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Digitizing and Enhancing Description Across Collections to Make African American Materials More Discoverable on Umbra Search African American History / Dorothy Berry
Metadata and Nomenclature Technical Design
This case study describes a project undertaken at the University of Minnesota Libraries to digitize materials related to African American materials across the Universities holdings, and to highlight materials that are otherwise undiscoverable in existing archival collections. It explores how historical and current archival practices marginalize material relevant to African American history and culture, and how a mass digitization process can attempt to highlight and re-aggregate those materials. The details of the aggregation process — e.g. the need to use standardized vocabularies to increase aggregation even when those standardized vocabularies privilege majority representation — also reveal important issues in mass digitization and aggregation projects involving the history of marginalized groups.
by Dorothy Berry, Digital Collections Program Manager, Houghton Library at Harvard University
Problem and Context Statement
In 2016 University of Minnesota Libraries staff began the work of digitizing materials related to African Americans' history, as part of a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) funded grant "Digitizing African American Archival Materials Across University of Minnesota Collections." The project was designed to increase the body of materials available on Umbra Search African American History, a widget and search tool hosted by the Libraries to aggregate African American related materials from digital collections nationally, as well as to serve as an example of the sort of digitization work that can be done by large collecting institutions to share the hidden depths of diverse holdings. A project manager was hired to manage the description work, rights assessments, and digitization workflow, under the management of the head of Digital Libraries Services and the grant's Principal Investigator, who is also the PI for Umbra Search.
It is important to note that the majority of materials identified for this project were not from collections clearly marked "African American History" or anything of the like. Thousands of records were identified across over one hundred collections in units with development policies that are not at all related to race or Black history. Other institutions that may think themselves excluded from such a project may find they too have a wealth of relevant materials that have simply never been pulled together due to the nature of their original order.
The project set out to digitize an estimated 500,000 files at the folder record level, located in 74 different collections, producing around 10,000 new records. For example, a folder titled "African American Social Group: Minneapolis" might contain 50 sheets of paper, which when scanned front and back create 100 digital files- one new record, with 100 new files. The digitization workflow was envisioned as holistic, including assessing and confirming the rights required to put documents online, enhancing the existing folder level description to make clear the relevance to African American history, digitizing each folder in full, and uploading the materials to UMedia, the University of Minnesota's institutional repository, to then be harvested by the Digital Public Library of America and then Umbra Search in turn. The digital records would also be linked on ArchiveSpace, the University of Minnesota's CMS.
The impetus for this project was twofold. The first was to increase the representative holdings from Umbra Search's host institution. The second was to test run a mass digitization of African American materials, and hopefully document a process that could be repeated by other universities and institutions with similar infrastructures. Both of these goals would serve two dual roles of increasing Umbra Search's functionality, as well as generally increasing the amount of available African American materials in digital collections.
Descriptive Analysis
Before the Project Manager (PM) was brought on, some preparatory work had been done to identify relevant collections, leading to the initial estimate of 500,000 files. Upon initial PM assessment, however, it became clear that large amounts of the identified materials would have to be excluded from digitization due to irreconcilable rights issues. The issues around rights are less connected, in this situation, to materials being related to marginalized communities, and more connected to the transition into digital collections. When most of these materials were originally collected, the concern was having physical access to the materials. Early deeds of gift and chains of custody are often nebulous when it comes to intellectual rights, and often were conceived before digital collections as we know them were even imaginable. The preparatory work around this specific project was based solely on identification, and the labor was not done by someone with any background on rights as they relate to archival and digital collections.
The subtraction of those materials brought the identified, useable number down to around 200,000. In order to increase our numbers closer to original estimates, and to make sure as much relevant content was included as possible, a new search methodology was established. A list of potentially relevant words used across time to refer to African Americans and their history was devised and each collection finding aid available online was individually searched.1 This systematic approach unearthed around 300 previously unidentified folders in an additional 76 collections.
The project workflow had quite a few moving parts from start to finish. Boxes were requested from a single curator and collection at a time, until a discrete collection's identified materials were completely digitized. Once boxes were delivered to the PM folders were marked for digitization physically, and as part of a color coding system in a shared metadata spreadsheet. The boxes were then delivered to a suite of student scanners whose process included scanning each sheet, quality checking for errors, corrections if needed and the renaming of files according to an archives-wide numbering system. Each of these steps was tracked both through a color-coding system on the metadata sheet (a different color for each step), and on a Trello board with a card for each collection, moved forward in the process to a new column for each step.
While the students completed their workflow, the PM wrote enhanced descriptions and subject headings for collections at the folder level. These descriptions were designed to forefront the materials' relevance to African American history and culture, while maintaining their collection level context. The format of the descriptions was formalized across the project, beginning with a collection level sentence description and then a specific description of the folder's content, for example "This folder contains materials created/collected by Organization X. Organization X was a Civil Rights group founded in 1947. This folder specifically contains promotional materials from Organization X's 1962 National Conference." While this format is slightly clunky, it was designed to be effectively contextualized in the Umbra Search aggregation platform, where each folder would be viewed, initially, out of collection level context, while not causing confusion when viewed through other access points like ArchiveSpace, UMedia, and DPLA. If a digitized folder was found through ArchiveSpace, the user would, by design, be aware of the finding aid's hierarchy. In that context, it would be clear that a folder within the "Organization X records, 1950-1970" was created/collected by Organization X. There would also, most likely, be collection level description telling the history of that Organization. Umbra Search unmoors these folders from their collections, which is beneficial in that it takes aware the prerequisite knowledge of archival organization, but adds a wrinkle in description. A folder titled "Outdoor Activities, 1967-1968" has descriptive context when discovered via the Harlem YMCA Photographs collection finding aid. The title, by itself, gives very little context as to relevancy. The choice to detail collection context in folder level description was designed to give necessary information, without forcing the user to go back to the collection level finding aid.
Subject headings were designed with similar goals. We chose to primarily source from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and Library of Congress Name Authority Files (LCNAF), under the idea that those descriptors' wide usage would make them most convenient in a cross collections aggregation context. New local subject headings were also created to bring attention to African American individuals and organizations that may previously been difficult to discover. Most of the newly created local subjects were for discrete organizations and individuals that may not have LCNAF or LCSH but were coming up repeatedly within our own collections. This was especially prevalent with collections in the Social Welfare History Archives, where numerous mentions to obscure African American organizations began to form a subject-worthy corpus. Subjects and descriptions were also designed to be able to be harvested from DPLA to Umbra Search, which meant that at least some terms used also had to be found on the list of words Umbra Search uses to pull materials. When necessary, newly relevant terms were added to that list. Due to the nature of LCSHs, the new additions often took the form of what I've come to think of as African American Mad Libs- African American + [occupation], African American + [gender], African American + [city, state], etc. While there is a lack of nuance and elegance in this format, the decision was made to move forward with these subjects, as the popularity of LCSH increases the probability of cross-referencing in an aggregation context.
This was particularly, personally, problematic with certain LCSHs like "African American juvenile delinquents." The preference from the PM perspective was something more like "American American interactions with criminal justice system" or "African American youths — criminal justice system." The issue with this sort of more culturally respectful and relevant subject heading was, in the context of increasing aggregation and access across systems, in-house subject headings only talk to themselves. If no one else is using the same terminology, when searches are pulled across multiple collections, users won't get the best search results. This is an issue with the nature of digital archives and special collections aggregation, where different repositories have different ways of upholding descriptive best practices. The goal here, trying to make sure the broadest amount of material was aggregated effectively, led to the occasional use of LCSHs that do not meet the radically culturally relevant possibilities of archival description.
Another reason that African American related materials were previously difficult to discover, is that they are often a single thread throughout a larger collection. Archivists processing a collection often don't have the time or ability to add folder or item level subjects, which again privileges majority representation. When a processing archivist only has the ability to add a limited number of subjects and must do so on a collection level, it is less feasible to bring hidden marginalized histories to the forefront. For example, if the "United States Colleges' Homecoming flyers collection" has 500 folders with flyers, and 489 of those flyers are from PWIs (primarily White institutions), it makes little sense to have the LCSH approved "HBCUs (Historically black colleges and universities)" as a collection level subject heading. Without that folder level subject detailing, those 11 HBCUs are lost in the greater body of PWI materials. In the course of this digitization project, the PM had the ability to go through a similar collection of college and university memorabilia and give the appropriate subject heading to each HBCU, as well as a geographic subject, e.g. "African Americans — Georgia." This sort of detail work is not financially viable or efficient enough to fit into the workflow of generally already over-taxed processing departments, but in a project funded situation can greatly assist in recognition and accessibility.
Once a collection was completely digitized, enhanced with new description, and its rights assessed, full collections were uploaded to our institutional repository after which a second group of students attached digital objects to ArchiveSpace records, increasing avenues of access to the newly digitized and enhanced materials. Increasing access was the continuing goal of this project, and required taking into account the needs of a variety of stakeholders; most importantly casual researchers, but also the collection curators, and more serious researchers. The project had to take into account the formats of the different access points, as well as the descriptive standards already in place at University of Minnesota. Different records are presented in varying ways across platforms, and this was a constant consideration.
This project has led to increased discussions across the university library system about equitable description and making sure materials are widely discoverable. By setting out a project with this as a clear goal in mind, the door to conversation has been opened. As the project continued and more materials were digitized, curators began to be more actively conscious of relevant materials, stopping by the PM's office to mention a newly discovered box or folder with African American materials. Personal conversations about particular descriptions (often done before the time of any current employees) also led to increased awareness, or led to a heightened interest amongst the already generally informed staff.
There was also a benefit of being able to do descriptive labor that is out of the scope of regular processing. The results of these enhancing descriptions benefit larger collections that were outside the project, as well as providing a potential guide for future processing work.
Starting with an inventory that didn't take rights-assessment into account led to a period of clean-up work researching more project additions while digitization was already in progress. If given the opportunity to start the project over again, we would make a greater effort to create a comprehensive list before beginning our workflows. This would mean pulling rights assessment in much earlier in the planning process- our original numbers included 100+ cubic feet of contemporary clippings collections that were immediately excluded. Unfortunately it is very difficult to do this sort of work before receiving funding, and the funding agencies generally would like to see a preliminary list before awarding funding. On a similar note, developing a clear search strategy for discovering relevant records before the project began would have served to make the entire process more efficient. As the PM, I came into the project assuming that preliminary list was a complete list, but after excluding a large amount of material based on rights assessments, there was a period of catch-up before I developed a systematic search strategy with a set list of relevant words, and a tracking sheet that marked each collection remaining to be searched.
Power played a role in this project in a macro sense, rather than on any personal level. Discovering materials related to marginalized peoples is more difficult due to limited time and funding, which leads to a more product, less process fueled arrangement and description style that paints in broad strokes. As African American stories generally exist in the margins of those broad strokes, those details are often left out of the descriptive process. Striking a balance between providing complex description and providing access to the largest amount of materials possibly is a struggle across archives and special collections, and this project provided an opportunity to work outside of those traditional limitations. The very specific aggregation focused context of this project caused some of the inconveniences mentioned earlier, but other metadata enhancing/digitization projects without that focus could do well to expand their descriptive process more freely, and with transparency.
There are many situations in which the perfect stands as the enemy of the good. One concern that was occasionally expressed about this particular project was now certain folders/collections would have extremely detailed description, while other folders/collections would remain at their minimally processed level. Viewing the situation with best intentions, there is generally a dream archive where there is infinite time and labor to make sure each new accession gets a very detailed and high-touch description. Since we do not work in that fantasy field, compromises have to be made. When processing a collection at its highest level, there are usually not the resources to take the time to unearth hidden materials related to marginalized identities, or even to take the step before that of educating oneself on the potential relevant histories. That this digitization project was designed with a, as archivist Kelly Bolding recently phrased it, "descriptive audit" in mind, there was time and funding allotted to not only identify African American related materials, but to do the necessary research to write enhanced descriptions to make those relations evident.
The success of this project provides an example of how dedicating time to increasing discovery for materials related to marginalized people can lead to huge increases in available records, as well as can force staff to forefront those materials in the course of their daily labor. Although not every institution can be awarded a Hidden Collections Grant to fund full-time work on a similar mass-digitization project, this work can be executed on a smaller scale over a longer period of time. The digital landscape provides an opportunity to look at materials outside the context of their collections without having to physically re-order, disrupting concepts of respect des fonds which historically favor people with the power and privilege to securely store and collect materials over time. Respect des fonds is the archival principle that holds that materials should remain as organized by their creating body, be that an individual or an organization, or should remain in the organization received from the donor. There is definite value to this ordering system, especially in collections where there is a clear guiding hand from the creating body- if an organization chose to organize their records by department rather than by date, that provides some information about the organization's planning processes. It becomes more complicated when materials are, for example, collected by someone with money/power, but represent the heritage and history of a marginalized person/group. Respect des fonds in that case can often mean a collection ends up represented as "Powerful Majority Person's papers" with a description that says "Powerful Majority Person collected materials related to marginalized people from 1900-1920." The continues the practice of decentering the people represented by those materials- the collector is at the forefront, and the creators are in the background.
The digital aggregation environment provides an opportunity to circumvent that decentering, without disrupting archival principles in practice. The digitized record exists as both a facsimile of the physical folder as described within its finding aid, but also stands alone as a digital record more easily accessible through keyword and subject searching than through diving into finding aids. Gathering together relevant materials at the folder or item level using subject headings and tags that call attention to hidden histories links those materials into a sort of artificial collection, without truly pulling them from their collection/series/box/folder order.
Search terms included: Negro, Colored, Black, Afro-American, African American, Interracial, Civil Rights, Human Relations, & Intergroup.
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With whom do you most agree on the "default" issue -- Webster Tarpley or the Austrian School?
As US federal debt approaches its statutory ceiling, confidence on Capitol Hill is growing that a deal to raise the limit will soon be struck, avoiding the theoretical possibility of default. Arriving at such a deal, with or without strings, ought to be the first order of business. Sane governments do not cast doubt on the pledge to honour their debts – which is why, if reason prevailed, the debt ceiling would simply be scrapped.
That will not happen. Republicans in Congress have their own way of framing the issue. They refuse to support the "clean� bill requested by the Treasury: a measure to raise the ceiling and nothing else. As part of the deal, they want further short-term spending cuts; caps on future spending, deficits, and/or debt; and a trigger to cut spending if those caps are breached. The danger is that talks about this could drag on all the way to the Treasury's newest estimate of when the debt limit will bind (early August) or beyond.
This would be the worst possible outcome.
Re: To default or not to default?
which is why, if reason prevailed, the debt ceiling would simply be scrapped.
Did Paul Krugman help write this?
Third Way, the centrist Democratic think tank, is getting set to release a new report on the consequences if the U.S. defaults on its debts — and their findings are far from pretty.
A draft of the new report finds that, among other things, default would lead to $756 billion lost among the S&P 500 in just three months and a full percent off of gross domestic product — which would perhaps cause the economy to shed 640,000 jobs. It also says default would add thousands of dollars to the lifetime cost of mortgages.
Too bad nobody's seeing sense on the "debt" (read: fractional reserve scam) in the UK government.
It's official: the US credit card has officially been maxed out, just as we predicted on Wednesday, and througout Q1 and Q2. The United States is expected to reach the legal limit on its debt later on Monday and will start dipping into federal retirement funds to give the country more room to borrow, a Treasury official said. As Reuters reports further, The U.S. Treasury will settle $72 billion in maturing bonds on Monday, which will push the country right up against its $14.294 trillion borrowing cap, the official said. To all those who thought only the insolvent government of Ireland will plunder pension funds, our condolences.
Today, the United States has reached the statutory debt limit. Secretary Geithner sent the following letter [.pdf] to Congress this morning alerting them to actions that have be taken to create additional headroom under the debt limit so that Treasury can continue funding obligations made by Congresses past and present. The Secretary declared a "debt issuance suspension period� for the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, permitting Treasury to redeem a portion of existing Treasury securities held by that fund as investments and suspend issuance of new Treasury securities to that fund as investments. He also suspended the daily reinvestment of Treasury securities held as investments by the Government Securities Investment Fund of the Federal Employees' Retirement System Thrift Savings Plan. For more information on these measures, please read this FAQ [.pdf].
Last Friday, Secretary Geithner also responded to an inquiry from Senator Bennet regarding the fiscal and economic consequences of failing to increase the debt limit. That letter can be found here [.pdf].
Federal retirement funds are invested in the stock market, arnt they.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton) says America might have to default on its bills for the first time ever because Democrats and Republicans can't agree to raise the government's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
The U.S. government officially hit its congressionally mandated debt ceiling on Monday when the nation's red ink reached $14.3 trillion.
Wow , most of the comments were refreshing over at the Boston Hearald of all places.
David Stockman: "Both Parties And The White House Are Advocating A US Default"
It sounds dotty to suggest the US is at imminent risk of default. A country which has rarely been able to borrow so cheaply, which issues debt in its own currency and has just demonstrated that it can print as much money as it likes need never miss a coupon payment.
Yet in the past fortnight traders have come to the conclusion that America might breach its own constitutional clause that its debt "shall not be questioned�. According to Markit, the cost of one-year US credit default swaps, which insure against default, almost tripled in six trading days.
According to this – far from perfect – measure, the US is now more likely to default than Indonesia or Slovenia in the next 12 months.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today spoke on the House floor about the massive transfer of wealth from the American people to the hands of the few by virtue of wars, energy policies and monetary policies. He called upon Americans to witness Wall Street's theft of Main Street, which has left millions of everyday Americans out of work and seniors facing cuts to Social Security to pay for tax cuts for the rich.
See video here. The full text of Congressman Kucinich's remarks follow.
The rancorous debate over the debt belies a fundamental truth of our economy — that it is run for the few at the expense of the many, that our entire government has been turned into a machine which takes the wealth of a mass of Americans and accelerates it into the hands of the few. Let me give you some examples.
Our environmental policy takes the wealth of the people — clean air, clean water — and puts it in the hands of the polluters. It's a transfer of wealth, not only from the present but from future generations as our environment is ruined.
We have to realize what this country's economy has become. Our monetary policy, through the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, privatized the money supply, gathers the wealth, puts it in the hands of the few while the Federal Reserve can create money out of nothing, give it to banks to park at the Fed while our small businesses are starving for capital.
Mark my words — Wall Street cashes in whether we have a default or not. And the same type of thinking that created billions in bailouts for Wall Street and more than $1 trillion in giveaways by the Federal Reserve today leaves 26 million Americans either underemployed or unemployed. And nine out of ten Americans over the age of 65 are facing cuts in their Social Security in order to pay for a debt which grew from tax cuts for the rich and for endless wars.
There is a massive transfer of wealth from the American people to the hands of a few and it's going on right now as America's eyes are misdirected to the political theater of these histrionic debt negotiations, threats to shut down the government, and willingness to make the most Americans pay dearly for debts they did not create.
I have to admit that I do not know as much about the working of our economy as I thought I did, but thanks to the people in this forum I have learned a great deal. I appreciate the time and research all of you put in to make this a treasure trove of ideas.
That being said... I don't think there will be a default or shutdown. It seems to me that the biggest issue they are talking about behind closed doors is not weather or not to raise the debt ceiling but how much and when the money will run out. The republicans want the money to run out before the next election so they have that issue to talk about, and the dems want it to run past the election so they don't have to talk about it. There will be name calling, walk-outs, interviews and its all done to make you think they really care.
I just haven't seen anything that makes me think they will do anything different that the norm, more QE, more bailouts, more welfare. they have blown a hole in their boat and will ride the ship down rather than admit they were wrong .
With the world concerned about US financial credibility and the poor outlook for the US economy, now is not the time for the Republicans to grandstand on the public debt. The debt ceiling needed to be quietly raised. Instead, the Republicans started a fire and then threw gasoline on it, creating an inferno that could burn up the US social safety net or the US Treasury's credit rating and the US dollar's role as reserve currency or what remains of the separation of powers.
The violations of other countries' sovereignties, the naked aggressions that constitute war crimes, the murder of noncombatants, and the horrible moral and economic expense inflicted by the maximization of the military/security complex's profits are somehow not a crisis. These are just routine, normal, everyday necessary events. Nothing to notice or to become upset about.
The offshoring of US jobs, GDP, tax base, and consumer demand that has eroded away the US economy and the government's tax base, thus elevating the deficit, is somehow not a crisis. These are just the imperatives of globalism and the routine maximization of shareholders' profits and management's performance bonuses.
It's not a "Debt Crisis�. It's "Economic Genocide"
The grotesque political carnival gripping Washington is being referred to as a "debt crisis�. But the debt and the looming default of the United States are merely symptoms of the wider calamity that remains deliberately unaddressed.
This is a global collapse: the death and controlled demolition of a global capital system built on petroleum, political corruption, institutionalized fraud, the manufactured "war on terrorism�, the wholesale looting of taxpayer funds, and the imminent destruction of state social programs and civil society.
This collapse is thoroughly detailed by the prescient Mike Ruppert in his book Crossing the Rubicon, the book Collapse: The Crisis of Energy and Money in a Post Peak Oil World, and the film Collapse. His web site Collapsenet continues to report on events as they happen.
World collapse is also fully explained, from a different perspective, in the book The Global Economic Crisis, edited by Michel Chossudovsky and Andrew Gavin Marshall.
Today's elite global criminal enterprise finds Washington's political players---led by the devious corporate appeaser Barack Obama, and the neofascist right-wing Republicans and Tea Party---enthusiastically sharing a common vision of destruction. It is delusional to think these criminals are "racing� to save anything (besides their own rear ends). They are merely scrambling over the best method of securing even more power and wealth for their corporate puppet masters; arguing over the fastest, most effective way to eliminate social programs. And how to exploit the propaganda to their advantage, ahead of elections.
As pointed out by Patrick Martin, the "debate� over default ceilings and government spending cuts is a fraud. He notes that "the Democratic administration and the congressional Republicans are using an orchestrated crisis over the raising of the federal debt ceiling to create the conditions for an unprecedented attack on the living standards and social rights of working people�.
This is the definition of genocide. The elimination of remaining social safety nets will result in a systematic long-term extermination of people in a variety of ways. It's all "on the table�, from what little remains of health care, Social Security, etc. followed by poverty, homelessness, sickness, and death. While the elites remain safe and comfortable, awash in looted cash for generations.
Trillions have been looted, and these trillions remain unaccounted for. And trillions more will "disappear�.
What is clear is that there is endless money for endless wars, endless CIA budgets, and endless tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations. But nothing for anything else.
Criminal aristocracies have increased their plunder, with Washington spearheading the operations. Governments of the capitalist world---each regime a criminal enterprise---are impoverishing their populaces, subjecting citizens to unprecedented suffering under the Orwellian rubric of "sacrifice�. Systematic destruction is taking place from the international down to the local level.
Adding to the insult, the elimination of the social safety net---literally life or death for millions of American citizens---is being callously bandied about like a political volleyball ahead of another idiotic and meaningless election. Obama spews lies and deception, pandering at every step to conservatives and Wall Street. The neofascist right-wing, led by John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, Bachman, Palin, the Tea Party, etc., are focused exclusively on the removal of Obama, oblivious to the fact that the "black man in the White House� has been the seamless extension of Bush/Cheney, and the perfect corporate/Wall Street lap dog. In true right-wing fashion worthy of the Third Reich, today's Republicans and Tea Party "patriots� are genuinely evil and genuinely insane.
The Wall Street bailout melodrama should be viewed as a dress rehearsal for today's debt-ceiling non-crisis.
Of course the government will have enough money to pay the monthly Social Security checks. The Social Security administration has its own savings – in Treasury bills. I realize that lawyers (such as Mr. Obama and indeed most American presidents) rarely understand economics. But this is a legal issue. Mr. Obama certainly must know that Social Security is solvent, with liquid securities to pay for many decades to come. Yet Mr. Obama has put Social Security at the very top of his hit list!
Mr. Obama has come to bury Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, not to save but them. This was clear from the outset of his administration when he appointed his Deficit Reduction Commission, headed by avowed enemies of Social Security Republican Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming, and President Clinton's Rubinomics chief of staff Erskine Bowles. Mr. Obama's more recent choice of Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats be delegated by Congress to rewrite the tax code on a bipartisan manner – so that it cannot be challenged – is a ploy to pass a tax "reform� that democratically elected representatives never could be expected to do.
There is no such thing, of course. When governments are run by the rich, it is called oligarchy. Plato's dialogues made clear that rather than viewing societies as democracies or oligarchies, it was best to view them in motion. Democracies tended to polarize economically (mainly between creditors and debtors) into oligarchies. These in turn tended to make themselves into hereditary aristocracies. In time, leading families would fight among themselves, and one group (such as Kleisthenes in Athens in 507 BC) would "take the people into his party� and create a democracy. And so the eternal political triangle would go on.
The debt ceiling crisis can be averted by enforcing the Fourteenth Amendment, which mandates the government to pay its debts already incurred, including pensions. That means Social Security, which IS an "entitlement,� in the original sense of the word. We're entitled to it because we've paid for it with taxes.
The game of Russian roulette being played with the U.S. federal debt has been called a "grotesque political carnival� and political blackmail. The uproar stems from a statute that is unique to the United States and never did make much sense. First passed in 1917 and revised multiple times since, it imposes a dollar limit on the federal debt. What doesn't make sense is that the same Congress that voted on the statute votes on the budget, which periodically exceeds the limit, requiring the statute to be revised. The debt ceiling has been raised 74 times since 1962, 10 of them since 2001. The most recent increase, to $14.294 trillion by H.J.Res. 45, was signed into law on February 12, 2010.
Taxes aren't collected until after the annual budget is passed, so Congress can't know in advance whether or how much additional borrowing will be required. Inevitably, there will be some years that the budget pushes the debt over the limit, requiring new legislation. And inevitably, now that this tactic has been discovered, there will be a costly battle over the increase, wasting congressional time, destabilizing markets, and rattling faith in the American financial and political systems. There will be continual blackmail, arm-twisting and concessions. The situation is untenable and cries out for a definitive resolution.
Ignoring the debt ceiling on Constitutional grounds would not, as Michelle Bachmann declares, make President Obama a "dictator.� It would simply mean he is complying with his Constitutional mandate to pay the government's bills on time and in full.
The Fourteenth Amendment says debts already incurred shall not be questioned, "including debts incurred for payment of pensions.� That includes Social Security, which is an "entitlement� in the true sense of the word: we're entitled to it because we've already paid for it. In fact, the Social Security Act was originally sold to Congress and the nation in 1935 not as a government benefit, but as a retirement savings program. Earlier this year, the Urban Institute published a study [.pdf] evaluating the program in this way, concluding that the average worker who retires today will withdraw from Social Security just about the same amount he put in over the years, with a modest 2% real interest rate (after inflation).
Paul's plan: Get the Fed and the Treasury to rip up that debt. It's fake debt anyway. And the Fed is legally allowed to return the debt to the Treasury to be destroyed. A trillion and a half dollars is currently about what spending is expected to exceed tax revenue in 2011.
The biggest drawback to the plan, says Gandel, is just that it "looks bad.� It looks as if the government is paying off its debts by printing money. But that is what government-issued money is: a note acknowledging a debt due and owed from the public, good for an equivalent value from the public, traded in the marketplace. A U.S. Note or Greenback and a Federal Reserve Note or dollar bill are both forms of promissory notes. The government can as easily issue a dollar bill as a dollar note or a dollar bond, as Thomas Edison pointed out in the 1920s.
Misdirected Fed policy has instead caused $1.6 trillion in "excess reserves� to sit on bank balance sheets, as explained in an earlier article. Conveniently, excess reserves can be used as collateral for futures and derivatives contracts, and that is what some banks appear to be doing with the money: backing trades in the financial markets. This sort of speculation, involving money making money without increasing productivity, can and does drive up prices.
If the money had been delivered directly to the government to be spent on the national budget, it might have gotten into the real economy where it could do some good. The government's budget is spent not on speculation but on goods and services. Increased government "demand� stimulates an increase in "supply,� causing supply and demand to increase together, avoiding price inflation while stimulating economic activity.
The debt ceiling crisis is a manufactured one, engineered to extort concessions that will lock the middle class in debt peonage for decades to come. Congress is empowered by the Constitution to issue the money it needs to pay its debts. Abraham Lincoln did it; Barack Obama could do it. He probably won't, but he does need to follow his Constitutional mandate to pay the government's bills as and when due. The statute imposing a ceiling on the national debt is trumped by the Fourteenth Amendment, making it redundant and unnecessary. The statute should be repealed.
To begin with the most obvious question: If governments run up their debt in the process of carrying out programs that Congress already approved, why would Congress have yet another option to stop the government from following through on these authorized expenditures, by refusing to raise the debt ceiling?
The answer is obvious when one looks at why this fail-safe check was introduced in almost every country of the world. Throughout modern history, war has been the major cause of a rising national debt. Most governments operate in fiscal balance during peacetime, financing their spending and investment by levying taxes and charging user fees. War emergencies push this balance into deficit – sometimes for defensive wars, sometimes for aggression.
In Europe, parliamentary checks on government spending were designed to prevent ambitious rulers from waging war. This was Adam Smith's great argument against public debts, and his urging that wars be financed on a pay-as-you-go basis. He wrote that if people felt the economic impact of war immediately – rather than postponing it by borrowing – they would be less likely to support military adventurism.
This obviously was not the Tea Party position, or that of the Republicans. What is so remarkable about the August 2 debt ceiling crisis in the United States is its seeming dissociation with war spending. To be sure, over a third ($350 billion) of the $917 billion cutback in current spending is assigned to the Pentagon. But that simply slows the remarkable escalation rate that has taken place from Iraq to Afghanistan to Libya.
What is even more remarkable is that last month, Democrat Dennis Kucinich and Republican Ron Paul sought to make President Obama obey the conditions of the War Powers Act and get Congressional approval for his war in Libya, as required when warfare goes on for more than three months. This attempt to apply the rule of law to the Imperial Presidency was unsuccessful. Mr. Obama clamed that bombing a country was not war. It was only war if a country's soldiers were being killed. Bombing of Libya was done from the air, at long distance, and perhaps also by drones. So is a bloodless war really a war – bloodless on the aggressor's side, that is?
Here was precisely the situation for which the debt ceiling rule was introduced in 1917. President Wilson had taken the United States into the Great War, breaking his election campaign promise not to do so. Isolationists in the United States sought to limit America's commitment, by imposing Congressional oversight and approval of raising the debt ceiling. This safeguard obviously was intended to be used against unscheduled spending that occurred without Congressional approval.
The present rise in U.S. Treasury debt results from two forms of warfare. First is the overtly military Oil War in the Near East, from Iraq to Afghanistan (Pipelinistan) to oil-rich Libya. These adventures will end up costing between $3 and $5 trillion. Second and even more expensive is the more covert yet more costly economic war of Wall Street against the rest of the economy, demanding that losses by banks and financial institutions be passed onto the government balance sheet ("taxpayers�). The bailouts and "free lunch� for Wall Street – by no coincidence, Congress's number one political campaign contributor – cost $13 trillion.
It seems remarkable that Mr. Obama's major focus on the debt ceiling is to warn that Social Security funding must be cut back, along with that of Medicare and other social programs. He went to far as to say that despite the fact that FICA wage set-asides have been invested in Treasury securities for over half a century, the government might not send out checks this week.
A radical double standard is at work for democracies. Wall Street investors certainly had no such worry. In fact, interest rates on long-term Treasury bonds actually have gone down over the past month, and especially over the last week. So institutional debt holders obviously expected to get paid. Only the Social Security savers were to be stiffed – or was Mr. Obama simply trying to threaten them, so as to depict himself as a hero coming in to save their Social Security by negotiating a Grand Bargain?
Wall Street had it right. There was no real crisis. Authorization to raise the public debt ceiling is not a proper occasion to discuss long-term tax policy. Since 1962 – just as the Vietnam War was starting to escalate – it has been raised 74 times. This averages out to about once every eight months. It is like going to a Notary Public – just to make sure that the President is not doing something wrong. Mr. Obama could have asked for a limited vote just on this, without riders. Never before have riders such as this been attached. And even more remarkably, there was no attempt to impose a rider restricting the Obama Administration from spending any more funds on Libya, without getting an official Congressional declaration of war.
Mr. Obama could have invoked the 14th Amendment to pay. He could have taken the proposal made by Scott Fullwiler and other UMKC economists for the Treasury to issue a few $1 trillion coins and pay the Fed for Treasury securities, to retire. But Mr. Obama steered right into the debate, turning it into a discussion of how to cut back Social Security and Medicare in the emerging U.S. class war, rather than over extending the Oil War to North Africa.
The first great victory for the financial sector in America's domestic class war was the Bush "temporary� tax cuts on the wealthy. This aggression was not undone in order to restore budget balance. No temporary tax cuts were revoked, no loopholes closed. The burden of balancing the budget was pushed even further onto the Democratic Party's own base: urban labor, racial and ethnic minorities, the Eastern and Western seaboards. Yet the Democrats split 95/95 on the vote to raise the debt ceiling by slashing social spending on their major voting constituency.
Voting constituency, but not campaign contributors. That looks like the key to how the debt crisis has unfolded. Although leading Democrats such as Maxine Walters Waters, Dennis Kucinich, Henry Waxman, Barney Frank, Edolphus Towns, Charles Rangel and Jerrold Nadler opposed it (and on the Republican side, Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann and Ben Quayle), much of the principled opposition has come from traditional Republicans. Reagan Assistant Treasury Secretary Paul Craig Roberts accused the deal as being too right-wing and favoring the wealthy to a degree threatening to bring on depression.
The essence of classical free market economics was to restrict Executive power – in an epoch when war-making power was the major abuse of national interests. Just as the lower house of bicameral legislatures had taken over the power to commit nations to permanent national debt – rather than royal debts that died with the kings, as were the norm before the 16th century – so parliaments asserted their rights to block warfare.
But now that finance is the new form of warfare – domestically, not externally – where is the power to constrain Treasury and Federal Reserve power to commit taxpayers to bail out financial interests at the top of the economic pyramid? The Fed and other central banks claim that their political "independence� is a "hallmark of democracy.� It seems to be rather a transition to financial oligarchy. And now that finance has joined with the oil industry, major monopolies and privatizers of the public domain, the need for some kind of Congressional oversight is as necessary as was parliamentary power over military spending in times past.
No discussion of this basic principle was voiced in the debt-ceiling debate. Even critics who voted (ostensibly) reluctantly – so as to provide plausible deniability to what no doubt will be their later condemnations of the deal when election time comes around – acted as if they were saving the economy. The reality is that there is now little hope of rebuilding infrastructure as the president promised. Cutbacks in federal revenue sharing will hit cities and states hard, forcing them to sell off yet more land, roads and other assets in the public domain to cover their budget deficit as the U.S. economy sinks further into depression. Congress has just added fiscal deflation to debt deflation, slowing employment even further.
How indeed will they explain all this in the November 2012 elections?
I believe that the most will be made of the new downgrade of our credit rating. This superduperpooper congress will make up all kinds of law that they could not othrewise pass through congress and attach it to the debt [paydown and of course congress will pass this for "our own good" to save us from further downgrade. They will of course claim not to have time to read what treasons get heaped upon us in the process.
For all the gridlock in the age of President Obama and divided government, Congress has always, somehow, managed to avert a shutdown of the federal government and a catastrophic default on U.S. debt. And so many expect it to pull it off again when government funding runs out on Sept. 30 and the country's borrowing authority expires later this fall.
But a confluence of factors makes it a more daunting task this time. Here are five reasons why a government shutdown, default, or both, are very real possibilities.
Americans get the best democracy money can buy. The best, brightest and most honorable are excluded. Rare exceptions prove the rule.
At the same time, each one jousts with the other. They do it for political advantage. Self-interest is the coin of the realm.
Ordinary Americans lose out. No one in Washington represents them. America is a democracy in name only.
Calling it that is a convenient illusion. Numerous examples explain. A looming government shutdown approaches. What a way to run a country. More on what doing it means below.
The last one occurred in late 1995/early 1996. Most people don't remember. The world didn't come to an end.
Government shut down after Clinton vetoed a Republican-sponsored spending bill.
Non-essential federal workers were furloughed. They were out from November 14 through November 19 and from December 16 until January 6.
A temporary spending bill resumed normal operations from November 20 through December 15.
Twenty-eight days were adversely affected. Republicans wanted deeper budget cuts than Democrats.
A 2010 Congressional Research Service report explained what happened. Several hundred thousand federal workers were furloughed.
According to the White House Office of Management and Budget, the cost was at least $1.4 billion.
Economically it hardly mattered. Ordinary people felt it most. Payments to veterans were suspended. National parks were closed.
An estimated 200,000 passport applications weren't processed. Visa application processing was suspended.
Airlines and other tourism related businesses lost millions of dollars. About 20% of Washington area contracts were impacted.
So were health services, environmental cleanup, law enforcement and public safety.
The Antideficiency Act (ADA) dates from 1884. Updating amendments followed. The legislation prohibits Congress from incurring obligations or appropriating funds in excess of amounts available.
Federal agencies must stop operating when budgeted dollars run out. So-called "exempted activities� aren't affected. They include the military and other sectors affecting national security.
"As a result, the federal government would need to rely solely on incoming revenues to� do so.
(1) Who's at fault? It depends on your political persuasion.
America's fiscal year ends on September 30. Under current budget law, Congress must approve 12 appropriations bills.
Confrontation today is over Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA). On Friday, the Republican controlled House approved a stopgap funding bill.
It excludes ACA funding. Democrats control the Senate. They passed legislation including it.
Unless one side blinks, nonessential government operations will cease on midnight Monday night. They'll remain nonoperative until both parties resolve budget impasse disagreements.
(2) Has Washington prepared to shut down?
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be furloughed. They'll remain out until budget impasse squabbles are resolved.
(3) "Does the entire government close?� Exempted activities aren't affected. Certain agencies will continue operating with unpaid staff.


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Image by Get Literary.
Top 10 Stephen King Passages
I'm a huge fan of Stephen King (as you might have gathered) and I've read most of his books. I could go on for hours about why his stories are awesome, but it might be more interesting to show you my 10 favorite passages. You probably know some of them, since they are almost legendary, but I hope there might be a few surprises as well.
I could easily have picked 10 passages from each of King's books, but I've given myself the challenge of only picking one from each book. Oh, and I've been pretty careful not to spoil anything. Here goes.
No. 10: The Body
"The most important things are the hardest things to say."
Alright, let's get this one out of the way. Of course it's on the list. It's famous, it's profound and it's true. It's also the opening line of The Body. I'm actually not sure if this one is originally King's, or if it's something he picked up somewhere, because I've heard it somewhere else since reading the story. The meaning of the quote is obvious, and the central message expressed in it is very classical King: overcome your fears. Simple and powerful.
No. 9: Misery
"I am your number one fan."
This one is mostly funny, although it also contains a great deal of nasty, once you know the context: A writer is being held hostage by a psychotic fan who forces him to rewrite her favorite story. And she keeps saying that line, I'm your number one fan, as if it justifies what she's doing. She is one of King's greatest bad guys (or bad women) and a really nicely written psychopath.
No. 8: The Green Mile
"I'm sorry for what I am."
Yes, I know, John Coffey is perhaps an obvious Jesus-metaphor (even sharing initials) but I think he's done well, and King clearly knows his Christianity. This quote is the last thing Coffey says before being wrongfully executed, and it's a beautiful parallel to the "forgive them, for they know not what they do"-thing that Jesus says during his crucifixion. I think John Coffey isn't really apologizing, but rather saying something like "I know I'm not the guilty one here, but I also know you have no choice in doing this, and I forgive you." I don't know, maybe I read too much into it. But I thought it was strong enough to make the list.
No. 7: Bag of Bones
"This is how we go on: one day a time, one meal at a time, one pain at a time, one breath at a time."
This one shows King's pragmatic approach to life. You just have to keep going, even when you're hurting. You have to keep doing what you love, even if you can't see the purpose or feel anything. Also, Bag of Bones is one of my absolute favorite King-novels, much more tender and sensitive than usual, yet exciting and terrifying at the same time.
No. 6: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
"No good thing ever dies."
This story is really all about hope, a theme that might not always be apparent in King's stories, but - I believe - is always there, even in the grim and hopeless stories like Pet Sematary. "No good thing ever dies" is King's way of telling us that good will always triumph in the end, because it is inherently unbeatable - no matter how much it's beaten. Also, if you're into spirituality, you might have linked this quote to the passage from A Course in Miracles: "Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists." Wise words!
No. 5: Carrie
"People don't get better, they just get smarter. When you get smarter you don't stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it."
This was King's very first book to get published, and he was very young back then. Still, this quote shows some of the main themes to haunt his writing for years to come: There is evil in the world. The evil is inside us all. It makes us do evil things. And the most important one: In the end, we're actually not to blame, because we're only human. Meaning that even the bad guys have understandable reasons for doing what they do. This is why King writes so compelling bad guys.
No. 4: The Dark Tower
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed."
This one is a little tricky. You'll probably only get it if you've read the entire Dark Tower-series. And it contains a huge spoiler, so I'll try to be careful about not saying too much, for those who haven't read it. The phrase is the opening line of the first book in the series, The Gunslinger, but it also appears in the last one, The Dark Tower. The sentence on its own really isn't saying much, other than it's an enticing opener (a discipline King is a master of) and it's also pretty legendary. The way it's used again in the last book is really quite extraordinary, and it completely blew my mind. Sorry I can't say more about it. You'll have to read the series!
No. 3: The Shining
"Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win."
This is such a great way of foreboding something horrible. In King's stories, the main character doesn't always survive, and that's due to King's vision of the world, which isn't exactly puppies and rainbows. His outlook is very realistic, very stark and even grim sometimes. This quote demonstrates that outlook perfectly and leaves you with a sense of dread. Also, it's great how he takes monsters and ghosts and make them so much more real and palpable by making them synonymous with our dark side.
No. 2: The Gunslinger
"Go then, there are other worlds than these."
I'm not quite sure why this one is so powerful, but it is, even without the setup. There's something almost poetically beautiful in the way that sentence expresses acceptance of some great loss, yet posing the hope for reunion in another time or place (or life). Also, I really like the plural form, revealing the possibility of an endless number of choices leading to an endless number of outcomes. And ultimately, the quote tells us to let go and trust in the universe. Incredibly powerful. I originally put this one as no. 1, but changed my mind in the last second.
No. 1: Desperation
"God is cruel. Sometimes, he makes you live."
Alright, I might be biased on this one, because this book means a lot to me. I read it as a young teen, and I think it might have been one of the very first King-novels I picked up. The story is gripping and terrifying and really strong, but what made the greatest impact on me was the religious symbolism. I don't consider myself religious, and I don't think you need to be to appreciate this quote. Just exchange "god" for "universe", and you're fine. The upside-down logic of this quote is so striking, telling you that sometimes getting up and moving on, even when it seems impossible, is the only thing you can do. That sometimes, even though giving up (I know 'death' is meant to be taken literal in the context of the story, but I exchange it for 'giving up') seems like the only thing to do, you need to find a way to go on. It still gives me the chills!
"Here's Johnny!"
(The Shining)
It's good, it's funny, it's creepy, and it's very, very famous. You might wonder why it's not on the list. The reason being, it wasn't in the book, only in the movie. I read somewhere that Jack Nicholson actually ad-libbed it.
"We all float down here."
It's very memorable and made particularly famous thanks to the first movie adaptation. But I just never really found it scary. What's so horrible about floating?
"Get busy living or get busy dying."
(Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption)
This one just might be your favorite, and if it is, you're probably disappointed it's not on the list. I think the other quote from Shawshank is better, and frankly, I don't think this one is that good. Sorry!
How To Get Past Writer's Blocks
I've been writing for a decade, I've published almost thirty books, and I would like to share with you my experience with writer's blocks ...
How I Began Writing
"How did you begin writing?" That's one of the most often asked questions I get, so I thought I would make a blog entry about it ...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Hew Morrison Collection > Searmon agus òraid
Search within: Searmon agus òraidHew Morrison CollectionEarly Gaelic Book Collections
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Early Gaelic Book Collections > Hew Morrison Collection > Searmon agus òraid > (8)
Searmon agus òraid
An Dr Ceanaideach. Sermon based on Luke xix. 10.
H.M.300
Europe > United Kingdom > Scotland > Edinburgh > Edinburgh (inhabited place) [Place published]
Scots Gaelic (language)
Oliver and Boyd (Edinburgh, Scotland) [Printer]
Kennedy, John, 1819-1884 [Author]
Church of Scotland [Publisher]
Free Church of Scotland [Publisher]
United Free Church of Scotland [Publisher]
Hew Morrison Collection
A selection of items from a collection of 320 volumes and 30 pamphlets of literary and religious works in Scottish Gaelic. From the personal library of Hew Morrison, the first City Librarian of Edinburgh.


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Search organisations
Stand Alone Charity
We support people who are estranged from their family or children. Our primary objective is to break down the stigma around estrangement and support estranged people in their daily lives.
https://www.standalone.org.uk/
https://twitter.com/UKstandalone
https://www.facebook.com/standaloneworldwide
Closed vacancies
Advocacy Officer: Scotland
Closing 22nd August 2019
Stand Alone is the only UK organisation supporting people who are estranged from family or a key family member. Breaking down stigma and encouraging social inclusion is at the heart of our constitution and we are currently strategically focussed on the rights of estranged young people aged 16-25.
We're looking for a dynamic Advocacy Officer to represent us in Scotland, helping us to raise awareness and develop the voice of estranged students and young people with key professionals and political leaders.
Estranged young people do not have contact (or may have strained contact) with their family or a key family member. They may have similar backgrounds to young people with care experience, yet have often been missed by the care system. Subsequently, they lack the same rights and visibility as those who are care experienced.
Young people in this position have often experienced diffiuclties with new step-parents, have been rejected by family for coming out as LGBT+ or have different morals, values and beliefs to their families of origin. It is our overall aim to bring more substantial support in Scotland for this group, both in the Higher Education sector and with Local Authorities and Scottish Government.
The organisation has made a strong start in advocating for this group in Scotland, particularly in the Higher Education sector. We are now looking for the right person to build on that progress more locally and further amplify the voice of estranged young people, whilst strengthening our networks and influence.
Part-time contract: 3 days per week
Develop and maintain good relationships with young people estranged from family and help them to build a campaigning voice with key people who may wish to support them.
Build relationships with key stakeholders, including charities relevant to the work of Stand Alone e.g. care, housing, homelessness, mental health, LGBT charities.
Lead and expand existing Stakeholder group of HE professionals and advocates.
Develop and organise opportunities for Stand Alone to engage with MSPs and key individuals in the development of policy in Scotland to influence legislation and government programmes
Research and analyse current policies, and put forward clear objectives for change and equality within the landscape.
Your skills and experience:
Commitment to improving the experiences and circumstances of estranged students in HE and estranged young people in Scotland more broadly (E)
Interpersonal skills to build relationships and engage a wide range of stakeholders (E)
Interest in or willingness to develop understanding of estrangement / family breakdown (E)
Experience in developing work with disadvantaged young people (E)
Good political judgement and initiative (E)
Knowledge of the Scottish political system and the Scottish charity sector (E)
Experience in working with MSPs, Scottish Parliament and government departments (D)
Understanding of the Scottish education system including FE and HE (D)
Ability to identify opportunities for growth and collaboration (E)
Outstanding written and verbal communication skills (E)
Ability to work and make decisions autonomously in line with Stand Alone's mission and values.
Undergraduate Degree (E)


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Why lottery is making millions of dollars more than Powerball?
A company that makes lottery tickets that are more valuable than the lottery jackpot has a big payday in the coming years.
The Los Angeles-based company is making money on a lot of lottery tickets it sells for about $10 each.
The company made about $1.6 million in lottery ticket sales this year, according to its most recent quarterly filing.
The profits from that sales, combined with lottery ticket price increases, could push the company's earnings up about 2% annually for the next five years.
The lottery, which is owned by the state of California, is an annual prize-giving event that attracts about 40 million people.
Most people win the jackpot when they play a game of chance.
Millions of people win $1 bills in a year.
The jackpot is divided into a total of 10,000 prizes, and winners have to pay an annual fee of $50.
The money that goes into the jackpots is used to fund education, support for charities and programs and for charitable organizations.
Powerball jackpots can be made up of $1,000, $10,000 or $100,000.
Many people think of the jackpottle as a way to make a lot more money.
In reality, the jackup generates much more revenue than the jacktokens are worth, according the company.
We've got a lot riding on what happens next.
We don't have a lot to play for, and we have to take advantage of our opportunities.
That's why the jack pot is so important.
There are several reasons why lottery companies are making money from lottery tickets.
First, the prize money is used in the education and education-related programs that have been established in recent years.
Last year, the state allocated $8.3 million to those programs, according to the California Department of Education.
The department said the state will spend $15 million this year on those programs.
Some lottery companies have been able to expand their business because of those programs because of the increased revenue from lottery ticket prices.
One of the biggest companies, Powerball, has said that it will double the amount of money it spends on marketing its tickets.
Last month, the company said it would spend $5 million this fall on new advertising in more than 40 states.
Lotto jackpot sales are a huge part of the state's budget, but not all of it is generated by lottery tickets sales.
In 2015, the California General Assembly passed a law that increased lottery tickets prices to make up for a budget shortcoming in education funding.
Other lottery companies also have found ways to make money from the jackball.
Another big factor is that some lottery companies have become adept at selling tickets at inflated prices.
That allows them to make big profits when people go to play.
To date, the largest winners of the lottery have been the lottery company that sells them.
But some people say that jackpot revenue should be split evenly between lottery companies and people who buy tickets.
"People need to get more bang for their buck.
That means everyone is getting some of the money," said Mark A. Toner, a retired professor at California State University at Northridge and a former professor at Stanford.
In fact, the lottery has raised money from people who have made money from selling tickets and using them for charitable purposes, like the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Lotto's profit margin is extremely high, Toner said.
It's possible to make $1 million in jackpot money with just two people buying a ticket, he said.
But the lottery isn't making that money on its own.
It has to go through a complicated system of sales and marketing, said Mark D. Miller, a professor at Cornell University.
For example, when someone buys a ticket for a $10 jackpot, it has to be sold to someone with a specific income, and then the money goes to the state lottery.
Miller said that, while he doesn't have numbers on how much people are making from jackpots, he thinks that the state has a lot.
"You'd think a lot, but there's no way to know," Miller said.
He thinks that lottery companies need to be careful about not creating new winners too fast.
That could lead to new winners that aren't as well-known.
Even though some people buy jackpots that are too high, people aren't making money off them.
Some people buy lottery tickets for their own personal gain, Miller said, adding that people shouldn't be selling lottery tickets to others just for the sake of it.
"It's not fair to the people who don't win," Miller told ABC News.
It could also lead to people who make the most money from jackpot tickets to use their winnings for other charitable causes, like programs for the homeless.
Last year, lottery companies said
Tags: ca lottery powerball
Florida Lottery winners' families 'devastated' by winners' deaths
How to win the lottery: Find the perfect lottery retailer


Hey, you must've been doin' about 150 km/h to keep up with me. Good job!
When the Officer says "Gee .Your eyes look red, have you been drinking?" You probably shouldn't respond with, "Gee Officer your eyes look glazed, have you been eating doughnuts?"


We at CGD just teamed up with Harvard University's Center for International Development to address this question at an important research conference in Washington, called "Beyond the Fence." It was generously supported by the new Foundation for an Open America and by the MacArthur Foundation.
CGD non-resident fellow Lant Pritchett argued that the case for the development benefits of migration may one day seem as obvious as the development benefits of trade — which were once deeply doubted by the mainstream. He also pointed out that while "who you were born as" matters less and less to your economic prospects, "where you were born" matters more and more.
Patricia Cortés and CGD non-resident fellow Michael Kremer, in separate papers, discussed fresh research on the effect of immigration on the decisions of native-born women to work outside the home. There is strong evidence that labor force participation by native-born women is higher when immigration makes it easier for them to get help with childcare, eldercare, and other work.
Ali Noorani gave an eye-opening lunchtime address on the policy complexities of immigration reform. While it's common to say that a time of economic troubles is the wrong time to pursue reform, Noorani gave polling data suggesting that 72% of Americans want Congress to act on immigration reform this year.
Dean Yang and Sendhil Mullainathan, in separate papers, showed that the ways migrants can send money home has major effects on how much they send. When transfer mechanisms allow them to monitor how the money is spent, for example, they send far more.
The elephant in the room: global development. U.S. immigration policy transforms the lives of low-income people from all over the world, but you won't hear much about them.


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You have heard the term 'Best Ball Scramble,' right? You have probably even played a round of Best Ball Scramble. Well, what if I told you that there is no such thing? Best Ball and Scramble are actually two different forms of the game and are not combined into one over-arching game.
Golf is a great game to play socially. Adding a team aspect to your golf game is a great way to play a fun (and often competitive) round with your friends. Playing solo is great but playing as part of a team adds something extra to your day (just think about the Ryder Cup). We are here today to break down golf Scramble vs. Best Ball. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you will never again talk about playing the 'Best Ball Scramble' format.
What Do They Have in Common?
Let's first examine what is similar between the two game formats before examining their main differences. You can play both formats on any golf course in the world, and they are both played on the same course. Both of them involve teams. Teams of two or four players are typically used in both formats, but you can use any number. The number of players on each team should not exceed four; otherwise, the rounds will drag on for a very long time. Let's examine how to play Scramble and Best Ball.
Each player fires a shot from the tee to begin both formats. A coin toss can be used to decide which team will start, and the starting team can then alternate at each hole. From here, you must choose the order in which the players will release their shots. The opening tee shot will be fired by a member of the first team. The following player will then take their tee shot (either from the same team or alternating with the opposing team), and so on until all players have taken their tee shots.
Things start to get interesting in the following shot. The team selects the shot that they prefer out of those taken by each member of the team. All team members will start their next shots from this position. The participants whose shots weren't chosen will go get their balls and bring them to the chosen shot.
Let's examine a four-person team.
A hits the ball directly down the fairway. Player D didn't hit it very far, Player B is in the rough, Player C is in a bunker.
The group chooses player A's attempt as the best. Then, starting from the spot where player A's ball landed, players B, C, and D will go get their balls and take their second shots. The opposing team will choose which of its players hit the best shot each time, doing the same with their shots.
The best shot can be played with the ball within a club length, but you cannot switch from one type of grass to another. If you are on the green, you must also play from the precise location. A ball must be in the hole for each team before the score (of best shots) is recorded.
The team with the lowest overall score for the round is the victor.
All players tee off in Best Ball (choosing the play order much like before). Now the main distinction is apparent.
Each player plays their ball from where it lies rather than selecting the player with the best shot on the team. Play continues until all players have the ball in the hole or until the remaining players admit they will not outscore the players who have already gotten the ball in the hole. It is the team member's lowest score on the hole that is recorded.
A 3 would be recorded for that hole if our team of four players had the following scores: player A: 4, player B: 3, player C: 5, and player D: 4. Up until all holes have been played, play continues.
The winning team is the one with the lowest score.
Scramble vs Best Ball
Both team golf game formats are enjoyable, but which one is best for you?
Given that you always start from the best position when playing Scramble, there is a good chance that you will record a low score. You can play outside of your comfort zone with scramble as well. You do not need to play cautiously if you are playing in a team of four and the first player hits a nice shot straight down the fairway.
Instead of attempting to play for a similar position, you can really crank it up and try to hit a longer shot. This enables you to play a wider variety of games. Scramble spares you from having to play shots from the rough and bunkers all the time if your round goes poorly.
You get a picture of how you played with Best Ball. Compared to Scramble, team scores are typically much higher, but you still get to play your own game as a member of a team. Someone else will probably pick up the slack and shoot a lower score if you play a hole poorly. Naturally, there is no greater feeling than seeing your team win a hole. Best Ball is excellent for improving your game and building teams.
Team golf is exciting and enjoyable to play in both formats. We advise trying both formats if you have two groups of players. Best Ball is the way to go if you want to improve your game while still being a part of a team. Scramble is the best option for you if you want to work as a team but still have the freedom to take a variety of shots.
Let's examine a four-person team.
Best Driver Swing Thoughts – Set Your Mind Free
The game of golf involves both the body and the mind. Both amateurs and...


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Brachoria calceata individuals are about 39.9 mm long and 10.1 mm wide (females 39.4 mm X 9.8 mm). Color: 3-spotted yellow (3.75Y 8.5/12, shown above); and striped orangeish-yellow (10YR 8/10).
Brachoria calceata specimens were collected during the day (19:00 and 20:00) in a dry maple forest near the road and in a maple and birch forest near a stream. Individuals were found beneath layers of decaying leaf material, predominately maple and birch. At the first locality, a single specimen was collected near the banks of a road beneath thick stacks of leaves; whereas at the second locality, specimens were collected in a rich forested riparian area. No other xystodesmids were encountered sympatrically. Note: Individuals of B. calceata may be confused in the field with Rudiloria guyandotta due to overlap in distribution and similarity in color patterns.
Known only from the type locality in Anderson Co., Kentucky and across the Kentucky River a few kilometers east in Woodford Co. The closest known Brachoria species, B. electa, also occurs in Tyrone, Anderson Co., Kentucky.
Brachoria calceata is threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture (especially growing demand for paper products), coal mining, development, and the invasion of exotic species.
Causey N.B. 1955. New records and descriptions of polydesmoid millipeds (Order Polydesmida) from the eastern United States. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 68: 21-30.
Page: Tree of Life Brachoria calceata (Causey 1955). The Wild Turkey Bourbon Mimic Millipede. Authored by Paul Marek. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.


SAINT PETERSBURG, March 7. /TASS/. Thousands of observers, the first public houses in partnership with non-profit associations, will monitor the transparency and legitimacy of the presidential elections on March 18 on the territory of 11 subjects of the North-Western Federal district (SZFO).
Public supervision will not only involve broad layers of people, but will be high-tech: for fixing and operational audit messages about the violations connected to a dedicated phone line, social networks and even blockchain.
In recent weeks, volunteers, including students, parents, lawyers, veterans, completed a thorough training in modern techniques, including using distance learning and testing.
Monitoring will be conducted by the group of observers from international organizations such as OSCE and CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, and candidates and parties.
In St. Petersburg the elections of the President of the Russian Federation will observe more than 4 thousand people, said member of the Public chamber of the city, the rector of the Leningrad state University. Pushkin Stanislav Eremeev.
It is planned that they will be present at the polling stations were not specific candidates, but as members of the public. The organization has signed an agreement with the Saint-Petersburg electoral Commission on the training of observers, many of whom had no prior experience observing the voting process.
Corps "For clean elections" with the support of Association of lawyers of Russia for a few weeks before the election is also organized in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, special training of observers.
"We will be present at each polling station," – said TASS, the regional coordinator of housing Dmitry Kuchta. According to him, the students were mostly students of the law faculties of the universities of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region.
Among the innovations in the monitoring of the electoral process the current campaign Kuchta said digital platform of the National public monitoring (Sam), which will work the observers corps and other organizations.
"It [the platform] is based on blockchain technology, that is all that there made, there is no way to remove, edit, modify, which ensures the transparency and openness of this entire process," – said Kuchta.
As reported in the Public chamber of the Leningrad region, in region 5 March ended a three-week observer training will be about 1.5 thousand people. To simplify the work of public observers in the organization based on coordinators, the hotline and mobile group, which if necessary can come to the aid of a site.
As reported TASS the Chairman of the Public chamber of the Pskov area Valery Pavlov, today the region has 725 observers.
"Together, we can change each other, we trust each other. I want the elections were fair. We conducted a study that clearly told, as we can see," said TASS Belyaeva.
For the first time participate in the elections as a public observer the Chairman of the Union of Komi youth "Mi" Anna Makhotin.
"The closest to our attention will necessitate, perhaps, the counting of votes. It is important that each ballot was correctly estimated, so that nothing is missed, and it is not easy after a day of work", – told TASS Makhotin.
In the Kaliningrad region for the election of the President has created a body of public observers of the 900 people that will work at all polling stations, reported TASS in the regional electoral Commission.
For monitoring the voting Public chamber of region has signed agreements with over 20 public and non-profit organizations in the region.
"Among these NGOs – representatives of Association of large families in which almost 900 members of the Russian student teams, representatives of the legal community, veterans', and trade unions", – said the representative of the chamber.
For observers organized the seminars, which will be held in all municipalities of the region, told TASS a member of APCO, Chairman of the Commission on public control, interaction with public tips and media regional Public chamber Igor Selivanov.
He also added that during the elections to the public chamber will operate a hot line of communication with the electorate to collect messages on violations.
According to him, serious violations during the voting for the region are not typical.
Arkhangelsk coordinator of the all-Russian public movement "Case "For clean elections" Julia Minenko believes that changes in legislation – such as the ability to vote at the place of stay – improve the accessibility of the voting procedure. She also pointed out that in the current election campaign pays great attention to training of observers.
"It will affect the observation as a whole, will have a beneficial effect," she said.
As explained TASS the head of the working group on the election of the Public chamber of the Arkhangelsk region Svitlana Deyneko, selection of observers is currently ongoing, the list is already more than 800 people.
"In big cities we are actively working with young people, a lot of students. As for villages-villages where people are older. Experience new, North, people long to swing, but now more and more call and ask and including members of some public organizations", – said Deineko.
As explained TASS chief specialist of the unit to ensure that the Public chamber of the Nenets Autonomous district Ilona Sveshnikova, a list of public observers in the NAO have already formed.
"In the list of 59 observers. They are representatives of the public councils of the municipalities, mostly middle-aged people who work in education, healthcare, and other fields," she said.
According to her, during the early voting in remote areas while observers were not present.
"Early voting was a flyby, it was not possible more people to take a limited number of places," she explained.
As pointed out by the Chairman of the electoral Commission NAO Georgi Popov, observers will be trained.
"Those who in Naryan-Mar, with the person, to remote communities – remotely, via videoconference", – he explained.
Become an election observer from the Public chamber in Novgorod region wanted about 350 people. The organization has signed agreements with a number of the Novgorod public associations. Including search expedition "the Valley", the regional women's Council public organization "For fair housing!".
The region also has a corps of observers "For clean elections". The regional coordinators received about 200 applications from people who plan to work in the upcoming elections.
"These are basically young people from 18 to 27 years on average. You will need to work in the system of "public monitoring", these nuances are more close to young people. For them it's like a quest, they will be able to see and actively to unsubscribe not only in social networks but also in the formal system," said TASS in the housing.
On the territory of the northwestern Federal district over the course of the election campaign monitoring by a group of international observers from the Interparliamentary Assembly (IPA) of the CIS. It is composed of 19 persons, which carry out long-term monitoring of the presidential elections in Russia, said the coordinator of the first Deputy Chairman of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ziyafat Askerov.
It is known that on March 18 the group will consist of 40 members who will undertake short-term monitoring elections on voting day.
In a press-service of the Central election Commission of the Republic of Karelia TASS said that the observers from the IPA CIS Hayk Chilingaryan and Nurbek satavaldiev visited the Republic in February.
"In the framework of long-term monitoring, we evaluated the readiness of election commissions for elections, as well as checked for in region headquarters to all representatives. I was pleased with the large involvement of observers from community organizations, making the forthcoming elections open and transparent," – said TASS Chilingaryan.
In the area of work and OSCE observers. In St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region in the framework of the long-term mission work, two experts of the Office for democratic institutions and human rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE Alexander Foulkes from great Britain and Alexandra von ARX from Switzerland.
"Over the past month and a half they had held many meetings with the organizers of the election – regional and territorial election commissions, and representatives of non-governmental organizations and headquarters of candidates for the post of President of the Russian Federation", – noted in a press-service MPa of the CIS on results of the meeting in March between OSCE observers and the experts Assembly.
In the Pskov region now also has two long-term observers from the OSCE, told TASS the Chairman of the electoral Commission of the region Mikhail Ivanov.
"One of the observers came from Denmark, Netherlands. They regularly visit the regional electoral Commission took part in the draw allocation of airtime to the media and have already visited a significant number of commissions in the region", – he explained.
In the near future in the area will be short-term observers from the OSCE.
As told TASS in the election Commission of the Vologda region, two long-term observers from the OSCE operating in the territory of the Yaroslavl and Vologda regions.
"Two observers from the OSCE have arrived to our region, they arrived from the Yaroslavl oblast and on the way stopped in the town of Gryazovets, the territorial electoral Commission. Noted the high professional training of the members of the TEC and was surprised that we are working with voters with disabilities," said TASS in the FEC region.
International observers are expected in the region and on the voting day.


text:
Heini Halberstam (11 de septiembre de 1926 – 25 de enero de 2014) fue un matemático británico, trabajando en el campo de la teoría analítica de números. Es uno de los dos matemáticos de donde la conjetura de Elliott–Halberstam fue nombrado.

Nació en Most, Checoslovaquia
y falleció en Champaign, Illinois, EE. UU. Su padre fallecido cuándo era muy joven. Después de la anexión de Adolf Hitler del Sudetenland, él y su madre se mudaron a Praga. A sus doce años, cuando la ocupación nazi progresó, fue uno de los 669 niños salvados por Sir Nicholas Winton, quién organizó el Kindertransport, un tren que dejó aquellos niños fuera de territorio ocupado por los nazis. Fue enviado a Inglaterra, donde vivió durante la segunda guerra mundial.

Obtuvo su PhD en 1952, por la University College, Londres, con la supervisión de Theodor Estermann. De 1962 a 1964, Halberstam fue profesor de Erasmo Smith de matemática en Trinity Dublín Universitario (Universidad de Dublín);  De 1964 a 1980, fue profesor de matemática en Nottingham Universidad.  En 1980,  tomó una posición en la Universidad de Illinois, Urbana Champaign (UIUC) y devino en emeritus profesor en UIUC en 1996. En 2012,  devino miembro de la Sociedad Matemática americana.

Es conocido también por libros, con Klaus Roth en combinatorial teoría de número, y con H. E. Richert con la teoría de cribas.<ref>{{Cita publicación|apellidos=Stark, H. M.|enlaceautor=Harold Stark|título=Review: Introduction to analytic number theory, by K. Chandrasekharan; Arithmetical functions, by K. Chandrasekharan; Multiplicative number theory, by Harold Davenport; Sequences, by H. Halberstam and K. F. Roth|publicación=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|año=1971|volumen=77|número=6|páginas=943–957|url=http://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1971-77-06/S0002-9904-1971-12812-4/S0002-9904-1971-12812-4.pdf|doi=10.1090/S0002-9904-1971-12812-4}}</ref>

 Algunas publicaciones
 con Hans-Egon Richert: Sieve Methods. Academic Press 1974

 con Klaus Friedrich Roth: Sequences. Oxford 1966, Springer 1983

 con Harold Diamond, y William Galway: A higher dimensional sieve method.'' Cambridge University Press 2008

Referencias

Enlaces externos

 Biografía en UIUC
 Entrevista sobre "Kindertransport"

Emigrantes checoslovacos hacia Reino Unido
Emigrantes ingleses hacia Estados Unidos
Matemáticos del Reino Unido del siglo XX
Matemáticos del Reino Unido del siglo XXI
Teóricos de números
Alumnado del University College de Londres
Profesores de la Universidad de Nottingham
Profesores de la Universidad de Illinois en Urbana-Champaign
Judíos de la República Checa
Judíos del Reino Unido
Refugiados Kindertransport
Miembros de la AMS
Nacidos en Most

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The death penalty was not abolished in Australia because our rulers were more civilised or morally superior to their Indonesian equivalents. Determined mass protests backed up by strikes by workers put an end to the brutality.
Liberal premiers excelled in whipping up law and order hysteria to provoke a lynch mob atmosphere. The notorious Victorian Liberal premier Henry Bolte, during his 1962 campaign to hang Robert Tait, who had been convicted of murder, publicly advocated administering the lash (it was still on the books as a punishment at the time). Bolte was not some isolated figure in the Liberal establishment. He had the unanimous support of the cabinet and party room for hanging Tait.
Nonetheless, a wave of public opposition erupted to oppose the hanging. The Trade unions campaigned against it, and even the murdered woman's son spoke out against the execution.
When Bolte and his Education minister went to open a secondary teachers' college building next to Melbourne University, he was greeted by defiant students who let down the tyres of the two ministerial cars and padlocked the gates so that they could not get out.
Famously, a female studentmanaged to write "Hang Bolte" on the windscreen of his car in coral-pink lipstick.
Despite all this opposition, the Liberal government refused to defer the execution – even though various legal appeals were still in train. In an extraordinary step, the High Court intervened to order the government to issue a stay of execution until the appeals had been heard. Tait was eventually declared legally insane. Bolte was incensed that he had been thwarted in his quest for blood. He was determined to get his revenge and to ensure a hanging was carried out on his watch in Victoria.
In 1967, his victim was to be Ronald Ryan. He had been found guilty of killing a warder during a prison escape, even though there was a total lack of scientific forensic evidence to prove Ryan guilty. There were also inconsistencies in all fourteen eyewitnesses for the prosecution, mysterious missing of vital evidence that may have cleared Ryan, and the fact that one single shot was heard by all persons, which a prison guard admitted to have fired. Ballistic expert evidence and autopsy report indicated the one single fatal shot was fired from a distance, at an elevated position, in a downward trajectiory angle ... impossible for Ryan to have fired at such angles. But Bolte was determined Ryan would swing.
The campaign against the Tait hanging had had a significant impact on public opinion. A Gallup Poll in February 1966 showed that support for hanging had dropped dramatically, from 69 per cent 12 years previously to 42 per cent. The numerous anti-hanging petitions that were circulated received a broad response. The anti-hanging committees formed during the Tait case were quickly reactivated, and there was a new round of even more militant protests.
Wharfies carrying a wooden frame on which their union banner was displayed forced their way through police lines and began beating on the doors. Vicious fights broke out between workers and police. The following Sunday, 8,000 protesters marched to Pentridge prison carrying placards reading "Hang Bolte" and "Bolte Murderer".
What particularly provoked workers' anger was that Ryan came from the bottom of the pile – a very poor Irish Catholic working class family – and thus was the perfect target for the Liberals' reactionary agenda.
Initially, there were a few waverers in the Liberal cabinet. But they soon fell into line behind Bolte; the final cabinet decision to reaffirm the hanging was unanimous. One Liberal backbencher, Brian Dixon, publicly opposed the hanging. He was ostracised by other party members, and there were moves to expel him.
The night before Ryan was hanged, there was an all-night vigil outside Pentridge, at which Bolte's effigy was hanged. Well before the execution at 8am on Tuesday, 3 February, the crowd had swelled to 3,000 booing, chanting, angry protesters. There were repeated clashes with the 300 police guarding the prison and more than 90 arrests.
A nationwide three-minute silence was observed at the exact time Ryan was hanged. Ryan's fellow prisoners staged their own protest – they refused to get out of bed, staged a sit-in, refused to work or obey orders. There was an eerie silence throughout the prison.
Bolte had the grisly execution he had so desired, but it was to be the last in Australia. The protesters and striking workers had not saved Ryan, but they had demonstrated to the ruling class that any future state executions would face concerted resistance and could potentially rupture the whole fabric of society.


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