Yes, there are conservatives who want immigration reform

If this editorial is correct, this is good news. Much better than a filibuster. - - Donna Poisl

by William McKenzie/Editorial Columnist

I just got off a conference call put on by Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Juan Hernandez of Fort Worth, a leader of the group, describes it as a "loose coalition" of conservatives who started about a year ago to have a private conversation about immigration reform. Now, Conservatives for CIR is going more public. Hence, it's call today.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was supposed to be on it, but he had a conflict. However, a number of evangelical and business leaders were on the call, including former Bush 43 Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Democrats Outline Plans for Immigration

A new plan has been offered for immigration reform. It seems to me the new laws couldn't happen this year, but maybe it can get started. - - Donna Poisl

By CARL HULSE and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

WASHINGTON — A coalition of top Senate Democrats laid out the contours of a proposed overhaul of immigration laws on Thursday — and appealed to Republicans to join them in pursuing it — even as doubts mounted about the prospects of winning approval of legislation this year.

Under the outline of immigration changes drawn up by Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, the federal government would enhance border security and create a new fraud-resistant Social Security card.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Hispanic Business Community Responds to Unveiling of Senate Immigration Reform Proposal

PRESS RELEASE

Hispanic Business Community Responds to Unveiling of Senate Immigration Reform Proposal

WASHINGTON, April 30 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Today, Mr. Javier Palomarez, President & CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), the national representative for nearly 3 million Hispanic owned businesses and more than 200 local Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, released the following statement on the unveiling of a Senate framework for immigration reform:
"For many years, the USHCC has been a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reforms that include a path to residency for undocumented immigrants, a temporary worker program for future immigrants and a preservation of the principle of family reunification while also strengthening our ability to attract talented individuals to add to the prosperity of our nation.

"The proposal that was unveiled by the Senate Democratic leadership contains many important elements of comprehensive immigration reform, including many priorities of the business community. This is a good framework for reform, and we look forward to being invited to engage in negotiations on the drafting of the bill. Nevertheless, the USHCC will seek improvements to this legislation for the benefit of the nearly 3 million Hispanic business owners we represent.

"Ultimately, the USHCC praises the policy content of this proposal, but we sincerely hope to see a bipartisan process, full engagement of our business community, and a process that earnestly seeks to achieve the elusive goal of comprehensive immigration reform."

About the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Founded in 1979, the USHCC actively promotes the economic growth and development of Hispanic entrepreneurs and represents the interests of nearly 3 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States that generate nearly $400 billion annually. It also serves as the umbrella organization for more than 200 local Hispanic chambers in the United States and Puerto Rico.

http://www.ushcc.com/
SOURCE United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
-0- 04/30/2010
/CONTACT: DeVere Kutscher of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, +1-202-715-0497, dkutscher@ushcc.com /

Adventurers Follow Captain Bligh Into The Unknown

Here's an interesting adventure for you.

Yesterday, four men set off on what will no doubt be a harrowing sea voyage, as they attempt to recreate the famous open sea journey of Captain Bligh, and his loyal crew, after they were set adrift following the Mutiny on the Bounty. That famous event took place exactly 221 years ago on April 28th. Fletcher Christian, and his merry band of mutineers took the Bounty from her captain, and put him, and 18 others, in a 23-foot long open boat. Over the subsequent seven weeks, Bligh and his men managed to navigate from Tonga to Kupang in Timor, with very little food, water, or other supplies. The crew of this aquatic expedition hope to equal that task.

Dubbed the Talisker Bounty Boat Expedition, this voyage will mirror the historic one as closely as possible. For example, when skipper Don McIntyre and his three companions were dropped into the water yesterday, at the same spot, and at the same time as Bligh, they had just two weeks worth of water, very little food, and a complete lack of any luxury items, including charts to navigate by or even toilet paper. Over the next seven weeks, they hope to cross the same 4000 mile stretch of open water as the Bounty's crew, surviving in much the same fashion.

Joining McIntyre on the journey are Australian David Pryce, English sailor by way of Hong Kong David Wilkinson; and Chris Wilde, a young adventurer from the U.K. Together the four men not only hope to survive to complete this epic journey, they hope to raise more than $250,000 for the Sheffield Institute Foundation for Motor Neurone Disease, which is working on cures for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The major sponsor for the expedition is Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky, which these guys will be wanting in short order I'd guess.

The crew is sending back dispatches to be posted as a blog on their website, and you can chart their progress there as well. This certainly is a novel idea for an adventure. Anyone up for reliving Shackleton's 15 months in the Antarctic? Anyone?

Adobe Community Help and Google Site Search: Making search come alive in CS5

Editor’s note: Today’s guest blogger is Mark Nichoson, Product Manager at Adobe Community Help.

Back in 2008, Adobe began to use the power of Google Site Search to “plug the whole community brain trust right into the Creative Suite,” as we liked to say.

Now with the launch of Adobe® Creative Suite 5, we’ve taken that brain trust to a whole new level with the introduction of our new Community Help application. It’s an Adobe AIR®-based companion that’s automatically installed as part of any new Adobe CS5 product.

Launched directly from the Help menu of any CS5 product, the Community Help application enables customers to:

• find fast answers with powerful new search options that let them focus results to just Adobe content, community content, developer resources, or even code samples
• download core Adobe Help and language reference content for offline viewing (thanks to the Adobe AIR runtime)
• see what the community thinks is the best, most valuable content via ratings and comments
• share their expertise with others and find out what experts have to say about using their favorite Adobe product

Google Site Search: integration and innovation

Under the hood of the Community Help app lies our Google Site Search engine. This search engine searches across about 3000 sites – content such as product Help, language references, Tech Notes, Developer Connection articles, and Adobe TV videos as well as the best online content from the Adobe community. Content is chosen by experts at Adobe and in the design and developer communities, meaning customers find the answers they need faster.

Thanks to the robust Google Site Search APIs, the development team was not only able to easily integrate search results but also create unique innovations such as our new Code Search functionality. Formerly known as Blueprint, this new search option allows Adobe Flash® and Flex developers to search for relevant code samples so that they can write better code, faster.

A new definition of Help

By combining the best community content with the definitive reference that customers traditionally expect from Adobe, Community Help allows us to expand the definition what help means. Now users can tap into an entire ecosystem of content — one that can dynamically adjust to changing user needs and provide a much richer set of resources over the lifetime of the product.

Community Help can also be used as a standalone application. To give it a try, you can download it from adobe.com.

Mark Nichoson, Product Manager at Adobe Community Help

---

If you’d like to learn more about what Google Site Search can do for your website, join us for this upcoming webinar:

Google Site Search: an introduction

Thursday, May 13, 2010

11:00 a.m. PDT, 2:00 p.m. EDT, GMT 07:00

Register here

Arizona State Parks In Trouble

I saw this incredibly depressing story over at the Daily Dirt, one of Backpacker Magazines blogs. It seems that the bad economy has begun to take its toll on our favorite outdoor destinations, as the state of Arizona has announced that it is closing more than a third of its 30 state parks.

Despite the fact that the parks generate some $250 million in revenue for the surrounding communities on an annual basis, the state elected to move ahead with the closures, with budget shortfalls getting the blame. An earlier plan had 21 of the 30 parks scheduled for shut down, but a fund raising campaign, which included some generous donations from the public, saved several of the parks from the chopping block.

I suppose this is one of those "sign of the times" stories, but it is still quite sad to hear about these great outdoor spaces being shuttered. Some of the places on the list for Arizona include Picacho Peak, a popular 1,500-foot tall "mountain" located between Tucson and Phoenix and Red Rock State Park, found near Sedona. Both parks will close at the beginning of June.

Unfortunately, this probably isn't the last time we'll be reading a story like this in the coming weeks either, as nearly every state in the U.S. is scrambling to cover budget shortfalls at the moment.

The Adventure Life Weighs In On Jordan Romero

The Adventure Life has a very thoughtful piece on Jordan Romero today that is a must read for those who have been following his adventures on Everest. For those that haven't, Jordan is a 13-year old American who is attempting to climb the highest peak on the planet at the moment, amidst both cheers and grumbles from the mountaineering community.

As the article points out, if Jordan is successful in his venture, he'll likely come home a hero, and have the ability to parlay the achievement into television appearances, gear sponsorships, and book deals. But if something should happen to him, knock on wood, the resulting controversy would reach far and wide, to say the least. As Drew Simmons, the author of this piece, says "Because the only thing that attracts more flies than a mountaineering tragedy is a failure in parenting. Add them together. Mix vigorously. Serve cold."

I've gone on record a number of times here on how I feel about the affair, and this article echos my thoughts precisely. I'm not in favor of this movement in the outdoor community to set new records for the youngest to achieve something, especially as those attempting these feats have changed from young men and women to simply boys and girls. But not being a parent myself, it is difficult for me to imagine what it is like for the mothers and fathers of these kids. The article discusses those points as well, and gives some insights into that subject.

By all accounts, Jordan is doing well on the mountain thus far. He, and the rest of his team, which includes his father, will be moving up to Camp 2 and 3 to set supply caches soon. All part of standard acclimatization process as they prepare for a mid-May summit bid. Though I don't agree with a boy being there, I do with them all luck, and a safe climb.

Movies, antisemitism & modern Jewish identity

On April 19, New York's Center for Jewish History hosted what was billed as a graduate seminar on "Anti-Semitism at the Movies." Rachel Gordan, a Harvard doctoral student in history, discoursed on "Gentlemen's Agreement" and "Crossfire"---both nominees for the Academy Award as Best Picture in 1947; the former, starring Gregory Peck, emerged as the winner. Peck played a newspaper reporter, a nondescript Protestant, who posed as a Jew to write an expose about the "gentlemanly" anti-Jewish prejudice that pervaded American society at the time.

Ms. Gordan screened the breakfast-table scene where Peck's character explains to his son what Jews are. He patiently indicates that just like Catholics and Protestants go to their churches to pray, Jews attend their houses of worship called synagogues or temples; he also adds, when prompted by his son's ignorance, that Jews are just as American as they are.

The respondent, Yale University historian Dr. Tisa Wenger, and later Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, a Rutgers University associate professor of Jewish studies and history who moderated the program, both mildly critiqued Gordan in how she defined Jews. During the Q & A, I sharpened this critique by pointing out that she kept on referring to individual Jewish identities as their "Judaism" rather than their "Jewishness," as I'd refer to it. Gordan's narrow religious definition, rather than a broader lens of cultural heritage and/or ethnic affinity, is a product of her generation growing up in an American society where Jews are more accepted, and where secular Jewish organizations and activities are in decline.

I mentioned the irony of Gordan's religious focus as we sat in the home of YIVO, the famed research institute mostly dedicated to the study of secular Jewish culture and history, and at a time when a good half or more of self-identifying American Jews are not affiliated with a synagogue or temple.

I've written previously on this matter of secular Jewish identity and how it relates to the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state in terms of its majority population rather than religion. In Israel, secular Jewish life is more in evidence and more viable; even the non-religious or only moderately observant majority lives within an unmistakeably Jewish culture, in which the Hebrew language and the rhythms of the Jewish calendar are paramount. Jewishness viewed only as "Judaism" goes against the visceral self-understanding of most Jews as progeny of an ancient people, for whom Israel's existence as a Jewish state is not analogous to the designation of numerous Muslim-majority states as "Islamic" in some theological sense.

Yet, as was pointed out by one or other of the two older scholars, the notion of Jews as simply a religious group was easiest to convey in movies and the larger society. This religious emphasis was adopted as a strategy by the organized Jewish community. More than one writer has written on how Jews became accepted as being "white." And with the memory of the Holocaust still fresh in those years, viewing Jews as a distinct ethnic group had to come uncomfortably close to the concept of race, which had turned so poisonous under the Nazis and has had such an unhappy history in this country as well.

The second movie, "Crossfire," was about a murder investigation that uncovered an antisemitic motive. During the Q & A, it was pointed out that antisemitic violence, or the threat of violence, was all too common in early to mid 20th century America. But in my understanding, the most pervasive manifestations of antisemitism included the restrictive covenants against Jews in housing and in access to hotels and resorts, restrictions against Jews being employed in many law firms and on Wall Street, and quotas against Jews being admitted to first-rank universities and medical schools.

Jews shared with African Americans being targets of discrimination, and forged an alliance in the civil rights movement based on this common interest. Major Jewish organizations--such as the ADL, American Jewish Congress and A. J. Committee--played important roles in support of civil rights, especially in the area of legal action.

As an aside, and as a commentary on how far we've come from those years, I attended a talk at the CUNY grad center in which a sociologist discussed how Arab Americans are being encouraged to write themselves into the Census forms as being of "Arab race," as a tactic to obtain more clout for their community. Although I wouldn't advise this tact for Jews, I think that we should find ways (whether we are religious or not) to identify ourselves as a distinct minority group that is vulnerable to discrimination or worse.

The contention that the American Jewish community constitutes one of the three major American faith groups--along with Catholics and Protestants--is no longer functional for us as Jews, as well as out of date (Muslims and Hindus are increasingly significant in this country).

World Press Freedom Day 3 May 2010

UNESCO will celebrate World Press Freedom Day, observed yearly on May 3, with an international conference of media professionals entitled Freedom of Information: the Right to Know, in Brisbane on 2 and 3 May. In a message UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said:

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, enshrined in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But around the world, there are Governments and those wielding power who find many ways to obstruct it.
...
This year’s theme is freedom of information: the right to know. I welcome the global trend towards new laws which recognize the universal right to publicly held information.

Unfortunately, these new laws do not always translate into action. Requests for official information are often refused, or delayed, sometimes for years. At times, poor information management is to blame. But all too often, this happens because of a culture of secrecy and a lack of accountability.

We must work to change attitudes and to raise awareness. People have a right to information that affects their lives, and States have a duty to provide this information. Such transparency is essential to good government.

The United Nations stands with persecuted journalists and media professionals everywhere. Today, as every day, I call on Governments, civil society and people around the world to recognize the important work of the media, and to stand up for freedom of information.

The conference programme is available to download here. The conference will be streamed live on the internet - http://www.wpfd2010.org/

Book Review: Oceans: The Threats to Our Seas and What You Can Do to Turn the Tide

Last week, in celebration of Earth Day, Disney and National Geographic released a ground breaking new film called Oceans. Directed by Jacques Perrin, the visionary filmmaker who brought us the acclaimed nature films Microcosmos and Winged Migration. Oceans has been years in planning and production, and by all accounts, it is stunning to behold on the big screen. I say this, because as of this writing, I have yet to see the film, due to the fact that I couldn't find a cineplex in Kathmandu.

On the other hand, while traveling abroad I did have the opportunity to read Oceans: The Threats to Our Seas and What You Can Do to Turn the Tide. The book, which is edited by Jon Bowermaster, is meant to serve as a companion of sorts to the film. It is a compilation of 31 different essays from as many authors, on a number of different topics centered around our seas, and the threats to their health, which will have wide ranging consequences for the future of the entire planet.

Some of the essays are sentimental in nature, such as Carl Safina's "Caught in the Same Net" and "Remembering the Ocean" by Celine Cousteau. Others offer up warnings about the Oceans' future, such as "Coral Reefs in Crisis", written by Abigail Alling or Richard Ellis' "The Bluefin's Uncertain Future". All of the stories are informative, insightful, and fascinating, especially if you have any level of awareness about the impact of global climate change. Other authors contributing to the book include ocean explorer Sylvia Earle, circumnavigator Liz Clarke, Captain of the Plastiki David de Rothchild, and Adventure Blog favorite Roz Savage. Even actor Leonardo DiCaprio submitted a short piece on how important, yet finite, a resource our water supply is. Bowermaster's own contribution, an essay on the changing state of the ice around Antarctica is also a sobering story about what is happening now, and how it could impact the future.

Whether you've seen the new film or not, Oceans makes for engrossing reading. But if you have seen the film, the book opens with an interview with director Perrin, who discusses what it was like to get this film made. It was a huge undertaking, involving camera crews visiting 54 locations around the globe, and on one particular day there were 26 location managers and 19 cameras in the field. A host of new technology was also created for the movie, including specially modified underwater cameras, a remotely controlled helicopter camera, and even a torpedo cam. Fascinating stuff to be sure, and something that will no doubt be on my mind when I get a chance to watch the movie itself.

So, whether you've seen the movie or not, be sure to grab a copy of this book. It is a great compilation of insights and thoughts on our oceans from some of the foremost experts on the topic.

Bibliotheca Sacra Vols. 21-30 now on-line

Bibliotheca Sacra Volumes 21-30 are now available in OCRed pdf format here. All these articles are in the Public Domain due to their age.

Legalization must be part of immigration reform

This opinion piece talks about how assimilation of all immigrants is important to them, and to the country. - - Donna Poisl

A path to citizenship for those already here illegally is crucial.

Tomás R. Jiménez

Opponents of comprehensive immigration reform argue that legalization rewards bad behavior. They contend that illegal immigration is a crime that merits punishment and expulsion, not amnesty. The logic is that if we respond with tough enforcement, illegal immigrants will finally get that they aren't welcome here and go back to their home countries. This kind of reasoning is what's behind laws like the one recently passed in Arizona, which requires law enforcement personnel to determine whenever possible the immigration status of suspected illegal immigrants.

But immigrants aren't going home. We know this from experience. Despite high-profile raids, beefed-up border enforcement and the worst economy since the Depression, the size of the illegal immigrant population has declined by only a small fraction.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Vietnamese Immigrants Carry on a Cajun Food Tradition

This immigrant family is combining the sauces and spices from their homeland with the seafood and culture of Louisiana Cajuns at his restaurant in Atlanta. Read this whole story, a perfect example of how immigrants make America what it is today. - - Donna Poisl

By JOHN T. EDGE

ATLANTA--HIEU PHAM serves about a ton of Louisiana crayfish each week here at the Crawfish Shack Seafood, boiling them in a slurry of commercial seasoning mix, garlic cloves, orange wedges and lemon grass stalks.

Cast nets hang from the acoustical-tile ceiling of the strip-mall restaurant, located behind his father’s auto-repair shop along a multiethnic corridor north of downtown. Cans of Café Du Monde coffee sit by the register, and Louis Armstrong plays in heavy rotation.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

How Arizona's law will hurt America: Mayor Michael Bloomberg assails the new immigration statute

Mayor Bloomberg recognizes how much damage the new law in Arizona can do to that state and hopes it will not affect the whole country. It certainly hurts the country's reputation. - - Donna Poisl

BY MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

A new Arizona law requiring local police officers to stop anyone they might reasonably suspect of being here illegally may produce unintended consequences that could hurt not only Arizona, but all of America.

The law is so vaguely written that it may force officers to stop people who look or dress differently - or who speak a foreign language, or English with an accent.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Adventure Sports Week 2010 Gears Up!

After a very successful debut last year, Adventure Sports Week is ready to return in 2010, bigger and better, and offering even more challenges for endurance athletes to conquer.

This year's ASW is set to take place from June 4-13, and will once again be held in Farragut State Park, outside of beautiful Coeur d Alene, Idaho. Also like last year, the adventure racing double header of the Crux and the Crucible will be the center point of a week filled with all kinds of races, including triathlons, trail runs, mountain biking, and more.

But there will be plenty of new activities in 2010 as well, such as the Great North Woods Cyclocross, which promises a new challenge for cyclists. In addition to the already well established XTERRA Triathlon, ASW 2010 will play host to the new Bayview International & Sprint Triathlons, which will be run at Olympic and Sprint distances over a course that is described as being amongst the most scenic anywhere.

These items are just the tip of the ice berg for Adventure Sports Week. If you run, ride, or paddle, you're sure to to find something to your liking, and if you do all three, then you're really going to love it. Swing on by the new ASW website to get the lowdown on all the activities taking part in Idaho early in June.

Photo courtesy Rick McCharles of Best Hike.

Wend Magazine Now On iPad!

Fans of Wend magazine will be delighted to learn that the outdoor adventure mag with an eco-sensitive slant is now available on the iPad. And not just the current issue, but all back issues as well. Digital subscribers need only login to the Wend website to gain access to iPad optimized versions of the magazine that look and perform spectacularly on Apple's latest wonder gadget. iPhone and iPod Touch users haven't been forgotten either, as the online edition of the magazine now works on those devices too, albeit at a slightly smaller screen size. :)

If you aren't already a digital subscriber to Wend, click here to sign up. It's quick, easy, and free. So whether you're reading on a Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, or some other device, you'll get access to a great magazine with lots of interesting content, that you can take with you anywhere. On top of that, no trees were harmed in the making of the digital version of the mag either.

In regards to the iPad, I picked up one of the devices before departing for Nepal, and I have to say it makes an excellent travel companion. It is lightweight (1.5 pounds), but holds all of your movies, music, TV shows, books, apps, games, and more. Great for using on a long plane flight to keep yourself entertained. The best feature of all? The long battery life, in the neighborhood of 12 hours or so with video use. That means you can actually use the thing on a long trip without fear of it becoming useless after a few hours. I'll be posting more thoughts on the device in the future, but needless to say, there are a lot of reasons that it will be a boon for travelers in the years ahead.

Catlin Arctic Survey: Ice Base Team Packing Up, Explorers Continue North

While most of the Arctic explorers have called it a season, the Catlin Arctic Survey Teams are still out their on the ice, conducting their experiments and taking readings on the impact of heightened levels of CO2 in the Arctic Ocean on the healthy of the ice caps.

As you probably remember, the project was broken up into two teams, the Ice Base Team, which remained in one place on the ice to take daily readings and conduct experiments and the Explorers Team, which is still making their way to the North Pole, taking ice samples as they go. Today, the Ice Base Team began packing up their gear and equipment, and are preparing to be airlifted to warmer climes either today or tomorrow, depending on weather conditions. The Ice Base, which is located off Ellef Ringnes island in the Canadian High Arctic, has been in operation for 40 days, and according to the Survey's website, has served as home for "six scientists, five journalists, three polar guides, two chefs, two ice base managers, two communication managers, one Inuit guide, one passing Japanese skier and an extremely lovable polar bear guard dog." It will be some time before the results of their findings will be known, but the men and women who lived and worked at the base have started some important research into the acidification of the oceans, and the long term effects that will have on the health of the planet and the human race.

And as if we needed more proof that we are in the midst of a global shift in climate and weather, the Ice Base Team received a real shock a few days back, when it actually started to rain. Now, most of us would take April Showers in stride, and think nothing of it, but it is HIGHLY unusual in the Arctic this time of year, especially above 79ºN. Needless to say, it made the scientists at the Base a bit nervous, considering they were camped on a patch of ice, with nothing but Arctic Ocean beneath them.

Meanwhile, the Explorers Team, consisting of polar veterans Ann Daniels, Martin Hartley, and Charlie Paton are still making their way North, with designs on reaching the Pole itself. Last Friday they received their second, and final, resupply, and while they continue to deal with the usual challenges, namely negative drift, open leads, thin ice, and difficult weather conditions, their spirits remain high, and they are as dedicated as ever to their jobs.

Like most of the other explorers heading to the Pole this year, they are dragging their equipment behind them sleds as they make the long, difficult journey north. But unlike the others, who at the end of their day would set up their tent, go inside, warm up, and begin the process of melting snow, this trio has a set of ice samples to gather and readings to take, before they can go about those other duties. But it is all in the name of climate research, and they seem up to the task.

Last year, the Survey Team didn't make it to the North Pole, simply running out of time for when a safe evac could occur. Hopefully this year, they'll reach their destination. I'm sure it would be especially sweet for Ann and Martin to stand at 90ºN.

NG Adventure Looks At Brewing Miss Oh Controversy

Yesterday I mentioned that Korean climber Oh Eun-Sun had successfully topped out on Annapurna, and in the process had become the first woman to summit all 14 of the 8000 meter peaks. In that same story, I also noted Miss Oh's claim to that title was being disputed and that controversy was already afoot over the whole affair.

The National Geographic Adventure Blog has posted a good article that recaps the story and takes a look at this brewing controversy a bit more closely. It seems that Miss Oh's summit of Kangchenjunga last year is the one that is in dispute, as there are no photos showing the Korean woman at the summit. Instead, the only photographic evidence that is being offered is an image that is well below the top. In her defense, Miss Oh says that weather conditions at the summit made it impossible for her to stay their long enough to take a photo.

The Kangchenjunga climb has especially been called into question by Edurne Pasabán, the talented Spanish climber who needs to just knock off Shisha Pangma to complete her list of 8000 meter peaks, something she expects to do in the next couple of weeks. Edurne says she decided to speak out on the subject after her own climbing record was examined and called into question by South Korean television reporters last week.

As if that wasn't enough to cause a stir, Miss Elizabeth Hawley, who is the definitive expert on all things related to climbing in the Himalaya, has weighted in on the topic as well. She says that there is enough doubt cast on Miss Oh's Kangchenjunga summit to warrant an investigation.

In the end, I suppose the mountaineering community will decide.

FIELD ARTILLERY BALL

On Friday Night April 16, 2010 Yuengling was honored to be the Official Beer Sponsor the the United States Field Artillery's Annual Saint Barbara's Day Ball at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. The Field Artillery Branch, as part of the U.S. Army, was founded in 1775. The Field Artillery has been "Creating the Thunder" since 1775 and America's Oldest Brewery, was honored to be a part of their annual celebrations.

The Order of Saint Barbara is a Military Honor Society for the U.S. Army Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery. Saint Barbara is known as the Patron Saint of Artillerymen. The event was attended by the many Officers and NCO's of the West Point Field Artillery branch, their guests, and also the many Senior Cadets of West Point who have chosen to branch to the artillery service. The event included the time honored Grog Ceremony and also the Punchbowl Ceremony, in which Yuengling was one of the main ingredients. The Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Major Cherry, who attended to the Punchbowl Ceremony and hosted the entire event. The Molly Pitcher Award was given to 2 Officer's spouses. This award recognizes individuals who have voluntarily contributed in a significant way to the improvement of the Field Artillery Community.

It was a great night of celebration and camaraderie enjoyed by all and we at Yuengling wish all of the best for the soon to be graduating Cadets, NCO's, and Officers as they head to the next stop in their Army careers in keeping our country safe. Cheers to our brave service men and women and their spouses!

The Latest Issue of Eco Islam Magazine

The Latest IFEES Eco Islam magazine (Issue 7)

April 2010

Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences [IFEES]

In this edition, articles include:


- Islamic beliefs and Sumatran forest management

- The Copenhagen Conundrum

- Islamic Gardens in the UK

- Planting trees in Indonesia : Update on Greening Indonesia

- The Green Mosque Initiative

- The Climate Summit

- Book review on "Ethical Dimension of Human Attitude towards Nature

- A Muslim Perspective" and much more.

10 Jobs You Would Never Guess Pay Really Well

Full Descriptions

Sommelier
Whenever someone asks what you do, invariably they will try and see how much that job pays. Whether they ask outright or feel you out, the answer can be impressive or sad. However, if you fall into the below ten jobs you would never guess pay really well, you can have their jaws on the floor.

Brewmaster

While some require graduate degrees, most only require moderate education, reasonable experience, and an ability to excel at it. These jobs and careers not only offer excellent pay, but many have great benefits or other interesting perks. So without further ado, here are the ten jobs you would never guess pay really well ordered mostly by size of pay.

1) Specialist Nurse, 2) Forensic Odontology, 3) Sommelier, 4) Brewmaster, 5) Certified Ethical Hacker, 6) Arbitrator/ Mediator/ Conciliator, 7) Repo Man, 8) Subway and Streetcar Operator, 9) Gaming Supervisor and 10) Appraiser

Australian Biblical Review to be placed on-line

I am delighted to announce that executive Fellowship for Biblical Studies Inc. has granted me permission to place on-line articles from the Australian Biblical Review that are more than five years old. This is subject to individual permission of the authors of the articles. In addition they have agreed to send me almost a complete run of back-issues to work on.

Naturally I am overjoyed to see another journal being made available, not least because it will allow me to add more international balance to the material  host by including the works of Australian biblical scholars. I would like to ask your help in tracking down authors of the articles and making this information known to them, as obtaining appropriate copyright permission will be essential. An index of back issues is available here. I will produce my own table of contents in due course.

Joint Center For Political Studies 40th Anniversary

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

By Norris McDonald

Anniversary Dinner at The Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C.

It was quite and event last night. I don't get to go black tie very often, so this was a special night for me. I was a Special Guest at the American Association of Blacks in Energy table. The luminaries were there: Clyburns, Butterfield, Ford, Cummings, and more. I reconnected with some people I had not seen in years. Did a little networking. Okay. I had more than one glass of wine with my meal: the dinner wine list included Chateau St. Michelle "Indian Wells" Columbia Valley, Chardonnay-2007 and LeCrema, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir-2008.

The first course of Lump Crab Salad with Crushed Avocado was marvelous. The avocado really brought out the natural taste of the crab meat. Having lived on the Chesapeake Bay for 3 years with free crabs in the creek in my backyard, I am a connoisseur of crab and have put every conceivable concoction on it. So I finally just like the crab meat with nothing on it so that you can taste the actual meat, instead of Old Bay seasoning. The second course of Grilled Beef Filet was tender, juicy and accessorized with Southern Succotash, Sweet Potato, and Red Eye Gravy. The small portion was perfect for a guy moving away from red meat. The Apple "Tatin," cinnamon Ice Cream, Lemon Sable was a great finishing touch.

Joint Center Chairman of the Board of Governors Roderick D. Gillum gave Welcome Remarks and NAACP National Board of Directors Chairwoman Roslyn M. Brock gave the Invocation. Joint Center President and CEO Ralph B. Everett and National Dinner Chair and AT&T North Carolina President Cynthia G. Marshall gave remarks. Valerie Jarret (everybody knows her by now) gave surprise remarks (she was not on the evening's program). The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. received the Louis E. Martin Great American Award and gave, as usual, an inspirational keynote speech.

Sponsors included: AT&T, The Stafford Foundation, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, United Health Group, WalMart, Norma Ketay Asnes, Verizon, AARP, Aflac, Amgen Inc., Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc, Best Buy Co Inc, CH2M Hill, Comcast, DCI Group, LLC, Entergy Corporation, ExxonMobil, Goldman Sachs, Kraft Foods, Lily USA, LLC, Lockheed Martin Corporation, National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, Pepco Holdings, Inc, Perennial Strategy Group/ServiceMaster, Southern Company, Time Warner Cable, United States Chamber of Commerce and United States Telecom Association.

Afro Blue, Marcus Johnson and Benjamin Lee provided music and singing.

Himalaya 2010: A Quick Recap of Current Events

I've been reminded that most of you have probably been keeping up on a lot of the big events while I've been away, so I'll make this my last recap of some of the action that has been going down over the past few weeks. As usual, ExWeb and Alan Arnette have done a great job of keeping us all in the know as the climbers continue their acclimatization process on Everest and similar peaks, while others have already topped out on Annapurna, with a major milestone reached.

We'll start there, as it seems that Korean climber Oh Eun-Sun topped out on Annapurna yesterday, becoming the first woman to reach the summit on all 14 8000 meter peaks. She has been in a race with several other female climber to claim that distinction, and the climb ends a 13 year quest to bag them all. Miss Oh was turned away on Annapurna last year do to treacherous conditions. The Associated Press video below gives more details on the climb.

But, since this is mountaineering, there is a bit of controversy to go with the achievement. A certain "Spanish rival" has hinted that Miss Oh may not have actually reached the summit on all the mountains. Is there truth to these claims or is it just sour grapes?

Meanwhile, on Everest, conditions remain quite treacherous on both sides of the mountain. Avalanches have been frequent occurrences, with one on the North Side coming as recently as yesterday. That slide as left Hungarian climber László Várkony missing, and presumed dead. All others, including 13-year old Jordan Romero, are reportedly safe in BC.These conditions have made for slow going thus far, as the ropes are not yet fixed above Camp 3, although most climbers have already spent a night in that location.

On a personal note, I can attest to the shakiness of the snow. While making the trek to BC from Gorak Shep, I personally witnessed three avalanches in one afternoon, with the biggest, and closest one to Everest occurring just on the far side of the Khumbu Ice Falls, but off the Lhotse Face. It was a humbling experience to hear that rumble and watch all that snow come tumbling down.

Finally, Alan is also reporting that a true search for Irvine's Camera may be on! It appears that an Austrian team may be on Everest to specifically look for the mythical camera, that could at last, shed light on whether or not Mallory and Irvine reached the summit. They are reportedly using data garnered from Everest Historian Tom Holzel to aid in their search. A few months back it was widely reported that Holzel had used satellite imagery to identify a "blob" that he believes is the body of Sandy Irvine, who died on the mountain with George Mallory back in 1924. Should be interesting to see what they find.

That's all for now. More updates soon.

Human Rights Watch 'civil war' over Israel

Very interesting story at The New Republic website by Benjamin Birnbaum. Background in-depth piece on the Human Right Watch shift of leadership, the story behind it, and how it is related to HRW's treatment of Israeli infractions...and much more:

On October 19 of last year, the op-ed page of The New York Times contained a bombshell: a piece by Robert Bernstein, the founder and former chairman of Human Rights Watch (HRW), attacking his own organization. HRW, Bernstein wrote, was “helping those who wish to turn Israel into a pariah state.” The allegation was certainly not new: HRW had been under assault for years by American Jews and other supporters of Israel, who argued that it was biased against the Jewish state.

And these attacks had intensified in recent months, with a number of unflattering revelations about the organization. In July, HRW found itself under fire when a Wall Street Journal op-ed noted that the organization had solicited donations in Saudi Arabia by trumpeting the criticism it faces from “pro-Israel pressure groups.” In August, the blogosphere leapt on one of the organization’s top Middle East officials for having once been part of a team that edited a radical anti-Israel journal. And, in September, HRW suspended one of the primary contributors to its reports on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon after his private hobby—collecting Nazi memorabilia—became public.

Still, to most readers of the Times last October, even those who closely followed debates over Israel, Bernstein’s piece would have seemed odd: It isn’t every day that the founder of a group turns so publicly on his own creation. What few people outside HRW knew, however, was that Bernstein’s op-ed was the culmination of a long struggle inside the organization that had turned increasingly acrimonious over the years. The debate revolved around a single question: Was the world’s most respected human rights group being fair to Israel? Bob Bernstein wasn’t the only person at Human Rights Watch who thought the answer was no.

In September 2000, HRW’s board of directors took a vote that still, a decade later, infuriates Sid Sheinberg, a legendary Hollywood mogul (he discovered Steven Spielberg) and current vice-chairman of the board. At the time, Bill Clinton was trying desperately to broker a peace agreement between Yasir Arafat and Ehud Barak, but one of the major sticking points was the right of return. It was an issue that even the most left-wing Israelis did not feel they could compromise on: If Palestinians were permitted to return to Israel en masse, it would imperil the country’s future as both a Jewish state and a democracy.

Sheinberg believed strongly that HRW had no business endorsing the right of return. “My view is that the most essential human right is the right to life,” he says. “And anybody who sees a deal about to be made where there’s been war for fifty or sixty years should think hard about shutting up.” The board, however, did not agree. “The vote was something like twenty-seven to one,” Sheinberg recalls. “Bob voted against me, for which he’s apologized on a number of occasions.” That December, Ken Roth, HRW’s executive director, would send letters to Clinton, Arafat, and Barak urging them to accept the organization’s position. The right of return, he wrote, “is a right that persists even when sovereignty over the territory is contested or has changed hands.”

Click here to read more online.

AAEA Launches South Africa Energy Partnerships Program

AAEA is embarking upon a strategy to create partnerships between American, European and South African energy companies and governments. This strategy is comprehensive and covers the full range of natural resources from coal, oil, nuclear, natural gas, mining, electricity, hydro, conservation, efficiency, water resources, and carbon dioxide offsets. AAEA is seeking to partner with companies interested in working with companies that not only want to generate profits via appropriate technologies and environmentally friendly projects, but who also seek to expand ownership opportunities for environmental entrepreneurs.

AAEA is currently meeting with American companies to brief them about investment and project opportunities in South Africa and throughout the African Union. AAEA is seeking direct and indirect partnerships to pursue energy development projects. We are seeking ownership stakes in energy and water ventures. AAEA also intends to examine the feasibility of leveraging greenhouse gas (GHG) offsets in financing projects and compensating African Union countries for reducing their carbon footprints.

Kudos to a Grassroots Effort to Stem Impact of Foreclosures in Detroit

As residents move out of a Detroit neighborhood hard hit by foreclosures, Bill Swanson spends his days trying to persuade businesses to move into vacant commercial spaces. "Shop by shop and block by block, the head of the local business alliance is waging a grassroots fight against crime, blight and neglect." CNN Money

We can't help but applaud this kind of effort.

http://bit.ly/9GVbOH

North Pole 2010: Two Teams Reach North Pole!

While I was away, two teams managed to complete their journeys to the North Pole, while other explorers were forced to give up on their dreams and call for an evac, ending their long, cold, struggles against the Arctic conditions.

Back on April 23rd, Eric Larsen and his team reached 90ºN, finishing their quest to stand at the top of the world. It took them 51 days to cover the route, and the fittingly enough, they reached the Pole on Earth Day no less. For Eric, this is the second of three poles that he expects to visit this year, as part of his Save The Poles campaign, leaving just the "third pole", Mt. Everest, yet to be conquered. He'll take on that task this fall. Congrats to Eric, Antony, and Darcy on a job well done.

Just two days after the boys reached their finish line, Dan Darley and Amelia Russell brought their expedition to a successful conclusion as well. The two Brits made the last few days into a marathon of sorts, spending upwards of 18 hours on their skis in an effort to battle the negative drift and finish off the few remaining miles. For Amelia, this is a major milestone, as she becomes just the third woman to complete the North Pole trek, joining Tina Sjogren and Cecilie Skog. The pair were picked up by a Russian helicopter yesterday and are now at the Barneo Base, waiting extraction back to civilization. A hearty congratulations to both Dan and Amelia on their amazing efforts as well.

Unfortunately, two other solo adventurers were not quite as lucky in their quests to reach 90º N. Aussie Tom Smithengale activated his emergency beacon back on April 15th, and had to be retrieved from the ice post haste. Tom was suffering from frostbite on several fingers and toes, and was displaying signs of exhaustion as well. Pictures posted to his website also show significant weight loss, as you would expect on an expedition like this one. The rescue team indicated that the explorer was picked-up at the right time, before things got really dangerous. I'm sure Tom is feeling a bit of a personal let down for not reaching his goal, but upon reflection later on, he'll understand what an amazing adventure he has had. I always enjoyed reading his updates, and was rooting for him to reach the Pole, as he always seemed to have a great attitude, and a positive outlook. Rest up Mate! I hope those fingers and toes all heal up quickly and properly.

Finally, Italian Michele Pontrandolfo also called for an evacuation, but his retrieval was a bit delayed thanks to a storm. He was picked up a few days back after giving a very valiant effort as well. Michele was ready and eager for the task, but was suffered from slow progress due to the various challenges of the Arctic, and was never really able to mount a true challenge to reaching the North Pole. Perhaps he'll take the lessons learned from this expedition and give it a go next year, when he'll be more experienced and prepared for the journey. I salute him for not giving up however, as that is a very large part of the adventurous spirit.

That about wraps it up for the North Pole Season for this year. Sorry I had to post a recap instead of following along as it happened. I was a bit busy the past two weeks though, so I'm sure you'll understand. :)

2011 National Healthy Homes Conference-Denver, Colorado

Held Every Other Year

SAVE THE DATE JUNE 20-23, 2011 DENVER, COLORADO [Yes 2011]

The 2011 National Healthy Homes Conference is a unique event that brings together individuals from across the public health and safety,housing, building design, and environmental spectrum. This 4-day conference will provide unparalleled opportunities to explore emergingtrends in green and healthy building and design, discover why creating homesthat are healthier makes our families and communities healthy, and exchangeideas with other health and housing professionals.

Join them in Denver as they lead the nation to healthy housing, families, and communities.

For more information

Update to Google Maps in Canada

The data that powers API features like the map tiles, geocoding, and driving directions has been updated in Canada! The new base map in Canada will have expanded features such as more detailed water bodies, university campuses, postal code coverage, and a shorter feedback cycle for Maps updates – all leading to better, more accurate maps for employees and customers.

Along with this update we've launched the popular "Report a Problem" feature that's used in the United States to our Canadian users, too. It's recommended that you re-geocode all of your data to take advantage of the update.

Learn more about the Google Maps API Premier at google.com/enterprise/maps.

Posted by Dan Chu, Product Manager, Google Enterprise team

Editor's note: Updated the post to say postal codes instead of zip codes. Thanks to our sharp-eyed readers for catching that!

Pacific Row: Roz Kicks Off Stage 3

It may be a bit of old news at this point, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway. While I was away taking a walk in the Himalaya, ocean rower Roz Savage began the third, and final, stage of her trans-Pacific Row. As of today, she is now ten days out from Tarawa, the end point for Stage 2, and over the next few months, she'll be rowing more than 3000 miles, to reach her final destination – Australia.

You can follow along with Roz's adventure on her blog. She's been making daily updates so far, and is reporting exceptionally hot weather, which is not too unexpected considering she crossed the equator just a few days back. It should also be noted that while this is a solo, and unsupported journey, Roz isn't completely alone this time out, as she has a little spider on board, which she's named Alf, who is keeping her company thus far.

The trans-Pacific Row began back in 2008 when Roz set out from San Francisco and successfully rowed to Hawaii. Stage 2 took place last year, beginning in Hawaii and ending in Tarawa some four months later, which sets up this year's stage that, when completed, will mark the first solo row by a woman across the Pacific.

We'll be following Roz's progress over the next few months, cheering her on to Australia. I'll post updates on a regular basis as she finally completes her epic row. In the meantime, you can also track her progress on the RozTracker, which keeps us posted on her location at any given time.

Good luck Roz! Enjoy the final stage!

Ohio For Research

I'm headed to Ohio/Detroit tomorrow for a few days for hamburger research for the revised edition of my book. The plan is to hit 9 burger joints over 3 days. Follow me on Twitter to see how the trip goes.

Ohio For Research

I'm headed to Ohio/Detroit tomorrow for a few days for hamburger research for the revised edition of my book. The plan is to hit 9 burger joints over 3 days. Follow me on Twitter to see how the trip goes.

THE AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Matt Astill and the crew from The Australian Bar in New York City took some time to come visit America's Oldest Brewery last week. The Australian Bar & Restaurant is located at 20 West 38 Street in New York City and is a great bar & restaurant offering a unique menu featuring Australia cuisine. The staff from the bar came to tour the brewery and had an excellent time, led by Tour Guide Debbie Altobelli and accompanied by Marketing Manger Lou Romano. They learned a lot about the history of Yuengling while in Pottsville, and even got to meet Mr. Yuengling along the way. Patrons at The Australian may soon have additional Yuengling selections to choose from at the bar, as the staff was introduced to some Yuengling brews previously unknown to them. Thank you to Matt and everyone who came along for the trip, it was a pleasure having you.

We encourage all Yuengling fans, retailers and consumers alike, to come visit America's Oldest Brewery. Free tours are conducted 6 days a week. Pottsville tour times are 10am and 1:30pm Monday thru Friday. Saturday hours begin in April and run through December. Saturday tour times are 11am, 12pm, and 1pm. All visitors are required to wear completely closed footwear, no exceptions. Please visit Yuengling.com for complete tour information before you plan your visit.

Stand up for immigration reform on Saturday

From Gabe Gonzalez, Reform Immigration FOR America

Last Friday, Governor Jan Brewer signed a law that legalizes racial profiling in Arizona. Police can stop anyone they “reasonably” suspect is an immigrant, and demand that they prove their citizenship on the spot or face arrest. Of course, that “reasonable” suspicion is anything but. The new law is based in hatred and fear, and it doesn’t belong in any state in America.

That’s why what’s happening this Saturday is so important. On May 1st, tens of thousands of people in dozens of cities will stand up for what’s right at rallies all across the country. We’re going to show our elected leaders that the only way to stop hateful laws like the one in Arizona from taking root elsewhere is comprehensive immigration reform on the national level. Our leaders have spoken for us; it’s past time that they stood up with us.

Find an event on May 1st by clicking on the headline.

Our broken immigration system hurts families and communities everywhere. Our leaders in Congress and the White House know that. But time and time again, they’ve pushed us to the back burner, leaving millions of people living in fear, and the events in Arizona serve to illustrate the cost of further delay. On May 1st, we’re going to show the world that we won’t wait any longer.

Thank you,
Gabe Gonzalez
Reform Immigration FOR America

p.s. Already planning to attend an event on May 1? Tell us about it on Facebook!

Lawsuits expected over Ariz. illegal immigrant law

Courts are going to be busy with all the lawsuits that are being planned. Each state can't have its own laws about this, no one would know where they could live or travel. This law will NOT only affect people here illegally. - - Donna Poisl

By JONATHAN J. COOPER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHOENIX — The debate over Arizona's new illegal immigrant law will likely move from protest lines and talk shows to the courtroom, where a judge could be asked to decide whether the state can enforce laws that until now had been the federal government's exclusive domain.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the bill on Friday, said Arizona must act because Washington has failed to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs from Mexico.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Palm Desert Spring Tournament

Ken of La Petanque Marinière made a nice slideshow of last weekend's tournament in Palm Desert CA.

Brand new courts, great setting!
And cute uniforms :-)

Slideshow (48 pics)

Palm Desert Spring Tournament

Ken of La Petanque Marinière made a nice slideshow of last weekend's tournament in Palm Desert CA.

Brand new courts, great setting!
And cute uniforms :-)

Slideshow (48 pics)

Mother Nature vs. Cars

Weather.com

Mother Nature vs. Cars

Weather.com

Manufacturing in the Cloud with Google Apps and Smartsheet

Editor's Note: Tom Hippensteel is the Vice President for LiquidConcrete, a medium-sized Seattle-based manufacturer of high-performance concrete coatings and flooring systems for industrial and transportation markets. LiquidConcrete relies on Google Apps for email, calendar, and document collaboration, and on Smartsheet, an integrated app from the Google Apps Marketplace, for online project management, general work management, and team collaboration.

Smartsheet's integration with Google Apps enables businesses to transform the work they routinely track in spreadsheets into a complete solution for managing business operations. Smartsheet currently offers three versions in the Google Apps Marketplace: online project management, sales pipeline management, and crowdsourcing.

Below, Tom explains a bit about LiquidConcrete and the steps they took to get the entire business – from the front office to the warehouse – to operate in the cloud.

To learn more about LiquidConcrete's success with Google Apps and Smartsheet, please join us for a webinar on Tuesday, May 11 at 11:00 a.m. PDT.

We win business because we have great products, and because we run a lean operation that differentiates on quick turnaround of custom jobs with high levels of customer service. Everything about our operation is focused on efficiency, so we’re always looking for software solutions that fit that model. We’ve had successes and setbacks in getting our operations into the cloud in a way that works for all of our employees. We needed tools that "just work the way that we work."

We use Quickbooks for accounting and have had great success with Google Apps for email and calendar, but had trouble finding a tool that combined the ease of use, power and flexibility we needed to manage the rest of our operations. We tried various CRM, ERP and manufacturing solutions but they made us work in a certain way and were difficult to use – people just went back to how they were doing it before.

Then we found Smartsheet, a cloud-based project management tool. It was already integrated with Google Apps, and as we began deploying it more broadly, made Google Docs much more useful. Smartsheet and Google Apps are the only tools that have been readily adopted across our whole company, all the way out to the guys on the warehouse floor.

Here’s how we use them:

Project & task management We started tracking various projects and shared task lists in Smartsheet. User adoption was not a problem and the ability to launch Smartsheet from Gmail (the first app we open every morning) might sound simple, but it was a big win. Most of us check into Smartsheet dozens of times per day and we all have it added to the first screen on our iPhones.

Order-to-ship process We then realized that Smartsheet and Gmail could help with our order entry and shipping process. It was easy to set up and quickly adopted by reps on the phones with customers as well as people in the factory and at the warehouse. Here's our new streamlined process:

1. New orders are entered in a Smartsheet with the packing slip attached to the order and special instructions added as discussion notes

2. The people at the warehouse are automatically notified by Smartsheet (via Gmail on their iPhone) that a new order needs to be shipped

3. They access Smartsheet from their email, download the packing slip and prep the order

4. Once the order is shipped, they fill out the "tracking number" field for that order in Smartsheet and change the dropdown status from "waiting" to "shipped"

5. The right people receive a Smartsheet notification that a new order has been shipped with the tracking number available

Inventory tracking We also track raw and finished goods inventory in Smartsheet, giving salespeople instant access to the latest information online or via their iPhone.

Sales pipeline We have recently started using Smartsheet to manage the sales pipeline. It's been great to have all of our client projects and potential leads tracked in one place with their relevant documents attached to their record. We have instant status updates, forecast amounts and recent call notes at our fingertips and use reminders to make sure follow up happens.

Specification document management Since we are able to easily attach Google Docs to our Smartsheets, we decided to go forward with converting hundreds of specification documents into Google Docs. Google Docs gives us collaborative writing and review to get the specifications right, and Smartsheet organizes them conveniently right inside the project workflow. Accessing files directly from our sales, inventory and order processing sheets has been a big productivity win.

Smartsheet and Google Apps are changing the way our company communicates. Our CEO loves it because he gets an update on order status or a key customer in real time. Our reps love it because they can quickly pull up an order while on the phone with a customer and give an instant answer without waiting for someone at the warehouse to call them back. This saves us a tremendous amount of time.

The two keys for us are ease of use and the flexibility, and we've yet to come across a type of work that can't be managed in Smartsheet and Google Apps. We also love that it's a fraction of the cost of many of the other solutions we've looked at and we don't have to hire expensive consultants to customize it.

Bottom line is that we serve our customers better than bigger competitors because we're nimble and agile, and we feel the same way about Smartsheet and Google Apps.

Tom Hippensteel, VP, LiquidConcrete

Join Tom and the Smartsheet team for a webinar to learn more about this customer success story. This online discussion will include a question and answer session.

Improving operational efficiency with Google Apps and Smartsheet

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

11:00 a.m. PDT / 2:00 p.m. EDT / 6:00 p.m. GMT

Register here

You can watch it at work here:

To learn more about Smartsheet's experience selling their app in the Google Apps Marketplace, please read their post on the Google Apps Developer Blog. To learn even more about Smartsheet, check out their Google Apps Marketplace listing.

Posted by Chris Kelly, Google Apps Marketplace team

Temple Global Strategies

Renown Washington lawyer Donald Temple, left, establishes premiere government relations firm!

Temple Global Strategies, located within walking distance of the White House, epitomizes the evolved 21st Century government relations firm. If your business, NGO, or government requires proximity to the Corridors of Change in Washington, consider Temple Global Strategies. Their partners and associates possess a wide range of experience in the private sector, state and federal government, public policy, and business arena, with a particular emphasis on economic development through capital formation. They can provide the solutions you need in today’s rapidly changing political, economic and social landscape.

Temple Global Strategies is poised to serve domestic and international clients in the areas of Law & Public Policy, Foreign Affairs, Environment, Healthcare, Housing, Immigration, Transportation, Business Development, Energy and Transportation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CALL 202.351.6844 Toll Free 866.599.3420
1229 15th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20005