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A Brief Review of the Recent Violence Between Israel and Gaza
by Jeremy R. Hammond | Dec 27, 2013 | Foreign Policy | 0 comments
A satellite view of the Gaza Strip (NASA)
The recent cycle of violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip has been characterized as having been instigated by the shooting of an Israeli defense contractor along the border with Gaza on December 24. This is typical of U.S. mainstream media reporting, but false.
It is also evidently typical of Israeli reporting. As Amos Harel writes in the Israeli daily Haaretz,
From the standpoint of the average Israeli news consumer, the escalation along the Gaza Strip border began at noon on Tuesday, when a Palestinian sniper killed a civilian employee of the Israel Defense Forces near Kibbutz Nahal Oz. But in fact, it seems the current round of violence began last Friday, with a series of incidents in which IDF forces shot at Palestinians approaching the border, killing one and wounding four.
On December 20, IDF soldiers shot and killed Oudeh Hamad and injured his brother Radaad in the northern Gaza Strip. Israel offered the bizarre justification that they were attempting to damage the border fence, but Radaad said that they were just collecting scrap metal and plastic from a junk yard, as they were known to do. Three others were also shot and injured by Israeli soldiers.
On December 22, IDF soldiers shot and wounded another Palestinian man in Gaza.
On December 24, IDF soldiers shot another Palestinian man in northern Gaza near the border fence. Four others were also wounded from Israeli gunfire.
The same day, Salah Abu Latif, a 22-year-old contractor for Israel's Defense Ministry, was shot near the border with Gaza while repairing damage to the border fence caused by extreme winter weather. He was the first Israeli to be killed in fire from Gaza since Israel's 8-day "Operation Pillar of Defense" in November 2012. Although the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) issued a statement acknowledging responsibility for the shooting, Israel announced that it would hold Hamas responsible.
Israel then launched attacks on six locations across Gaza, wounding ten people and killing a 3-year-old girl. Hamas nevertheless responded with restraint, saying that it was not interested in escalating the situation.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the recent violence on both sides, including Israel's shooting of several Palestinian civilians since Friday.
On December 26, two rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, causing no casualties or damage.
Israel then launched more airstrikes into Gaza, wounding one Palestinian.


Welcome to the 7th annual Wednesday Wishlist post where the topic is getting restaurants in San Jose worthy of Michelin starts. The Michelin guide is the most renowned rubric in the world for measuring culinary success. I think the foodie culture is continuing to build momentum in San Jose, especially Downtown. I'm optimistic it will only be a matter of time until we have some unique restaurants with national recognition.
I created a Google doc listing all of the star recipients for 2016, along with tabs for all previous years and some general statistics. Below is an image capture from the doc. This year there were a total of 50 restaurants that were awarded Michelin stars, which is up 10 from last year and an all-time high for the Bay Area. 62% of the restaurants are locating in SF, 20% in Wine Country, 16% in Silicon Valley (split evenly between the South Bay and the Peninsula), and 2% in the East Bay. There are 14 new restaurants on the list this year (see image below), as well as one significant upgrade. Manresa (Los Gatos) achieved the elusive three star rating. Manresa is not only the first restaurant in the South Bay to ever get this rating, but it is only the fifth restaurant ever to get a three star rating anywhere in the Bay Area. Several restaurants from 2015 did not make the cut, including Madera, Maruya, La Folie, Boulevard, and the All Spice in San Mateo.
Swaad (Indian), Walia (Ethiopian), and Lau Mai San (Vietnamese) are all welcome additions and represent how amazing our ethnic cuisines are. All 10 San Jose restaurants that were Michelin recommended in the 2015 guide held on to that status in 2016. If you haven't been to the restaurants above, I can vouch that all of them are well worth visiting.


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CPB pre-clearance hours extended in Ireland
Posted on Jun 5, 2019 by Triton Staff in Cruising Grounds, News | 0 Comments
U.S. customs pre-clearance at Shannon Airport in Ireland will now be possible from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time as of June 1, after the director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance field office and the director of the Shannon Airport Authority signed a memorandum that extends the previous hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The memorandum also defines a cost-sharing agreement, and includes commitments from both parties toward future facility upgrades, according to a U.S. CBP press release.
The advance clearance service allows CBP officers to perform the same immigration, customs, and agriculture clearances typically done upon arrival in the U.S. before international travelers depart from certain foreign airports. Upon arriving in the U.S., travelers with pre-clearance may continue to their destination as though they had arrived on a domestic flight.
Andrew Murphy, managing director of the Shannon Airport Authority, seated left, and Clint Lamm, director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance field office, seated right, sign an agreement that extends pre-clearance hours at the airport. Standing, left to right, are Niall Maloney and Michael Balero. Photo provided/U.S. CBP
CBP has 15 air pre-clearance locations in Ireland, Aruba, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the United Arab Emirates, as well as several locations in Canada.
In 1986, Shannon Airport became the first airport in Europe to offer U.S. pre-clearance services for commercial carriers. In 2010, the airport became the first in the world to offer full pre-clearance for private aircraft, and today remains the only airport in North America, Europe and the Middle East providing this unique service.
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Just about everyone knows that chest pain is a sign of heart attack. But only about 1 in 4 know the other symptoms that could signal a heart attack. Do you?
Heart attacks are increasingly occurring among younger Americans, primarily because the conditions that increase the risk for heart attacks are appearing earlier in life.
The scene is one just about anyone would recognize: A middle-aged man suddenly grimaces, grabs the left side of his chest, and collapses. For bystanders, which can include family, friends or complete strangers, the decision is an easy one: call 911. And few of us would ignore the tell-tale symptom — the feeling of an elephant sitting on our chest — if it were happening to us.
But what about the somewhat lesser-known scenarios? A woman who is experiencing shortness of breath and pain in her stomach? A 30-something male who suddenly breaks out into a cold sweat and becomes nauseated?
Those can be heart attacks, too. And delaying action can increase the damage the heart attack causes — and increase the risk of death.
February is National Heart Month in America — a month set aside by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the American Heart Association and others as an awareness month to alert Americans to the dangers of heart disease. You may think you can recognize a heart attack — after all, a CDC survey of heart attack victims found that 92 percent recognized the tell-tale symptom of chest pain as a heart attack. But only about one in four, 27 percent, recognized the other symptoms that they were having as being a heart attack.
The statistics are grim. In the time you've been reading this article, two people have had heart attacks somewhere in the United States. By the time you've read another three paragraphs, someone else will have had a heart attack.
That's because about every 43 seconds, on average, someone suffers a heart attack — 735,000 a year. Grimmer still? Every 52 seconds, someone in America dies of heart disease. It's America's leading killer, especially in men between the ages of 45 and 54, and it's responsible for one in every four deaths each year.
Unfortunately, that's not the end of the bad news. Heart attacks are no longer a symptom of being middle-aged. Not exclusively. While the average age of a first heart attack is 66 in men, they're happening in people younger and younger — primarily because the underlying health conditions that cause so many of them are showing up in adults and even America's youth at younger ages.
A heart attack is caused when circulation of blood to the heart is blocked. If the blockage is not rapidly opened, heart tissue will die from a lack of oxygen. That is known as a myocardial infarction, or a heart attack.
Usually, though not always, a heart attack is caused by coronary heart disease, a narrowing of the coronary arteries that carry blood to the heart. Coronary heart disease is usually caused by at atherosclerosis — a buildup of fatty plaque on the artery walls.
As blood flow is reduced to the heart due to narrowed arteries, chest pain — called angina — can occur, particularly during exercise or stress. While angina itself isn't a heart attack, it is a sign of an impending heart attack if it doesn't go away with rest or after taking nitroglycerin.
If the blocked artery supplies a small portion of the heart, the heart attack is often milder. But even mild heart attacks can result in permanent heart damage, heart failure later in life, an abnormal heart beat, and a higher risk of a second heart attack.
When a large area of the heart is affected, a massive heart attack occurs, which can result in cardiac arrest, rapid death and permanent heart damage.
Three primary risk factors for heart disease are high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and smoking.
There are other conditions that affect the risk for heart disease, too. Obesity, diabetes, physical inactivity and unhealthy eating patterns are chief among them.
The CDC is warning that heart disease doesn't just happen to older adults. It is happening to younger adults more and more often. High rates of obesity and high blood pressure among younger people between the ages of 35 and 64 are putting them at risk of heart disease earlier in life. In fact, the CDC says that half of all Americans have at least one of the top three risk factors for heart disease.
Millions of Americans have high blood pressure, including many who are in their 40s and 50s. Startlingly, the CDC estimates that about half of people with high blood pressure don't have it under control. That's a problem because uncontrolled high blood pressure is perhaps the single biggest risk factor for heart disease, as well as stroke and other ailments.
But blood pressure is not alone. High blood cholesterol greatly increases the risk for heart disease, too. What's more, several of the other factors that increase the risk for heart disease — such as diabetes, obesity, smoking, eating unhealthy foods and lack of physical activity — also contribute to unhealthy cholesterol levels.
Meanwhile, there are more than 37 million Americans who smoke — and thousands of young people start smoking every day, slowing starting the process of damaging their blood vessels.
Nearly one in three Americans — including nearly one in six children ages two to 19 — are obese. And nearly one in 10 people in the U.S. has diabetes, which causes sugar build-up that can damage blood vessels and nerves that help control the heart muscle. The CDC estimates that only one in five adults meet the physical activity guidelines of getting 150 minutes a week (that's 2.5 hours, or 30 minutes each week day) of moderate-intensity exercise. And only one in 10 adults get enough fruits and vegetables in their diets each day.
Because heart attacks are happening in Americans younger and younger, the American Council on Science & Health says it's especially important to know the symptoms of a heart attack.
The problem? Many don't. In a survey of heart attack victims, 92 percent of respondents recognized chest pain as a symptom of a heart attack, but only 27 percent were aware of all major symptoms and knew to call 911.
It's true that chest pain or discomfort is a chief warning sign of heart attacks. But not all heart attacks behave the same, and some don't include chest pain at all — especially in women. Other symptoms include upper body pain or discomfort in the arms, back, neck, jaw or upper stomach, as well as shortness of breath, nausea, lightheadedness or cold sweats. Further, about 20 percent of all heart attacks are "silent," with few symptoms.
The most important thing to know? If you or someone you're around are experiencing symptoms that could indicate a heart attack, don't wait: call 911. That's especially true for people with major risk factors — such as a diagnosed heart problem, high blood pressure or diabetes — but it's advice that should be heeded by everyone.
Science has helped medicine advance tremendously in just the past three decades. Heart attacks aren't necessarily a death sentence. Today, most people are surviving their heart attacks. Nearly three out of four men, and six out of 10 women, live at least one year after suffering a heart attack — and, of course, many of those who survive will live much longer than that.
But the key to survival is prompt intervention. The outcome of a heart attack depends on how much of the heart muscle dies. Once blood flow through an artery has been stopped, the tissue begins to die, and it continues to die until the artery can be reopened. Doctors say that significantly more heart muscle death occurs after five or six hours of blockage than occurs within two or three hours. After about 12 hours, damage caused by a heart attack is irreversible.
It goes without saying, of course, that you don't have 12 hours to wait to summon health. Most cardiac arrests that occur during a heart attack are within the first few hours. And nearly half of those — 47 percent — occur before the person experiencing the heart attack reaches the hospital. Statistics have shown that only about six percent of people who experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting will survive — despite the best efforts of bystanders and paramedics who administer CPR.
So the symptoms bear repeating: chest pin or pressure, or just a strange feeling in the chest; sweating; shortness of breath; nausea or vomiting; pain, or pressure, in the back, neck, jaw or upper belly, or in the shoulders or arms; lightheadedness or sudden weakness; and a fast or irregular heartbeat.
Don't smoke. If you do smoke, it's not too late to stop. It's not just heart attacks you have to worry about if you're a tobacco user. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
Manage your conditions. If you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, work with your health care provider to manage those problems. Take any medicines that you have been prescribed and follow your doctor's orders.
Eat well. This includes foods that are low in trans-fat, saturated fats, added sugar and sodium. Fill at least half your plate with vegetables and fruits. Replace salt with spices.
Stay active. Get moving at least 150 minutes a week. It doesn't have to be all at once; 30 minutes before or after work each day will do the trick. You can even break up the 30 minutes into 10-minute segments around your family's schedule.
For more information on heart attacks and how to prevent them, visit cdc.gov/heartdisease.
This article is the February 2019 installment of Focus On: Health, presented on the second week of each month by Brennan's Foot & Ankle Care, Big South Fork Medical Center, Roark's Pharmacy and Danny's Drugs as part of the Independent Herald's "Focus On" series. A print version of this article can be found on page A3 of the February 14, 2019 edition of the Independent Herald.


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You are here: Start / Summer and winter. / All year / University & State Sports Center Rif
Rif for Everyone
Due to the unique location and, above all, its many and varied uses, the "Sports Town", originally built in 1986, has been transformed into a true center of sports. Whether for top-flight athletes, sports for the enjoyment of the general public, university education, sports for the physically challenged etc. - at Sports Center Hallein/Rif, everything is under one roof.
Created by the University of Salzburg in cooperation with the student dormitory, the inter-departmental specialty known as "Sports & Exercise Sciences" resulted in development of a campus modeled on the classic American style.
The Sports Center is appreciated by local residents in particular. The idea of an open sports facility has been integral to the concept from the vey outset. This means that all of the outdoor facilities aren't just available to reserved groups, but also for the use of the public in general, the goal being to inspire everyone to become actively involved in sports. A floodlit running track, track & field facilities, 4 beach-volleyball courts, street-basketball courts, street soccer, a court for inline-skate hockey, 2 soccer fields, 2 hard-court tennis courts, a climbing tower, slackline park, Kneipp pool, children's playground, skater area and, last but not least, the installation of a school exercise path, now have everyone, young and old, streaming to Rif.
Here you can obtain complete information about upcoming events, in- and outdoor facilities along with the extensive range of sporting opportunities.
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The Michi-no-Eki "Asuka," the 15th Michi-no-Eki established in Nara prefecture, was opened on Tuesday September 18, 2018. Located in front of the Kintetsu Asuka train station, it serves as a useful base for exploring the Asuka area, both for tourists traveling by train and those traveling by car.
As well as making available tourist-related information about Asuka, "Asukabito-no-Yakata" offers a "concierge" at all times to help tourists find and book accommodation at guest houses and other facilities. The center also sells Asuka souvenirs and specialty products.
"Asukabito-no-Yakata" is operated by Asuka Sightseeing Association.
Asuka Yume/Dream Store has been selling fresh vegetables and fruit brought in directly from local farmers since April 1999. Taking advantage of the remarkable variety of agricultural products grown in relatively small quantities—a distinctive feature of Asuka—the store offers a broad array of fresh vegetables and fruit including rare varieties. On top of this, it also sells a rich selection of processed foods, such as Japanese pickles made from local vegetables and homemade sweets.
The many historic sites and attractions of the Asuka are spread out over a wide area, so it's difficult to see everything in one day. And it's also good to visit Oku-Asuka. For these reasons, it's well worth renting a MICHIMO ultra-compacting electric car, for extra mobility. Since it's even narrower than a typical kei car (small car), the MICHIMO is perfect for zipping around the old narrow streets of Asuka. It is the ideal way to see the sights of Asuka, and it's environment-friendly too.


Every house in Britain will be fitted with a smart energy meter within the next decade in a £9-billion Government scheme, designed to save consumers money.
In a trial of the new meters, many households saved 3%–4% off energy bills, which could add up to a £100-million annual saving when the meters are rolled out across the country.
Smart meters send accurate information to energy companies about the household's electricity and gas consumption, in place of companies sending out engineers to read the meters.
Householders will also have a small screen installed displaying company bills, special offers and warnings when energy usage is unusually high.
Energy companies will install their own meters, but the machines will feed data to a centralised IT company, allowing consumers to switch between suppliers without swapping their meters.


Guided city tours have long been popular with art, architecture, and history buffs but the growing trend of foraging a destination to find its best local fare is trending worldwide. So, why not skip the typical guided walking tour on your next trip and instead book a culinary adventure with an epicurean host? We've taken food and cultural tours in Hawaii, Seattle, Lisbon and most recently Puerto Rico.
We find the number of guests on gourmet walking tours tend to be fewer than on typical city walks making it more comfortable to interact with the host and the other guests. These smaller groups are often welcome at even the coziest of bars and bistros so you find some real hidden gems on these tours.
On our trip to Puerto Rico last April we booked a tour with Flavors of San Juan Food & Culture Tours. Our guide, Denise, was a young and energetic woman eager to share the history, architecture, and flavors of Old San Juan. She had two goals for our group of ten - 1) make sure we had fun and, 2) impart an appreciation of the food, culture and history of her island. If she could accomplish those two things, she assured us we'd leave at the end of the tour with a full belly and happy heart.
During our three hour tour, Denise took us to six places where we sampled a variety of dishes representative of Puerto Rico's diverse food scene featuring Spanish, Cuban, Mexican, African, Taino and American influences.
Rum is the national drink here and Puerto Rico is the world's leading rum producer so it seemed logical that our first stop was rum tasting. Our group huddled around the Rum Bar, a little kiosk inside the Princesa Gastropub, located on Paseo La Princesa, a main thoroughfare in the La Puntilla section of Old San Juan. The bartender introduced us to the many types of rum, ranging from complex sipping varieties to simple spirits that would blend well into any tropical cocktail. The small, but well-equipped bar, stocked many light and dark rums - many produced in the gran enejo or super-aged style similar to Tequila or barrel-aged whisky. A few guys purchased a shot of the high-end stuff but the rest of us enjoyed our complimentary pina colada. We also got our first bite of the tour with servings of Iberian ham croquettes, and breaded eggplant topped with beef stew.
After a brief stop at Señor Paleta to select an all-natural ice pop to go, we took shelter under a sprawling mango tree at small park overlooking the San Juan Bay and enjoyed our cool treats while Denise gave us some history about the island. We made our way to a local art gallery and craft boutique which also housed our next stop - Cafe El Punto, where we were greeted with trays of fried plantain fritters and a ceviche appetizer made with grouper, avocado and homemade salsa. We admired the artists' work while we enjoyed our appetizers. A short walk took us to our next destination, Spicy Caribbee, where we sampled provisions from Puerto Rico and other neighboring Caribbean islands. The little boutique had an impressive selection of exotic spice blends, jerk sauces and condiments including banana ketchup and jams featuring guava, pineapple, mango and papaya. I think everyone purchased something to take home from the vast array of delicacies and gift items like candles, soaps and lotions.
As we strolled the centuries-old cobblestone streets en route to our next stop, Denise made sure we were taking in the Spanish Colonial architectural sights - from the colorful and ornate facades and balconies to secret courtyards and not-so-secret parks like Parque de las Palomas, or Pigeon Park, home to hundreds if not thousands of the meandering birds.
The next tasting on the tour required some work on our part to make mofongo, a local Afro-Puerto Rican dish. Once seated at Rosa de Triana (the building was a former jailhouse), we were each given a wooden pilon, also known as mortal and pestle. Inside were fried plantains (picked green before ripe), garlic, butter and salt. Our job was to pummel the concoction with the pestle until it was well mashed. To that, we added creole chicken, rice and beans from a platter served family-style at the table and quenched our thirst with either sangria or the local beer.
The last stop of the day was bit of a chocoholics dream. Casa Cortes ChocoBar is an artsy chocolatier with a wildly imaginative menu featuring chocolate in both sweet and savory dishes. Here you'll find chocolate pastries, cakes and truffles but also entrees like salmon in chocolate butter sauce, sandwiches pairing grilled cheese and chocolate and salads dressed in balsamic chocolate vinaigrette. Our group was seated in a little alcove where we were treated to cups of decadent hot chocolate served with pieces of dark chocolate atop a small slice of cheddar cheese. The recommendation of our host was to drop the chocolate and cheese into the cup of hot chocolate and let it melt. It sounded weird but I did it and liked the slightly tart taste and creaminess it added to the hot chocolate. Next came warm, mini churros accompanied with a rich chocolate dipping sauce which we all politely devoured.
Denise walked us back to our starting point where our little group Air Dropped photos, shared email addresses and said our goodbyes with full bellies and happy hearts!
For more information on Flavors of San Juan Food & Culture Tours visit sanjuanfoodtours.com To book a culinary tour in San Juan or any other city, contact Putnam Travels.


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The design brief called for a luxury eco-resort in Kumarakom, Kerala. As a boutique project, in close proximity to the Arabian Sea, the objective was to offer an indulgent retreat experience of life amidst the backwaters. Physical and visual engagement with the natural setting laid the foundation for the development of the globally unique design set amidst a serene landscape.
The 40-acre site on the man-made Puthenkayalisland lies facing the Vembanad lake backwaters. 4.2m wide water channels run through the site with alternate strips of land and water. High flood levels within the site and the intent to retain the unique character of the striated water and land channels helped to determine the stilted nature of the built up structures and connecting pathways.
This natural landscape is retained and exploited for primary movement, as the site is predominantly flooded for most part of the year. Along with this, the condition of no vehicular movement inside the site and a clear distinction within the location of facilities and villas helped to construct the master plan. A script was developed with the given conditions, and to maintain a sense of peace and individual habitation, rules were set out to determine the location of the villas. The location of the villas is over-layered with the water channel running through. The result was a master plan with interlocking movement systemsof road and pathways periodically hyphenated with nodes connecting to a tertiary movement system linking villas.
Traditional references have informed the design of the villas; such as the basic module Nalukettu, where four blocks built around a courtyard into which the roof slopes on four sides, protecting an internal verandah from rain and sun. The covered pathways and villas allow one to experience the rain without getting wet.
Environmental concerns dictated the form development and help to regulate the microclimate within the resort. Location and orientation of the villas is optimized to achieve maximum porosity to westerly winds, leading to wind movement acceleration throughout the site. The roof form has been derived from a tree, where the foliage spread is used to provide shade, whilst simultaneously creating a wind tunnel effect to regulate the temperature. This aerodynamic, retractable roof form with large perforated cantilevers traps the wind and filters the sun, thus increasing the thermal circulation of the space, yet maintaining light quality in the internal spaces, and further emphasizing on the views. Rain Protection is provided with the help of covered walkways throughout the site.
The project was in co-ordination with the client`s design advisor – Mr, PeetiSastrawaha.


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text:
Hildegard van Vlaanderen (ca. 938 - 10 april 990) was de dochter van Arnulf I van Vlaanderen en Aleidis van Vermandois. Ze werd gravin van Holland na haar huwelijk met graaf Dirk II, graaf van Holland en West-Friesland.

Politiek huwelijk
Hildegard werd reeds als kleuter verloofd en trouwde rond 950 op twaalfjarige leeftijd. Hiermee ijverde Arnulf naar meer zeggingschap in Holland wat paste in zijn expansiepolitiek. Anderzijds bracht Hildegard Karolingisch bloed in de dynastie van Holland, en kreeg Holland nauwere contacten met het Graafschap Vlaanderen.

Giften
Ze is vooral bekend van de vele giften aan o.a. kloosters en kerken in Egmond, Trier en Gent. Het Evangelarium dat aan de Abdij van Egmond werd geschonken is hiervan de belangrijkste. Hildegard is begraven in de abdijkerk van Egmond.

Nazaten
Uit het huwelijk zouden 6 kinderen geboren zijn; slechts over drie is iets bekend:

 zoon Aarnout (Gent, 951-993), ook wel Arnulf Gandensis genoemd, die zijn opvolger werd;
 zoon Egbert (952-994), aartsbisschop van Trier;
 dochter Erlindis (953-1012), zou volgens de legende genezen zijn van blindheid.
 mogelijk een onbekende dochter die trouwde met graaf Everhard van Doornik

Trivia
In 938 verloofde de toen nog zeer jonge graaf Dirk II zich met Hildegard van Vlaanderen, dochter van graaf Arnulf I van Vlaanderen. Het huwelijk volgde ca. 950. Uit de Rijmkroniek van Holland van Melis Stoke: "Dese Dideric goed ende wert had een wijf, heet Hildegaert" (deze goede en brave Diederik had een vrouw die Hildegard heette) De plaatsnaam Hillegersberg is vernoemd naar Hildegard van Vlaanderen. Dirk II was eigenaar van het aldaar bestaande Bergan, wat "versterkte plaats" of "gehucht" betekent.

*

Voorouders

Externe link
Portret in Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon

Partner van de graaf van Holland
Huis Vlaanderen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Елені Даніліду була чинною чемпіонкою, але не змогла захистити свій титул, оскільки в півфіналі її перемогла Марія Кириленко з рахунком 6–3, 1–6, 6–4.
Вінус Вільямс виграла титул, перемігши у фіналі Марію Кириленко з рахунком 6–3, 1–6, 6–4.

Сіяні гравчині

Сітка

Фінальна частина

Секція 1

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| RD1-team11= Дз Намігата
| RD1-score11-1=5
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| RD1-seed12=
| RD1-team12= М Жоанссон
| RD1-score12-1=7
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| RD1-team13= П Пармантьє
| RD1-score13-1=6
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| RD1-score13-3=
| RD1-seed14=
| RD1-team14= Е Галловіц
| RD1-score14-1=2
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| RD1-team15= Ф Пенетта
| RD1-score15-1=6
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| RD1-team16= А Морігамі
| RD1-score16-1=2
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| RD2-team01= В Вільямс
| RD2-score01-1=6
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| RD2-team02= Т Танасугарн
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Секція 2

Посилання
WTA Draw

2007
Hansol Korea Open


text:
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Archive for the 'California Education' Category
Inaugural: Brown Urges Loyalty to the Community
Jerry Brown's inaugural address was a political homily that invoked a pioneer philosopher and his own ancestors' journey westward to argue that California's only way forward from chronic gridlock and fiscal morass is "loyalty to the community."
After taking the oath as the state's 39th governor, Brown not only offered an unvarnished look at the intractable political and economic condition of California but also pledged to confront these challenges without flinching.
"Choices have to be made and difficult decisions taken," he said. "At this stage of my life (a refrain from his campaign commercials), I have not come here to embrace delay or denial."
Having set low expectations for his address, Brown soared over them, as he delivered a 16-minute speech that was interrupted 14 times for applause by a crowd of supporters and elected officials packed into Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium. Long known for his disdain for self-discipline and tradition, Brown displayed a serious and, at times, formal style as he shocked pundits and political hacks alike by showing up on time and actually speaking from a printed text.
Alternately sober, funny and inspiring, his elegant speech made a post-post-partisan appeal for a commitment to shared sacrifice that transcends politics. Brown recalled the courage and values with which his great-grandfather August Schuckman survived his arduous 1852 wagon train journey to the Golden State, saying that "the people of California have not lost their pioneering spirit or their capacity to meet life's challenges."
"It is not just my family, but every Californian is heir to some form of powerful tradition, some history of overcoming challenges much more daunting than the ones we face today," he said. "From the native people who survived the total transformation of their way of life, to the most recent arrival, stories of courage abound. And it is not over."
The 72-year-old Brown reportedly wrote the speech himself and was introduced by his wife and closest adviser, Anne Gust Brown. In it, he acknowledged the state faces dire circumstances, but insisted that California remains, as Cary McWilliams labeled it, "the Great Exception."
The state's rich and vibrant history demonstrates how the outsized energy, imagination and innovation of its people provide a legacy of hope that will outstrip the blight of recession, joblessness and chronic budget crisis, Brown said, as he summoned the beliefs of Josiah Royce, born in1855 in a mining camp that later became Grass Valley.
"We can overcome the sharp divisions that leave our politics in perpetual gridlock, but only if we reach into our heart and find that loyalty, that devotion to California above and beyond our narrow perspectives," Brown said.
The new governor connected Royce's "philosophy of loyalty" to the problems of today, which he insisted can only be surmounted if the politics of polarization and deadlock of recent years are set aside in favor of a commitment to the common good:
"Without the trust of the people, politics degenerates into mere spectacle and democracy declines, leaving demagoguery and cynicism to fill the void," he said, pivoting to the specific issues he and the Legislature now face.
"The year ahead will demand courage and sacrifice. The budget I propose will assume that each of us who are elected to do the people's business will rise above ideology and partisan interest and find what is required for the good of California. There is no other way forward. In this crisis we simply have to learn to work together as Californians first, members of a political party second."
His presentation was not without its humorous notes. As Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye swore him in, the crowd murmured a laugh at the notion that he was taking the oath "without mental reservation" at which point Brown smiled, looked to the audience and said "really – no mental reservation."
He later noted that he was not only following his father's footsteps, but "my own" as well. And when he introduced his 99-year old Aunt Connie Carlson he warned those who are "hankering after my job, it may be a while. God willing, the genes are good."
But it was passion and seriousness of purpose that set the tone for most of his address:
"This is a time to honestly assess our financial condition and to make the tough choices. And as we do, we will put our public accounts in order, investments in the private sector will accelerate and our economy will produce new jobs just as it has done after each of the other ten recessions since World War II."
While hopeful rhetoric filled much of his speech, he also touched on some specific issues that he highlighted during the campaign:
Budget: In confronting the immediate challenge of a $28 billion budget deficit, Brown said he would work to forge a strategy in line with the basic principles he set forth in the campaign:
"First, speak the truth. No more smoke and mirrors on the budget. No empty promises. Second, no new taxes unless the people vote for them. Third, return – as much as possible – decisions and authority to cities and counties and schools."
Energy: Brown echoed his call during the race for new forms and expanded use of alternative forms of energy:
"As Californians we can be proud that our state leads the rest of the country in our commitment to new forms of energy and energy efficiency. I have set a goal if 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2020 and I intend to meet it by the appointments I make and the actions they take.
Education: Despite his concern for the state's budget woes, Brown promised to public schools a centerpiece of his efforts to lead a comeback for the state.
"Aside from economic advance, I want to make sure that we do everything we can to ensure that our schools are places of real learning. Our budget problem is dire but after years of cutback, I am determined to enhance our public schools so that our citizens of the future have the skills, the zest and the character to keep California up among the best."
Returning to his philosophical tone at the end of his address, Brown noted that "many of these issues have confronted California one way or another for decades, certainly since the time of Earl Warren."
"I have thought a lot about this and it strikes me that what we face together as Californians are not so much problems but rather conditions, life's inherent difficulties. A problem can be solved or forgotten but a condition always remains. It remains to elicit the best from each of us and show us how we depend on one another and how we have to work together."
Brown's speech was a big hit with politicians sitting in the front row at Memorial Auditorium – almost none of whom matter in Sacramento.
Outgoing governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pronounced the speech "fantastic." Former Gov. Gray Davis said Brown offered the right mix of realism and inspiration. U. S. Senator Dianne Feinstein agreed with the notion of giving responsibility and authority back to local government.
And the guy who mattered most, Senate Democratic Leader Darrell Steinberg, predicted that he'd be able to push Brown's plans for the budget and taxes through the Legislature without going to a vote right away.
Tags: August Schuckman, inaugural address, Inauguration, Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the Great Exception
Posted in California Budget, California Deficit, California Education, California Politics, Environment, Jerry Brown | 3 Comments »
Dr. H Returns, Calbuzz Classic, Weird Holiday Dogs
Despite his annual struggle against Seasonal Affect Disorder, Calbuzz staff psychiatrist Dr. P. J. Hackenflack has bravely battled his way through the stacks of mail that have piled up since the election, and graciously agreed to return today to answer our readers' burning psycho-political questions.
Dear Dr. Hackenflack,
Now that the election's over, is Meg Whitman feeling any regrets about the way she treated her housekeeper, Nicky Diaz?
– Gloria La Rouge, West Hollywood
Totally. She can't find anyone to clean the kitchen or do the wash, let alone bring in the mail.
To the Honorable P.J. Hackenflack,
I've noticed that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa all of a sudden is traveling around the country trying to raise his profile. Wussup with that?
– Cass A. Nova, Reno
Ignore the political speculation. Just happens Tony V's run through all the female anchors in L.A. and feels ready to move up to network news babes.
Dr. H,
Why is Dianne Feinstein running for another term at her age? I've seen younger faces on cash.
– Tom C. Silicon Valley
She's determined to pass Strom Thurmond on the all-time Senate geezer list.
Yo Doc,
A friend said Jerry Brown is going to make his wife his chief of staff in the governor's office. Do you think that's a good idea?
– Jacques B, Paris, France
Yo Jacques – the doc is still trying to finagle invites to the big inaugural parties, so no way I'm touchin' that one, dude.
One of the Hollywood blogs said Arnold Schwarzenegger is in line to play the lead in a remake of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." True?
– J.M. Stewart, Indiana Pennsylvania
False. He's actually signed to play Willy Loman in an update of "Death of a Salesman."
I saw on the news that Senate Republican leader Bob Dutton sat in the audience instead of onstage at Jerry Brown's first public hearing on the budget. Do you think that was an effective protest?
– Darrell S, K Street Mall
Bob who?
Hello Dr. Hackenflack,
Ana Matosantos seems like a nice, smart person, but it seems strange that Jerry's keeping on Arnold's finance director. Can you shed any light?
– Harry P, Sacramento
Turns out Governor Gandalf was time traveling when he met her and thinks he's rehired Adriana Gianturco.
Now that San Francisco's mayor's been elected lieutenant governor, there's a big fight to replace him. Who's the best candidate?
– W. Brown Mineola, Tex.
Clearly Gavin Newsom. He has absolutely nothing else to do for the next four years.
Calbuzz Classic: Less than three weeks before he takes the oath of office as governor, Jerry Brown is already making moves to assume the powers of the state's chief executive. So we thought it was an appropriate time to start measuring Brown's acts against his words in the campaign. Here's a piece we ran on April 13, 2009, based on the first major interview with Krusty that focused on his bid for governor:
Reflecting on his first incarnation as California governor, Jerry Brown says he was overly concerned with the importance of new ideas and not focused enough on the practicalities of getting things done.
In the first extensive interview about his 2010 gubernatorial bid, Brown told Calbuzz that if he wins back, at the age of 72, the office he first captured when he was 36, things will be different.
"Then I emphasized new ideas, now I would emphasize management more," he told us. "It was very exciting then, but without losing that sense of innovation, I'd be more practical-minded, very detailed, focused on follow through and consensus building . . . I'd be looking for people who are seasoned administrators."
In a telephone interview last week, Brown said he is motivated to seek a second turn as governor by his own "unspent potential," a notion he credited to the anthropologist Gregory Bateson: "The key to flexibility is not spending all your potential."
Speaking in rushing streams of high-speed sentences, Brown talked of everything from how to attack Sacramento's partisan dysfunction to the hair products used by Democratic rival Gavin Newsom. Boasting that his two terms as governor were "good years" for California, he rattled off a list of accomplishments, while uncharacteristically acknowledging some shortcomings.
"My sense of management has been refined and developed," said the man who, as governor, was known to mock and belittle the pathways, processes and procedures of state government and those who work in it.
His candidacy still formally undeclared, Brown only occasionally used the phrase "if I run," in portraying himself as a master politician whose experience in elected office at every level – mayor, attorney general, state party chairman, to name a few – affords him unmatched understanding of government organization and operations which he would wield at California's intractable problems.
"I have a greater sense of how things get done and don't get done," he said. "I have a much better, hands-on understanding of how (government) functions . . . a sense of how things work . . . a much better sense of sizing people up and how you go about building an administration."
We wanted to interview Brown to ask his views on seven key questions we posed to all the candidates in one of our first posts. In his own fashion, he addressed most of them. However, Brown staunchly refused to specify what combination of cuts and tax hikes he would support to deal with chronic deficits, beyond stressing his view that California is a "very high tax" state and dismissing as politically impractical the proposal to amend Proposition 13 by taxing commercial and industrial property at higher rates than residential property.
"Anyone who answers that (tax and cuts question) will never have a chance to be governor," he said. "It's very hard to discuss with particularity anything that can be turned into (campaign) fodder."
Moreover, he added, "dictating from the corner office does not work . . . If eliminating the structural problems in the California budget were easy, Wilson, Davis and Schwarzenegger would have done it."
How would he deal with fiercely ideological legislators on the left and the right?
"I'm going to become an apostle of common sense," he said. "I will disabuse them of their ill-conceived predilections."
"There's an embedded partisanship that has to become disembedded," he said. "In my bones, I'm not that partisan. I'm an independent thinker. That's my tradition. I've been wary of ideology since I left the Sacred Heart Novitiate (in 1960)."
(Nostalgia footnote: Brown's reference to "common sense" reminded us that when we covered his 1992 "Winter Soldier" campaign for president, he signed copies of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" at a bookstore in Nashua, New Hampshire.)
[Only later did we discover that there had been a TV series about one of Brown's intellectual inspirations, hosted by Dale Ahlquist, President of the American Chesterton Society, titled " G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense."]
We asked Brown this key question: What do you want to do as governor?
He quickly ticked off four key concerns with specific ideas in each area: Renewable energy; prison reform; education reform; water policy (we'll report details on these in future posts).
He acknowledged that pushing through innovative solutions on these issues would be difficult in the polarized atmosphere of Sacramento. He labeled as "a type of anarchy" the view of some GOP lawmakers that sending the state into bankruptcy is preferable to voting for a budget that includes tax increases.
"That kind of subversive attitude is unacceptable," Brown said.
Asked about structural reforms, Brown said he doesn't "think term limits have been helpful" because they create a revolving door mentality, with lawmakers constantly running for the next office.
"People being around 20 years is a problem. But people being around for just six years is a bigger problem," he said. "They become more dependent on interest groups because they don't have time to develop loyalty in their districts."
While not a fan of the two-thirds majority vote needed to pass budgets, Brown said he doesn't think there is a "mechanical" cure to structural financial problems.
Sounding most unlike an old-school Jerry Brown Democrat, he argued repeatedly that regulations making California less competitive than surrounding states must be challenged. "We have to make sure that regulation does not curtail business," he said, echoing the Chamber of Commerce more than the Sierra Club.
On the issue of his age, about which Newsom and others (including Calbuzz) have needled him – Brown said the question was "meaningless."
"Is their premise that my opponents think faster than me? Do they want to challenge me to a timed multiple-choice test?"
Informed that he's older than the ballpoint pen, Brown laughed. "I remember the ballpoint pen," he said, recalling that when the instrument came out, it was available to students only in blue ink (and it leaked).
The age attack "has no meaning . . . If Feinstein is so old, how come she's 20 points ahead (in polls listing her as a candidate)?"
"It's all about creativity . . . The fact that they're attacking me is a plus, not a minus . . . I don't know that it's bad to be associated with Linda Ronstadt and the Beatles."
As for those behind the line of attack on his septuagenarian status, Brown personally chided Newsom and his strategist Garry South:
"I don't know whether he's sniffing his hairspray or what," the buzz-cut Brown said of South. "Between the hairspray and the gel (favored by Newsom) I think they're getting a little intoxicated."
Ho, ho, ho: Just because we can't resist pictures of dogs in goofy costumes.
Tags: Dale Ahlquist, Hackenflack, Nicky Diaz Santillian, partisan dysfunction, prison reform
Posted in Antonio Villaraigosa, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Education, California Politics, Dianne Feinstein, Gavin Newsom, Jerry Brown, Maid Saga | 2 Comments »
Jerry's Challenge, Tony V's Play, Arianna's Aura
Gov.-elect Jerry Brown's Budget Teach-In last week in Sacramento was refreshing in its openness — with Brown and other presenters warning that the state's budget shortfall is now estimated at about $28 billion between now and July 2012. No smoke. No mirrors. Just cold ugly facts.
But the gathering at Memorial Auditorium only took about 12 seconds to demonstrate anew that the fundamental conflict in Sacramento will not be solved by gathering everyone in a room together, sitting around the fireplace and singing kumbaya. Collegiality and civility certainly have been in short supply among the locusts fine men and women California voters have sent to the capital on their behalf. But the principal contradiction is not a matter of congeniality — it remains political and ideological.
Most of the Democrats, and all of their leaders, believe the state's budget shortfall is a revenue problem. They think taxes aren't properly distributed and that solutions will be found by increasing revenues.
Most of the Republicans, and all of their leaders, believe the state's budget shortfall is a spending problem. They think cutting unnecessary and overly generous state spending is the road to salvation.
KQED's John Myers outlined the conflict nicely last week under the headline: "Jerry, Meet Gridlock; Gridlock, Jerry."
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did no better — and some would argue a lot worse — than his Democratic predecessor, Gray Davis, at placing California on a firm financial footing. As he skips town, he leaves behind a huge mess that former-and-future Gov. Brown now must try to clean up.
Rumors abound that Jerry is planning to craft an austere budget which he will use as Exhibit A to obtain from voters some sort of temporary tax increase in June, or perhaps even a measure granting voters in cities, counties and school districts the authority to raise taxes with a majority vote or at least something less than two-thirds.
That would certainly return decision-making to local communities, "closer to the people" as he said in his campaign commercials. This of course could only succeed if Republicans and conservatives did not wage war against it. Which brings us back to the principal contradiction, which is a matter of ideology not civility.
To a cartoonist, like our Tom Meyer, it's all a huge pile of garbage that's been left behind by the previous administration and Legislature. It's hard to argue with that.
What does Tony V want (don't ask the LAT): Not since M.C. Escher has there been such a perfect image of bizarre and inescapable bureaucracy as the By God Los Angeles Times displayed over the past week in its mishandling of an important political story involving hometown mayor Tony Villaraigosa.
Villaraigosa was in Sacramento on Tuesday to deliver the opening speech of the big conference on the state's future sponsored by the Public Policy Institute of California, which drew about 600 political and policy types, including the likes of such national names as Judy Woodruff, Van Jones and Dan Balz of the Washpost.
Despite an early morning speaking slot that preceded the day's first panel, focused on education, Tony V promptly made news: Villaraigosa, whose labor organizing and Sacramento political careers featured fierce advocacy for teacher unions, surprised his weed whacking audience by issuing a harsh denunciation of those very unions:
What is stopping us from changing direction?
Why, for so long, have we allowed denial and indifference to defeat action? I do not raise this question lightly, and I do not come to my conclusion from a lack of experience. I was a legislative advocate for the California Teachers Association, and I was a union organizer for United Teachers of Los Angeles. From the time I entered the California State Assembly and became Speaker, to my tenure as Mayor of Los Angeles, I have fought to fund and reform California's public schools.
Over the past five years, while partnering with students, parents and non-profits, business groups, higher education, charter organizations, school district leadership, elected board members and teachers, there has been one, unwavering roadblock to reform: UTLA union leadership. While not the biggest problem facing our schools, they have consistently been the most powerful defenders of the status quo…Regrettably, they have yet to join us as we have forged ahead with a reform agenda.
Tony V's deliberately provocative comments, coming from California's most prominent Latino politician, not to mention a lifelong union goon, were a big deal, voiced at a time when teacher unions are increasingly embattled by national education reform efforts, starting in the White House.
And that's how the matter was treated – by almost everyone except Hizzoner's hometown paper.
Within minutes, David Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Association, had fired back at the mayor during a panel discussion that followed his speech. The relentless Jack Chang filed a post about the conflict on the Bee's Capitol Alert blog not long after, as did the invaluable John Fensterwald on his state education blog .
By the next morning the reform-minded Joe Mathews had characterized Villaraigosa's remarks as "the most significant speech given by a California politician this year," and a variety of broadcast and wire reports, along with several newspaper editorials strongly supporting the mayor's sentiments, were circulating.
And amid all the urgent buzz over the next two days, the L.A. Times produced . . . radio silence.
Not a word from any beat, anywhere on its far-flung editorial depth chart, which is rivaled only by the forces that gathered for the invasion of Normandy for organizational complexity and resources.
Our motto: if it's news, it's news to us.
Finally, on Friday morning, Times editors managed to clue their readers into what their mayor had been up to that week. A double byline story by Patrick McDonnell, who writes about labor, and City Hall reporter David Zahniser, which also included reporting by Teresa Watanabe and Jason Song of the education desk, finally caught up with the news – a full 72 hours after Villaraigosa spoke.
"I knew it would cause a firestorm," Villaraigosa said in an interview Thursday, two days after the speech.
This just in: Big firestorm slowly heading toward L.A.
In the end, it was left to Cathy Decker, the paper's ever reliable state politics editor, to clean up the elephantine mess with a Sunday thumbsucker that addressed the key question puzzling Calbuzz readers: WTF is Tony V up to?
"For a Democratic politician who is presumed to have ambitions once he is termed out of office in 2013, Villaraigosa's moves were intriguing," Decker wrote.
To those more Machiavellian in nature — say, the entire political establishment — other possibilities came to mind: Villaraigosa was angling for an Obama administration job. He was declaring independence from party positions and powers in preparation for a future statewide run. Or he was trying to redefine his mayoralty in a way that could reap benefits down the line, were he to decide to exercise options one or two….
Part of the difficulty in divining what Villaraigosa was trying to accomplish last week is the parallel difficulty in figuring out where he might be going.
Decker seemed to hit upon the nut of the matter when she noted that, regardless of Tony V's secret aspirations, he needs to bump up his profile, now, to avoid being generationally squeezed out, between California's Democratic Geezer Trio and its cool new Dynamic Duo:
When he first ran for mayor in 2001, Villaraigosa was seen as one of the Democratic Party's up-and-comers. Now the senior Democrats — Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and Gov.-elect Jerry Brown — are in their 70s. Villaraigosa will be pushing 60 when the next big race occurs — Feinstein's Senate seat is up in 2012, though she has said she plans to run again. Catching up with the mayor is a younger group of Democrats, personified by the incoming lieutenant governor and attorney general, Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris. Both are in their 40s.
For upward momentum, or just a legacy, Villaraigosa has to make good on his basic pledges: to lower crime, improve schools and increase jobs. Crime has been down, but joblessness is high. Voters can cut mayors slack during national downturns, but no such slack is likely w hen it comes to the state of the schools. Villaraigosa himself said years ago that voters should "absolutely" hold him responsible for reforming schools, and unless he can convince voters that the unions are to blame, they are likely to hold him to it.
Today's sign the end of civilization is near: Remind us again why she gets to be on "Meet the Press"?
Tags: California Teachers Association, Cartoon, Cathy Decker, David Sanchez, generation gap, Jack Chang, Joe Mathews, John Fensterwald, John Myers, KQED, LA Times, LAT, Memorial Auditorium, political cartoon, PPIC, Teachers unions, Tom Meyer
Posted in Antonio Villaraigosa, California Budget, California Deficit, California Education, California Politics, Jerry Brown | 3 Comments »
Sacto Dysfunction Mirrors Whacko Views of Voters
Just six weeks before Jerry Brown rolls out the long-awaited opening of "Krusty: The Sequel," the most fundamental problem the new governor faces is neither the $25 billion state deficit nor the utter dysfunction of the Capitol: it's California's dual personality disorder.
As much as politicians, government geeks and bureaucrats — not to mention "the media" – get blamed, deservedly, for the mess the state is in, there stands a mountain of evidence showing that the polarized partisan gridlock in Sacramento perfectly reflects the sentiments of the electorate.
The plain fact is that California's litany of problems is underpinned by an everything-for-nothing ethic among voters that is both conflicted and contradictory.
We first took note of the over-arching importance of this dynamic back before the earth cooled ("Calbuzz: The Prairie Years") when we analyzed the confounding perspective of the electorate in advance of the disastrous May 19, 2009 special election. In that debacle, Governor Schwarzmuscle and the Democrat-dominated Legislature tried to have it both ways with a series of five initiatives that, variously, raised taxes and imposed some cuts in several popular programs.
But we'd be remiss if we didn't also call out our fellow voters, who exhibit a maddening syndrome of self-canceling impulses about how to pay for their government.
What do policymakers see when they look at such data? Voters, pointing a gun to their own heads, screaming "Stop, before I shoot!"
This self-destructive, self-canceling world view of voters has grown both more acute and more chronic since then, as illustrated by some new data in the most recent LA. Times/USC poll. Among the findings, the survey found that:
–By a huge plurality – 44-6% — voters said they would rather cut spending than raise taxes to address the deficit (another 44% opted from some murky, unspecified combination).
–But by even larger margins, voters said they would either a) not support any cuts or b) favor more spending on K-12 education and health programs – the two largest items in the budget (for schools, 37% oppose reductions and 34% want more spending while 36% are against cuts and 20% want to spend more on health). The only area of the budget where there is strong sentiment for reducing expense is on prisons, where 71% favor cutting a great deal or some of current spending.
–Most troubling of all, by 70-24%, voters said that "there is enough waste and inefficiency in government spending that we can reduce most of the state deficit by cleaning up programs without cutting programs like health care and education" – the fairy tale scenario that Meg Whitman tried to peddle, ranking up there with Santa showing up with the Great Pumpkin and the Tooth Fairy in tow. That's how he rolls.
Our friend Joel Fox took a run at the Great Dichotomy the other day over at Fox and Hounds and offered a pretty good succinct synopsis of the problem.
So what to make of the California electorate's pro-government, no more taxes dichotomy? Can we say that Californians have big hearts and small wallets? Or is something else going on here?
Many people believe in the California Dream. The notion of California as a place of opportunity cuts across demographics and ethnicities and is a thread that binds people in this most diverse of all states. Californians support proposals that will give people access to opportunity. I suspect that is why those polled would support avenues to citizenship and open doors at educational establishments and government programs to give people a hand up.
However, while supporting a basic framework of government support, voters clearly don't want to pay for too much. Those responding to the survey think they already pay too much when they say the best avenue to a balanced budget is to cut spending.
Voters don't trust government to deliver the opportunities they believe in… There is a strong sense amongst the electorate that those in government take care of themselves first.
During the campaign, Brown's big proposal for addressing the budget mess was to lock all the legislators of both parties in a room and browbeat them with sweet reason until everyone agreed on solutions.
As a political matter, that seems to us to be 180 degrees wrong in dealing with the size, scope and depth of the problems the state now faces: Instead of spending his time in backrooms with Sacramento pols, Brown needs to get out of the Capitol and travel energetically around the state, conducting what amounts to a one-man basic civics education campaign, so that Californians truly understand a) what services state government actually provides; b) how much they cost; c) how they're paid for.
Above all, he needs a full-blown strategy to build a shared public awareness of the simple facts of California's predicament by breaking through the bumper sticker clichés and well-worn grooves of the political arguments that have straight jacketed California for a generation. Anything else is just tactics.
Tags: dysfunction, education spending, Fox and Hounds, health spending, Joel Fox, LAT/USC survey, partisan dysfunction, partisan stalemate, prisons, public awareness, public spending
Posted in California Budget, California Deficit, California Education, California Politics, Jerry Brown, poll | 12 Comments »
eMeg's Secret Diary: Muffy and Bryce Come to Dinner
Thanks to sources close to our imagination, Calbuzz brings you some purloined excerpts from Meg Whitman's secret campaign diary.
So Muffy and Bryce came by last night for drinks and stayed for dinner, and they were absolutely mesmerized when I told them about my plan to create jobs, fix the schools and cut government spending.
Griff insisted we play charades, so I shoved him and smacked him around a little, but I have to admit he was very amusing when his turn came. His category was "books," and he pantomimed performing neurosurgery on Arnold. The answer, of course, was "The Governor's Brain is Missing." Tres drole!
As I told Muffy, it was a real relief to spend a few hours away from all that campaign dreariness, especially those loathsome reporters and those sweltering people in Barstow and Indio and Weed, all of them snorting and hocking at their own jokes about how I should put their trailers and chain saws and snow machines up for sale on eBay, ha, ha, ha.
I had Conchita whip up a quick cote de porc rotie, which was tasty, but the crostini for the soupe aux oignons were unspeakably soggy. So I had to box her ears a little. I simply refuse to let her fail.
Oh dear, someone's tapping at the study door. Qui est la?
Later: So that was Henry, who'd completely failed at a very simple assignment I'd given him. I'd asked him to buy us at least one TV station in each major market, so we could stop paying retail for all this advertising. Instead he came back with some dithering excuse about the FCC or something.
So here's what I thought about that: I had to chew him out, and then I gave him a couple of good swift Ferragamos to the shins and reminded him that I forbade him to fail.
Then I pushed him out the door, and told him to get back to it before I started eyeballing his expense sheets and he ended up like that poor Mark Hurd, with barely a penny to his name. Off he went.
Before I could get back to you, diary, it was the cell phone next (bless Sarah, the little minx, for finding that "God Save the Queen" ring tone – quelle amusant!). It was Murphy calling.
Of course he wanted to come over and talk about his script again. So I had to explain once more how focus is so important. So what I thought was, I'd tell him I'd like very much for him to give the movie project a rest and instead focus on getting me over 40 points some time before 2016, if it wasn't too much trouble.
But he insisted it was important to see me and before I could say no, I noticed that someone had emailed a photo. When I paused to open it, he rang off before I could stop him (reminder: tell him again to keep his shirt tucked in, or else I'll have to shove him down the stairs).
I was so pleased to see the photo was from the boys. A mother's biased, of course, but I must say they both look quite dashing in those orange fluorescent vests.
Now what is that commotion outside my window?
Later: Murphy's come and gone – he wanted to know if I thought we should get Dennis Franz or Ned Beatty to play him in the movie (I suggested Danny DeVito – and thank you for asking).
In the meantime, those appalling nurses showed up on the south lawn again, parading around and beating their drums and doing their chants. All so tiresome. Although the crown on the Queen Meg person does look rather fetching, but that red velvet cape with the faux ermine will never do.
So I decided I'd have Lupe fetch a big pot of boiling oil which I thought I'd pour down on those awful women, but as soon as I'd pushed her out of the way to lean out the window, Tucker came running in, insisting I couldn't do that because the reporters might ask questions.
So I gave him a belt in the mouth, but then decided he might be right. So I just tossed a couple of paper weights and tennis racquets and that snow globe that plays "You are the wind beneath my wings" that Mitt gave me, and a candelabra or two down on them and that sent them scurrying off.
Oh dear, it's past time to head for the Navigator and go meet (ugh) more voters. Such a chore, though I'm certain they'll be pleased to hear my plan for creating jobs, improving schools and cutting government spending.
More later, diary!
(Editor's note: Monty Python scene a random bonus non sequitur.)
Tags: Bryce, California Nurses Association, FCC, Mark Hurd, Mike Murphy, Mitt Romney, Muffy, The Governor's Brain is Missing, Tucker Bounds, TV buy
Posted in California Economy, California Education, California Governor's Race, California Politics, Campaign Advertising, Meg Whitman | 2 Comments »
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text:
Keyword: Art history
El renacer de los Reyes: Imagen, contexto y significado del friso de Balamkú, Campeche, México
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Paris Monographs in American Archaeology 56
The frieze of Structure 1-A Sub of Balamkú, Campeche, is one of the most complex Maya artistic expressions of the Classic period (250-900 AD). This study places the frieze within its historical framework so the monument may be better understood and the significance of its message revealed. READ MORE
Paperback: £38.00 | Free Download | eBook Institution: £9.99
Light of Devotion: Oil Lamps of Kerala
Carol Radcliffe Bolon
This in-depth study of the medieval oil lamps of Kerala and beyond considers these art objects as primary sources for a broader discussion on the ritual use of Hindu oil lamps, their related and unique cultural history, their motifs, style and subject matter. From an understudied region, many of the pieces presented are previously unpublished. READ MORE
EurASEAA14 Volume I: Ancient and Living Traditions
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This volume comprises papers originally presented at the EurASEAA14 conference in 2012, updated for publication. It focuses on topics under the broad themes of archaeology and art history, epigraphy, philology, historic archaeology, ethnography, ethnoarchaeology, ethnomusicology, materials studies, and long-distance trade and exchange. READ MORE
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This book presents papers written by colleagues of Professor Gregory E. Areshian on the occasion his 65th birthday. The range of topics includes Near Eastern, Mediterranean and Armenian archaeology, theory of interpretation in archaeology and art history, interdisciplinary history, historical linguistics, art history, and comparative mythology. READ MORE


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A C++11 implementation of simplex noise on the CPU, created for the purposes of learning and expanding.
The source for this library comes in 3 separate files: a header, a implementation file for templated functions, and an implementation file for non-templated functions.
This implementation is highly templated, meaning that both floats and doubles can be used without rewriting code.
Simple octave code is included. This can be used as-is, or be modified to have more complex options and outputs.
Hardcoded functions for 1 through 4 dimensional noise, the more commonly used noise functions that provide acceptable visual quality.
A function for any n-dimensional noise. While the gradients generated might not be as uniform as the fixed permutation table implementations, it still provides acceptable results for basic testing.
All noise functions for dimensions 1 through 4 provide overloaded functions for returning the partial derivatives of the function at the given input point.
A custom permutation table can be input into a noise generating instance. This functions like a random number generator seed and changes the order the gradients will appear in.
The following functions are available in the SimplexNoise API. Note that many of the noise functions are very similar, usually just adding an additional point component to the argument list, additional derivative output, or an octaves parameter.
The SimplexNoise class is the primary noise generation class. Once instantiated, it can have its noise functions called to generate noise.
Creates a new SimplexNoise<Float> instance using the default permutation table.
A custom permutation table to use for gradient generation. The length of this array should be 512, and consist of the values 0-256 in any order, looped twice.
Destructor for a SimplexNoise<Float> instance. Note that this does not delete any permutation tables, even if a custom table was specified.
Computes a 1-dimensional noise function at a given 1d point.
Computes a 1-dimensional noise function and its derivative at a given 1d point.
Computes a 2-dimensional noise function at a given 2d point.
Computes a 2-dimensional noise function and its partial derivatives at a given 2d point.
Computes a 3-dimensional noise function at a given 3d point.
Computes a 3-dimensional noise function and its partial derivatives at a given 3d point.
Computes a 4-dimensional noise function at a given 4d point.
Computes a generic n-dimensional noise function given point.
The maximum distance squared from a simplex point that a contribution can be non-zero. This corresponds to the 0.5 or 0.6 values typically used in simplex noise.
An array representing the input coordinate. Must contain at least dimensions values.
Source codes and binarys for 3 executables are included in this project. They are used for testing various functions and brute-force solving noise function minimum/maximums.
dimensions – the dimensions of the function to test.
Can be 1, 2, 3, or 4.
derivative – the number of the derivative to output.
0 outputs the noise function itself.
1 outputs the first partial derivative.
filename – the output filename of the .pgm file.
If set to "-", it will output to stdout.
mode – pgm output mode; either binary or ascii.
norm_mode – normalization mode of the noise values.
centered will normalize around 0.
full will normalize to the range [0, 1] regardless of where the center is.
The differences between these two will often be marginal.
[x, y, z, w, ...] – Optional starting values for the first coordinate.
If omitted, they default to 0.
solver.exe is an application to brute-force compute the maximum/minimum values of a noise function. It does this by selecting permutations of gradients and iterating over the points of a simplex, computing the noise function at each point.
This takes very long for the 4d case, but the minimum/maximum values will converge to a good approximation in a reasonable amount of time. Therefore, the execution can be interrupted to get a good approximate value.
show_every – show output from every computation iteration.
If true, output is shown for each step. If false, output is only displayed when a minimum/maximum update occurs.
threads – number of threads to use.
If set to 0, it automatically uses the number of cores on the system.
dimensions – number of dimensions to test for.
This will typically be 2, 3, or 4.
sample_points – order of the number of points to sample.
This is essentially the number of sample points along a single edge of a simplex.
sample_points_large – order of the number of points to sample when a minimum/maximum update occurs.
When a minimum/maximum is updated, the same permutation of gradients is tested with a higher precision point density.