatology, and I don’t have time to work on it more right now, so here it is.

Mormon communal adventures of the 19th century played out against a range of American civil experimentation. A major difference was the underlying eschatology of Mormonism.

Joseph Smith pushed (via revelations like Doctrine and Covenants 42) the idea of community into the lives of early Mormons, but he also pushed it into the afterlife (an early version of this is D&C 78:6 – later versions were based on sealing). Echoing Swedenborg (by coincidence rather than intent it seems) he infused doctrine with community and family. Read more of this post

Nathan Baldwin and Unknown Joseph Smith Sermons

Nathan Bennett Baldwin was born in Grenville, “Upper Canada” in 1812. He joined the Church of Christ (later The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) April 28, 1833. He journeyed with “Zions Camp.” Baldwin was selected as a member of the first quorum of Seventy (Feb. 25, 1835). He received the Nauvoo endowment Jan. 3, 1846. Nathan Baldwin came west as a pioneer and eventually settled in southern Utah.
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More Stuff on – Doctrine and Covenants Studies

This is late for the LDS Sunday school’s Doctrine and Covenants-church history study, but it may be helpful if you’re are interested in textual study of the D&C: how revelation text has evolved, the identity of persons mentioned in the revelations and some other historical issues involving the revelations (like evolution of priesthood concepts), publication info, and besides that, it is free. If you go to and scroll down the page a bit you will see an “annotated history of the church” link. clicking on that link will lead you a page of links to the first 25 or so chapters of volume one of the B. H. Roberts edited seven volume history of the LDS church. Admittedly, this isn’t very much of the text, but it took a considerable amount of work just to do this much.
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Joseph Smith and Catholicism

During Joseph Smith’s youth it is unlikely that he knew many or perhaps any, Catholics. The New England area was home to few Catholics in 1805, and they were an unappreciated minority. But during the first half of the 19th century, America began to experience a boom in Catholic population. This growth can be seen in the number of Catholic houses of worship following the war of 1812. Edwin Gaustad (Historical Atlas of Religion in America) provides some figures: in 1820 there were 124 such structures in the US, a comparatively tiny number even in church-poor America. By 1850, the number had grown to 1,221. Ten years later there were 2,550. From 1820-1860, this was nearly a 2000% increase in Catholic buildings, a doubling in the final decade. For comparison, Methodist houses of worship — the fastest growing Protestant denomination of the period — increased by about 600%. Congregational buildings increased by about 100%, representing the slowest growth rate among major Protestant groups (this is a little remarkable because the Congregational church was “established” in New England– i.e., had state support–for many years. The constitutional provision did not apply to the states). Immigrants were responsible for much of this growth and this was particularly true in terms of Irish immigration (in regard to Catholic growth).
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Should You Leave Your Computer On Overnight?

Christopher Null had an odd take on a USA Today story on the supposed harm some of us are doing to the environment by leaving on our computers at night. According to the USA Today story,

U.S. organizations squander $2.8 billion a year to power unused machines, emitting about 20 million tons of carbon dioxide — roughly the equivalent of 4 million cars — according to a report to be released Wednesday.

About half of 108 million office PCs in the USA are not properly shut down at night, says the 2009 PC Energy Report, produced by 1E, an energy-management software company, and the non-profit Alliance to Save Energy. The report analyzed workplace PC power consumption in the USA, United Kingdom and Germany.

That makes sense. I have a low power server at home that I leave on at all times (because it’s actually working on automated tasks 24/7), but for the most part I put the rest of the computers I use into a sleep mode at night. Partly that’s to save energy, partly it is so the entire house isn’t lit up like a Christmas tree from a bajillion LED lights.

But here’s Null’s take on this,

Of course, it’s also a fact that your PC will function better if you restart it regularly, and nightly shutdowns can help you avoid having to suddenly reboot in the middle of the day when you’d otherwise be productive. So even though this little laptop, by my math, eats up only about a quarter’s worth of power overnight, maybe it’s a smart idea — and ultimately a time-saver, too — to shut it down after hours after all.

Okay, that’s retarded. The fact that we’re most of a decade through the first part of the 21st century and users of the major computer OS have to regularly restart is a bug not a feature. It would be interesting to calculate the energy and time lost just in rebooting Windows — I’d wager it is significantly higher than the total cost of leaving machines on all night.

Besides, not all of us use OSes that need to be constantly restarted. I use several machines that regularly go months and even years without needing to be restarted (if I had more redundant power, I could go even longer than that) and with no measurable decline in performance.

What really needs to happen is improvements in the way sleep modes work coupled with the already burgeoning focus on lower power machines.

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Bug in LOGAND (from random testing)

Bug #974406 reported by Christophe Rhodes on 2012-04-05
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone

Bug Description

Report from Paul Dietz

 affects sbcl
 status confirmed
 importance medium
 tag modular-arithmetic

Hey folks. After a long hiatus, I've been running the random tester
again. There are some new regressions.

See the attached file for a bug in LOGAND. Load the file then
evaluate (doit) to see the behavior.

Paul Dietz

;; Illustration of bug in SBCL 1.0.55 (32 bit i686, Linux)

(defun f1 (c)
  (declare (type (integer 53 86) c))
  (declare (optimize (speed 1) (space 1) (safety 2) (debug 0)
                     (compilation-speed 3)))
  (logand (+ c 1032791128) 11007078467))

(defun f2 (c)
  (declare (optimize (speed 2) (space 3) (safety 0) (debug 0)
                     (compilation-speed 0)))
  (logand (+ c 1032791128) 11007078467))

(defun doit ()
  (let ((c 61))
    (list (f1 c)
          (f2 c))))

;; f1 is incorrect, f2 is correct
;; (doit) ==> (11005992961 268574721)

Christophe Rhodes <email address hidden> writes:

 status fixcommitted

commit 52b1041d3a14eaa4e45f6d8edfbdc0dec4292239
Author: Christophe Rhodes <email address hidden>
Date: Thu Apr 5 19:55:05 2012 +0100

    Fix bug in unsigned modular arithmetic using a signed implementation

    If we aim to be clever by implementing an unsigned modular arithmetic
    computation using signed arithmetic, we need to make sure that we
    don't accidentally contaminate the computation with any extraneous
    high bits. This means that we must be sure to cut constants to the
    appropriate width, as well as computations, so do so; this fixes
    bug #974406 from Paul Dietz. (In addition the change from cutting
    to the requested width to the implementation width fixes #903821,
    so Go Team!)

    Test cases. Minimally horrible test case for #903821; far worse
    suggestions were made on #sbcl IRC...

Changed in sbcl:
status: Confirmed → Fix Committed
Stas Boukarev (stassats) on 2012-05-21
Changed in sbcl:
status: Fix Committed → Fix Released
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Tribute – Remembering Travis Alexander and Family

04/13/2015 10 comments

Goodbye Words – A Time to Heal

A tribute to the family of Travis Alexander for the pain they have endured.  Music – Ernesto Cortazar – Thanks to Life

Bryon Wilson May 5, 2013

Categories: Crime Tags:

Travis Alexander and Family Finally Get Some Justice

04/13/2015 23 comments

Almost seven years after his exceptionally brutal death, Travis Alexander finally received some justice from the legal system.  Judge Sherry Stephens handed down a sentence to Jodi Arias – “natural life sentence with no possibility of parole.”

To Travis’ beautiful family, multiple friends, and those of you who came to know and love each of them, I wish you peace and comfort.  You are forever in my heart.

It has been such a long and painful journey, but I feel we are all free now!  It is Travis who brought us together and even in death, he continues to teach us so much love, understanding, and kindness.  God bless.

12/22/2013 19 comments

Categories: Misc Tags:

Jodi Arias Sentencing Phase

12/14/2013 14 comments

imagesOn May 15, the jury found that the aggravating factor, ESPECIALLY CRUEL has been PROVEN!  Jodi Arias was convicted of the brutal murder of Travis Alexander.

Since then, the defense team has been stumbling around, dragging their feet, and filing one ridiculous motion after another in an effort to delay sentencing.

The following has been posted by Travis’ brother Steven on FaceBook:

From Steven Alexander – Letting everybody know, the trial isn’t due to start until mid February. We believe this is a tactic to try and get us to throw in the towel. We will not! I say again it won’t happen. Our family will come together and see it through until it is finished. There is a monster that haunts us, but once the correct sentence is given, it’s her who will be haunted until the most the most humane punishment comes to her. Nothing compared to the sentence she gave to a good man. Anyhow, the entire Alexander family thanks all of you. Thank you for having our backs.

So, hopefully the family will finally see Justice For Travis!

MacNeill Murder Trial Verdict!

11/09/2013 74 comments

A yelp of joy escapes the family and the jury is released with thanks.

I will sleep very well tonite after doing a bit of a happy dance at 3:15 am EST!

Martin MacNeill Murder Trial – Day 14

11/08/2013 37 comments

Yikes!  What a strange trial.  So much of MacNeill’s character, or lack thereof, was withheld from the jury as the state was hobbled from presenting it.  The jury would have had a field day!  And, what was up with the defense witnesses?  They added nothing to the defense,  A complete joke.

Dypsy did no good other than proving she’s a liar.  Hopefully the jury realizes all the inmates had basically the same story.

Today will be long with the discussion of jury instructions.  Guess it’s all going to hinge on closings.

We begin about the directed verdict based on the arguments yesterday.

Court denies the directed verdict.

Neither side takes issue with the final jury instructions.

Jury receiving copies of the jury instructions.  The big thing here, that is the toughest, but most interesting is the instruction on reasonable doubt.

Alexis in court, as is Rachel.

Reasonable doubt…. up to prosecution to prove.  Proof that leaves you firmly convinced of the defendants guilt.  If you find a reasonable doubt, you must find the defendant not guilty.

The judge isn’t just breezing through this, he’s reading with feeling.

A bunch of testimony certainly goes to depraved indifference!

Both sides stipulate this was not a suicide.

Grunander on closing.

Claims MacNeil murdered Michele.  It was not a heart condition.  It was a planned out murder.  He had the knowledge and means.

Pros has placed a beautiful photo of Michele on an easel.

The case is dripping with motive.

Dypsy took the stand and said their relationship was casual trying to protect MacNeill by minimizing the relationship!

MacNeill’s motive and knowledge and know-how are doing him in!

While we have all complained how dull this trial has been, I have to give kudos to Grunander for this closing.  He is beautifully laying out the timeline and weaving all the testimony together to present the full story!  He is highlighting all of MacNeill’s lies.

Between 9”30 and 11 on the 11th, nobody knows where MacNeill was.

Grunander thanks the jury for their time and attention, wraps up a beautiful closing argument and ties a neat little bow around it!

Uggggg, Spencer on closing.  ‘I’m a rambling man’ is going to be playing in my head!

Spencer has brought in huge flip charts.

He thanks the jury for their service.

Accuses the pros of cherry picking to make his case.

Oh lord, he is telling the same Aesop fable Gustin opened with.

MacNeil was living an alternative lifestyle and that justifies moving Dypsy in!!!!!

Holy guacamole!

MacNeill was in the wrong place at the wrong time!

This is insulting.  He’s treating the jurors as idiots..

MacNeill didn’t interfere with Dr. Fricke’s autopsy.

Ummmm, except he lied to her!!!

Oh, I get it now.  Spencer attended a different trial than us!

Nancy Grace did it with the candlestick in the library!

Spencer is playing medical examiner and failing because he’s losing the jury.

Says all 3 ME said myocarditis. Perper said no myocarditis!

Spencer is blowing smoke big time.

I just want to bitch-slap the grin off Spencer’s face.

Says Alexis’ testimony was ever changing.

Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare were far better medical shows.

Donchais going for the nail gun!!!  Also looking for whatever rusty nails I have on have on-hand.

Spencer is only proving the village idiot is missing!

Court observers report the jury is into an intense game of hangman!

As usual, Spencer is all over the place and not presenting a cohesive timeline.

Guess Spencer believes if he slings enough BS, something may stick!

Where is Quincy ME?

Boy, this def closing is one of the worst I’ve seen.  A rousing razz berry for the defense!

State to finish.

Perkins says what you’ve heard in arguments is not evidence.

Follow the instructions, not speculations.

He’s beating the crap out of Spencer’s speculation.

It’s not up to the ME to decide the cause of death, it’s up to you!

You are the fact finders from the entire body of evidence.

Arrhythmia doesn’t leave a footprint.  Can only be proven if the patient is hooked to a heart monitor while dying.

Why weren’t there signs of struggle?  She was drugged!

Good on Perkins blowing the defense out of the water!

Spencer, can you say, ‘oh crap?’

Way good closing by pros!

There is no way all these witnesses could have colluded to create these stories against MacNeill!

Pros needs to shut down…jury tired.

Know when to stop!

Wow, just saw the strings hanging out of the back of Spencer’s, suit jacket!!!!

Jury given the case and sent to lunch; alternates named.

Jury watch on!

Martin MacNeill Murder Trial – Day 13

11/07/2013 40 comments

Folks have been asking how MacNeill ended up with Gustin and Spencer for attorneys.  Just my opinion, but consider the media flurry in this case and couple that with Gustin and Spencer are working pro-bono and I see Gustin and Spencer attempting to further their careers via publicity.  Much like an attorney from Florida did!

Also, just my opinion, but Jason Poirier did a better job with cross than Spencer did!

Continued cross of Inmate 1 is painful and just going over the same stuff.

Says he got no deal from anyone for testimony.  He came forward because murder just isn’t right.

As usual, Spencer going line by line, out of context.

Make Spencer shut up and it down already.

State recalls Gypsy ‘Dypsy’ Willis.

She claims the affair was over when she got arrested and they had no contact.  She even told the judge that.

No it comes out the writing back and forth.  The affair wasn’t over!

They go through a number of letters that clearly indicate they were still together and using endearing terms with each other.

Gypsy, Gypsy, Gypsy!  She’s been snagged big time in a lie!

MacNeill went so far as to draw up a common law statement to shut people up!

They were making future plans.

In all of their letters, they were professing their love for each other,

Gypsy, can you say PERJURY????

She sure has been impeached and now they are trying to figure out 5th amendment issues as she lied to a peace officer.

Morning break.

So, if she takes the 5th, the jury will see how much she lied and see right through her!

Pros got the name, Carol Smith out.  She was apparently the go-between passing MacNeill and ‘Dypsy’s’ letters.  There was supposed to be no contact!

She really placed herself between the dog and the fire hydrant!!!

Bet she’s thinking she can get away with all this, the sociopath! This is by far, the best of this trial!

Judge asks if she will answer questions truthfully.  She will not take the 5th!

Trying to pull her butt out of the fire!

‘Dypsy’ back up.

You told investigator you could not see yourselves together and you were terrified of MacNeill in 2010?  Yes.

Gustin on cross….

Do you intend to continue your relation with MacNeill?  No, we haven’t spoken in years.

Jury questions…

When did you obtain the marriage license?  In the summer of 2007.

State is resting at this point.

Defense calls Jim VanZandt.  Co-worker of MacNeill. Nurse practitioner.

They all wore lab coats most days.

Says he saw MacNeill on the 11th and he was going to pick up his daughter from school.

His phone rang later and MacNeill was distressed and said he was performing a code on his wife.

MacNeill called you and said he was performing a code on his wife.

Who the heck calls a co-worker while performing a code????

Describes how CPR is done.  None of which applied to Michele’s position.

You don’t have a specific time that the defendant went to get his daughter?  I recall I thought it was an appropriate time.

Jury questions…

Was it common for you and MacNeill to discuss family issues?  Yes.

Defense calls Linda Strong.  Ada’s teacher.

She saw MacNeill picked up Ada around 11:30.

Defense calls Tammi Black.  Parole officer for Jason.

She met with him maybe 8 times.  Times she went to his home he wasn’t there.

She did meet him in a store for a minute or two, once.

Her contact with him was minimal.

That’s it?  Boy this is a bust!

Defense motions for a directed verdict of acquittal.

Basically saying the pros has presented nothing!

Spencer is braying and blowing foo-foo dust all over the place!

State says BS, BS, and BS!

All of this is about how to instruct the jury!

Omg, Spencer can’t help having verbal diarrhea!

Court now called for attorneys and lunch.

Judge Pullan denies directed verdict!  Good on you, Judge!

Defense told to call next witness.

Brett Besser.  Oh, the ergonomics specialist!  Will testify why MacNeill couldn’t lift Michele from the tub, lol!

Question is if he got permission from the gov to testify.

He saw pics of the bathroom and put a surrogate in the tub to re-enact lifting.

Can you say pseudo science? Michele wasn’t unconscious, she was dead!

Don’t look at the man behind the curtain!  We also ate tacos and drank margaritas.

That damn potato toe and MS are doing MacNeill in!

So, did OSHA approve his testimony???

Pros making mincemeat here.

Pead’s doing a good job here.

This guy is so bogus…bought no records and doesn’t remember 90% of stuff, What BS!

This guy is no more an expert than I am!!!

Pead has shown his true grit today!  Impressed!  He’s on fire!!!

Is water on the floor in your calculations?  I may have indicated it would make it more difficult to lift.

He is released.

No rebuttal!!!

Tomorrow will be instructions. And we’re off till 8:30 in the morning!

Worst defense I’ve ever seen!!!!

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Substitution means to take the place of something. Christ's death on the cross was substitutionary in that He took our punishment. Isaiah 53:4-6 says,

"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions.  He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him," (Isaiah 53:4-6).

Our sin was imputed to Christ. That is, it was reckoned to Hs account so that when He died on the cross, He fulfilled the requirement of the law that states that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

Also, consider the following verses.

  • "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed," (1 Peter 2:24).
  • "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him," (2 Cor. 5:21).

The Lord Jesus died for sinners and on behalf of sinners so that we might be redeemed through the complete and finished work of Christ.

"There are two Greek prepositions that emphasize the substitutionary nature of Jesus’ death. The preposition anti, translated “for,” means Christ died “instead of” sinners (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45). The preposition huper, also translated “for,” means Christ died “in behalf of” or “in place of” sinners (Gal. 3:13; 1 Tim. 2:6; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 3:18). Philemon 13 shows that huper must mean “in place of.”1

Finally, the death of Christ was a legal act. Sin is breaking the law of God, and Christ's substitutionary atonement was a satisfaction of the law of God.

  • 1. Enns, Paul P., The Moody Handbook of Theology, p. 323.
About The Author

Matt Slick is the President and Founder of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry.


text:
Being Startled

The most moving proclamation of the Fourth Suffering Servant Song, today’s first reading, I heard when I was at Michigan State many years ago. The lector was one of our students, and I knew she was going through much upheaval in her life. I did not expect her anguish to seep through the cracks–it was more than tears. It was a churning of emotion tumbling through like water over rapids. The song asks, “Were you there?” This person was there.

One of my staff colleagues wasn’t impressed. But I knew my young friend brought everything in her being to render that reading. I’ve never heard it the same since.

Even as many were amazed at him–
so marred was his look beyond that of (a) man,
and his appearance beyond that of mortals–
So shall he startle many nations,
because of him kings shall stand speechless;
For those who have not been told shall see,
those who have not heard shall ponder it.

For the past several decades, humankind has been startled by the victims and survivors of Nazi genocide. The Church has been startled by victims of abuse at the hands of most bishops and some clergy. We are still confronted daily by inhumanity on the scale of continents. We don’t want to look.

Well, we want to look in some ways. We can plug into Mel Gibson’s sadism and say we’ve encountered Isaiah 52:14. But how willing are we to sit with women and children who have been abused? Jesus is a safe encounter, in many ways. He is not present for some, so they can draw and paint him as they wish, putting their own words into his mouth. It’s not about submitting to the lash in a contrived asceticism of our own making. Can we submit as the Servant did, to the trials placed in our path? Does a bishop need to be legally coerced to do something much harder and more demanding than self-flaggelation? It would seem so.

He was spurned and avoided by (others), a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,
One of those from whom (people) hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

We hide our faces from the horrific. But today is a good day to unveil them, and to see, hear, and ponder the people God places on our life’s path. And to be startled, if we need to be.

About catholicsensibility

Todd and his family live in Ames, Iowa. He serves a Catholic parish of both Iowa State students and town residents.
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Give A Wink

I was thinking back to that summer night when I was ten, and had anticipated all evening the walk on the moon after the successful landing of the lunar module, Eagle.

I could not keep my eyes open for the whole moon walk; I fell asleep on the living room floor after about an hour. I was miffed that my mom didn’t wake me up. But her motto was that if your body’s telling you it needs sleep, then you should sleep. Besides, there will be other moonwalks. Not enough, in my opinion.

I didn’t react to the word of Neil Armstrong’s death as much as others. In another decade or two, no human will be left alive who walked on the surface of the nearest heavenly body. We all grow old. We all die. But young people can still dream, either in wakeful anticipation, or on a living room floor on far-off Planet Earth. From the Armstrong family statement:

For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the Moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.

About catholicsensibility

Todd and his family live in Ames, Iowa. He serves a Catholic parish of both Iowa State students and town residents.
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Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Extensibility and Programmability

Right click “Save as…”

Learn how to program using APIs and controls exposed by SQL Server Reporting Services. Report Viewer controls are covered, as well as extensions and custom code in reports. The focus is on covering the breadth of scenarios.

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39 minutes, 10 seconds

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This final module covers archiving and compliance while ensuring users have the ability to archive their content all while adhering to company policy and compliance requirements.

Full course outline:

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Hey, mister, can you tell me…

Annie, we were both wrong. Its Fannie.

I have had a great recharge weekend. The kids left with my Mom at noon yesterday and Patrick and I had a whole 23 hours to ourselves. This was our first weekend alone in 6 months, we spent the first 20 minutes enjoying the silence. Then we munched a quick lunch of homemade egg rolls and headed off to Lowe’s to pick up some bark mulch and a new timer switch for the oil burner. Once we got home I worked on cleaning out one of my flower beds, trimming my lilac, and laying down some mulch while Pat put my clothes line back up. It had fallen down last year and instead of having him put it back up I pondered a new home for it. I’m much happier with it on the far side of the garage than right out my kitchen window. Its a longer walk but it gets more sunshine and its out of the way, before it was kind of in the middle of the part of the yard we use. Much happier now :)

We fired up the grill for the first time, of course Pat had to cut a new bottom grill rack, the old one had rusted out. He makes a nice fireworks show :)

We then enjoyed deliciously perfect steak, potato salad and surprise beer, (Surprise! You left homebrew in the garage fridge last fall and its still good!). We finally watched The Simpsons movie, “I can’t believe I paid to see something I can watch for free on TV.” eh, it was ok. We watched last weeks episode of LOST and then I pretty much crashed. *snore  snore  snore*

This morning I headed out for a beautiful day in downtown Northampton with good friends. I met Annie at her house, her friend Heather was already there, and we headed to Luna pizza to meet Dierdre, mow some pizza and beer and prepare for enjoying the Harlot. We stopped at Valley Fabrics – *GAH!* – every time I step into that shop I drool, then on to a quick stop at Webs before strolling back down to the Calvin. Stephanie was as entertaining as ever and I laughed some good laughs.  8 hours with friends, thats a good day. I finished one sock and started another, hopefully I’ll have a finished pair for Aurelia tomorrow afternoon – I’m 2 inches away from done :) Right now I’m off to do a few quick sketches for class tomorrow night and do some work on my final project.

I am not in love, but I’m open to persuasion…

He’s such a good hubby. He remembered.

Chapter one: A Hanging in Eden

whisky -3, wee-1, ye – 21, dinna – 6, Sassenach – 6, expressive Gaelic phrases – 5, aye – 8, bonny – 1, laddie – 1, ken – 5, scairt – 1, verra – 1, and various wilnas, didnas, cannas, havenas and wi’s.

The bank of mid 18th century Scottich colloquialisms is full and I’m ready to cash a few checks.

I did a bit of weeding today, cleaning up a bit of one of my flower beds, watered my seedlings, finalized my garden plot plan. Hopefully Pat and I will be working in the garden all day tomorrow after the kids leave to spend the weekend with grandparents. I cut away some of last years dead flower cones from my lilac today and saw the new ones poking out, so pretty and petite. Garden pics tomorrow and maybe sock pics as well.

Now our daughter’s grown up fine…

I am officially out of new “verras, dins, ochs, ayes, worrits, and Sassenachs”

That handsome fellow above is about as close as I can get to how I picture a one Mr. James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser. MAN! I’ve been so good, too. I devour books and I purposefully moved in slow-mo through Voyager. I mean, Pat brought it home for me (surprise) last Friday and here it is Wednesday and I just finished it. Verra unlike me.

So. The question is, “Can I wait 25 hours for Patrick to bring home The Fiery Cross?”

How long can a girl live without Jamie?!

(I promise I’ll have a much more in depth post about the Outlander series in the near future. There will even be some knit/crochet involved)

I like my bands in business suits…

When did I get old enough to say, “Twenty seven years ago…”? When I realized that Raiders came out in ’81.

We’ve had a great weekend. A nice pleasant start to a week I can honestly say I have been dreading. February vacation, even with all the distracting activities at the  library and playdates with friends was not a “good Mommy” week.

We ran errands on Saturday and listened to Huey Lewis and Enter the Haggis as we did – nice combo, huh? Saebra spent most of the ride with her head almost out the window and Aurelia with her nose buried in Black Beauty , “Mama. I get it! Black Beauty is telling the story.” We had dinner and a lovely evening with friends (sans Patrick. he was changing oil, oil filter, gaping sparkplugs and changing tires on his car, studs are no longer needed :) ) and we watched a gorgeous full moon on the way home.

Sunday we were busy in the morning, as my car got the same treatment Pat’s had gotten the night before and our weekly pancake breakfast was whipped up. In the midst of all that Saebra fell twice, once scraping up a knee badly enough to need Daddy to wash and bandage her up and a second time out of a tree. Not so bad except that she was wearing a skirt and little girl undies are no protection from sappy, splintery pine. We’ve decided that we’ll only wear pants outside to play from now on.

Then we headed off to Pat’s parent’s place to celebrate his youngest brother Shaun’s birthday. We went on a great hike up to the Boulders. We saw two garter snakes cooling off in a little runoff stream, one wild turkey,  a stealthy turtle, and a pile of beautiful little wildflowers all poking up out of the leaf litter. The girls did great on what ended up being a three hour hike and they we’re still awake when we got home, though I don’t think I’d closed the door to their room before they were conked out.

Today they made me breakfast – english muffin with jelly, and played wonderfully together out side until lunch. Currently they are on a plant hunt down the street, Aurelia with small scissors for cutting “samples” and Saebra with the collection basket. It took them 1/2 an hour to to both sides of our end of the street, I wonder how long they’ll survive (get along) on the way down and back from the other end.(it took another 45 minutes and they were in great, sisterly spirits when they got back :) )

Hopefully we’ll have an interesting project to do with what they collect, I’ll let you know.

Yarn caressing continues as well. I’m working on a pair of socks for a classmate and my crochet 1 class begins again on Tuesday at Webs. I only have 2 weeks left to my classes at Umass so they will be a bit crunched with the crochet class added in but I’ll manage :)

Turn into something beautiful

I struggle with my kids sometimes.

I’m pretty damned laid back. It takes a literal ton of shit to piss me off, or it used to. Patrick and I were married for almost 6 years before Aurelia was born and in that whole time I don’t think he ever saw me mad. Sure there were times I was angry and frustrated at/with him but never mad, and I use the word mad because it implies a bit of insanity (someday I’ll tell you about the Lobster dinner). So upset that I shake, I snap, I feel like I’m burning inside. I felt like that a lot as a teenager. Hormones? Burgeoning independence? Fear of being out on my own and desperately wanting it at the same time? Who knows. I do know that I had a good 10 year run when I only felt like that once. Not so much since then.

I grapple with my inner “angry Mom” every day, its usually the same fight. Most of the time me and sanity win.

Daddy, I’m sorry. I never understood what you were talking about when you would use that word. I never understood just how much it bothered you. I do now, I bet Eliza does too.

My kids BICKER!

Over everything. Everything. It worms its way into my head and wakes up the “angry Mom”, its hard to put her back to bed, but I’m getting better. I can’t stand between them and tell them to work it out for the rest of their lives and I also can’t keep them locked up in their room with a silence punishment either. Thankfully warmer weather has arrived and I can at least put some distance between me and the ear piercing natterings that are my children’s constant little arguments. It helps. Now they only call for me when they really can’t resolve their problem, and mostly before they have resorted to blows (though this may be helped by Aurelia’s injury and Saebra’s knowledge that making that injury worse would bring a pile of punishment down on her, hmm)

Deep, spring scented breaths. I do truly treasure my alone time each mid-day, it helps me recharge my bicker battery. I’m hoping that the good weather will hold out and my kids and I will survive next week and come out whole on the other side – it’s school vacation. I think we will. Really, this is just a small part of my relationship with the girls, so small but when its closer, more immediate, it seems so much bigger.

I was contemplating all of this yesterday while cleaning up in the kitchen and I found the bit of artwork above. It’s Saebra’s version of forsythia, not a plant we have in out yard. Maybe we should. Maybe next week we’ll plant some yellow flowering bushes together so we can remember that time together each spring when they bloom.

Brown Gold

Ye Gads! The weather this weekend has been beautiful in Western Massachusetts! Warm enough to open up the house. Warm enough to be outside barefoot, for a bit. Warm enough for the smell of moist, fertile earth to fill my senses.

So of course my thoughts turn to the garden. My sister and I ordered our seeds months ago from Botanical Interests and with the final threat of frosts wearing down I’ve gotten my seedlings going. Of course near to half of what I’ll plant this year needs to be started in the actual garden soil but we’ll get there n the next 2 weeks. We’ll have corn, squashes, carrots, onions, radishes, beets, tomatoes and herbs of various sorts. Patrick will be building me a bean teepee next weekend and I look forward to planting my salad greens under it.

The first few plants have started popping up out there – though I’m sure my sister won’t see anything for a bit still, it snowed at her house today. The rhubarb is pushing its strangely brain like leaves up ahead of those lovely bloody red stalks and the bleeding heart is beginning to leaf out.

I’ll keep you up to date as the seedlings grow and move out to the greenhouse (now that we’ve finished up with maple sugaring season the sugarshack becomes my greenhouse), and then to the garden. Happy growing my chickadees!

I keep on fallin…

Aurelia has been experiencing No pain from her broken collar bone. Its been very hard for us, even with her arm in a sling to keep her from running around like a maniac! I don’t think we’ll have to worry anymore.

She fell, face first, in one of the less grassy areas of the yard. Why? Because she was running full-tilt and tripped over a rock.

She scraped up her left palm and wrist, has a bit of a bruise on the right shoulder – yup the one connected to thje broken collar bone – and a wicked little nick above her eye.  Scared the shit out of herself. Its hard to realize you’re going face first into the ground and you have no use of the arm that you could throw out to stop yourself because its in a sling, already injured. We have tried and tried to get her to understand that this, and much worse, is possible when she acts crazy.

This time I’m saying it, “I told you so.”

I wanna tell her that I love her but the point is probably moot

This morning was an “other” kind of morning.

The school district I drive in has a late start for High and Middle school students one Thursday every month, it was today for April. That means that instead of leaving my house at 6:20 and picking up my first student at 6:55 I don’t even leave until 7:20. I take care of the Elementary kids first and have a 35 minute wait before I head back out for the bigger kids. Usually I’m home by 9:15 but not till 10:30 today.

So, the “otherness”.

First: its WARM outside, delicious, yummy smelling, happy warm! Oh how I have missed this.

Second: It felt way too late, my kids were awake and lucid – if you’ve ever tried to talk to my kids when they first wake up you’d understand – grunt grunt, squeal, sssssssssquawk, Mamma! And the traffic patterns were all wrong on my way in. Too many cars. Where are all these people coming from!!!

Third: There was this amazing fog over the mountains this morning. (I’m sure those of you near the Rockies or the Alps would laugh heartily at what I call mountains, but there you go) This fog was surrealy thick – the cotton ball that covered the world thick, but the light – Oh! the light in the midst of it!! It was this amazing golden-peach tinged glow. I didn’t want to drive, I just wanted to sit and be absorbed by it. Lovely and wonderful way to start a day :)

I was also gifted with eggs again by one of my wonderful kindergarteners. 2 dozen this time and with a twist. There were 4 giant eggs in one carton. Mutant chicken? Nope. Duck, and a delicious one at that :)

I’ve got a few small projects I’m fooling with and a few to finish up. Now that I’ve figured out the new Dashboard and pic uploader on WordPress I should be Ok.

Was it overnight, or did it take you long

I need test crocheters!!

(Ok I haven’t completely figured out the new Wordpres format so no pics today – I’ll have to play with it all tomorrow)

All good now – so glad I have a tech savvy hubby :)

Could you make one of these for me? I’ll send you the pattern and yarn – your choice of color and the set is yours to keep – or gift away! –  when your done, and you let me know if you run into any problems before I publish. First 2 to volunteer :)

In other news I’m making socks. Simple toe-ups for a soon to be birthday guy in Valley Yarns Franklin in the, now defunct?, colorway Rainforest. I’ve added a simple 2 stitch cable up the instep, I may add more when I get to the leg. or not. ( I chose not)

Geez. Boys have big feet.


text:
Ministry of Truth: Tickets and Stocks

The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by central government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.

Guangdong Propaganda Department: All media must execute to the letter previous relevant requests; do not report or comment on Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Light Rail ticket prices without authorization. (January 15, 2013)

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions as “.” CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Central Propaganda Department: All media, including websites and weibo, are kindly asked not to report or comment on Charoen Pokphand Group’s [attempt to] purchase stock in Ping An Insurance and related issues; no exceptions. (January 15, 2013)

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.


text:
Brainstorming on improving the Oscars

oscars2008.jpgThere are a bunch of posts around Ye Olde Interwebs today on how the Oscars, either as a broadcast or as a ceremony as a whole can be improved in light of this year’s Lowest. Ratings. Ever. Yesterday I got an email from a contact at the L.A. Times asking for my thoughts on that same subject and the resulting story, including my quote as well as thoughts from other online folks is now up.

As is usual for me, my contribution is half snark and half actual constructive thinking and, also not unusual, focuses on increasing online engagement. Making that site into something that can serve as a hub of interactivity – including pulling posts from elsewhere on the web, facilitating viewer chat and allowing for embeddable video – is really the only way you’re going to get a new generation of viewers to pay attention to what’s going on. They might not watch the broadcast on TV, but I’d bet dollars to donuts they’d put their favorite song clip on their Facebook profile.

Anyway, check the story out and see what everyone had to say.

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Director of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL)

Iowa State University in Iowa

Date Posted May 26, 2014
Type Administrative
Employment Type Full-time

Iowa State University

Program Director

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences seeks applicants for the Director of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL). This position will direct the day-to-day administrative, program and research activities of a multidisciplinary center whose mission is to develop and implement programs to build capacity of the citizens of Kamuli District in Uganda, as well as the faculty, staff and students at Makerere University (Uganda) and Iowa State University.

This position is responsible for providing vision and leadership in building and strengthening relationships between CSRL and its in-country partner organizations and between CSRL and international organizations in ways that can directly benefit CSRL program activities. The successful candidate will possess exceptional communication and organizational skills along with sound leadership, negotiation and diplomacy skills. The candidate will also have the ability to work progressively within a broad management perspective to include a high level of program management; and work with a wide network of individuals internal and external (e.g., high level senior officials, scholars, and donors) to the university will be essential for success in this position.
The duties of this position will require the ability and willingness to travel internationally and to work in remote rural settings in Africa.

Required Qualification: Bachelor's degree and 8 years of related experience or a Master's degree and 6 years of related experience or a Ph.D. or other doctoral/professional program and 3 years of related experience. Experience must include research, extension or education in one or more developing countries. Demonstrated record of managing programs involving work teams.

Preferred Qualifications: Advanced degree from an accredited institution with evidence of independent research; Additional experience in program management and leadership; Experience with international program management; Demonstrated knowledge of tropical crops and/or livestock, international nutrition, or agricultural technology; Research experience in a discipline related to agriculture, natural resources and/or rural development; Experience which demonstrates a proven record of cross cultural team work; Experience living or working abroad in a developing country; Foreign language coursework, training or knowledge in a language relevant to work in developing countries; Fiscal management experience; Work experience within a higher education institution.

To view the full job description and for information on how to apply, please visit and click on the "Professional and Scientific" tab. On search results page, scroll down to search criteria and type in Vacancy ID #140378 or search under position title.

Iowa State University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, marital status, disability, or protected veteran status, and will not be discriminated against. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity, 3350 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.

How To Apply

You can apply for this position online at


text:
Citizens Advice

Bureau details

Get practical, reliable advice online. The information covers the law in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Please note some local Citizens Advice can only give advice to people living or working in a certain area.

Mid-Bedfordshire (Biggleswade) Citizens Advice Bureau

Century House
Market Square
SG18 8UU

Telephone:01525 841217appointments line
01767 601368 appointments line
Map:Link to map

 Other bureau locations

Please note bureau visits are by appointment

Advice times

Advice sessions

Many bureaux now have a short introductory interview to help decide how you can be best advised. You may then be asked to make an appointment. If the bureau is open only for appointments or specialist advice this will be indicated in the notes.

Mon: 10.00 - 14.30          Appointments only
Tue: 10.00 - 14.30          Appointments only
Wed: 10.00 - 14.30          Appointments only
Thu: 10.00 - 14.30          Appointments only
Fri:           Bureau Closed

Further information

Access details

  • Wheelchair accessible - yes
  • Wheelchair toilet access

If English is not your first language, contact the bureau for information about other languages it can provide advice in.

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  • Money Advice

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