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Monday, May 31, 2010

Government data to be opened up to the public

Number10.gov.uk
Monday 31 May 2010
The Prime Minister has today launched a radical plan to open up Government data to the public.

In a letter sent to all Government departments, David Cameron has set out ambitious plans to open up data and set challenging deadlines to public bodies for the publication of information on topics including crime, hospital infections and Government spending.

The letter also announced that MySociety founder Tom Steinberg will advise ministers on the development and implementation of the transparency agenda.

Whitehall departments will begin to release new data to the public this week, starting with senior civil service salaries, MRSA infection data on a hospital-by-hospital basis and the Treasury’s COINS database of public spending.

In his letter, the PM said:

“Greater transparency across Government is at the heart of our shared commitment to enable the public to hold politicians and public bodies to account; to reduce the deficit and deliver better value for money in public spending; and to realise significant economic benefits by enabling businesses and non-profit organisations to build innovative applications and websites using public data.”

Key commitments set out in the Prime Minister’s letter include the publication of all new central Government ICT contracts from July 2010 and the publication of details of all DFID international development projects over £500 from January 2011.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude will chair a new Transparency Board, including experts such as Tom Steinberg, to drive the agenda across Government.

The PM spoke about plans to make Government more transparent in his first podcast released on Saturday.

See also:
This government is open to scrutiny - article by Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, in the Daily Telegraph

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Environmental Health & Safety, Inc.

When President Obama visited the Gulf for the second time, workers picking up and disposing little oil balls on the Lousiana beach were employed by Environmental Health & Safety, Inc. (EH&SInc). EH&S Inc is a small, minority-owned (Hispanic) business (SBA certified 8a and SDB) specializing in environmental, safety and health, and training services. EH&S Inc has grown from one employee in 1997 to over 65 multi-disciplinary professionals today.

ES&H, Inc. has a decade of disaster response experience. ES&H, Inc. offers a proven management plan and a disaster response team with years of experience and knowledge. Their experience includes involvement in response efforts following some of the nation’s largest disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina (still working), Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Wilma, Hurricane Fran, Hurricane Ivan, Hurricane Frances, Hurricane Charley, and the World Trade Center terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. EH&S Inc is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee and has offices in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Metarie, Louisiana and at Dover AFB, Delaware.

House Approves $1.15 billion for Black Farmer Fund

NBFA Lobbyist John Boyd










Funds Are for Settlement of Discrimination Case

Senate Approval is Next Step for Pigford II Fund

The U.S. House of Representatives approved $1.15 billion on Friday to compensate black farmers for discrimination by the Agriculture Department in a major civil rights settlement. The settlement in the case known as Pigford II granted $1.25 billion to black farmers who are part of a decades-old discrimination suit against the Agriculture Department after years of being left out of federal farm loan and assistance programs due to racism. But the deal reached in February cannot be upheld unless Congress approves $1.15 billion for the settlement. The 2008 farm law earmarked $100 million for compensation.

The $1.15 billion was included in a part of a $79 billion package of tax cuts and benefit extensions. Representatives passed the bill by a 215-204 vote and sent it to the Senate. The bill provides $4.6 billion to pay out settlements not only in the Pigford case but also for American Indians in a class-action lawsuit with the Interior Department over the mismanagement of Indian trust fund accounts. (Reuters, Optionetics, 5/28/10)

Friday, May 28, 2010

Testimony of Chris Pleasant, Transocean, Subsea Supervisor

Contrary to prior testimony from other rig leaders and BP's drilling engineer that tests gave no reason for concern and conditions were safe for the Deepwater Horizon to displace heavy drilling mud the evening of April 20, the rig's subsea supervisor testified Friday that workers were confused by some test results that showed possible leaks in the well.

Christopher Pleasant, the man in charge of the blowout preventer and other well systems on the sea floor, said he was part of lengthy discussions about fluid losses during a negative pressure test about four hours before the accident.

Christopher Pleasant, a subsea supervisor
with Transocean, swears in
before testifying at the Deepwater Horizon
joint investigation hearing, May 28, 2010

In a negative pressure test, the well head is shut off using annular valves in the massive blowout preventer device on the sea floor, and workers measure whether pressure causes any mud to come up to the rig from the marine riser that runs down to the well.

Pleasant said when he began his shift that day, he went to the drill floor and found a tool-pusher, one of the main drilling crew, discussing results of the negative pressure test with BP's top official on the rig. He said the tool-pusher was concerned that barrels of mud had leaked out during the pressure test. The workers disagreed about where the mud had been lost.

Christopher Pleasant, a subsea supervisor with Transocean,

testifies at the Deepwater Horizon joint investigation hearing, May 28, 2010

Drillers were "unsatisfied" with the negative test, which returned 15 barrels of mud, rather than the ideal of no mud released. And yet, the top drilling official on the rig, an Offshore Installation Manager and BP's well designer on shore testified previously that they believed the pressure tests were successful and no cause for concern. (Nola.com, 5/28/10, C-SPAN Video)

Gulf Coast Lawsuit

PUTATIVE class action lawsuit
FILED by SCHMIDT LAW FIRM on Behalf of mississippi bp oil spill victims


George W. Schmidt II of Schmidt Law Firm, has filed a putative class action lawsuit in the State of Mississippi against BP p.l.c. and 15 other drilling defendant entities involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, April 20, 2010. The lawsuit was filed in association with co-counsel firm Motley Rice LLC on behalf of putative class representatives Kimberly and Do Nguyen, individually and on behalf of others along the Mississippi coast who have sustained and continue to sustain damages to their businesses and livelihoods as a result of the oil spill. According to the plaintiffs’ claim, collective faults and failures on the part of all of the drilling defendants have resulted in significant and devastating financial loss due to the effects of the oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico’s and Mississippi’s marine and coastal environments, natural resources, estuarine areas and commercial fisheries.

Filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on Wednesday, May 26, 2010, the lawsuit seeks to compensate the Nguyens, and others similarly situated, for the financial losses, increased costs of doing business and other burdens that they have suffered through their sole business since the onset of the oil spill. Kimberly and Do Nguyen are Ocean Springs, MS, residents who operate a shrimp retail business known as The Shrimp Guy and depend upon shrimp obtained from the Gulf of Mexico. Because of the oil spill damage, they have been denied access to local shrimp, the foundation of their business, and have experienced a marked decrease in sales and profits while trying to locate adequate replacement shrimp. The lawsuit also covers additional Mississippi businesses that retail and wholesale seafood obtained by commercial fisherman from the affected waters.

The plaintiffs and putative class members represented in the lawsuit claim that each of the named defendants are liable in whole or in part for contributing to or causing the oil spill due to cost-cutting practices, failure to adhere to proper rules, regulations, and guidelines, as well as business practices that were negligent, grossly negligent, willful or wanton. As a direct result of the oil spill and the defendants’ failure to immediately stop the spill, the plaintiffs allege they have suffered and will continue to suffer from an extensive loss of revenue and earning capacity because of the damage to the fishing industry on which their livelihoods depend. Kimberly and Do Nguyen and the putative class seek economic, compensatory and punitive damages.

In an effort to compensate those economically harmed by the Gulf oil spill’s damage and hold accountable those responsible for causing the oil spill, the lawsuit alleges that the defendants are responsible, all or in part, for negligence, private nuisance, public nuisance, strict liability for product defect and strict liability for abnormally dangerous and ultra hazardous activities. The defendants named in the lawsuit are: BP p.l.c.; BP America Inc.; BP Products North America Inc.; BP American Production Company; BP Exploration & Production Inc; Anadarko Petroleum Corporation; Moex Offshore 2007 LLC; Transcocean Ltd.; Transocean Deepwater Inc.; Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc.; Transocean Holdings LLC; Triton Asset Leasing GmbH; Halliburton Energy Services Inc.; Cameron International Corporation f/k/a Cooper Cameron Corporation; M-I LLC; Weatherford International Ltd; and other people, companies and/or corporations whose identities are not yet known.

For more information about the oil spill lawsuit or to join the putative class action, contact attorney George W. Schmidt, II (MS) at 601.325.1219 or schmidtlawfirmpa@gmail.com.

About Schmidt Law Firm, P.A.
George Schmidt, II has18 years of trial experience in state and federal courts representing the people of Mississippi. Schmidt Law Firm, located in Hattiesburg, represents individuals seriously injured through the negligence of others, including defective products and drugs, oil field accidents, consumer fraud, insurance bad faith cases and toxic torts. Schmidt is a member of the Mississippi Municipal Judges Association, Mississippi Bar, the American Bar Association, the Mississippi Association for Justice and the Lamar Order. Additional information about Schmidt Law Firm, P.A. can be obtained by contacting the Mississippi Bar Association at: 601-948-2344. Co-counsel Motley Rice LLC is located at 28 Bridgeside Blvd, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464.

Plant Vogtle and Environmental Justice

AAEA has not conducted an in-depth analysis of the environmental justice issues related to the proposed construction of two new nuclear units at Plant Vogtle, left, but our preliminary observation is that the economic impacts and disproportionate industrial site issues have merit. Clearly the operation of Plant Vogtle has not led to economic advancement for the Blacks in the City of Waynesboro or in Burke, County Georgia. The county is 51% Black and 47% White. The racial makeup of the city is 63% African American, 36% White. The question is: how much responsibility does the Southern Company have for economic development and employment in the City of Waynesboro and Burke County in general and to the black communities in particular?
The unemployment rate in Waynesboro and Burke County is 11.5% and the median income is $32,000. Our guess is that the Black unemployment, if it mirrors the national trend, hovers around 17%. According to the Burke County tax commissioner, property taxes from Plant Vogtle account for 77 percent ($22 million last year) of all property taxes in the county. That percentage is expected to rise with the addition of the two new reactors.

We doubt the health, safety and pollution claims by opponents of the current plant because studies have proved otherwise at commercial nuclear power plants all over the country. Although nuclear power plants have air, water and RCRA permits, they do not generally pose health, safety or pollution threats. However, they have pollution permits and add to the overall impacts in the area. And that is where environmental injustice could be triggered. The nearby Savannah River site is acknowledged by everyone as being a highly polluted site. Billions are committed to its cleanup.

The Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, located near Waynesboro in eastern Georgia near the South Carolina border, is jointly owned by Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power (45.7%), Oglethorpe Power Corporation (30%), Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7%) and Dalton Utilities (1.6%).

An Early Site Permit (ESP) was issued to Georgia Power by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in August 2009. Georgia Power’s application for a construction and operating license (COL) is currently being considered by the NRC. The reactor design is the Westinghouse AP1000. Georgia Power has receive an $8.3 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy for construction of the plant.

Reverend Charles Utley of Hyde Park in Augusta has pointed out the continued poverty in Burke County after the construction boom that accompanied the first two Vogtle reactors. Considering that Georgia Power has to come up with about $14 billion to build the plant and the NRC charges almost $100 million just to get the license to operate the plant, no wonder monies are not available for additional economic development projects. Yet, with so much money being spent, it would seem that more funds could be directed to economic development in the area. Without it, environmental injustice via disproportionate impacts becomes an issue that should be seriously considered.

Reverend Charles Utley, Pastor, McElmurray Spring Branch Baptist Church, 677 Spring Branch Church Road, Waynesboro, GA 308-30706-554-9100 utleyc@mail.paine.edu

Everest 2010: Alan Arnette Weighs In On Jordan Romero


As I mentioned earlier today, the Everest season has pretty much wound to a close for spring 2010, but that doesn't mean there still aren't topics that are spurring discussion. One of the most polarizing, yet celebrated, figures on Everest this year, was without a doubt Jordan Romero.

The 13-year old kid from California, who set a new mark for the youngest person to climb the mountain, has been the center of attention, both in and out of the climbing community, with some people applauding the young man for going after his goals, and others criticizing his parents for allowing him to even think about attempting Everest, let alone encouraging him to do so.

Alan Arnette, who always has the best coverage of Everest and information on what is going on there, has weighed in with his thoughts on Jordan and what he has accomplished. It's a very well written piece, that objectively looks at all sides of the story . You can read Alan's thoughts by clicking here.

Personally, I share a lot of the same opinions about Jordan and the climb in general, that Alan has. I've been writing about Jordan since his Kilimanjaro climb three years ago, and I've followed him on most of his other expeditions as well. While I've gone on record more than once saying that I though climbing Everest at 13 was a bad idea, I never the less found myself pulling for Jordan as he made his summit bid, and I sighed with relief when he made it back down the mountain safely.

My objections aren't to Jordan personally, but to the recent push for younger and younger kids to attempt these dangerous things. I fear where that could be headed, and I don't like the look of it. Let's hope that Jordan's record stands for a really, really long time.

Ocean Rowing: Roz Is Closing In!


Ocean Rower Roz Savage has been back on the water for 40 days, as she continues on her solo row across the Pacific, in this, her third and final leg of the journey. Roz first began this adventure back in 2008, when she rowed from San Francisco to Hawaii. With Stage 1 complete, she returned to the islands in 2009, and continued the voyage, ending at the tiny island of Tarawa in the South Pacific, the same place that she set out from in mid-April.

The plan this time out was to finish the crossing, by ending in Australia, but quick glance at the Roz Tracker tells us she is approaching Papua New Guinea, and she is now planning on ending the voyage in Madang, which is now just 260 nautical miles away. At her current pace, she'll probably reach the finish line in a little more than a week or so, depending on conditions.

I would imagine that these final days on the water a kind of bittersweet for Roz. She's nearing the end of a project that has been the focus of her life for more than five years. But she has also shifted her role from not just being an ocean rower and fearless adventurer but also an champion for the environment and an Eco Hero.

Watch for more updates on Roz's progress soon, as she finished up one very impressive feat, a solo, stage row, across the Pacific Ocean.

Sharing the stories of America’s small businesses

Editor's note: This is our fifth and final post in a series celebrating National Small Business Week. Previous posts highlighted small businesses (Revenue Spark, Smart Furniture, and Free Range Studios) that have adopted Google Apps, and tips for using Gmail at work. Today, we’ll hear the story of one more entrepreneur and discuss how you can share your own.

Among many things, Vinny Lingham is an entrepreneur, CEO, search engine marketer, and recipient of numerous business related awards including the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leader (2009), the Top ICT Young Entrepreneur in Africa (2006), and the Endeavor High Impact Entrepreneur (2006). Currently, Vinny is serving as the CEO of Yola.com – a San Francisco based startup company that offers easy-to-use, browser based website creation software for over 3 million users worldwide.

Yola became a Google Apps customer as soon as it was formed more than 3 years ago. Today, with a distributed workforce of over 60 people globally, Yola is using Google Apps for everything from email to document collaboration resulting in tremendous savings and increased productivity.

According to Vinny, “The founders of Yola knew the company’s potential and wanted a scalable and cost effective solution that could grow with their business. Google Apps made it easy to be up and running within minutes and was a fast and low-maintenance solution that fit the needs of a growing company.”

Vinny and his team at Yola are among millions of entrepreneurs and small businesses that are having a positive impact on our economy; this week we celebrated their contributions. In addition to Vinny, we selected a few other organizations, shared their stories, and showcased ways that they take advantage of Google Apps. Now it’s your turn.

Learn how to share your story by visiting the AdWords Blog where you can find tools that teams at Google created to help small businesses succeed. Included are steps on how to create a “Search Story” that walks through your journey as a small business, then share it with us and the world. We’re looking forward to seeing what you create!

Posted by Michelle Lisowski, the Google Apps team

Steps To The Summit - Step 2: Make A Plan

Today's installment of Steps To The Summit, which comes to us courtesy of the Hanesbrand sponsored Climb With Us Team, focuses on making a plan for chasing after your goal. We started the series by Learning About Ourselves and discovering a goal that we want to achieve. In this video, it is all about developing a plan to achieve that goal.

For team leader Jamie Clarke, who hosts the Steps to the Summit videos, his goal has always been to summit Everest. And after identifying that goal at a rather young age, he started thinking about the things he would need to do to make it a reality. He formulated a plan to develop the skills he would need and network with the right people to help him succeed. He discusses that process, and talks about how those planning skills can be applied to what ever your goal is as well.

More Climbing, and Falling With Dean Potter

A few days back I posted a video of Dean Potter free climbing the Eiger and using a BASE jumping parachute as his safety net. Today we have another video of Dean, this time mixing in a bunch of his passions, including rock climbing, BASE jumping, slack lining, and so on. A word of warning though, there are some amazing shots of Dean climbing, but also some scary drops too. I'm just glad he decided using the 'chute!

Also, after watching this, does anyone else want to know the story between Potter and the cop that takes place part way though? Very interesting! :)

Everest 2010: Wrapping Things Up


It now looks that it is officially over on Everest for the season, as reports are that the Sherpas are bringing down all the gear and trash on both the North and South Sides of the mountain. The weather has taken a turn, and it seems that the monsoon has moved in, signaling an end to the climbing there, at least until the fall. Despite all of that, it seems there are still a few things to report on, even most of the climbers are now either back in Kathmandu or well on their way.

Before I get on with the remaining notes from the mountain however, it should be pointed out that tomorrow will mark the 57th anniversary of Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reaching the summit of Everest for the first time. It is a shame that no one will be up there to commemorate that event. Perhaps Sir Ed's spirit will be there however, as Apa Sherpa, making his 20th trip to the top, reportedly took some of the New Zealanders' ashes up with him. That seems a fitting tribute for this year.

Alan Arnette is still posting his excellent dispatches on the spring season, and he discusses the clean-up efforts that are taking place on the mountain at this very moment. Alan remarks that is is really tough work, even vor the incredibly strong Sherpas. He describes it as "back breaking" as they bring double and triple loads off the mountain in effort to finish up as quickly as possible. This is the grunt work that no one thinks about, and truly serves to highlight how important the Sherpas are to any Himalayan climb. Very few people would actually get to the top without the help of the Sherpas, and now, after the summits have ceased, and the clients have gone home, they're still there, working away. They get much respect from me.

Alan also quotes Aussie climber Duncan Chessell, who says that the weather he experienced on Everest this year was terrible, and said that the conditions at the summit were the worst he had ever seen, "by a factor of at least 10." This gives you an idea of what it was like for these late season summitteers, who waited out a snow storm for one last crack at the summit. It sounds like it was horrific up there.

Chad Kellogg has posted an update on his story at Outdoor Research's Verticulture site. You may recall that Chad was hoping to make a speed attempt on Everest, and by the sounds of things, it was going fairly well, until he reached The Balcony, located at 27,000 feet, on the South Side of the mountain, where he encountered traffic jams, and was eventually forced to turn back due to poor weather conditions.

In the post, Chad gives good details on his climb, including a series of mishaps that helped to slow him down and make the climb more challenging than he expected. Simple things like stepping in a pool of water and soaking a shoe, which caused him to change into other shoes, had an effect on his approach, particularly since he was attempting to go quickly up the mountain, wearing track spikes! He also had a trekking pole stolen from his cache at Camp 1, which didn't help his cause much either, and as a result, Chad was already behind his own schedule when he reached Camp 2 an hour later than he expected.

I won't spoil the rest of his story, but encourage you to read it. It's an interesting look at what these speed climbers go through, and some of the things they do to shave time off of their climb. Chad does say he hopes to return in the future and give it another go. I'm not sure if it is in the cards for him, but if he can go in the fall, he'll find far less traffic to deal with at the bottlenecks on the mountain.

Finally, ExWeb is reporting that there have now been more than 5000 successful summits of Everest. That's a pretty large number when you think about it. Does that take away the allure of the place? For the general public, it would seem that the answer is no, but in the mountaineering crowd, I think opinions are a bit more mixed.

Man Crosses English Channel In Chair Lifted By Helium Balloons


36-year old American Jonathan Trappe has crossed the English Channel today in a chair that was lifted into the sky by several dozen helium filled balloons. He is the first "cluster balloonist" to complete that crossing.

Trappe set out from a field in Kent, England early this morning, rising to a height of 2000 feet and moving at a speed of up to 19 miles per hour. It took him roughly an hour to reach the coast of Britain, and then roughly another 2 hours to sail across the channel before reaching the Dunkirk. From there, the experienced pilot began to cut away a few balloons at a time, which gently lowered him to the ground. He would eventually land in cabbage patch, completing his flight. He risked landing in the channel, and possibly drowning, as well as hitting power lines while descending in France, to make this voyage.

Trappe is use to making these kinds of flights, and even holds the record for covering the longest distance. Earlier this year he flew 109 miles over North Carolina in setting that new mark.

Check out some video from Sky News this morning that captures the balloon chair in flight.

NFMC Report: More than Half of Families Facing Foreclosure Affected by Job Loss


Today NeighborWorks America, the administrator of the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program, announced that 58 percent of homeowners who received foreclosure counseling through the NFMC Program reported the primary reason they were facing foreclosure was reduced or lost income. The news is found in NeighborWorks’ fifth Congressional report, which outlines NFMC Program activity through January 31, 2010.

"With unemployment numbers not likely to dip below 9 percent in 2010, our report proves what many already believed to be true. Unemployment and reduced income are having a devastating effect on our nation’s homeowners,” said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America. “While Congress and state governments have stepped up and extended unemployment benefits to help families survive this tough economic climate, it’s time for mortgage servicers and investors to make meaningful accommodations for homeowners facing foreclosure. If they don’t, we’ll see even more empty houses and devastated neighborhoods in our communities.”

Greater detail on the findings of this report can be found in the NeighborWorks newsroom.


Thursday, May 27, 2010

Does Israel cause antisemitism?

As his article in the May/June issue of Tikkun magazine (“Are Israeli Policies Entrenching Anti-Semitism Worldwide”) attests, Tony Klug is part of that broad camp for Israel’s security and a two-state solution with the Palestinians that I also inhabit. He also shares with me an iconoclastic idea that I posed in an op-ed in The Forward seven years ago, following a conference at New York’s YIVO about the “New Anti-Semitism”: that today’s Jew-hatred is more about the televised and Webcast views of Arab suffering at the hands of Israeli power than traditional anti-Jewish prejudices. To be sure, classic hate imagery (previously dormant) underlines the situation, but recent acts against non-Israeli Jews are a spillover from the Mideast conflict.

Where I depart from Dr. Klug is in his apparent conviction that this is entirely the fault of Jews---of the narrow “tribalistic” bond of Jews with their Israeli brethren on the one hand, and of the unconscionable policies of settlement expansion, military brutality, and discriminatory practices of the State of Israel on the other. I don’t deny that these play a role, but nowhere does Klug attach any responsibility to violence by Arab terror groups or the Palestinian Authority’s failure to accommodate to moderate Israeli peace offers and concessions (I hasten to add that the PA's negotiating failure is also Israel's).

Israel's move to the right can be attributed to the awful fact that the Oslo peace process collapsed into the second intifada, costing 1,000 Israeli lives, and then Israel's unilateral withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza resulted in more attacks. Causation is not as simple as most Israelis and Jews believe, but the coincidence of events persuaded them of direct cause & effect and of total Arab culpability.

Klug’s indignation seems especially overwrought in a section asserting that if Israel’s harsh deeds were committed by a government of Buddhists or Hindus, the world would similarly denounce them, and there would be repercussions for diaspora Buddhists and Hindus who show solidarity with their kin (an especially nasty speculation on the part of Klug). One wonders if Klug’s been following events in Sri Lanka and Kashmir.

Sri Lanka in particular is a close parallel, where a separate ethnic and religious group supported a terrorist movement that fought for independence and was mercilessly pounded into submission last year, almost exactly at the same time that Israel hit back at Gaza with somewhat less violence, inflicting far fewer casualties. (I did not support the Gaza offensive.) We have yet to see indignant reactions by the world against the Sinhalese (Buddhist) majority government, not to mention against India’s violent occupation over restive Muslims in Kashmir, nor (God forbid) against their respective diasporas.

A more effective and radical peace posture is not to cast blame on one side, as Klug does, but to patiently unpack historical details as completely and fairly as possible. Israelis and Palestinians together killed the peace process of the 1990s, in a tragic and fateful unfolding of events.

Baruch Goldstein committed the first mass murder incident of the Oslo years and Israel failed to react against the settler community from whence he came; this constituted a huge provocation for Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorism. Secondly, an Israeli murdered Yitzhak Rabin, who would likely have been reelected in 1996, instead of leaving Peres (a serial loser of elections) to fall to Netanyahu and the anti-Oslo right; Peres made the colossal error of killing the Hamas master bomber, Ayyash, during the election campaign--which led directly to a wave of reprisal terrorist attacks that erased his 20-point lead over Netanyahu.

Four years later, Barak rejected the phased withdrawal that was an obligation under Oslo, and this led to his mad dash/last ditch effort at Camp David that was too fevered and high pressured to succeed. Barak also allowed Sharon to promenade on the Temple Mount with hundreds of security personnel---a direct trigger for the beginning of the second intifada.

But I also know that Arafat thought he could manipulate the violence of the second intifada to advance his bargaining position. This represented a total misunderstanding of Israelis and their electoral system; it was Arafat who elected Sharon in 2001 as surely as if he had stuffed the ballot boxes. Arafat’s successor, Mahmoud Abbas, has admitted that the second intifada was a terrible mistake for the Palestinians. And it was the rise of Hamas to power after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, and the former's on-again/ off-again use of violence against southern Israel (events ignored by Klug), which led to Netanyahu's return to power---along with his racist/ buffoon allies in Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party.

Phila. rally decries Ariz. immigrant crackdown

Marchers demonstrated in the "From Philly to Phoenix" rally, getting ready for the rally in Arizona. - - Donna Poisl

By Michael Matza, Inquirer Staff Writer

Marching for immigrant rights outside Independence Hall on Wednesday, about 100 placard-carrying demonstrators denounced Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigration and called on President Obama to honor his campaign pledge to bring about comprehensive reform.

The rally was also a launchpad for several Philadelphia area activists headed to Arizona to take part in protests this week.

Clergy, union members, students, and pro-immigrant groups came together Wednesday under banners with such slogans as "European Descendants for Immigrant Rights" and "Democracia Ahora," or "Democracy Now."
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Faith Coalition Stands with 2nd Grader Who Spoke Up for Families to Michelle Obama

PRESS RELEASE

Religious Leaders Call for President, Congress to Put Families Ahead of Politics, Pass Immigration Reform

The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is standing today with the seven-year-old girl who gave voice to the reality of our broken immigration system yesterday by asking First Lady Michelle Obama if her undocumented mother will be deported.

At First Lady Obama's and Mexico's First Lady Margarita Zavala's visit to an elementary school in Silver Spring, MD yesterday, the second-grade student's simple yet powerful question to Mrs. Obama about "Barack Obama... taking everybody away that doesn't have papers" and how her mom "doesn't have any [papers]" revealed the tragedy that parents are torn away from their children as America waits for Congress to pass immigration reform.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this PRESS RELEASE! This is only a small part of it.

NILC and Civil Rights Groups File Legal Challenge to Arizona Racial Profiling Law

Click on the headline here to read the press release from the NILC. - - Donna Poisl

Opposition to Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law Grows

sent by HIAS/JTA

Last week, the Reform Rabbis in Arizona and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern Arizona issued statements condemning the harsh anti-immigrant law that was enacted in Arizona at the end of April.

Also last week, the National Immigration Law Center and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a class action lawsuit challenging the Arizona legislation on the grounds that it violates the Constitution, interferes with federal law, invites racial profiling, and infringes on free speech rights.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Have your own immigration story?

While this website is hosted by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and most of the stories there are from Jewish immigrants, you should all sign up. This society is very active in the whole immigration reform movement and they work with all immigrant and refugee issues. They would welcome stories from people from all countries and beliefs.

Free Range Studios: Helping progressive organizations, one doc at a time

Editor's Note:This is the fourth post in a series celebrating National Small Business Week. Previous posts highlighted small businesses (Revenue Spark and Smart Furniture) that have adopted Google Apps and tips for using Gmail at work. Today, we’ll look at how Google Docs is helping a small business manage its extensive project portfolio and internal operations.

Free Range Studios is a creative agency that has helped hundreds of progressive organizations communicate their messages around social change. If you ask the team, divided between offices in Washington, D.C. and Berkeley, California, Free Range is “Creativity with a Conscience.” This applies to the types of stories they tell and how they tell them, whether it’s through an eco-friendly print ad or a web movie.

At any given time, Free Range is managing projects for multiple non-profits and socially responsible companies. For a small business to create at this scale, collaboration is key. Google Docs is helping Free Range be more nimble, work more efficiently, and remove location barriers.

Free Range switched to Google Apps in 2007; at about the same time, they began to change their approach to staffing projects from office-based to project-based. A single project can now have contributors from either office, in addition to freelancers or clients who can potentially be located anywhere. With real-time collaboration in Google Docs, all these groups can contribute to an idea as though they’re working side-by-side.

Google Docs is also improving office efficiency. Pete Hamm, Operations Manager, decided to use online forms, created in Google Spreadsheets, to manage tedious tasks that would otherwise take valuable time away from projects. For example, when submitting vacation requests, employees can now fill out a form that automatically populates into a spreadsheet where Pete can take action immediately.

According to Pete Hamm, “Google Docs makes spreadsheets, presentations, and word processing an afterthought - which is what good business tools are supposed to do. Just like email and smart phones, Google Docs facilitates collaboration, instead of hindering it, allowing us to focus on our mission.”

Posted by Michelle Lisowski, the Google Apps team

Interview with Ken Rose

Dear Friends,

Ken Rose has a kind of controversial thought program on KOSW-FM, I think it is, in California, and recently did an interview with me--abt 50 mins. long. You can access it, if you'd like, on his website: www.pantedmonkey.org. Just scroll down to May 24 and then click on my name.

Enjoy...mb

Blackheart.com.au Wins XPD Australia Adventure Race


The 2010 XPD Australia, taking place in Cairns over the past week, is over, with BlackHeart.com.au crossing the finish line in first place after more than seven days of racing. They were joined on the podium by McCain Adventure Addicts of South Africa and Team Merrell/Akali, a mixed team from France, New Zealand, and Canada, in second and third place respectively.

The expedition length adventure race challenged teams of four to run, trek, mountain bike, paddle, and navigate their way through some of the most challenging backcountry that Queensland, Australia has to offer. The athletes found themselves in kayaks on wild whitewater rivers as well as the sea, while they hiked through rainforests and biked challenging single track.

The winning team reached the finish line several hour ahead of the second place finishers, but it was not as easy as it would seem from just glancing at the leaderboard. Team Orion Adventure was at the front of the pack, pushing Blackheart hard late in the race, but that outstanding team was forced to withdraw due to an ankle injury to one of the team members when they were on the final leg of the race.

Congratulations to BlackHeart.com.au on an outstanding race. To find out more about the XPD, head over to Adventure World Magazine, where they've followed the events much more closely than I have this past week. They've even posted a very good profile on McCain Adventure Addicts, a team that recorded their best finish ever in an International race.

Enter the Vibram Grip Your World Sweepstakes


Yesterday we had Teva giving away some great gear, today it's Vibram with a sweepstakes to send someone on a trip to Chamonix, France.

To enter the Grip Your World Sweepstakes, you simply have to go to GripYourWorld.com, Vibram's new website for outdoor enthusiasts, and upload a photo of yourself taking part in some outdoor activity. You can share a story about your adventure if you'd like to give it some context too, but that isn't required to enter the contest. The sweepstakes will run through June 18th, at which time a grand prize winner will be selected at random.

That lucky winner will be sent off on a trip for two to Chamonix, France, one of the great adventure location in the Alps, to attend the North Face's Tour du Mont Blanc, an annual ultra-marathon that covers 166km (103 miles) around Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe. The travel package includes roundtrip airfare to Switzerland, ground transportation via train to Chamonix, three nights accommodations, and VIP passes to the event.

Twenty second place winners will receive a pair of Vibram FiveFingers footwear.

The contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. Good luck!

Tour d'Afrique Preview Video

Ever wonder what it is like to ride in the Tour d'Afrique, the 7500 mile long race and expedition ride from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town South Africa? Well, this awesome video will give you a bit of a glimpse into that epic adventure, which is run annually, and crosses through ten different countries, as you run north to south through Africa.

After watching this video, you'll probably want to go to this page to register for the 2011 Tour. You can thank me later. ;)


Everest Base Camp Trek: Kathmandu


As promised, the second installment of my series of posts on my recent trek through the Himalaya has been posted on Gadling. This time out, I'm writing about Kathmandu, which really is the gateway to the Himalaya.

One of the most challenging aspect of a trip to Nepal is the rather long travel times just to get there, at least for anyone coming from the United States. There is something a bit unsettling about leaving on a Friday and arriving at your destination on Sunday. In all, it was approximately 32 hours of travel time to get to Kathmandu, which can be tiring in and of itself.

Once you arrive, it can be a bit overwhelming. It is a hot, dry place and there are few creature comforts, even in the hotels. We stayed a place called the Manag Hotel, which was serviceable, but certainly not the best accommodations that I've stayed in. When the blackouts hit, the rooms would become quite warm, giving you a good excuse to hit the streets and escape from the place, even if for a little while.

Fortunately, the Manang was located right in the Thamel district, which made it easy to shop for gear and other goods, while finding places to eat and exploring the local culture. The shops in that region has all kinds of bargains for last minute gear shopping, but you do have to be careful that you're not buying a cheap knockoff. Sometimes these were very easy to spot, but others, not so much.

Kathmandu is just the start of the adventure however, and while it is an interesting place, we were all eager to hit the mountains. Those stories are coming in the days ahead, and I'll keep posting links to them as I post at Gadling, while sharing some different thoughts on the trip here.

I hope you enjoy the series.

Everest 2010: Rescues and Casualties


It appears that the Spring 2010 Season on Everest is all but over, as the major summit push occurred over the weekend at the beginning of the week. Most of the climbers are down in Base Camp now, or further down the Khumbu Valley, and working their way back to Kathmandu. It's amazing how quickly they abandon the mountain once they are done, but after spending weeks there, I'm sure they are eager to get back to the thicker air, and more importantly their friends and family.

Now that things have quieted down some, and the teams are back in communications range, we're starting to hear more stories from the mountain and what really happened high up on the slopes. During the summit push, we generally only get a sketchy idea of what is going on, but it seems that there were some dramatic moments to say the least.

For instance, Melissa Arnot and Dave Morton, of the First Ascent Team, helped in the rescue of a climber who had fallen into a crevasse when she was crossing an ice bridge in the Khumbu Ice Falls. Apparently, the woman fell about 30 meters down, but with the help of a number of guides, she was pulled out, and stabilized so that she could be evacuated from the mountain the following day. No word on her condition at this time.

Alan Arnette has a nice recap of some of the other rescues that took place on the mountain, including British Climber Bonita Norris' harrowing descent after she fell and hit her head, and as a result she had to be dragged down to Camp 4 by a group of Sherpas. Similarly, there is this account of Anita Kobold's near disaster, written by her husband. Anita was in Camp 2 and slipped and fell, hitting her head on a rock, immediately losing consciousness, and going unresponsive. Fortunately, the trained medical staff were able to revive her, and get her off the mountain on a helicopter, but it was a very scary moment for the entire team.

Alan also reports that there have been three confirmed deaths on Everest this year, including Laszlo Varkonyi who died on the North Col and Tom Jørgensen, who succumbed to altitude sickness in a Tibetan village a few days after he was brought down. Late reports also indicate that a Japanese climber named Hiroshi perished in Camp 3 on the North Side following a successful summit bid as well. Sergei Duganov died on the South Side as well, but was actually making an attempt on Lhotse, which shares a good portion of the same route with Everest up the South Col. ExWeb also indicated yesterday that there could be another casualty, but offered no details, and nothing is confirmed as of now.

There do appear to be a few climbers left on the mountain hoping to make a final push, although the weather has to cooperate, and at the moment that doesn't seem to be happening. Sherpas are reportedly tearing down the high camps, and on the Ice Doctors won't maintain the path through the Icefall on the South Side for too many more days. Things are definitely coming to a close, and I think it is safe to say that after this weekend, another chapter of the Everest story will be closed.

Films and boycotts

My celebratory overview of Israeli films, "Israeli Cinema Continues to Shine," published in the May/June issue of Tikkun, is now available on its website. This article focuses upon the recent feature films, "Ajami" and "For My Father," and concludes with the following plea against boycotting Israeli cultural products:

Recent protests in the United States against the Israel Ballet Company (and last year against the Batsheva Dance Company), as well as the brouhaha at last year's Toronto Film Festival over its spotlight on the city of Tel Aviv in its centennial year, raise the prospect that BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) activists may target Israeli films. Those who support BDS need to consider whether attacking this film industry, boldly liberal in its exposure of current and historic flaws in Israeli society, is the way to go. Moreover, the targeting of cultural entities in general (including universities) comes across as an attack on Israelis as a people, and not just against the often repressive policies of the government of the State of Israel.
In the meantime, last weekend's Haaretz magazine has published a long analysis of the effectiveness of economic boycotts as an international strategy. It recounts a profoundly mixed record, which usually boomerangs against the intended impact. For example, while the South African example was something of a success, the Arab boycott against the pre-state Yishuv and then the State of Israel, was begun for protectionist reasons and in the long run helped bolster Israel into an economic powerhouse. This is a complex subject matter, treated intelligently and in depth.

OMEGA TRADE SHOW 5-10

Yuengling was well represented at the recent OMEGA trade show in West Virginia. OMEGA is the West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association. The OMEGA organization promotes and improves the business interests of those engaged in the petroleum marketing, retail grocery and convenience store industries within the state of West Virginia.

The trade show was held at Glade Springs Resort in Daniels, WV. The event kicked off with a golf outing on Tuesday, that was followed by a dinner reception. Before dinner, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III spoke to guests, along with WVU head basketball coach Bob Huggins. Also during the dinner, there was a silent auction which benefited the OMEGA WV Scholarship Fund. Guests had the opportunity to bid on a Yuengling 180th Anniversary Mirror signed by Dick Yuengling.

On Wednesday for the trade show, approximately 500 retailers walked the aisles to see what was new in the convenience store industry. At the Yuengling table, fans were able to sample Lager, Light Lager, Black & Tan, Lord Chesterfield Ale, and Porter. The Lager brand is extremely popular in West Virginia and this show was a great opportunity to sample and discuss the other great Yuengling brands with buyers. Attendees also learned more about the Orange County Chopper summer promotion while visiting the Yuengling table.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello at this event. West Virginia is Yuengling's newest market and we look forward to a successful future in the Mountain State.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Amelia Island Boules - week night

Saturday morning games are still as successful as ever, but... it's getting hot! So we tried out an alternative for those who are either busy on the weekend or don't like bright sunshine: Wednesday evening games, 6 to 8pm.

18 players joined in for the first test and had a ball.
One thing's for sure: you can't beat the sunset view!

Amelia Island Boules - week night

Saturday morning games are still as successful as ever, but... it's getting hot! So we tried out an alternative for those who are either busy on the weekend or don't like bright sunshine: Wednesday evening games, 6 to 8pm.

18 players joined in for the first test and had a ball.
One thing's for sure: you can't beat the sunset view!

Immigrants hurdle language barrier with help of Cuban-Americans

This couple, who came here from Cuba, remember how difficult it was for them to learn English and learn how to live here. They are helping other immigrants who are going through the same things. - - Donna Poisl

By Sarah Einselen

Holed up in an office in the Diamond District of Manhattan, Luis Iza laid aside his work with a diamond engagement ring to fill in the blanks on a worksheet of English vocabulary. He chatted and laughed with a client, as he got ready to leave his office, carrying the worksheet in his briefcase. But he was not ready to go home yet. He was headed for a small Spanish-speaking church in Dumont, New Jersey.

Luis Iza and his wife, Maggie, volunteer their time to teach English as a second language (ESL) to Bergen County immigrants, where Luis was going to use the worksheet as an answer key for language exercises. One Anglo lawyer joins the Izas and several other Latinos to teach classes at the Iglesia Bautista Resurreción on Washington Avenue twice a week. The Izas learned English as their second language and are helping fresher immigrants do the same.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Immigration Case Backlog Is Still Growing

There is a backlog of 242,776 cases waiting for resolution at the Executive Office for Immigration Review. And this is after the immigrants have waited years to get to this point. This article has some fascinating figures and graphs. - - Donna Poisl

By CATHERINE RAMPELL

Much has been said about immigration reform, in particular the need find ways to close American borders and bring undocumented immigrants already here out of the shadows.

But little attention has been paid to the hundreds of thousands of aliens who have already been brought out of the shadows — but who remain in legislative limbo.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Senate GOP: Border troops could lead to immigration compromise

Maybe the new order for troops to the border will turn into a compromise and can get some Republican backing for immigration reform this year. - - Donna Poisl

By David Weigel

I wrote earlier about how today's surprising immigration politics were good for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), but I was struck by the seeming readiness for compromise from Republicans who, at the start of the day, were beseeching the Obama administration to send troops to the border.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

To read the piece Mr. Weigel refers to: (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/05/mccain_gets_political_win_on_b.html)

The Cellular World

I always enjoyed the story of how Ludwig Wittgenstein, after delivering a four-hour lecture to his class in Cambridge on the intricacies of some logical problem, would then go to a movie in town (his favorite genre was the American Western) and sit in the front row, letting the images inundate his overheated brain. Intuitively, it makes sense, the need to turn off the intellect and immerse oneself in fantasy for a while. Now it turns out that it makes scientific sense as well. In her recent book, The Philosophical Baby, psychologist Alison Gopnik notes that magnetic imaging studies show that the occipital cortex, which is very active in the infant brain, lights up in adults while they are watching a movie, while the prefrontal lobe shuts down. In short, there is a reversion (if that is the right word) to pre-critical thinking, which adults often experience as a relief from the “tyranny” of the prefrontal cortex. This latter part of the brain is undeveloped in infants, and doesn’t fully form in most individuals until they are in their twenties. The implication is that imagination precedes rational analysis; to do art, be creative, or imagine hypothetical worlds, one has to play, to tap into that preverbal substrate of the mind.

In his review of Gopnik’s work (New York Review of Books, 11 March 2010), Michael Greenberg talks about how elusive and shadowy the infant’s consciousness really is. Tolstoy wrote that it was but a slight step from a five-year-old boy to a man of fifty, but a huge distance between a newborn and a five-year-old. Greenberg says of the first five years of life:

“Mysterious and otherworldly, infancy and early childhood are surrounded later in life by a curious amnesia, broken by flashes of memory that come upon us unbidden, for the most part, with no coherent or reliable context. With their sensorial, almost cellular evocations, these memories seem to reside more in the body than the mind; yet they are central to our sense of who we are to ourselves.”

Proust immediately comes to mind, of course: the scene with the madeleine in Du côté de chez Swann, where the taste of the cookie suddenly opens the door to a flood of childhood memories, long forgotten but still latent in the body. “Cellular evocations…central to our sense of who we are to ourselves.” If the phrase “human identity” has a meaning, surely this is it. And yet that fundamental cellular identity gets papered over, as it were; as we grow older, we become someone else. But it is not clear that the archaic self ever goes away completely.

In his autobiography, the psychologist Carl Jung tells the story of a man who comes to him for therapy, apparently at the insistence of his wife. The man is dull as a stick: a Swiss high school principal of about sixty years of age, who did everything “right” all his life, and never experienced a moment of ecstasy or imagination. Jung suggests that he keep a record of his dreams, which he does, showing up at the second session with something potentially disturbing. He dreamt that he entered a darkened room, and found a three-year-old infant covered with feces, and crying. What, he asked Dr. Jung, could it mean? Jung decided not to tell him the obvious: that the baby was himself, that it had had the life crushed out of it at an early age, and was now crying out to be heard. Exposing the “shadow” to the light of day, Jung told himself, would precipitate a psychosis in this poor guy; he wouldn’t be able to handle the psychic confrontation. So Jung gave him some sort of neutral explanation, saw the man a few more times, finally pronounced him “cured,” and let him go.

One wonders if the good doctor did the right thing. Is a living death preferable to a psychotic awakening? On the other hand—and I have a feeling Jung would agree with me on this—aren’t we all that man, to some degree? Perhaps not as wigged out, but it may be a question of degree, nothing more. Abandonment of that cellular identity is the abandonment of life itself; the abandonment of the part of ourselves that is in touch with the “miraculous,” as some have called it.

A couple of poems come to mind. One is by Antonio Machado (my translation):

The wind, one clear day, called to my heart
with the sweet smell of jasmine.

“In exchange for this aroma,
I want the scent of all your roses.”
“I have no roses; the flowers
in my garden are gone; they are all dead.”

“Then I’ll take the tears from your fountains,
The yellow leaves and the withered petals.”
And the wind left…My heart bled…
“My soul, what have you done with your poor little garden?”

Who, upon reading this, can’t feel a sense of guilt, a sense of something having been betrayed, and now faintly stirring, knocking on the door of consciousness, asking to be heard, at long last?

The same theme comes up in “Faith Healing,” by the British poet Philip Larkin, which describes a “workshop” being held somewhere in England by a visiting American guru. Undoubtedly, he is something of a charlatan; but even (or especially) charlatans know how to press the right buttons. The women in the workshop line up to be held by him for twenty seconds, to hear him ask, “Now, dear child, What’s wrong,” before he moves on to the next person. Most just come and go, but some start twitching, crying,

…as if a kind of dumb
And idiot child within them still survives
To re-awake at kindness, thinking a voice
At last calls them alone…

What’s wrong! Moustached in flowered frocks they shake:
By now, all’s wrong. In everyone there sleeps
A sense of life lived according to love.
To some it means the difference they could make
By loving others, but across most it sweeps
As all they might have done had they been loved.

Larkin goes on to compare this moment to the thawing of a frozen landscape, a weeping that spreads slowly through the body—just from the fact of being asked the question, of having someone recognize that there is even a question to be asked. As with Machado, it’s hard not to identify with the emotion that is being pulled out of a deep cellular memory. What is the “poor little garden,” if not the “sense of life lived according to love” sleeping within us, the cellular memory that never really goes away?

There is, of course, in virtually every society, a kind of conspiracy to keep that memory out of conscious awareness. We need to ask why that would be the case; but meanwhile, it’s clear that if it emerges at all, it is by “accident” (the madeleine that triggers a kinesthetic memory, e.g.), or in a therapist’s office, or in a dream (or a poem). If the cellular world is repressed within the individual, it is also repressed within society. Hence, to study human psychology is really to study abnormal psychology, and to study sociology is to really to study a kind of institutionalized insanity; or weirdness, at the very least. But it is hardly an accident that the two go hand in hand. Observing the phenomenon in the United States, the psychiatrist Thomas Lewis remarks that “A good deal of modern American culture is an extended experiment in the effects of depriving people of what they crave most.” “Happiness,” he concludes, “is within range only for adroit people who give the slip to America’s values.”

A grim assessment, but I doubt there is any way of denying it. Nor is it limited to the United States, of course; if Freud was right, there is no civilization without deep discontent. It just takes a different form in different cultures. And in any case, it is hard to imagine what a society based entirely on cellular memory would be like—although figures such as Rousseau and Nietzsche did their best to sketch it out. True, the results are less than impressive, but one would like to think that more can be done in this direction beyond individual initiative. It is very rare for a society to literally stop, for a moment, and collectively discuss what an authentic way of life might consist of. Indeed, I can barely imagine such a thing, except that it actually happened in France in May/June of 1968, and for those who were privileged enough to have been at the two-month “teach-in” held at the Sorbonne during that time, it was like breathing oxygen. What is man? What is the good life? What are we doing here? And: Why aren’t we asking ourselves these questions all the time?

“Come my friends,” wrote Alfred Lord Tennyson; “’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.”

What a thought.

©Morris Berman, 2010

Win Adventure Gear From Teva!


A few days back I posted about the upcoming Teva Mountain Games and the return of the Ultimate Mountain Challenge, a multi-sport competition that will test athletes on foot, bike, and kayak. The Mountain Games are set to take place in Vail, Colorado from June 3-6, but if you can't make it to compete there, perhaps Teva can still share some fun.

Teva has joined forces with OnlineShoes.com to give away away a $2000 worth ot outdoor gear to one lucky winner. To win The Adventure Giveaway you simply have to answer one question, “What is the one thing you would bring on a weekend adventure, and why?”. There are multiple ways of entering your answer into the contest. You can go to this page and post a comment of 200 words or less that explains your answer. Or, you can video your response, post it on YouTube, then go to the same page and share the link, or finally, you can send a Tweet that includes @onlineshoes_com and @teva in it. Simple huh? The giveaway runs from May 25th through June 7th, and is unfortunately only open for U.S. residents.

The lucky winner will get some great swag. In addition to a pair of Teva water sandals, they'll also receive a Gregory Wasatch daypack, a Kona Cinder Cone mountain bike, and a Necky Rip 10.6 kayak. Everything you'll need to have a great time outside this summer.

Good luck everyone!

Liberal Zionism

This is what Meretz stands for. Carlo Strenger articulates the progressive Zionists' creed.

Liberal Zionism - by Carlo Strenger, Haaretz

Zionism didn't begin as a unitary ideology. There was Theodor Herzl's liberal Zionism; Ahad Ha'am's and Judah Magnes' cultural Zionism. Socialist Zionism initially carried the day, dominating Israeli politics for the country's first three decades. In the remaining decades revisionist Zionism took over, fused with the messianic Zionism that gave religious significance to land and none to human rights.

Until a few decades ago, discussion between the different streams of Zionism was still possible. Now, alas, the self-appointed representatives of the Zionist cause - primarily from the right - make it seem as if Zionism requires blind allegiance to Israeli governments; that a Zionist is someone who admires Jewish power, whatever form it takes; and that Zionism requires shutting off your critical faculties. They have made a habit of calling all those who disagree with them 'post-Zionists' and accusing them of disloyalty.

Well, that makes Herzl and Ahad Ha'am post-Zionists avant la lettre.

Read the rest of this column at the Haaretz website.

NeighborWorks Fights Mortgage Modification Scams with National Effort

NeighborWorks organizations around the U.S. are holding more than 150 events during national NeighborWorks Week (June 5-12, 2010) to inform tens of thousands of homeowners on how to avoid and report mortgage modification scams.

The events include hundreds of volunteers canvassing neighborhoods with tip-sheets and flyers, dozens of one-on-one and group workshops about reputable mortgage modification programs, and more.

“Many mortgage modification scams are sophisticated, slick and so well crafted that homeowners find it difficult to recognize them for the danger that they are,” said NeighborWorks America CEO Ken Wade. “More than 7,700 mortgage modification scams have been reported to the authorities since our campaign started in October, and we believe that the number of homeowners who have been victimized is significantly greater.”

In addition to mortgage modification scam prevention events nationwide, NeighborWorks organizations also are holding traditional community celebrations and hands-on community building activities, including home repair and painting events, landscaping projects, and mural painting. These efforts, and those of NeighborWorks Week events over the past 26 years, leave positive lasting legacies in participating communities all year round.

Find events on the National NeighborWorks Week website. More information is also in the NeighborWorks newsroom.

Mongolia 2010 Expedition: Ripleys Back On The Trail!


Ripley Davenport has returned to Mongolia and has resumed his Mongolia 2010 Expedition, as planned. He'll now continue his very long trek across that country, covering more than 1700 miles through the Eastern Mongolian Steppe, Gobi Desert and the Altai Mountain Range. He hopes to complete one of the longest solo and unsupported treks ever, by carrying all of his supplies and gear, including food and water, in a specially designed cart that he'll pull the entire way.

The British adventurer first set out back in April, but just a few days in, he was forced to abort that attempt when a design flaw in his cart caused the wheels to seize up, preventing it from going further. He then returned home, rested up, regrouped, and fixed the problem, and two days ago he returned to the exact spot that he stopped a few weeks back, and began once again.

Ripley is keeping us all updated with his progress by posting regularly to his blog. So far, he's been making good progress, covering 48km (30 miles) on the first day out, which is a heck of a pace considering the load he is pulling. Speaking of which, he also reports that the cart, nicknamed Molly, is performing well so far on her return voyage, navigating over gullies and rocks just fine. Hopefully that will continue to be the case in the many days that are ahead.

In his entry for today, Ripley shares one of his experiences that are so sublime that they only take place in remote places like the one he is currently hiking through. He says that at 4AM he was awoken to the sounds of footsteps and snorting just outside of his tent. When he went to take a peek, he found that he was surrounded by a herd of wild gazelles, who fled at the sight of him, even before he could snap a photo.

Let's hope that the rest of his journey provides similar experiences.

Dave Hahn On 'How Much Is Too Much'

This video may be 6 months old, but it seems highly appropriate at the moment, considering mountain guide Dave Hahn, the subject of the 9 minute clip, has just summitted Everest for the 12th time, extending his record for a non-Sherpa.

The video was created at the Serac Adventure Film School and features Dave talking about the subject of how much is too much in terms of climbing the highest mountain on the planet. He tells us that for him, it is his job, and he approaches it that way, and that he doesn't want to keep going up, and then one day find that he's too old to effectively, and safely climb Everest. He hopes to retire from guiding right before that happens.

He also shares his thoughts on a number of other topics throughout the video. Definitely a must watch for fans of mountaineering, and offers some good insights into Dave's character as well.

Thanks to The Adventure Chronicles for reminding us of this one.


How Much Is Too Much from Serac Adventure Films on Vimeo.

Gmail tips for businesses, big or small

Editor's note: This is the third post in a series to celebrate National Small Business Week. Previous posts highlighted two businesses (Revenue Spark and Smart Furniture) that have adopted Google Apps to help run IT more efficiently. We’ll now turn to ways that individual tools within the Google Apps suite are being used by small businesses everywhere.

Many businesses that use Gmail tell us it has fundamentally changed the way they manage email and communicate on a daily basis. They’re not alone ‒ since Gmail launched 6 years ago, it has become one of the most popular email applications in the world. However, we find that even avid Gmail users may not know about all the rich features and functionality that can help them work smarter.

To get every business up to speed, we posted some tips on today’s Gmail Blog for getting the most out of Gmail at work. Take a look, try them out, and feel free to share them with your colleagues.

Posted by Michelle Lisowski, the Google Apps team
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