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|History of MCBA|
The Montgomery County Bar Association ("MCBA") was formed in 1915; however, there is very little history of the practicing bar prior to 1930. Old composite photos of Montgomery lawyers and judges in the late 1880's and early 1900's refer to MCBA as "The Montgomery Bar Bar Association." Research revealed the identity of three presidents of The Montgomery Bar Association during the 1920's: the late J. Render Thomas, in 1921; the late federal Judge Richard T. Rives, in 1923; and noted lawyer Wiley C. Hill, Jr., in 1927.
During the 30's and 40's, there were only fifty to sixty members. George Jones was Secretary/Treasurer from 1935–1978. There was no Central Office, and Mr. Jones billed members, collected dues, and kept all of the Association's records.
A spurt of notable activity arose between 1957 and 1959. The first national recognition of The Montgomery Bar Association occurred when the American Bar Association awarded its prestigious Award of Merit for community service activities. The late James B. Carter and Drayton Hamilton were presidents during this time. The community service activities consisted of voluntary representation of the indigent and a television talk show, called "It's The Law," encouraging adoption of Alabama Act No. 520—which provided for the Legislature to fix, alter, and regulate the cost of court fees—and Alabama Act No. 711—which provided for (1) the establishment, maintenance, equipping, operations, and financing of a public County Law Library, and (2) the taxing and collection of law library fees as items of court costs in cases docketed in certain courts within the county. On December 1, 1959, the Montgomery County Law Library officially opened with 1,841 volumes.
In 1972, The Montgomery Bar Association reorganized and chartered as what we know today as the Montgomery County Bar Association, Inc. For several years, with a few exceptions, MCBA was not a continually active organization. Perhaps the most significant of the exceptions was provided by the very talented late Aldo James "Al" Sansone during the years 1975 and 1976. Mr. Sansone was president of the Young Lawyers Section ("YLS") of the Alabama State Bar in 1974 and had undertaken numerous projects for young lawyers. Sansone paved the way for the establishment of MCBA's Young Lawyers Section as a recognized affiliate of the YLS of the American Bar Association, which officially occurred in 1976. Floyd Minor was its first president. On June 13, 1987, Al James Sansone and his wife, Patricia, were tragically killed in an automobile accident while returning to Montgomery from a meeting of the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association ("ATLA") on the Gulf. The ATLA established the "Al Sansone Service Award" to be awarded to a member providing outstanding service to its members. The first recipient of Al's award was Jimmy Pool of the MCBA.
In 1978, Larry Kloess persuaded the MCBA Board of Directors to approve the idea of publishing a bulletin-type journal to provide a communication link between its members and between other bar associations throughout the State. The idea was approved on the basis that Mr. Kloess would be the editor, get advertising to defray the costs, and appoint a committee who would assist him in the endeavor. The sum allocated for this project was modest. The result was the beginning of MCBA's The Docket. The first issue, along with MCBA's new logo, was published in time for the annual meeting in January 1979.
The publication of The Docket necessitated obtaining a post office box and a bulk mail permit, and later a telephone listing in the yellow pages, a central office, and a part-time secretary. A comprehensive list of all members was also compiled to receive mailings. Under new dynamic leadership, MCBA began to move in many directions.
In 1979, Walter Byars undertook far-reaching programs for the membership involving judges, the court system, and the community. Mr. Byars inaugurated continuing legal education programs before they became mandatory by the Alabama State Bar. Through his leadership, programs were sponsored on trial advocacy, appellate advocacy, judicial reform, and ethics. He further represented MCBA in promulgating the Law Awareness Program, a law educational program to school children of the Montgomery area, along with its founders Judge Joseph Phelps, Judge Randall Thomas, and Mrs. Nellie Weil of the local Board of Education. In this Program, local law enforcement officials, judges, lawyers, and others worked with schools to promote student interest in the law.
Other achievements of Mr. Byars was the sponsorship of a jury workshop at Auburn University Montgomery, at which time the public attended and provided input as to how they would like the jury system to be. The Liberty Bell Scholarship Award program that involved the presentation of an award to a local student at the Annual Law Day banquet was implemented. A Montgomery bank offered to co-contribute the monetary award (now in the amount of $1,000) based upon essays and/or achievements along the theme of the Law Day observance. This same year, MCBA received notable mention by the American Bar Association for its community-wide Law Day observance.
In 1979, MCBA elected officers and directors and began meeting monthly to conduct business and to approve new applications for membership. Because prospective new members no longer had to wait for the annual meeting to become members, sixty new members were brought in during the year. In 1984, Mr. Byars became president of the Alabama State Bar.
In 1980, MCBA received, for the second time, the highest national award possible for any bar association, the prestigious American Bar Association Award of Merit: this time for "Overall Excellence." The award was presented by the ABA at its annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. MCBA's The Docket was selected one of the best single activities under membership activities while the programs and operations overall, beginning in 1979, provided the general basis and criteria for excellence.
In subsequent years, MCBA involved itself in providing a broad and comprehensive program involving legal services to the poor under its Pro Bono Program in conjunction with the Montgomery Legal Services Corporation through a grant from the American Bar Association—this is notwithstanding local attorneys who had been voluntarily taking on indigent civil and criminal cases since the 1950's. Monthly luncheon meetings were established along the civic club format with guest speakers, which were preceded by board meetings to conduct the business of MCBA. The annual meetings became special luncheon meetings with distinguished speakers and the changing of the guard.
In 1981, Larry Kloess set up the Award of Merit Program to be given annually to a member who had provided the most outstanding service to MCBA during the year. Wanda Devereaux received the first Award of Merit that year. In 1988, Ms. Devereaux became the first woman MCBA president. Also in 1981, MCBA's first full-time secretary was hired.
In 1982, video equipment was purchased for the Law Library and courts to provide video depositions and such. The computerized WestLaw system was installed in the Law Library for use by MCBA members.
In 1986, Charles Crook headed up a committee to provide the current Grievance Procedures. This was an undertaking of great magnitude.
In 1989, the American Bar Association awarded MCBA a "Public Service Award" for notable achievement in sponsoring Law Day programs and events recognizing excellence in both. MCBA has been and still is committed to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.
Today, MCBA is one of the leading local bar associations nationwide. Its office is located within the Montgomery County Courthouse Law Library and staffs an Executive Director and a part-time secretary. MCBA's The Docket is published six times a year to over 800 members.


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Grain-Free Hummingbird Bread is a moist, fluffy quick bread featuring ripe bananas, pineapple, nuts, and cinnamon. Made dairy-free, oil-free with no added sweetener, this healthy hummingbird bread is an ideal healthy treat!
If you’ve made my Paleo Hummingbird Muffins, you’re already familiar with the concept of this grain-free hummingbird bread!
But for those of you who are new to humminbird bread, let’s just nose dive right into the details!
What is Hummingbird Bread?:
Hummingbird bread is rumored to have originated from Jamaica, and is also known as hummingbird cake or doctor bird cake.
Legend has it, hummingbird cake was named so because it is sweet enough to attract a hummingbird (hummingbirds love their sugar!), or the yellow from the banana resembles the bird’s plumage.
While there are many approaches to hummingbird bread, the two star ingredients are banana and pineapple.
Together, they make for a marvelously sweet bread or cake that has a very tropical vibe to it.
Made popular in the southern United States, hummingbird cake is typically served as a layer cake, bundt cake, this is a classic cake to share for any special occasion.
Traditional hummingbird cake (or bread) includes plenty of oil and sugar, but we’re keeping it both oil-free and also free of all added sweeteners in this recipe.
In this sense, the ripe mashed bananas and the chopped pineapple make up the sweetness of this particular healthy hummingbird bread recipe.
Because this recipe is not as sweet as the traditional moist cake, it would perhaps not attract a hummingbird, but the lovely warm island flavors certainly attract me! It may be a lighter version, but it is still so tasty!
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for this family favorite quick bread recipe.
Hummingbird Bread Ingredients:
Ripe Banana: Making up most of the sweetness in this bread, overripe bananas add moisture, enticing flavor, and also a nice creamy sweetness that isn’t overbearing. Use bananas that are very ripe and have a lot of brown spots for the best result! This is essentially a classic banana bread recipe with some tropical flair.
Eggs: The fluff maker. Eggs help the bread fluff up, rise, and maintain shape. I haven’t tested the recipe using an egg replacer but given my experience with flax eggs, I think the bread would turn out very dense if eggs aren’t used.
Pineapple: Fresh or canned pineapple adds little bursts of sweet, tropical joy to the bread. I simply use crushed or chopped canned pineapple and I chop it up finely to ensure the chunks are nice and small.
Vanilla Extract: Adding warmth and depth of flavor to the hummingbird bread, vanilla extract is a lovely addition but not mandatory. If you don’t have it, skip it!
Almond Flour: In keeping this bread grain-free and paleo friendly, we use almond flour for the base. This creates a light and airy texture that makes the bread so incredibly addicting. I don’t recommend replacing the almond flour with coconut flour as many adjustments would need to be made to the rest of the recipe, but hazelnut flour will work as a 1:1 replacement, and cassava flour may work as well.
Baking Soda: Used as the leavening agent, baking soda helps give rise to the bread and helps keep it fluffy without any sinkage.
Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon brings more warmth and yumminess to the bread. You can add up to 2 teaspoons or omit it altogether if you’re not into it.
Sea Salt: A little salt brings out all of the flavors in every ingredient, thereby making any baked good or savory recipe taste richer and more full bodied. Don’t skip the salt!
Unsweetened shredded coconut (or coconut flakes) and chopped pecans or walnuts are great for topping.
Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of cane sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar for a sweeter loaf cake.
Some recipes for hummingbird bread include dried apricots or other dried fruit, but I typically leave them out per my own personal preference.
Traditional hummingbird bread comes with a cream cheese icing or a buttercream frosting. If you love the idea of adding it, you can pick your favorite recipe, or try my Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting for a dairy-free version.
How to Make Grain-Free Hummingbird Bread:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
Mash the bananas in a large bowl until most of the chunks are out. Whisk in the eggs, chopped pineapple and vanilla extract until everything is well-combined (wet ingredients).
Add the almond flour, ground cinnamon, baking soda, and sea salt (dry ingredients) and mix until a thick dough forms.
Transfer the bread batter to the parchment-lined loaf pan and spread it into an even layer. If desired, top with shredded coconut and raw pecans so that there’s a little crunch on the top of the bread.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, cover it in aluminum foil, then continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bread is golden-brown around the edges and tests clean.
Allow the bread to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Store any leftover bread in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze this bread! To do so, slice it into individual slices, wrap it in plastic wrap, then place it in a zip lock bag and seal it up. This will allow the bread to stay fresh longer. It should keep for up to 4 months.
If you love this healthy hummingbird bread recipe, also try my Paleo Morning Glory Quick Bread, which has similar characteristics to carrot cake.
More Healthy Quick Bread Recipes:
- Almond Flour Zucchini Bread
- Spiced Apple Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping
- Keto Lemon Pound Cake
- Low-Carb Carrot Cake Bread
- Paleo Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
Enjoy this moist, delicious tropical breeze bread!
Grain-Free Hummingbird Bread
- 2 ripe mashed bananas about ¾ cup
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup chopped pineapple*
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut optional
- ¼ cup raw pecans chopped, optional
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Mash the bananas in a large bowl until most of the chunks are out. Whisk in the eggs, chopped pineapple and vanilla extract until everything is well-combined (wet ingredients).
- Add the almond flour, ground cinnamon, baking soda, and sea salt (dry ingredients) and mix until a thick dough forms.
- Transfer the bread batter to the parchment-lined loaf pan and spread it into an even layer. If desired, top with shredded coconut and raw pecans so that there's a little crunch on the top of the bread.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, cover it in aluminum foil, then continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bread is golden-brown around the edges and tests clean.
- Allow the bread to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

domain: food


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Ladakh to host first ever 21 km long Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon
Post by Umar Raina on Sunday, February 5, 2023
Leh, Feb 04: Union Territory of Ladakh is going to host the first ever 21 km long Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon on February 20, 2023 this year.
Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh in a Tweet said that Ladakh will be hosting the first 21 km long Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon on February 20, 2023.Registrations are already underway for this event.
Interested candidate can register at asfladakh.com
The Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon is going to be 21 km long and will take place at an altitude of 13,862 ft.
The entire stretch is going to be across Pangong Tso. The trail for the marathon is a tricky one as the weather condition is going to be cold. This is going to be the first marathon to ever take place at such a high altitude in the world.
Politician, Councillor Chushul and Former Executive Councillor, Konchok Stanzin said that they are excited to host the adventurous marathon on frozen Pangong Frozen Lake.
It will be the next-level marathon ever at such an altitude, he said.
“We are excited to host the most adventurous 21 km long marathon on frozen Pangong lake, that’s going to be held on February 20, 2023. It will be the next-level marathon ever at such an altitude. Get ready!,” Stanzin wrote on his social media Twitter handle.

domain: geography


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Heworth’s Favourite Independent Coffee Shop!
Welcome to Bean on the Green Coffee Shop, Heworth. Whether you’re just stopping by for a coffee in our spacious cafe, to enjoy a hand stretched pizza from our delicious menu or an evening drink on a Friday or Saturday night in our licensed bar, you’ll enjoy your time at Bean on the Green.
Sit down and relax at the Bean on the Green
The Coffee Shop
We are a spacious coffee shop located in Heworth, York. We serve Lavazza coffee, home made cakes and tasty lunches.
Breakfast served until 12pm. Last food orders 2:45pm. Pizza available from 12pm every day and all day (12-10pm) on Fridays and Saturdays!
Discover the latest happenings at Bean on the Green and the surrounding area. As well as our public events and popular Quiz nights!
About Bean on the Green
We are an independent coffee shop located just outside the beautiful city of York in the village of Heworth, directly opposite the bowling green. Bean on the Green was born from an idea of creating a sociable and relaxing space where people can meet with friends, family or solo. Everyone is welcome… including dogs!
We serve a good choice of breakfast, lunch and brunch options as well as a range of coffees and cakes. We can even host your evening or daytime event, get together.
What people say...
Excellent service with a smile, delicious pizzas. What more could you wish for? Oh yes Prosecco 👍🍾
Just been with friends for the most amazing pizza I’ve had for a long time. Very good deal with a drink for £10. Great atmosphere too.
- Alex Jones


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Isn't this a awesome quilt block?
Yep,I thought sew too!
Thinking that this one is going to get framed and hung above
my sewing table. That way I can admire it every time I sit
down to sew :)
My partner got me to a T!
Mr. P enjoyed the gummy candy that was included :)
On another note I only made a handful of yoyo's last
evening :( Which is why I generally craft/sew in my sewing
room instead of in the living room. But sometimes I have to "come
out of my cave" as Mr. P calls it. LOL!

domain: artistic


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Southern Miss officially puts the 2012 football season behind it on Friday, when it hold its first fall practice under new coach Todd Monken.
As is often the case at schools with first-year coaches, just about every starting job on both offense and defense is considered wide-open as the Golden Eagles head into fall camp. And considering Southern Miss went a school-worst 0-12 last season, there are few veteran players who enter August workouts with secure jobs.
Still, a few position battles are more interesting than others. Here are a few to keep an eye on in Hattiesburg between now and the Aug. 31 opener against Texas State:
Southern Miss could have up to six scholarship quarterbacks in camp, but it was walk-on Cole Weeks who got the nod from Monken as the current No. 1 when he spoke at last week's Conference USA Media Day in Dallas. Weeks -- who completed 8 of 21 passes for 106 yards and an interception in limited duty in 2012 -- was not among four quarterbacks who started at least one game for the Golden Eagles last year, but maybe that's a good thing. Since-departed Anthony Alford (who transferred to Ole Miss) and Arsenio Favor (now at Alabama State) and holdovers Ricky Lloyd and Chris Campbell combined for a 48.8 percent completion rate and a 9-to-12 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2012. Redshirt freshman Kyle Sloter and freshman signees Nick Mullens of Spain Park, Ala., and Parker Adamson of Oxford might get a look, but it's transfer Allan Bridgford who is most intriguing among the newcomers. Bridgford played for current Southern Miss offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo at California, so he has experience in the spread offense Monken and Arroyo are continuing to install this fall.
Running backs are asked to do a lot in a spread offense, particularly since there is generally only one in the game at a time. So Monken and his staff are looking for a back who can be a good pass protector and receiver in addition to being able to get the tough yards between the tackles and on the edge. Sophomore Jalen Richard (5-foot-10, 200 pounds) got the most playing time last year, rushing for 451 yards and four scores in part-time duty. Senior Kendrick Hardy (6-0, 219) also fits the bill of an every-down back physically, but hasn't been able to stay healthy. He separated his shoulder five games into the 2011 season and missed the remainder of the year, then played with a hamstring problem all last season. Sophomore scatback Tyre Bracken (5-8, 185) caught the coaches' eyes in the spring after playing sparingly last season, and could be in line for increased playing time this fall. Senior Jeremy Hester (5-6, 177) should also get a look.
The Golden Eagles ended the spring with six sophomores, two juniors, a senior and a true freshman on their unofficial offensive line two-deep, so it goes without saying that this will be a young group in 2013. Junior-college transfer Fred Moore -- a first-team NJCAA All-American at Jones County JC last year -- joins the mix this fall, and should immediately compete for a job at one of the tackle spots. True freshman Devin Farrior enrolled in January and participated in spring practice, and at 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds is comparable to Moore (6-5, 325) and senior tackle Vincent Brown (6-6, 314) in size among the USM linemen. Sophomores Rashod Hill and Aaron Reed at tackle, Garrett Clark and Michael Brinson at guard and Jordan Greene at center are also names to know.
Southern Miss' best player last year -- maybe its best defender of the last decade -- was end Jamie Collins, who often seemed like a one-man defense in 2012. Collins was selected in the second round of April's NFL draft by the New England Patriots, and takes with him a team-best 92 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and four forced fumbles from last season. Sophomore Michael Smith, who started 11 games and had 27 tackles (6.5 for losses) last season, would seem to be the front-runner at one end position, but the other side is wide-open. Seniors Octavius Thomas and Anthony Wilson battled it out in the spring, but don't be surprised to see true freshman Dylan Bradley press for playing time. The 6-foot-1, 255-pound Bradley led Noxubee County to a state title last season, when he totaled 96 tackles and 21.5 sacks and was Class 4A Player of the Year.
The biggest defensive question mark for Southern Miss this past offseason has been the status of senior cornerback Deron Wilson, who apparently was considering leaving the team at one time. But all indications are that Wilson will be back this fall, which is good for the Golden Eagles as he's easily their most experienced cover man. Wilson -- who was named to the preseason watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award earlier this summer -- totaled 61 tackles, nine pass breakups and an interception last season, and should be able to at least be able to keep the opposition's top receiver in check. Other than Wilson, things are unsettled. Sophomore Kalan Reed started a handful of games last season and returned an interception for a touchdown against Marshall, but otherwise didn't distinguish himself. Senior Alexander Walters, sophomore Ed Wilkins, redshirt freshman Antonio Thomas and possibly true freshman Jomez Applewhite (a quarterback at small-school powerhouse Bassfield) will compete for snaps this fall.

domain: sports


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Preferred Scientific Name; Burkholderia glumae. Preferred Common Name; bacterial grain rot. Taxonomic Tree; Domain: Bacteria; Phylum: Proteobacteria. Burkholderia glumae, which causes bacterial panicle blight of rice (BPBR), is a well‐known pathogen. The pathogen‐induced symptoms. PDF | Burkholderia glumae is a well-known pathogen for causing bacterial panicle blight of rice. In this study, the infection process of B. glumae in rice plants at.
|Published (Last):||12 October 2008|
|PDF File Size:||6.32 Mb|
|ePub File Size:||7.61 Mb|
|Price:||Free* [*Free Regsitration Required]|
Katsube K; Takeda S, More information about modern web browsers can be found at http: Effect of nitrogen fertilizers on development of bacteria grain rot of rice abstract in Japanese. First report of Burkholderia glumae causing bacterial panicle blight on rice in Ecuador. Section II, Abstract Annals of the Phytopathological Society of Japan, 53 2: Burkholderia glumae Kurita and Tabei Urakami et al.
Copper compounds are weakly effective burkhlderia sometimes toxic to the plant. Transfer of Pseudomonas plantarii and Pseudomonas glumae to Burkholderia as Burkholderia spp. Prolonged high temperature during the growing season is an important environmental condition that promotes the development of bacterial panicle blight.
On the causal agent of bacterial grain rot of rice [abstract in Japanese]. Annals of the Phytopathological Society of Japan, 55 2: Plant Disease, 90 5: Genetic goumae to identify the glumea genes associated with the disease resistance is under way.
Toxins produced by Pseudomonas glumae.
Burkholderia glumae (bacterial grain rot)
The multiplication of Pseudmonas glump on rice grains. Nonfluorescent Pseudomonas strains causing rice sterility and grain discoloration in Colombia. Relationship between factors governing infection burmholderia bacterial grain rot of rice and disease severity and yields in Japanese.
Burkholderia glumae Scientific classification Kingdom: The partial-resistant rice varieties and lines, such as Jupiter and LM-1, were developed from this program. Agronomie Africaine, 16 2: Characteristics of Pseudomonas spp.
Further details may be available for individual references in the Distribution Table Details section which can be selected by going to Generate Report. Detection et caracterisation des bacteries phytopathogenes transmises par les semences du riz au Burkina Faso. Unfortunately, there are few effective control measures for this disease so far. Distribution Maps of Plant Diseases, No. Japanese Journal of Tropical Agriculture, 34 1: Distribution Table Top of page The distribution in this summary table is burkholdrria on all the information available.
Retrieved from ” https: When several references are cited, they may give conflicting information on the status. First, scientists are making efforts to develop new rice varieties burkholferia lines resistant to bacterial burkhholderia blight through conventional breeding and line development processes. Japan Pesticide Information, No. Immunofluorescent antibody technique for detecting Pseudomonas glumae on rice plants.
Burkholderia glumae: next major pathogen of rice?
Pseudomonas glumae Kurita and Tabei Less nitrogen fertilization reduces disease severity but has not been successful. Compendium of rice diseases.
Distribution Maps Top of page You can pan and zoom the map. Mode of action of oxolinic acid against bacterial seedling rot of rice caused by Pseudomonas glumae. They glumse also be disseminated from severely diseased panicles buroholderia neighboring healthy plants, according to the observed spatial distribution patterns of the disease in infested rice fields.
Burkholderia glumae – Wikipedia
Extensive occurrence of upright panicles because of the failure of grain-filling and seed development is a typical phenomenon observed in a severely infested field. Annals of the Phytopathological Society of Japan, 57 2: Datasheet Burkholderia glumae bacterial grain rot. Annals of the Phytopathological Society of Japan, 52 2: Pathogenicity of Pseudomonas glumae and P.
Burkholderia glumae and B.

domain: agronomy


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The NBA trade deadline just became much more interesting.
Kyrie Irving sent shockwaves through the league on Friday by reportedly requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. Irving reportedly informed the Nets he will ɩeаⱱe in the upcoming free agency period if he isn’t dealt by Thursday’s deadline.
The ѕtᴜппіпɡ trade request reportedly саme after the Nets offered Irving an exteпѕіoп that wasn’t well-received by the eight-time All-Star. Now, Irving reportedly wouldn’t even accept a full max contract if offered one from Brooklyn.
Who is favored to trade for Kyrie Irving?
To no surprise, the Los Angeles Lakers are favored to be Irving’s next team at +125, according to our partner, PointsBet. Irving has been ɩіпked to ex-teammate LeBron James and Co. since last summer, when the point ɡᴜагd reportedly had a “great interest” in joining the Lakers before ultimately opting into his player option.
James fueled the Irving-to-LA ѕрeсᴜɩаtіoп on Friday with a cryptic tweet.
Is Irving the player that the Lakers finally саѕһ in their two future first-round picks for? Surely James is hoping so.
The Miami Heat have the second-best oddѕ behind the Lakers at +275. While the Heat have been playing better of late, they still aren’t on the same level as the East’s elite. But what about a trade package including Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro to give Miami a Big Three of Irving, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo? Anytime a star is available, Pat Riley can’t be гᴜɩed oᴜt.
The Dallas Mavericks boast the third-best oddѕ to land Irving at +375. Luka Doncic is having an unbelievable season yet Dallas is just a few games over .500. The Mavs are in deѕрeгаte need of a running mate for Doncic and Irving would immediately become the best player he’s played with. The Mavericks have also already been ɩіпked to Irving, as they and the Lakers reportedly are among the teams expected to exрɩoгe a рoteпtіаɩ trade. Like the Lakers, a Dallas trade would likely be centered around future draft сomрeпѕаtіoп.
The Los Angeles Clippers (+400) and Chicago Bulls (+700) round oᴜt the top five favorites. The Clippers appear to be in the market for a point ɡᴜагd and have a bevy of quality players, from Norman Powell to Terance Mann and Luke Kennard, they could offer Brooklyn. Los Angeles seems to finally be getting things on tгасk, and Irving would certainly give them a Ьooѕt at the point ɡᴜагd ѕрot.
The Bulls, meanwhile, may have the best player to offer the Nets among рoteпtіаɩ suitors. аmіd a massively dіѕаррoіпtіпɡ season in Chicago, the five-year, $215 million exteпѕіoп that Zach LaVine got last summer suddenly doesn’t look so great. If Chicago wants to ѕһаke things up, could a LaVine for Irving (plus picks) swap be an option?
Here’s a full look at the favorites to be Irving’s next team:
Los Angeles Lakers: +125
Miami Heat: +275
Dallas Mavericks: +375
Los Angeles Clippers: +400
Chicago Bulls: +700
Atlanta Hawks: +10000
Utah Jazz: +10000

domain: news


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Speaking to BT Sport, former Liverpool star Steve McManaman has stated his belief that Manchester United are not strong enough to win the Premier League title during the upcoming campaign despite their summer splurge.
Manchester United have certainly made a huge impact in the transfer market this summer as new manager Jose Mourinho has brought in the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and recently Paul Pogba, for a world record fee of around £89 million.
Given the arrival of such quality players as well as the presence of a serial winner like Mourinho in charge, many believe that United will be able to go on and win the Premier League title during the upcoming campaign.
However, former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman is still not convinced by the star studded United side and has stated his belief that the Red Devils are not strong enough to claim the title this season.
Speaking to BT Sport, McManaman stated, "He's always wanted Pogba. The signing of Jose gives them extra steel, a bit of spice.
"I still personally don't think they're strong enough to win the league. I think other teams have strengthened and they have to find 10 points somewhere from the other sides above them and they aren't good enough.
"Some players will be alright - it will be a big year for Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. I don't know if Ibrahimovic will be able to do it for the full season."
Manchester United open their Premier League campaign with a clash against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday and it will be interesting to see how the Red Devils will be able to perform on the day.


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Hours to read
* Punk 57 PDF download links are given at the bottom of the article, you can simply download it with a single click.
Punk 57, A fictional romantic novel that draws the attention of many book lovers because of its standalone love-hate romance story.
The story starts with the friendship of 2 kids growing up and developing a strong relationship by only accidentally writing and receiving letters from each other due to their school assignments.
Their seven years of penpals start to become worst when they meet in real life and come to know that they don’t like how they are in real life.
How beautifully this story begins and how it becomes worst, to know what’s the reason, you need to download the Punk 57 PDF book from our site.
The book is so engaging from the very beginning to the end, as soon as you start reading it you go in-depth through the story and want to finish reading it.
For people who especially love novels, the Punk 57 book is definitely worth reading, so don’t wait just download this book on your phone and start reading it.
Before downloading you should look at all the details associated with the Punk 57 book.
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Number Of Pages
423 Pages (Original)
First Published Date
21 October 2016
Misha Lare, Ryen Trevarrow
Punk 57 Author
The Punk 57 book is written by Penelope Douglas who is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today’s Best Selling Author.
Apart from Punk 57 successful journey, Penelope Douglas is known for her popular books called Birthday Girl, and Credence and The Fall Away Series.
Currently, she is living in England with her family.
Punk 57 Summary
The story of Punk 57 book surrounds two main characters named Misha Lare, and Ryen Trevarrow who became pen pals accidentally when they are 11 years old.
They write to each other for seven years without meeting in real life.
Ryen and Misha are brought together by a different school assignment due to their names which confuse teachers about their gender. Thinking Misha was a girl and Ryen was a boy.
Ryen and Misha develop a strong bond over the seven years of course and started writing letters to each other sometimes once a week and three a day.
They both had three rules which are No social media, No phone numbers, and No pictures.
During a scavenger hunt where Misha was performing with his band mates, suddenly his eyes stopped on a girl and he realizes that the girl is Ryen.
Unfortunately, he founds that Ryen is not the kind of girl she picturized in all those years of letter writing.
After being disappointed by this incident, he stopped replying to her but Ryen consistently wrote letters to him.
The story turns around when Misha didn’t write the letter for around three months and Ryen is concerned for him whether he was gone forever, arrested or something wrong happened.
To know what happened next, how Misha and Ryen’s love story move forward, and why these hate words from Misha- “We were perfect together. Until we met.”
To get all the answers, you need to download the Punk 57 PDF immediately from the download section below.
Punk 57 Review
The Punk 57 book is considered the best romantic novel ever written and loved by millions of people across the globe.
The characters are well-relatable, and the entire story is beautifully depicted by the author which makes you engage all the time while reading it.
You can love it, or hate it but you can not ignore it because this book has everything bullying, lies, truths, and dramas which you will gonna love it.
The Punk 57 book has achieved the Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Romance (2016).
Overall, millions copy of the Punk 57 PDF e-book has been downloaded and paperback sold since its launch in 2016 and still counting, it is loved by most readers among them.
it has got a tremendous positive rating from people and critics as well.
I’m sharing the popular review and rating of this book done by the top reliable platforms:
Punk 57 PDF Download Link
Punk 57 PDF and its e-Book is available to download in English for our audiences. To view this PDF Book on your phone, you need to install a PDF reader.
For a paperback and Hardcore copy of this book, kindly buy it on Amazon.
Punk 57 PDF FAQs
Absolutely yes, Punk 57 book is beautifully written by female author Penelope Douglas, the characters are well relatable as well as the story is engaging which keeps your attention throughout the reading and won’t let you bored, overall a great fictional novel to read for a book lover.
Punk 57 book has two main characters which are Misha Lare who is a teen boy and Ryen Trevarrow (a teen girl) who became pen pals because of their school assignments and accidentally writing letters on white paper to each other without knowing in real life, gradually they became good friends.
Punk 57 book is a story of two kids growing up and indulging in a relationship due to their school assignment, the book contains a few steamy and spicy scenes so it is best recommended to read for those who are 16 and above.
The Punk 57 book has 423 pages which required 8-9 hours for a standard reader to finish reading this entire book.

domain: library


text:
Good God. “It's not just the binary (did Biden win or lose a state) that is increasingly predictive of vaccination rates, but how much Biden won the state by…. the correlation is +0.85 between Biden's 2020 margin in a state and the adult vaccination rate in a state.” https://t.co/6SSlbrNMcP
The real measure of Japan as an industrial power in WW2 wasn't it's battleships, so much as it's lack of bulldozers.
A single field in England in the summer of 1944 held more Allied earthmoving bulldozer capability than the Japanese built from 1937 - 1945.
If I were a media reporter, I would be working on a feature about how much major media outlets are spending for the privilege of a minimum of press access at the G7.
Like, who does the cost-benefit analysis on that?
China just finished 435km of railway line, through Himalayas half under tunnels, at altitudes close to Everest base camp (5000m), speeds up to 163kph as part of its infrastructure incorporation of Tibet. Now, what was that about the Jobs Plan and Amtrak? https://t.co/jy4WsCsVTAhttps://t.co/xZjOT3W1yv
“While Joe Manchin is demanding both parties agree on any further federal voting-rights legislation, a new study quantifies how completely Republicans have excluded Dems from the passage of the restrictive voting laws proliferating in red states” Exclusive https://t.co/kD2qcsZ9AE
US Park Service will take comment on whether to keep Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park closed to car traffic as it's been since CV19. Used to carry abt 6,000 vehicles per weekday. I'm among those who ride my bike on this gloriously peaceful spot in mornings. https://t.co/36fngTsJUjhttps://t.co/xtKjFmtpCy
Judiciary Chairman Nadler on the Trump DOJ subpoenas: "The Committee has been in communication with DOJ, and we have made our position clear. The Department has a very short window to make a clean break from the Trump era on this matter."
The most stressful part about a radio interview is when they want to do a sound check and ask me to say "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." I have never in my life said that tongue twister correctly
JUST IN: WH announces intent to nominate Carlos Del Toro for secretary of the Navy. Cuba-born Del Toro is CEO and president of SBG Technology Solution. He attended Annapolis and retired a Navy commander after 22 yrs service.


text:
Make your own Hibachi favorites at home! Also ideal for burgers, eggs, bacon, pancakes, grilled sandwiches and more. Real cast iron construction delivers even heat distribution and excellent heat retention. The grill side features a ridged cooking surface to keep food away from oil while making grill marks.
Sized perfectly for easy use on your stovetop.
Pre-seasoned, non-stick cooking surface is ready for instant use and allows easy cleanup and quick food release. Provides two handles to allow for easy lifting, and they can also be used to hang the griddle pan when not in use.
Material: Cast Iron
Size: Approx.50.5″ x 23.5″ x .5″ thick
Weight: Approx. 8.67lb


text:
Ep. 2: Annual Halloween Party
Star Entertainment takes their parties very seriously and around this time You has finally got the hang of how things work around the company. Every employee is invited and attendance is a must. Lately, everyone feels that You, the new makeup artist has been getting a lot of attention. Upon uncovering the secret identities of the four popular artists, all personally requested You to be their makeup artist to make sure no word about their mythical forms would be revealed to the world. However, one thing they didn't expect is to get along well with You and now, Mori, Kaito, Natsu, and Yoshi got attached to her. With the four celebrities vying for You's attention, who will eventually manage to make her wear matching outfits with them at the party?


text:
Mel Gibson reportedly tried to help Whitney Houston deal with her drug addiction.
Gibson was invited to the singer's funeral on Saturday (February 18) because he allegedly reached out to Houston in years past, privately encouraging her to seek treatment for her addiction to cocaine, marijuana and other drugs, TMZ reports.
Gibson, who has himself battled alcohol addiction in the past, has previously reached out to celebrities like Britney Spears and Robert Downey Jr.
He was ultimately unable to attend Houston's service due to family commitments.
Actor Kevin Costner was also invited to attend the singer's funeral, where he gave an emotional speech on her passing.
Earlier in the week, the Bodyguard star released a statement on Houston's death, saying that he should have tried to save her.

domain: entertainment


1. Contemporary public administration theory | Herbert Kaufman says NO
2. International Scope | B. Guy Peters says NO
3. Bureaucracy best option |
4. Efficiency and equity | NO: Julian Le Grand
5. Influence on policy | No, stereotypical bureaucracy
6. Coordinate federal, state and local |
7. Politically neutral |
8. Run like a business |
10. Performance Management |
11. Employment equity |
12. Employee motivation |
13. Incremental budgeting |
14. Budget flexibility |
15. Collective bargaining |
16. External controls |
17. Collective bargaining rights |
18. e-Governance |
19. Social Media g2c |
Kaufman says NO.
By Blair Casebere, 2015
A.) 3 Core ValuesA1.) Here designated representativeness,B.) The Quest for Representativeness
A2.) Neutral competence,
A3.) Executive leadership.
Commitments to values that have become incompatible can produce…gulfs in the realm of ideas and confusion in proposals for governmental reform.The quest for representativeness in government goes back to colonial times with the phrase “no taxation without representation.”C.) The Quest for Neutral Competence
It was through the legislatures that governmental policy was formulated and legitimated.
The legislatures ruled virtually unchallenged.
On the local level of govn’t, collegiate bodies were in charge.
Local executives labored under the same or perhaps greater handicaps than their state counterparts and therefore were no more a challenging force to the local institutions corresponding to legislatures than did the governors to the state bodies.
The constitutional specifications for the Presidency constituted a counter-trend to the apparent value system of governmental designers in the early America.
However, there were still widespread expectations that the Congress would be the prime mover for the government, as held in the “Whig conception,” which views that the presidency would be subservient to the legislature.
Contrast: “Stewardship theory.” Presidential authority is independent.
The Stewardship theory would be enunciated much later in history.
The enthronement of the legislature and the uncritical faith in the electoral principle.
By the time of the Civil War, voters found themselves confronted by many names on their ballots, and each change of party brought with it a change in virtually all govn’t employees.As early as the mid-19th Century, it had become clear to some people that legislative supremacy, the long ballot, and the spoils system did not in fact increase representativeness; instead they seemed to have the opposite effect.D.) The Quest for Executive Leadership
Disillusionment with existing government machinery was a result.
Reforms began to cast around for new governmental machinery that would provide a high level of responsible gov’t service while avoiding the highest cost of unalloyed representative mechanisms. This began the quest for neutral competence in government officials.
The value of this search was ability to do the work of gov’t expertly, and to do it according to explicit, objective standards rather than to personal or party or other obligations and loyalties.
That school of thought became, “Take administration out of politics.
This school of thought produced its own rational and mechanisms.
Rational: the now-familiar politics-administration dichotomy, according to which politics and administration are distinct and separable processes that should therefore be assigned to separate and distinct organs.
Mechanisms: Independent boards and commissions and the merit system.
The movement gathered momentum after the Civil War.
The exigencies of the times made it necessary for legislatures to delegate power administrative agencies;
The advocates of the neutral competence deflected delegation from the chief executives and the departments under their control to what was later to be branded “the headless fourth branch of government.”
The merit system made its greatest advances in the federal government. It’s first fruit was the federal Civil Service Act of 1883.
The Civil Service Commission built a wall between politicians and gov’t bureaucracy and, with the aid of new legislation, reduced civil servants political activities to little more than voting.
The training of civil servants became more formal and systematic as time passed.
Neutral competence is still a living value among students of gov’t, career civil servants, and the general populace.
The great stress on neutral competence proved to be a mixed blessing.
The weaknesses of the gov’t resulting from the work of the prior two quest gave impetus to the supporters of executive leadership.
For both earlier philosophies, and the mechanisms to which they gave rise, created a thrust toward fragmentation of government, toward the formation of highly independent islands of decision-making occupied by officials who went about their business without much reference to each other or other organs of the gov’t.
As officials and agencies became more accomplished in their respective areas of specialization, they tended to resent efforts of “laymen” or “amateurs” to intervene.
The drive towards fragmentation could not be effectively countered by legislative bodies and investigative powers.
Congress has confined itself to providing general standards guiding the exercise of administrative discretion and to occasional intervention to correct abuses or to force specific changes in policy.
Legislatures are general too fragmented and too slow to perform effectively.
Courts have not succeeded in integrating effective performance of the government either. On the contrary they have come to accept this reality.
The centrifugal drives of the representativeness and neutral competence institutions thus found no importance counter-force in the legislatures or the dispersion of governmental policy-making processes.
There were widespread criticisms of this fragmentation.
The office of the chief executives had became their hope because it furnished the only available means to achieve the end sought.
The 20th century was well on its way b4 executive leadership became a systematic quest and gathered great speed. One of the 1st signs of the new emphasis was the rapid spread of the executive budget in gov’t.
A 2nd sign was the administrative reorganization movement in 1917, which caused the reduction of a # of agencies, and they were grouped into comparatively few departments headed by officials appointed by the governor.
An administrative pyramid, with the governor standing at the apex was the commonly unreached goals.
“functional integration,” “grouping of related services,” and “need for coordination” echoded through state capitols to country court houses as chief executives became the center of governmental design.
There were occasional adjustments and readjustments in the machinery of government in the early part of the century, particularly during the emergence of WWII.
The 1st Hoover Commission was considerably less empathetic about strengthening the chief executive, the 2nd has displayed coldness to the concept.
A index of the developments in budgeting and administrative reorganization, is the increase in the size of the executive staffs.
Doctrinally, the sharp conceptual cleavage between politics and administration, which gained currency during the years when neutral competence was ascendant became an impedeiment to the justification of executive leadership.
Public Admin allows us to understand the effect which cultural, structural values have on each other.
There is a malaise in the study of Public AdminUniformity would be overwhelmingMajor problems with Public Admin Internationally
No common language
Usually a subset of Comparative Government1) Cross Nationally: using county by country might not be effective due to structural differences; e.g. extremely fragmented policy making in U.S. is not indicative of national character, but of our framework; so much conceptual thinking is based on U.S. natureMajor Problems in Generating Data
2) Low Level of Development: Comparative Admin was once a subset of Comparative Government; There was a peak in the 60’s and 70’s but has declined as the focus shifts towards the “politics” side; There are more similarities than differences in Public Admin, makes for little comparison; Bureaucratic governments are more focused on the execution of law rather than politics; problem in the dichotomy of governments
3) Policy Studies: This field overtook Public Admin because of the focus on politics rather than implementation1) Absence of theoretical language- major focus period was during the 60’s and 70’s so the current language reflects past
2) Absences of indicators of similarities- based on structural and cultural differences
3) Subtle differences can make a huge difference- e.g. Germany vs. U.S.
Charles T. Goodsell says it is.
By Blair Casebere, Fall 2015
Addresses that bureaucracy being the best option sounds ludicrous.
Goes through some life stories. Ex: cop car unrightfully pulling him over.
Goodsell uses these stories to say when we interact bureaucrats, their conduct often isn’t what we expect.
Although we have a negative light on incompetent and ineffective, on the whole and in comparison to most countries and even the business sector in this country, performed surprisingly well.
The media often does not mention the profession of the public administration of the call to public service and has been dramatically misleading about public employees and government agencies.
These is a wide gap between bureaucracy’s reputation and its record.
(Argument is very ethos-based without any evidence outside of personal experience.)
Big government agencies often face the same characteristics of being imperfect, very complex, usually reliable, and seem to only come to our attention only when they break down.
We tend to see the one letter that was a few days late and not the thousands that are delivered on time to shape our view of the whole.
We need to realize that our bureaucracy is FAR better than that found in many other parts of the world.
In other countries:
The principle aim of bureaucrats is not to help the public, but to put the minimum amount of work in.
Most ppl. in the world would be thrilled to receive their mail on time and safely.
Addresses that we should have an American standard of comparison.
US government bureaucracy measures up to US private businesses.
The mantra that business works and government fails must be reexamined.1.) The Cigler-Neiswender study concluded that American government textbooks stress bureaucracy’s size, power, and uncontrollability.Concludes with a definition of bureaucracy: The institutions of public administration in the US; Organizations and their unit officers whose employees are paid from public funds, at all levels of gov’t in the US.
However, we later see that huge size is not necessarily characteristic of bureaucracy—in fact, small size is more common.
2.) Bureaucracies are continuously monitored and investigated by auditors, performance evaluators, legislative committees, ect., to the point that it is disabling.Ex: Environmental Protection Agency,The vase range of organizations included cries out for thoughtful assessment of individual bureaucracies rather than a characterization by stereotype.
Department of Transportation (DOT)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Max Weber regarded his model of bureaucracy as ideal: useful, for description and analysis.
Many academic theorist and researchers contend that by possessing these characteristics, an organization tends to exhibit certain patterns of behavior.
Goodsell does deny that much if not most of American public administration is made up of organizations that answer to many if not all of Weber’s basic structural characteristics.
Most administrative component of US gov’t are still essentially “bureaucracies” in the Weberian sense. However, they are not necessarily big.
Bureaucracy and its administrations make crucial contributions to society.
Equity vs Efficiency: The Elusive Trade Off
I. Intro: There is a trade off
An increase in social welfare may lead to a decrease in desire to work which creates inefficiencyII. Two Types of Trade Offs
Does the notion of this trade off actually make sense?
A. ValuesIII. Efficiency as Economic Growth
i. not necessarily looking to achieve one certain goal. Rather look at the extent to which one goal was attained as to another
ii. the values must be substitutable for one another
i. is it possible to allocate resources within the economy that are fully equitable and efficient?
ii. an allocation of resources is efficient if it is impossible to move toward the attainment of one social objective without moving away from another
iii. Productive capacities--how much of one value must be sacrificed to achieve the other
A. efficiency is incompatible with equity in economic growth (as a trade off)IV. Efficiency as Pareto-Optimality
B. Increasing economic production is not a sensible objective on its own--only if it generates utility in some way (usefulness)
i. Objective then becomes generating utility
C. Is there a trade off?
i. difficult to measure
ii. very complex and multi-layered
A. an allocation of resources is efficient if it is impossible to make one individual better off without making another worseV. Equity
i. equity/efficiency trade off will exist if there is no feasible allocation that is simultaneously equitable and efficient
A. allocation of resources is equitable if no individual envies any other's positionVI. Conclusion
i. "I cut; you choose"
ii. ie - fairness
A. value vs production trade off
B. efficiency vs equity trade off does not make sense
i. by making one the objective, you are devaluing the other
ii. objectives must be equal to measure a trade off
Provokes images of inefficiency, Massive waste, poor service, mindless drones etc.
Charlton Heston saidMyth #1 bureaucracies are immensely wasteful
“Of course, government is the problem. The armies of bureaucrats proliferating like gerbils, scurrying like lemmings in pursuit of the ever-expanding federal agenda testify to that amply.”
Actual bureaucracy play many valuable and indispensable roles in society
70% of Americans agree that when something is run by the government, it is usually wasteful and inefficientMyth #2 business is always better than bureaucracy
waste actually only constitutes for 2 cents of every tax dollar
Findings about Gov vs businessesMyth #3 we want gov to act like a business
Charles Goodsell “in short, there is much evidence that is ambivalent. The assumption that business always does better than government is not upheld...when you add up all these study results the basis for the mantra that business is always better evaporates
Government funded universal health care plans provide better care to more people at lower cost.
we don’t want the cheapest system for dispensing justice in our societyMyth #4 Bureaucracy is a major cause of government growth
unlike business, public agencies are not just concerned with the bottom line.
when a program is out dated it is terminated not kept around for no reasonMyth #5 Bureaucracies usually provide poor service
majority of government service is good. There will always be bad service but you get that in the private sector as well.
We must look past the government bureaucratic stereotypes
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Many goals are competing, so that sometimes we need to have tradeoffs.The Tiebout Hypothesis of citizen mobility and Oates’ Decentralization Theorem.
Many of the economic and political claims about federalism rely on 2 principles:
The Tiebout Hypothesis of beneficial intergovernmental competition leads to a principle for assignment of authority between national and subnational governments: subsidiarity.
While most justifications for subsidiarity are normative, in order for the Tiebout forces to work, policy must be decentralized, factors must be mobile, and externalities must not be problematic.
Scholars claim that decentralized policy provision enhances governmental honesty, efficiency, and gives governments the chance to innovate policy.
Arguments made by Madison in Federalist 10: as politicians seek higher office they will be put in competition with one another to see who can build a reputation of honesty. Unitary gov’ts lack this advantage, as any leader elected has every incentive to be corrupt.
As citizens settle into communities that match their own preferences, at the local level the sorting produces homogeneity, while at the regional level, communities will be heterogeneous.
With sufficient learning, aggregate national welfare is improved, when compared to a centralized solution.
Local gov’ts are not more efficient. Elected politicians are eager to please their constituents by providing services, and will spend the money to boost their electoral success.
Some scholars suggest that federalism promotes economic growth.
When there is interstate competition, with high mobility, and centralized control over monetary policy, there comes to be a hard budget constraint and encouraging the states to practice prudent fiscal policy.
The lack of corruption and pro-growth institutions that occur when this method is applied has been seen in China, India, Russia, the EU and the US.
Federalism is often claimed to improve political out-comes, such as respect for individual rights, group autonomy and preservation, and improved representation.
Just as with economic claims based on Tiebout forces, the theory of right-preserving federalism is limited by the extent on which voters are mobile.
The potential for states to discriminate against some citizens prompts some to suggest that rights should be provided at the national level, and such may be needed for the creation of new rights, such as recognition of same-sex marriages, if not state experimentation first.
Democratic outcomes only improve when ppl feel that their vote will make a difference, making them more likely to show up to smaller scale elections. Thus, the more authority local gov’t has, the more voters will sense it important enough to participate.
Federalism may improve electoral accountability if voters are more likely to get accurate information about their local politicians, but other institutional factors such as electoral rules muddle the improvement.
The principles of Tiebout sorting and subsidiary from Oats suggest that federalism would be a fine resolution to ethnic tension.
To defend the boundaries of federalism, research on safeguards will continue, but increasingly it will recognize a broad array of safeguards, and consider how those safeguards complement one another to defend the boundaries.
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NO: Robert Behn
- What psychological barriers are in the way of performance management?
- Is performance management actually useful politically?
- Do citizens think about performance beyond just their personal service by government?
- How does thinking differ among citizens, legislators, officials, policy officers, and assistant-secretaries.
Notes by Blair Casebere, 2015
The Psychological Barriers to Performance Management: Or Why isn’t Everyone Jumping on the Performance-Management Bandwagon?
All gov’t, formal and informal, favor performance management.Performance management goes by many names, is defined in a variety of ways, and includes an array of concepts.All these concepts and strategies are motivated by the purpose to improve.
Performance management covers a variety of concepts from performance pay for public employees to the privatization or public services.For ex: Pres. George W. Bush has offered a “management agenda” to “improve the management and performance of the federal government.” It was a National Performance Review without any little red book.There are possibly 3 explanations as to why public managers have not been aggressively employing the concepts of performance management.
Concepts of performance management are not completely a theoretical, but there are questions about how these ideas ought to be applied in democratic government.
Public managers everywhere have an incentive to employ the ideas of performance management.
Performance management lives more in rhetoric than reality.1.) Most obvious reason: Practical: Performance management doesn’t work.The leadership team of any government organization faces a variety of challenges, such as having to operate within the confines of a large number of significant constraints.
2.) Political: Performance management isn’t politically useful.
3.) Managerial: Performance management is difficult.
4.) Psychological: The explicit use of performance measures creates some valid fears.
5.) Psychological: Performance management requires a variety of people to think differently about the overall responsibilities of government.
6.) Psychological: The failure of performance management to sweep the public-management world many not have been carefully examined or explicitly defined.
The political and regulatory constraints do not appear to be the sole reason why so many public executives have not jumped on the performance-management bandwagon.
No single reason is valid for All individuals or circumstances.
When citizens think about government performance, they naturally emphasize personal result rather than societal results.
Citizens have to figure out 3 different things.1.) What parts of this government might actively affect me?Rational thinking isn’t necessarily common or easy.
2.) How would these parts affect me?
3.) How might I evaluate the net effect of the collection of personal consequesnces that these potential impacts will have on me?
6 forms of thinking
Citizen ThinkingWhen citizens think about these steps they are more worried about resources, change, and strategies needed.Legislative ThinkingWhen legislators think about the “results” of government’s efforts, they tend to place more emphasis on where the inputs are immediately deployed than on what outcomes might be eventually achieved,Public-Employee Thinkingwhen public employees think about the consequences of their work, they are concerned about avoiding mistakes that will produce certain punishment.Policy thinkingWhen many reflect on the challenge of improving the work of government, they focus on creating better policy rather than on managing better within the existing policy.Assistant-Secretary ThinkingWhen ambitious political appointees consider what they can accomplish while in office, they tend to choose to craft a new policy innovation rather than to improve their organization’s capacity to perform.Big-Picture thinking
When these political appointee accept their position, they are also aware they will only be there for a short time.
A new policy can be designed by an assistant secretary in 24 month, whereas it takes much longer to improve the management of organization.
Also, because assistant secretaries are so invisible, they hardly think that any improvement in their organization would be credited to them.When many people think about the challenge of improving government performance, they are so overwhelmed with the enormity of the task, that they are blinded to the opportunity to create some meaningful improvement through a series of individually small, but collectively significant actions.These 6 diff. kinds of thinking can be divided up another way—into 2 categories based on their motivation.1.) Self-interest: Citizens, legislators, public employees, and assistant secretaries think in these terms.These 6 methods of thinking are not going to go away anytime soon, and if performance management is going to live up to its claim, we need to get over these 6 barriers.
2.) Social thinking: “Policy thinking” and “big-picture thinking” reflect societal attitudes.
-As a hypothetical construct, motivation usually stands for that which “energizes, directs and sustains behavior.”
-There are four major variables that influence motivational behavior-Individual characteristics-Individual Characteristics are compared to the “raw materials” that someone brings to the workplace
-Work environment characteristics
-External environment characteristics-A study by “Rawls and his associates”found that students entering the non-profit sector (primarily government) were significantly more dominant and flexible, had a higher capacity for status, and valued economic wealth to a lesser degree than did entrants to the profit sector.-Job Characteristics make up the second major set of variables that can be modified to affect motivation involve what the person actually does at work-- that is, the nature of the job or the collection of tasks that comprise the job.
-No real differences existed between the groups on need for power and need for security.
-Several studies indicate that public managers experience significantly lower levels of satisfaction than do heir counterparts in business.-Like the understanding of individual characteristics is deficient, so is the understanding of Job characteristics.-Work Environment Characteristics that can be changed or modified are placed in two subcategories: immediate work environment characteristics and organizational actions.
-However, the measurability of individual performance, degree of goal clarity, as well as degree of job challenge have been identified as most important.-The most critical factors in an immediate work environment are the peer group and supervisor.-External Environment Characteristics are the fourth major variable that can affect or modify employee motivation.
-Organizational actions are classified into provisions of system rewards, provisions of individual rewards, and the creation of an organizational environment.
-Surprisingly, the article says that more information has been collected on Individual and Job characteristics than in the Work Environment, where they claimed that little research had been done in both categories.
-Goal crispness, personal significance reinforcement, the stability of expectations,diversity of values in the workplace and quality of supervision are key factors listed in the article in reference to raising employee motivation levels.-Particularly, it refers to the changes or anticipation of changes that have powerful impacts on an individuals work behaviour.-External environments can be usefully subdivided into five different categories: socionormative, political, demographic, economic, and technological.
-Concluding the list of motivational techniques presently used by employers is extensive: monetary incentives, goal setting, flexitime, job enlargement, job enrichment, behaviour modification, participation, award and recognition plans, discipline, and counseling.
-However most research focuses on four basic methods: monetary incentives, goal setting, job design, and participation.
NO: Seong Soo Oh
and Gregory Lewis (2009)
Notes by Nick Howell, Fall 2013
Can Performance Appraisal Systems (PAS) motivate not only extrinsically motivated staff but also the intrinsically motivated staff? PAS might actually discourage the work effort of the primarily self motivated federal workforce. Very few federal employees believe that PAS increases their productivity.
Employees that are self motivated and work for the satisfaction of the labor
Motivation occurs when three psychological states are created
-Experienced meaningfulness of the work
-experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work
-knowledge of the actual results of the work activities
Governments rely on Separable consequences ie pay promotions working conditions etc.
-Employees may not realize how strongly monetary rewards motivate them but governments still face major obstacles in linking pay to performances a means of improving government productivity.
YES: Ian Hill, Holly Stockdale and
Brigette Courtot (2004), "Squeezing SCHIP: States Use
Flexibility to Respond to the Ongoing Budget Crisis"
Notes by Skye Esry, Fall 2013
Early 2000's budget deficitState Children's Health Insurance Program
Early on, states were dipping in to "rainy day" funds
deficit of $78.4 billion in 2004
budget cuts included medicaid, K-12, higher education, public safety
Fiscal Year 2002--"dodged the first budget axe"ELIGIBILITY
popular among consumers, providers, politicians
not an entitlement
Fiscal Year 2003--more cuts
lowered upper limit
more difficult to apply
SCHIP drastically reduced uninsurance rates from 12.6% to 10.1% between 1999-2001
How did SCHIP programs change during 2003
Cuts back on enrollment ratesENROLLMENT PROCEDURES
not an entitlement--families won't be accepted if the budget can't afford it
term limitations and more paper work requirementsOUTREACH
1/3 of states made it more difficult
2/3 of states simplified the process
2002- a majority of states had begun to reduce outreach spendingBENEFITS
2003- even more cuts
mass media/community outreach cut
local outreach still significant
benefits largely protectedCOST-SHARING
only two states surveyed reduced benefits for children
charge premiums, enrollment fees, copaymentsPROVIDER REIMBURSEMENT
a majority of states increased fees in 2002-2003
2002- only one state surveyed reduced provider reimbursementCROWD-OUT
2003- almost 1/2 of the states surveyed reduced provider reimbursement
children must be uninsured for a period of time before being eligibleADMINISTRATIVE CUTS
states rarely turn to crowd out to reduce program costs
do not effect program operations
- Organization tools differ from other tools used in Public Administration.- The materials that comprise organization tools are autonomous goal forming creatures called human beings.I. Natural System
- Human beings have the need to preserve themselves, their values, and their self images: They have survival needs
- Public Administrators are no different
- Human beings have a strong tendency to become interlocked in an unplanned, spontaneous system without a goal referred to as the Natural System of Organization.- One criterion- SurvivalII. The Need for External Controls
- Informal norms and roles grow up spontaneously to protect the survival needs of the incumbent
- In order to accomplish their mission the natural system reaches states of equilibrium and can develop homeostatic processes to reduce deviating swings and restore these states with counter swings.
- This reduces the risk of failure
- Do not have decision-making organs so they cannot be studied by methods of logical or policy analysis.
- Unlike artificial governments who have decision making organs and outputs; whereas natural systems have outcomes- Potential conflict between the owner’s interest and the natural system (between the cost benefit analysis of goal accomplishment and survival needs)- Thompson advocates more external controls over public employees
- Administrators are too compassionate towards people because we are brought up in small intimate groups called families
- When an incumbent of an organizational role develops a relationship with the people or client; it gives the client more pull perhaps in the form of nepotism or favoritism.
- This pursuing of individual preferences and goals can sometimes come at the expense of organizational goals.- Ex. The ombudsman in Denmark, a Swedish position who hears the complaints of citizens regarding improper treatment by bureaucrats. He then has the power to investigate the institution and secure information so that he can make recommendations for a change and publicize the results.
We shift our focus from good or bad to whether a particular decision, a set of decisions, or a pattern of decisions is right or wrong, and whyConclusion about ethical decision making in government
This approach rests with two broad philosophical traditionsDeontological, consisting of decisions based on fundamental principlesExplicit standards of right and wrong are a defining feature of American governmentdecisions are based on duties or principles that are either right or wrong in themselves, the results being irrelevant to moral judgmentTeleological, consisting of decisions based on calculations of their likely consequences of resultsoften referred to as utilitarianism, decisions are judged by their consequences depending on the results to be maximizedU.S. and state Constitutions and laws are an impressive collection of definitions of right and wrongThere is some tolerance among citizens for less egregious forms of corruption
much of the study of ethics in American government is embedded in the constitutional-legal perspectiveconflicts of interest, blatant exercise of political influence, small monetary exchangesThere is strong evidence that people are more inclined to obey the law if they believe the law to be just and fair, and if they are of the opinion that there is procedural justice in the administration of the law
bribery, extortion or exchanges of large sums are ethically unacceptable
Regardless of the law, there is relatively widespread tolerance of petty corruption in American government
indicates that absolute principles of ethics are usually bent depending on the seriousness of the ethical breachthe larger deontological issue here is the identification of fairness, equity, and official benevolence as high-order ethical principlesProcedural controls established during the reform movement to reduce corruption were generally successfulevidence that these anti-corruption procedures work is the research indicating that when such procedures are taken away to make government more businesslike, there is an increase in corruptionAt the time of the reform movement, it was thought elected officials worked in the realm of valuesThese assumptions have been Kantian (that there are absolute principles of right and wrong, independent of results or consequences, and that public administrators will adhere to these values)Public administrators live and work in a world that is unrelentingly teleological (policy and program results rule)Kantian assumption is correct; civil servants are inclined to support values such as civic virtue, honesty, procedural fairness, equity and human dignity
citizens expect their government to be fair and equitable even though those concepts are difficult to definePublic administrators practice “bounded ethics” where the administrator functions within the limits of enabling legislation, with limited budgets, usually advocating or at least supporting the purposes of the agencyCivil servants' work is embedded in rules, guidelines, inspectors, forms and reports, and other impedimenta of ethics enforcementthis ties into their sense of right and wrong or moralityWhy was there a HUD scandal, and Ill Winds scandal, an S&L scandal with all these procedures?These are primarily political scandals, rather than bureaucraticAs previously governmental functions are shifted to the private sector, it is safe to assume that corruption will increase
inspectors' task is primarily to look down for scandal, not up
(1) ethics of decisions are based in the constitution(s), laws, and regulationsDemocracy and Ethics: The Issue of Accountability
(2) rules, regulations, reports, oversight, and inspectors enhance the potential for ethical decisions
(3) professional standards and codes of ethics also enhance ethical decision making
(4) public administrators practice a form of bounded ethics that generally accepts the purposes and policies of the agency and practices ethics within those bounds
(5) the most notable ethical breaches in recent years have been political
(6) citizens are concerned with issues of fairness, equity, and justice
(7) as govt moves in the direction of privatization, the potential for ethical breaches rises
(8) the study of public policy and the practice of policy analysis in American universities is teleological and utilitarian, while most of the theory coming from those associated with the new centers of the study of ethics is deontological
The issue of accountability is central to the practice of government administrationConclusion to ethics and democracy and the issue of accountability
the issue turns on the question of whether bureaucracy acts without controls or accountability
the question of controls and accountability is usually caught up in the political battle between the policy preference of legislators and elected executives
Bureaucrats tend to be responsive, within the law and their appropriations, to executive direction
there are very few examples of bureaucratic agencies operating outside the ordinary range of legislative and executive accountability
It is widely believed that there are serious problems of bureaucratic control/accountability
there has been a wide range of legislation establishing prohibitions against conflicts of interest and elaborate reporting procedures designed to prevent such conflicts
The effective administration of governmental affairs is diminished
these procedures are primarily designed to catch those who are unethical, rather than to prevent unethical behavior
such controls inhibit innovation and creativity
(1) there has been a widespread perception that public bureaucracies are beyond control or unaccountableFuture ethics research should include:
(2) most evidence indicates that bureaucrats are accountable and controlled
(3) there has been a sharp increase in ethics controls on bureaucrats and a decline in latitude or administrative discretion
(4) adding to procedures designed to prevent unethical behavior, there are now procedures designed to catch the unethical
(5) policy gridlock may result in the possibility of administrative role reversal with the accompanying ethical dilemma for government administrators
In the present case, we are reducing administrative capacity and increasing political control, with the probability that there will be more rather than less corruption
(1) focus on settings, professions and cultures in which ethical issues occur and measure behavior against the cultural expectations and professional standards appropriate to the research context
(2) researchers should compare ethical standards and behavior between settings, professions, and cultures
(3) should assess the effect or result on the behavior of government officials of traditional procedural and managerial controls with modem approaches
(4) should measure the actual results of education and training on behavior
(5) assess the influence of privatization on government corruption and on ethics
(6) measure the effects of reduced administrative discretion on both administrative effectiveness and ethics
Daniel DiSalvo- No
by Jeremy Wolfe, Fall 2013
• Chris Christie comes in as governor of New Jersey
• He takes on the $11 Billion budget gap and took on the unions• A Unionized Government
• He signed and executive order on his first day in office preventing unions to make political
• also wants to impose a one-year wage freeze, change pension rules to limit future benefits,
• New Jersey Education Association spent $6 million attacking Christie because of these
• It was found through this that the cost of public-sector pay and benefits (oftentimes exceeds
contributions-subjected them to the same limits as corporations
and require that teachers contribute a tiny fraction of their salaries to cover the costs of their
the private-sector) combined with unfunded pension liabilities for retired workers weigh
down state and city budgets.
• Many other states also have public-sector unions as the roots of their problems.
• Public-sector unionism can be grouped into 3 headings- compensation, amount of
• public-sector unions' political power leads to more government spending
government employment, and productivity and efficiency of government services• Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute supported this and showed how this happens.
• On the low end of the labor market, public-sector pays more while private-sector pays
more on the high-end
• With advanced degrees, the public-sector pay scale is slightly lower.
• Public-sector workers without private-sector counterparts are able to have major gains in
their salaries because of this.
• For example, in 2006, New York county police officers were paid an average of
$121,000 a year
• public-sector workers make on average $14 more per hour than their private-sector
counterparts and their wages and benefits have also grown twice as fast.
• In California, state workers often retire at age 55 with pensions that exceed what they
make while they are working.
• Lawmakers have found that increasing pensions is very good politics.
• They promise pension commitments then turn right around and borrow some of this
money to spend it paying for public services
• The hit pension funds recently took in the stock market highlights the underfunding that
results from not paying for public services that they consume.
• The skyrocketing pensions can cause a fundamental reordering of government spending.
• The extra pension money makes it hard for governments to do what is expected of
• Public Employee unions have reduced government efficiency and responsiveness
• government collective bargaining agreements touch on a wide range of economic
decisions, public-sector unions have extraordinary influence over government policies
• Public-sector unions distort the labor market, weaken public finances, and diminish
government responsiveness and quality.
NO: Social Media and the Federal
Government: Perceived and Real Barriers and Potential
By Bev Godwin et al.
Summarized by Blair Casebere, 2015
A.) The Context for Using Social Media Within the Federal Governmenta. Some agencies are using social media tools successfully, but many agencies are not using these tools, either because of perceived or real lack of resources, cultural resistance, or leagal or other barriers.B.) Barriers and Potential Solutions: Cultural Issues and Lack of a Strategy for Using These New Toolsa. Issue: Many agencies view the use of social media as a technological issue, instead of a communications tool, and management decisions are often based solely on technology considerations.C.) Employee Access to Online Tools
b. Proposed solution: The new Administration should communicate a government-wide strategy for using social media tools to create a more effective and transparent government.a. Issue: Many agencies block their employees from using sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Wikipedia becauseD.) Terms of Service
i. IT security specialist raise concerns that these high traffic sites pose a greater risk for malware and spyware
ii. Employees will waist time:
b. Proposed Solution: The new Administration should require agencies to provide access to social media sites unless the agency head justifies blocking certain sites.a. Issue: Most online sites required account owners to agree to terms of service that federal agencies can’t agree to, in particular:E.) Advertisingi. Indemnification and defense: if a federal employee, on behalf of their agency, creates an account on a social media site, they must agree not to sue the siite, nor allow the site to be included in suits against the agency.b. Many companies have been willing to negotiate on these issues, but they don’t want to negotiate separate agreements with dozens of different agencies.
ii. Applicable law and court jurisdiction: most terms of services also assert that a certain state’s laws apply to the terms use and that the state’s courts will adjudicate disputes
c. Proposed solution: The new Administration (through the National CTO, GSA, OMB, or some other central organization) shouldi. Established a single term of serves that covers all social media sites.
ii. Alert federal agencies that the benefit of using these sites outweigh the risk.a. Issue: Many vendor sites place ads on all their pages;F.) Procurement
b. What constitutes “advertising” is interpreted different across government.
c. Proposed solution: The new Administration should:i. Issue a memo stating that government agencies should accept this kind of contextual advertising as a byproduct of using social media sites.
ii. Set criteria for all agencies for when such ads are acceptable.a. Issue: Government procurement rules didn’t anticipate the flood of companies offering free tools to anyone who wants to use them. Agencies that want to use these tools face 3 issues:G.) Privacyi. Gratuitous services and gift authorityb. Proposed solution: The new Administration should work with procurement and ethics attorneys to ensure that:
ii. Choosing winners without competition
iii. Contract authorityi. Agencies can use free Web products and service
ii. Agencies do not need to use all products and services offered, as long as they have criteria for deciding which ones they use.
iii. Employees with clear business need can create accounts to use free services, as long as they have managerial approval.a. Issue: There is no guarantee that social media sites will protect people’s privacy to the same degree as federal agencies.H.) Persistent Cookies
b. Proposed solution: The new Administration should direct agencies to use a standard disclaimer to display on social media sites where the publish contenta. Issue: Agencies are banned from using persistent cookies without approval from their agency head, which effectively means the federal government isn’t using them.I.) Survey
b. Proposed solution: The National CTO or OMB should immediately rescind the previous guidance prohibiting persistence cookies and replace it with guidance that allows agencies to use persistent cookies to better serve customers’ needs.a. Issue: The Paperwork Reduction Act and OMB regulations, and OMB draft guidance require that agencies complete a lengthy process to obtain an OMB control number to survey and request information from the public.J.) Access for People w/Disabilities
b. Proposed Solution: The National CTO or OMB should issue immediate guidance that outlines exceptions to the PRA, such as using online surveys to solicit public opinion about federal websites, using social media to have online discussion forums with the public, ect.a. Issue: Under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, all info. provided to the public via agency websites must be equally accessible to people without disabilities. Some multimedia sites do not currently provide the opportunity to include transcripts or captioning, and many agencies lack sufficient resources to provide these services on their own.K.) Administrative Requirements During Rulemaking
b. Proposed solutions:i. The National CTO should issue guidance requiring agencies to post their materials in accessible formats on their own websites, and that non-governmental sites may not be the sole location where content is posted.
ii. The National CTO and GSA should collaborate on developing a government-wide procurement vehicle to purchase tools that assist with 508 compliance, such as captioning software to make videos and webcasts available to ppl. with disabilities.
iii. The National CTO should work with major companies to make Web softwear, including social media software, fully accessible to ppl. with disabilities.a. Issue: The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of 1946 sets rules for how agencies can communicate with the public during rulemaking, accept public comment on proposed regulations, etc.
b. Proposed Solution: The National CTO on OMB should issue guidance to help agencies use collaborative social media tools to enhance the rulemaking process, while still complying with the APA.


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Pet Services and Information
Rachel Rice Photography specializes in high-end lifestyle pet photography. Providing a quality experience for you and your pets. Each session is customized to fit your pets personality. Whether it be a relaxed indoor session, or an energetic out door session. The location is carefully chosen during your consultation to bring out the best in your pet during their session.
Shelter and Rescue Photography
If you are a Shelter or Rescue looking to feature some of your pets looking for homes please feel free to contact Rachel Rice Photography about a free session. I love to offer my services to animals in need when ever I can. Having great photos of shelter or rescue animals is really important when trying to find them their forever home. So please visit my contact page to schedule your complimentary session for adoptable pets.
Leash and Collar Removal
Safety is extremely important when doing outdoor sessions with your pets. Keeping your dog on a long leash, helps to ensure their safety in the big outdoors. For outdoor sessions there is complimentary leash and/or collar removal during image re-touching.

domain: pet


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Sunday December 1, 2019
Hello.. It's December already.. Hope your weather is great and you're getting ready for the holidays. It's always a busy time of the year.. but I hope you have time to play along with our challenge.
We have another challenge over at
Our theme is SHABBY CHIC / VINTAGE
Our sponsor is Crafty Ribbons
I DO NOT DO Shabby Chic/ Vintage so let me tell you.. This card was very very hard for me to create. I found this awesome Moda dp so started with that and using Versa Mark smudged the edges and heat embossed the gold. I then used Tim Holtz bird cage and bird die and cut them out three times and layered them. I heat embossed the gold on the cage. I used Ranger inks and colored the bird then clear embossed it. Both were embossed three times. I added some lace I had below the cage. I add these cute lacy hearts by Webster pages. I added the bird then added Kaiser Craft flowers. I added a key sticker and heart acrylic stickers. The sentiment is from Simon Says and heat embossed and I used a Stampin Up tag die. I finished with a ribbon at the top of the cage.
Simon Wednesday - anything goes
QKR stampeded #374 - anything goes
Paper funday #11 - anything goes / opt. thanksgiving
Just us girls #516 - anything goes
Lil patch of crafty friends #119 - anything goes
Crafty animals #33 - anything goes

domain: design


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Anyone familiar with Katt Williams knows that his comedy, like that of most other comedians, can be full of exaggerations. However, after hearing his routine about a man with prosthetic legs, who was not going to be allowed to compete in the 2008 Olympics, I had to google the story.
It turned out that Williams’ story, although somewhat embellished, was mostly true, and that the man he referenced is a South African athlete by the name of Oscar Pistorius.
Pistorius, is a double amputee, who was able to motivate himself to not only run races, but to win many of them. However, the 2008 Olympic committee was not allowing him to compete because they saw his prosthetics as an unfair advantage.
To me and many others who heard the story, it seemed like a great injustice and four years later, most people were happy to hear of 2012 Olympic committee’s decision to allow Oscar to compete.
Although he didn’t win a medal in his races, he broke and set many records and it was still a great story of “the triumph of the human spirit”, “the will to win”, and “overcoming adversity”. All of the good things that make great movies and that our parents tell us are good lessons for life.
Pistorius became a media darling, with news organizations, TV shows and brands such as Nike, Oakley, and Thierry Mugler, eager to capitalize on his popularity.
Fame, money, and an adoring public, it was truly a great story.
Until about a week ago.
It has been reported that on February 14, 2013 Oscar Pistorius was accused of shooting his girlfriend and on February 22, 2013 it was confirmed that Pistorius was given bond on the charge of premeditated murder.
(Wait, WHAT! Lil Tink Tink?)
As in most cases like these, the media has soured on Pistorius, public opinion has swayed from love to outrage, and his endorsement deals are vanishing.
Nike, his very well known former supporter, is striving to quickly distance themselves from Pistorius. They’ve removed him from their website and the ad that I’m including below, although full of irony and foreshadowing, will never run anywhere again.
As always, he is still innocent until proven guilty, and as the story unfolds we will probably learn more details about what happened that on that fateful day.
Pistorius’s next court date is set for June 4th 2013 but as of now it does not seem like there will be a happy ending to his story after all.


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(WOMENSENEWS)—The Bush administration has given Afghanistan $43 million including $10 million for “other livelihood and food security programs,” a reference to the ruling Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation that dramatically changed the economy of the war-torn nation. The poppy is the source of opium and the crop had provided significant revenues to Afghan farmers. The aid was described as humanitarian.
In addition to being an ally in the U.S. war against drugs, the Taliban also has banned the education of girls and women. It has banned women from professions and from most outside-the-home employment, even with international relief agencies. It has banned women from seeing male doctors and it prevents women from practicing medicine.
Colin Powell, in announcing the gift, said the administration hoped that the Taliban “will act on a number of fundamental issues that separate us: their support of terrorism, their violation of internationally recognized human rights–especially their treatment of women and girls–and their refusal to resolve Afghanistan’s civil war through a negotiated settlement.” He also called on other nation’s to join the U.S. with “dispatch and energy.”


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Libyans in several cities took to the streets on Friday to express their anger with the government over power cuts.
Local television stations reported that protesters broke into the building of the parliament in Tobruk and committed acts of vandalism. Images also showed columns of black smoke coming from outside the building.
Security forces protecting the parliament withdrew from the site, Reuters cited an eyewitness as saying.
Libya's parliament, or House of Representatives, has been based in Tobruk, hundreds of kilometers east of the capital, Tripoli, since an east-west split in 2014 after the uprising and western intervention that ousted longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi three years earlier.
A rival body, formally known as the High Council of State, is based in Tripoli.
Protests across the divided country
In Tripoli's Martyrs' Square, several hundred people gathered to shout slogans demanding electricity, criticizing armed factions and politicians and demanding elections in the capital's biggest protests against the ruling elite for years.
Smaller protests of dozens of demonstrators also took place in each of Benghazi and Tobruk and some smaller towns, showing how anger at the situation extends across the geographical divide between the country's rival forces.
Libya has endured several days of power cuts, worsened by the blockade of several oil facilities against the backdrop of political rivalries.
"We want the lights to work," protesters chanted.

domain: sociology


By CHRIS EKEKE
Security personnel involved in the fight against insurgency, have been tasked to carry out the counter insurgency operations and peace
keeping in line with international human rights standard.
The Acting Executive Secretary, National Human Right Commission , Mrs. Oti Anukpe made the call in Yola, at the Training of Security Personnel on Mainstreaming, Human Rights, Humanitarian Principles and Civilian Protection into Counter Insurgency Operation in the North-East.
Anukpe pointed out that, in response to humanitarian crisis in the region, the training would provide platform to educate security
personnel with comprehensive picture of protection and issues relating to IDPs and their host communities in order to advocates for their needs.
The Executive Secretary also said, the UNHCR, government authorities and humanitarian stakeholders in turn would address protection issues and train security personnel handling counter insurgency operation on how to operate without violation of civilian rights.
” In view of the enormous task of counter insurgency operation and the peculiarity of asymmetric warfare the training would help to draw the attention of human rights issue, and prosecution in the counter insurgency operation.
“It is the international obligations of Nigeria to respect, protect and fulfill human rights as part of obligations and as agents of the
government, you are expected to comply with various human rights standards while on duties”.
The significance of the training according to her is to establish mechanism to monitor violation of human right abuse in pre, during and post security operations.