Sen. Lisa Murkowski Concedes AK GOP Primary Race

Fox News:

In a major upset, Sen. Lisa Murkowski has conceded her GOP Senate primary race to Tea Party Express favorite Joe Miller, who had the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"I don't see a scenario in which the primary will turn out in my favor," Murkowski said in her concession speech.

Murkowski made the concession speech Tuesday night, a full week after the primary.

Miller has never held elected office but he is now the immediate front-runner in the heavily Republican state.

Murkowski trailed Miller, a Fairbanks attorney, by 1,668 votes after last week's primary. Election officials began counting absentee and outstanding ballots Tuesday. Murkowski made slight gains, but was never able to get Miller's lead below 1,200 votes.

More at Anchorage Daily News, AP, and NYT.

"We know that we have outstanding votes to count in the primary, but based on where we are right now I don't see a scenario where the primary will turn out in my favor. And that is a reality that is before me at this time," Murkowski said in a news conference broadcast live over statewide television from her campaign headquarters in Anchorage.

Murkowski did not endorse Miller in her concession speech. She took no questions.

Miller said Murkowski called him early this evening to say she was conceding.

"I thanked her for the hard-fought contest and wished her the best and asked for unity," Miller said in a telephone interview from his hometown of Fairbanks.

Miller said he thinks Murkowski will end up supporting him in the general election. "I'm going to give her some time, and we're going to talk more about it later," he said.

Miller said he's going to meet with close friends and family tonight. "Then we'll probably head back to the office and do some more campaign work a little bit later tonight," said Miller.

Miller will now face Democrat Scott McAdams, the mayor of Sitka, in the November general election.

The people of Alaska GOP spoke and now Murkowski should not only get behind Miller but encourage all her supporters to do the same.

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Charles Hedrick on the Accounts of Paul's Conversion in Acts

The following article is now available on-line in PDF:

Charles W. Hedrick, “Paul’s conversion/call: a comparative analysis of the three reports in Acts,” Journal of Biblical Literature 100.3 (Sept. 1981): 415-432. Click here to read.

Democrat Toast

When the Gallup Poll says the Democrats are toast come November, you can believe it because even their registered voter generic congressional ballot results are usually below what other pollsters show for the Republicans. Today Gallup has the Republicans up by 10, the highest ever recorded since 1950. On July 19th, Gallup had the Democrats up by 6 when no other pollster had the Democrats up at all. Obviously Gallup has made some adjustments to how they weight their samples. Rasmussen has had the Republicans up by as much as 12 and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, a Democrat firm, has had the Republicans up as much as 11. The previous high for Gallup was 7 for the Republicans in 1994 and that was using a likely voter sample rather than a registered voter sample. Had Gallup used a likely voter sample, the results would be even higher for the Republicans because likely voter samples always favor Republicans more than registered voter samples because Republicans turn out to vote better than Democrats.

If a 7 point spread in 1994 gave the Republicans control of the House by 231 to 204 seats, what would a 10 point spread do? If you have been following our model adopted from Gallup, you already know the answer: the Republicans would control the House by a whopping 71 seat margin, 253 to 182. That last time the Republicans controlled the House by that big a margin was as a result of the 1928 election, some 82 years ago. The last time the Republicans gained more than 71 seats was not in 1994 (54 seats) or even in 1946 (55 seats), it was in 1938 (81 seats). Thus a 75 seat gain would be the biggest in 72 years, but we have already pointed that out. At this point, it seems fair to say that the Democrats are not just toast, but burned toast.

All of this is merely a prelude to saying that we are adjusting our projections from a 67 seats picked up while losing 2 for a net gain of 65 to a whopping 80 seats picked up for a net gain of 78 seats. Thus our new projection is for a 256 to 179 seat House for the Republicans. Since the current House has the exact opposite of that, we are projecting a total flip over of the House giving the Republicans control by the exact same margin as the Democrats have now. Our reason for doing this is precisely because of what has been happening in the generic congressional ballot polls. This would require a 10.6 point margin in the likely voter generic congressional polls.

That average has been 10.5 lately even though today it is only 7.3 because Rasmussen has dropped down to 6 from 12 two weeks ago. The Gallup poll says that the latest Rasmussen poll is most likely an outlier poll and will return to the 9 point range next week. If you are interested in just which seats the Republicans will pick up, you will find that in our Marston Report. To give you an idea of what that means in the real world, it means the Republicans will have to defeat the likes of Bob Etheridge in NC-2, Ed Perlmutter in CO-2, Chellie Pingree in ME-1 and Bruce Braley in IA-1. The first two are rated by Real Clear Politics as leans D, but the last two are listed as likely D. If we cannot get those last two, the next two in our rankings are Phil Hare in IL-17 and Melissa Bean in IL-8 which RCP does list as leans D.

Women We Love: Ingrid Munro

Who She Is: Ingrid Munro is the Founder and Managing Trustee of the Jamii Bora Trust, the largest Microfinance organization in Kenya. As a leader and advocate of microfinance in one of the poorest and most dangerous areas in Africa, she has provided a way out of poverty for nearly 250,000 people.

Why We Love Her: After working in housing research for the government in her homeland of Sweden, Ms. Munro became the head of the African Housing Fund. She had become close to Kenya on a personal level when she and her husband adopted 3 boys from the slums outside of Nairobi. When she retired in 1999, determined to help the community where her sons were born, Ms. Munro started Jamii Bora to help the poor of the Nairobi slums find legitimate work through microfinance. In just eight years Jamii Bora, which means “Good Families”, has increased its membership from 50 to 250,000 men and women.

What makes the work Jamii Bora does so unique is that it helps everyone in the slums including disabled beggars, former gang members, and victims suffering from HIV/AIDS. “Mother Ingrid” as she is called by many of the people she has helped in the slum, saw an opportunity to create a community free of these problems by extending a hand up to anyone who would take it. “I think one of the secrets is not normal banking rules but in Jamii Bora is we love everybody.” Explains Munro, “It doesn’t matter where you come from it just matters where you want to go in life.”

Among the many moving success stories is a notorious gang leader who, under the guidance of Jamii Bora, renounced his criminal ways, opened a legitimate business and made amends with his mother, who he had not seen in thirteen years. He now spends much of his time mentoring youth to stay away from the violent street life he once lived. You can view several additional success stories by clicking here.

In addition to loans, Jamii Bora also offers health insurance, business school, a housing program, the “Levuka” substance rehabilitation program, and the “Tumaini” program for street beggars, plantation workers, and the handicapped. They have laid plans for a new town outside the slums called Kaputiei which will give 10,000 people currently living in the slum the chance to have a real home with bathrooms, running water and electricity.

Quote: “When they become members of Jamii Bora we give them access to a ladder. By being a member of Jamii Bora they can get access to that ladder and they should use it to climb out of poverty. But we also make it clear to them that while we provide the ladder; the climbing will have to do themselves.”

Please make sure to check out this short two part documentary video on Jamii Bora.
Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2
Link to Coverage of Kaputei Town project
http://www.jamiibora.org/

Glenn Beck's 'TheBlaze'- Message From Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck has started a new website called TheBlaze.

Mediaite article breaking the news found here and TheBlaze website found here.

The message from Beck:

If you are like me, watching the news or reading the paper can be an exercise in exasperation. It’s so hard to find a place that helps me make sense of the world I see.

Too many important stories are overlooked. And too many times we see mainstream media outlets distorting facts to fit rigid agendas. Not that you’ve ever heard me complain about the media before. Okay, maybe once or twice.

But there comes a time when you have to stop complaining and do something. And so we decided to hire some actual journalists to launch a new website — The Blaze. And we moved fast. We built the team and the site in just two months.

We want this to be a place where you can find breaking news, original reporting, insightful opinions and engaging videos about the stories that matter most.

The Blaze will be about current news — and more. It’s not just politics and policy. It’s looking for insight wherever we find it. We’ll examine our culture, deal with matters of faith and family, and we won’t be afraid of a history lesson.

The image of flame is a powerful. It has long stood for a burning truth. A truth that is not consumed. The Blaze will pursue truth. Of course we will make mistakes. Honest mistakes. And we’ll be quick with corrections. We intend to earn your trust and keep it day in and day out with hard work and a lot of transparency.

And don’t expect everything to be deadly serious. Boring is bad. We intend to have plenty of fun.

We’ve put together a solid team of writers and reporters. I intend to keep them busy by sending a zillion story ideas at all hours.

We’re also counting on you. Your comments. Your feedback. Your tips! You will help us build and shape The Blaze.

Thank you in advance.

Glenn Beck

I don't agree with everything that comes out of Gelnn Beck's mouth but it is good to see another outlet to compete with the overwhelming liberal bias in today's media.

So I wish Beck luck in his new endeavor.

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Election 2010--GOP Conventions in California and Michigan

I recently attended the GOP Conventions in California and Michigan.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2010/08/gop-convention-2010-california/


http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2010/08/gop-convention-2010-michigan/

Last night I flew from Chicago to Los Angeles. Tonight I am on the redeye to New York.

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Raiders Recap--Preseason 2010 Week 3

Raiders Recap--Preseason 2010 Week 3.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2010/08/raiders-recap-preseason-2010-week-3/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

20 years in California

20 years ago this past week I left New York for Los Angeles.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2010/08/20-years-in-california/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

How to boycott Israel

Here are some creative ways for those who truly wish to boycott Israel.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2010/08/how-to-boycott-israel/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Associated Press-GfK Poll Finds Voters Most Interested In Issues Lean Toward GOP

Bad news today for Democrats and Democratic politicians, all around.

First we saw Gallup showing the GOP doubling Democrats in enthusiasm 50 percent to 25 percent and the GOP leading the Generic Congressional Ballot by 10 points to which Gallup calls "unprecedented".

Then we see the general public continues to sour on Obamacare. (Latest poll from Kaiser found here.)

Now the latest Associated Press-GfK Poll shows that voters who take the most interest in issues, those most "attuned" are tilting toward the GOP.

In nine of 15 issues examined in an Associated Press-GfK Poll this month, more Americans who expressed intense interest in a problem voiced strong opposition to Obama's work on it, including the economy, unemployment, federal deficits and terrorism. They were about evenly split over the president's efforts on five issues and strongly approved of his direction on just one: U.S. relationships with other countries.

In another danger sign for Democrats, most Americans extremely concerned about 10 of the issues say they will vote for the Republican candidate in their local House race. Only those highly interested in the environment lean toward the Democrats.

The findings are troubling for Democrats struggling to protect their House and Senate majorities on Election Day. They suggest that many of the most involved voters — those with the deepest feelings about issues high on the nation's agenda — are furious with the party in power and will take out their wrath at the polls.

Is it any wonder that vulnerable Democratic politicians are scrambling to separate themselves from Obama's agenda and distancing themselves from Nancy Pelosi?

The roster of Democrats currently playing six degrees of separation from Pelosi spans the map, from the Northeast to the South and across the Midwest to South Dakota.

The GOP has used Pelosi, who represents a liberal San Francisco congressional district, as a wedge against vulnerable Democrats for almost as long as she has been in Democratic leadership. But with Election Day just nine weeks away, the sprint away from the House speaker highlights the increasing urgency with which the party’s most vulnerable legislators are trying to prove their independence from Democratic leaders and the Capitol Hill agenda that has defined President Barack Obama’s first term in office

Midterms are generally the area where voters take out their dissatisfaction with the ruling party, especially if the ruling party holds majorities in all three houses as the Democrats do now.

The level of dissatisfaction though is hitting a point never seen before and while handicappers predict big GOP gains and Democratic losses, it is beginning to look like "big" is an understatement for what we all may see happen in November, just nine weeks from now.

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Jay Cost Makes The Case, Economy Is Huge But Democratic Downfall Was Obamacare

Must read piece over at Real Clear Politics showing the graphs and data relevant at the time of the healthcare vote and how Democrats not only can pinpoint their loss of momentum but watched it turn to dust to end up where they are now, trailing 10 points in Gallup's latest Generic Congressional Ballot and trailing by 25 points in the enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats.

Teaser:

Reconstructing the Democrats' meme, we can fairly say that the economy is a huge problem for the party. Of this, there can be no doubt. We can also say that the stalled recovery denied the Democrats a chance to win back the voters they lost over health care. But the process and passage of health care reform were crucial elements in the story. That's when the party started losing the voters it needs to retain control of the government.

Make sure you read the whole thing and follow the links and pay attention to the graphs and time lines.

While major media and the Left would prefer to not even mention healthcare anymore, polling continues to leave Obamacare with more opposed (51.2 percent) than in favor (39.4 percent), on average.

The bottom line is that while the economy is first and foremost on the public's mind as a whole, jamming through Obamacare, the public understanding that the Democrats were determined to pass it even as the majority of Americans stood up and opposed it, was the beginning of their fast decline in polling.

Democrats that think that people going to the polls in November will not remember Obamacare and will be casting their vote with only the economy in mind.... are sorely mistaken.

The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll shows that while the economy is the most important factor in how voters will be voting in November, healthcare is also in the top three.

Respondents listed health care as the third most important factor in deciding how they’ll vote this fall — behind the economy and “dissatisfaction with government.”

Forty-two percent of respondents said health care reform will play an “extremely important” role in their ballot-box decisions, on par with the 41 percent who said the same thing in June.

According to Rasmussen, 58 percent of US voters still favor repealing Obamacare.

Anyone claiming that healthcare was not the start of Democrats freefall in the polls and suggest that Obamacare will not have anything to do with how people will vote in November, is simply burying their head in the sand.

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Important advice from Gershon Baskin

Gershon Basking has been at "negotiations" for a very long time. Read this. IT IS EXCELLENT ADVICE. MAY THE NEGOTIATORS READ IT TOO. Lilly

Encountering Peace: The indefatigable peacemaker’s advice
By GERSHON BASKIN

.... The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolvable. There are solutions to all problems. In addition to the multiple rounds of Track I negotiations that have taken place since Madrid in 1991, there have also been thousands of hours of informal Track II negotiations in which a couple of hundred Israeli and Palestinian experts have participated and have reached understandings and “shelf agreements.”

Many of the experts have been at this a lot longer than the official negotiators. We have had the opportunity to take a step back and analyze the failed peace process and come away with many lessons learned that are important to share so that chances of success are increased. Everyone is skeptical about this. The negotiators themselves do not have great confidence that an agreement is possible. They must lay down their pessimism, skepticism and negative attitudes. They must face the task of reaching an agreement, looking beyond the momentary snapshot of domestic political realities.

This may be the last chance to reach an agreement... Failure to reach an agreement would be a crime against both peoples.

Everything is on the table – borders, security, Jerusalem, refugees, mutual recognition, water, economy and any other issue that either side wishes to raise.

The agreement will be a package deal in which there are trade-offs and that is why they cannot be negotiated separately. Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, assisted by George Mitchell, will have to produce a declaration of principles that will determine the general framework. Details can be dealt with in committees of experts, but the main issues need to be decided by the leaders.

NETANYAHU HAS already verbalized the main concerns for Israel – Palestinian militarization, control of external borders, airspace, electromagnetic spectrum and real recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. Palestinians too have raised their main concerns – borders, settlements, real sovereignty and freedom from Israeli control. Jerusalem is a concern for both sides, but the issue on which there is the most extreme contention is refugees.

All these issues are interconnected. Borders cannot be determined without detailing security arrangements.

Borders and security arrangements lead directly to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the core identity issue, which leads directly to mutual recognition. Water and economics are both related to borders, control over land and planning, border arrangements and security. All these issues are connected to a timetable both for negotiations and for implementation.

Read Gershon Baskin's entire column at the Jerusalem Post.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) will not be on the AK Libertarian Party ballot line this fall

When all the absentee votes are counted, if Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R- AK) still trails the GOP challenger, Joe Miller, who is ahead as of election night, the talk of Murkowski going on to run as a Libertarian has been halted.

The Executive Committee of the Alaska Libertarian Party held an emergency meeting to discuss the issue and voted to keep her off the ballot.

It was just chatter, no official moves had been made by Murkowski towards the Libertarian Party, but the blogosphere was ripe with gossip, to which these latest news reports should end.

More at Hotline On Call and Libertarian Republican.

If Miller should come out the winner after all the votes have been counted, then Murkowski should step up and offer unconditional support to the peoples choice and back him and encourage her supporters to do the same.

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BLOOD DRIVE 9-3-10

Yuengling would like to invite fans who are planning on visiting the brewery this Friday, September 3, 2010, to participate in the "Give a Pint, Get a Pint Blood Drive." The blood mobile will be at the Mahantongo St. Brewery this Friday from 12pm-5pm. Donors will receive a free Yuengling pint glass for donating blood on this occasion. Donors will also be eligible for a chance to win an iPod Touch™! For more information, please call John Callahan at 570-622-0153 ext. 103.

Brewery tours will be offered at 10am and 1:30pm, please visit Yuengling.com for complete tour information before you plan your visit.

Gallup: Gop Takes 'Unprecedented' Lead On Generic Ballot

Gallup reports the GOP has taken what they call an "unprecedented" 10 point lead (51 percent to 41 percent) over Democrats in the Generic Congressional Ballot, where the question of Republican or Democrat is asked without specific names.

More importantly, Republicans also hold a 25 point lead in enthusiasm among registered voters (50 percent to 25 percent).

Rasmussens latest findings on the Generic Congressional Ballot is the GOP ahead by six points.

Interestingly, there is no surprise that Democrats back their candidate by 83 percent and Republicans back theirs by 85 percent. The numbers to watch for are the Independents which break towards the Republicans by a 21 percent margin with 44 percent favoring Republicans and 23 favoring Democrats.

The difference between the Gallup and Rasmussen polling methods is Gallup used registered voters and Rasmussen used likely voters.

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GREENBRIER PGA CLASSIC

Yuengling recently participated as a sponsor of the 1st Annual Greenbrier PGA Classic tournament in White Sulphur Springs, WV. PGA golfers from around the world traveled to West Virginia to compete in this Fed Ex points event at the Greenbrier Resort. Competitors included Stewart Applebee, Sergio Garcia, John Daily, Davis Love III, Jim Furyk and more!

The Greenbrier is an award winning resort founded in 1778 and actually has 4 championship golf courses on the property! Jim Justice acquired the resort in 2009 and felt that since the first lynx course in America was on the Greenbrier property, it was time to return to the grass roots of what made not only this resort famous but also to give back to the community. This event was also a great opportunity to show the rest of the world this hidden gem in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. Mr. Justice made sure that attendees of the event were entertained nightly by booking national music acts for a series of concerts throughout the event. Performances by Reba McIntyre, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, and Brad Paisley were enjoyed by all!

Attendees enjoyed Yuengling products throughout the 4 day event and we thank Mr. Justice for hosting!

Email overload? Try Priority Inbox

Information overload is a reality of the modern workplace. The average corporate worker sends and receives more than 150 messages per day¹, an email deluge of varying importance: key project updates from colleagues, requests from higher-ups, appointment reminders, and automated mail that’s often much less important. With so much information to process, simply figuring out what needs to be be read and what needs a reply takes up a lot of time. Today, we’re excited to introduce Priority Inbox Beta in Gmail, an experimental new way of reducing information overload.

Priority Inbox is a new view of your inbox that automatically helps you focus on your most important messages. Gmail has always kept spam messages out of your inbox, and now we’ve improved Gmail’s filter to help you see the emails that matter faster without requiring you to set up complex rules.



Here’s how it works: Priority Inbox splits your inbox into three sections: “Important and unread,” “Starred,” and “Everything else”:



Messages are automatically categorized as they arrive in your inbox. Gmail uses a variety of signals to predict which messages are important, including the people you email most and which messages you open and reply to (these are likely more important than the ones you skip over). And as you use Gmail, it will get better. You can improve the ranking in Priority Inbox by clicking the buttons at the top of the inbox to mark conversations as important or not important.

As a result, your inbox is better organized, and you can spend your time addressing your most important emails right away. When we tested Priority Inbox at Google, we found that people spent 6% less time on email after enabling this feature. This translates to a week’s worth of time saved each year for information workers who typically spend 13 hours per week on email today!²

Luke Leonhard, Web Services Manager for Brady Corporation, says “Like many of our users, I get over a hundred messages each day. Priority Inbox saves me time by displaying emails in order of importance, letting me process them more efficiently than before. The time I save can then be spent on new projects that add value to Brady rather than managing my inbox.”

Over the next week, we’ll be rolling out Priority Inbox settings to users in organizations with the “Enable pre-release features” option selected in the Google Apps control panel.

Helping users manage lots of information has always been a core goal of Gmail, and we’re excited to see how Priority Inbox helps users in organizations mitigate information overload and get to important messages faster.

Posted by Doug Aberdeen, Software Engineer

1. “Email Statistics Report, 2009-2013”, The Radicati Group, Inc, 2009

2. “Hidden Costs of Information Work in the Enterprise Exposed in New IDC Progress Report”, IDC, 2009

Stories of horror, hope: Immigrants share experiences at workshop

This church held a workshop where immigrants and refugees told their own stories. It is amazing what people go through before they come here. - - Donna Poisl

BY PAT JARRETT/STAFF

GROTTOES — When the man in the back of that truck in Rwanda held a gun to Jean Pierre Ndengeyingoma's head and told him to say his prayers, he did.

"Push the evil away," he prayed.

There was plenty of evil that year, 1994, when a genocidal civil war killed 800,000 people in the small East African nation.

Ndengeyingoma was nearly one of the victims. The man on the truck stabbed Ndengeyingoma in the chest, aiming for the heart, and pushed him off the truck. The attack left him bloody, but alive, on the side of the road.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Immigrants of Two Eras Join Together to Celebrate

Italian and Hispanic immigrants are celebrating this feast day, combining their two cultures. This is definitely America. - - Donna Poisl

By PETER APPLEBOME

BRENTWOOD, N.Y.-- It was probably inevitable that the annual Feast of Mother Cabrini run by the Giuseppe A. Nigro Lodge, Order of Sons of Italy in America, Long Island’s answer to Little Italy’s Feast of San Gennaro, would offer attractions like the Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company and the taco stand on the midway.

Brentwood, a patch of sprawl in Suffolk County, once largely populated by Italians who migrated there from Brooklyn in the ’50s and ’60s, is now largely Central American. The signs on Fifth Avenue read La Cubanita Hoy, Teresa’s Latin Look Unisex Salon, La Excelencia Bakery and Deli, Centro Evangelistico Pentecostes. The big-screen TV behind the registers at the Compare Market shows soccer; the in-store music is salsa and merengue.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Box.net goes Google: platform integration and real-time collaboration

Editors note: As part of our Going Google Everywhere series, today's guest blogger is Jen Grant, VP of Marketing at Box.net, a Palo Alto-based start-up that helps businesses collaborate, share, and manage all their content online. Learn more about other organizations that have gone Google on our community map.

When I joined Box.net a few years ago, we weren’t using a web-based email and calendaring solution, despite being "born in the cloud." At first I POP-ed my email into my personal Gmail (insert groans from IT here). But as the company grew from 40 to 100, it wasn't hard to convince our IT guru, Jeff, that a move to Google Apps would be best for productivity...and his sanity.



Today, we no longer use our in-house system that required a lot of maintenance and back-ups. Instead we’re heavy users of the Google Apps. We use Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar to keep track of our busy schedules and stake out precious conference rooms. And since we’ve grown pretty quickly, being able to collaborate on projects using Google Docs has helped us to work together across our larger teams. Plus, since the launch of the Google Apps Marketplace, the Box and Google Apps platforms are integrated, resulting in the seamless connection of Box's cloud content management solution with Google Apps. We like to think that the two services were a match made in heaven...or at least the clouds :) Check out our snazzy video about the integration.

The Box-Google Apps integration helps us work faster and more efficiently. Being able to collaborate across departments as we've grown has been essential. My favorite part is the ability to create a Google doc in a Box folder. I get the real-time collaboration of Google Docs and can also assign my CEO a task to approve the final version. Plus our security-sensitive VP of Tech Ops is happy because he can now report on who's got access to which files in Google Docs. And everyone can access and link to their Box files from Gmail. Peanut butter and chocolate.

Thanks to our move to Google Apps, I'm happy to report that as a service and company, Box operates fully in the cloud. Now that the Box team is hooked on Google Apps, none of us can imagine life without it.



Posted by Ashley Chandler, Google Apps team

Performing In Israel, Not the Settlements

Thank God for Limor Livnat. If we didn’t have her, we’d have to make her up.

Livnat, a Knesset member from the right wing of Likud and the current Minister of Culture and Sport rose through the ranks of Likud championing women’s causes and staked a place in the party as a spokeswoman for many of its most conservative views.

Livnat served as Minister of Education under Ariel Sharon and stirred up controversy by trying to excise what was then the most recent research on Israeli history from the educational curriculum. Now, in her new position, she has accused a group of artists and actors of “decid[ing] to divide Israeli society.

They are doing this by refusing to perform in a new cultural center that was built in the settlement of Ariel.

Not to be outdone, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pretty much parroted Livnat’s remarks: “The State of Israel is under an attack of delegitimization by elements in the international community. This attack includes attempts to enact economic, academic and cultural boycotts. The last thing we need at this time is to be under such an attack – I mean this attempt at a boycott – from within.”

It is interesting to note how this statement of conscience by some 60 performers (several of whom have since reversed their stance), an act of their own rather than a call for anyone else to do the same, inspires such a fiery response from the government while Im Tirtzu’s attempt to undermine funding for Ben Gurion University because they don’t like some of the lecturers there provoked no comment from the Prime Minister’s office.

But for our purposes, it is more important that we pay attention to this so-called “Israeli unity” that is ostensibly being attacked by a bunch of actors.

The united Israel Bibi and Livnat are talking about is actually Israel-plus, the “plus” being the settlements. The entire argument is based on the notion that Ariel is part of Israel. It is not. The residents of Ariel are Israeli citizens living in occupied territory, territory which (for those who like to argue that the West Bank is not “occupied” despite such figures as Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, Aharon Barak and many others referring to it as such) Israel controls but has never laid formal claim to or attempted to enact full Israeli law over it uniformly.

Bibi argues that all Israeli citizens have the right too culture, wherever they live. Fine. But nothing stops them from going to Jerusalem, Petah Tikvah, Haifa, Caesaria or other nearby cities for a night of theater.

The performers and artists who are sticking to their guns on this issue are acting on “their conscience,” as must be encouraged in any open society, a concern that falls on deaf ears in too much of the current Israeli government, its most right-wing ever.

The initial response was particularly distorted. MKs Carmel Shama (Likud) and Alex Miller (Yisrael Beiteinu) wrote that “This is an infuriating and dangerous precedent that discriminates against innocent citizens based on their place of residence…” This is the key point: for Likud and the parties with it and to the right of it, the settlements are a part of Israel, whole cloth.

Miller even called the actors’ refusal “collective punishment,” an Orwellian absurdity beyond comparison. But it plays well in Israel and to too many people outside of Israel as well.

There could not be a starker image of precisely the problem I wrote about last week. The pro-peace movement has not communicated the overriding point that the settlements are not Israel! It is true that the settlers are Israeli citizens, but they are living outside of Israel. Just because an Israeli lives somewhere does not make that place Israel. And those of us living in New York or Silicon Valley and would not like to live under so right-wing a government as the current Israeli one can be thankful for that and continue to welcome the many Israelis living in such places.

Let us be clear: the current Israeli government, led very powerfully by the Prime Minister, contend that the settlements are Israel. We, who want a sustainable peace that includes an independent, viable and dignified existence for the Palestinians, have to make the point clear that this is simply false.

We have a problem, in that some segments of the international pro-Palestinian movements which yearn for a single-state solution to the conflict do indeed see Ariel the same way they see Tel Aviv on principle. But those views remain politically marginal, and that means that now is the time for campaigns geared toward supporting Israel and de-legitimizing (yes, that’s the word) the settlements.

No other country, including the United States, agrees that Ariel, Ma’ale Adumim, Gush Etzion or any other settlement is part of Israel. But that state of mind will be eroded by the continued blithe Israeli mention of settlements as part of Israel. The farther this thinking is allowed to progress, the more Israelis will see abandoning settlements as a “concession” rather than as a responsibility Israel has to dismantle towns that should never have been built in the first place.

I do not mean to minimize the difficulty Israel will have with giving up the settlements. There will be resistance, internal strife and a great deal of expense and strain on Israel’s economic and social systems in relocating so many people (something Israel did not do a very good job of in Gaza). But all of these problems become worse the more entrenched the settlements become, both on the ground and in the minds of Israelis.

There simply isn’t a more important point for anyone who wants a reasonable and sustainable solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict to make: THE SETTLEMENTS ARE NOT ISRAEL, AND THEY MUST GO.

58% Favor Repeal of the Health Care Law, 36% Are Opposed

Rasmussen:

Just over half of U.S. voters continue to believe that the new health care law will increase the cost of care and believe the law will be bad for the country.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 58% favor repeal of the new national health care law while 36% are opposed. These figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 28% who are Strongly Opposed.

A majority has favored repeal of the legislation in every single week since it became law. Support for repeal has ranged from a low of 52% to a high of 63%.

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Record Highs On Welfare, Food Stamps And Medicaid

Welfare programs were created to help people that have hit bad times get a foothold, some help until they can get on their feet but since Democrats took over both Houses of Congress in 2007, the number of people on such programs as Welfare, food stamps, unemployment insurance and Medicaid have risen to record highs.

USA Today reports "Record number in government anti-poverty programs."

50 million Americans are on Medicaid, a 17 percent rise since December 2007.

40 million people get food stamps, a 50 percent rise.

10 million receive unemployment insurance, four times the amount that was recorded in 2007.

4.4 million people are on welfare, an 18 percent increase.

As caseloads for all the programs have soared, so have costs. The federal price tag for Medicaid has jumped 36% in two years, to $273 billion. Jobless benefits have soared from $43 billion to $160 billion. The food stamps program has risen 80%, to $70 billion. Welfare is up 24%, to $22 billion. Taken together, they cost more than Medicare.

The steady climb in safety-net program caseloads and costs has come as a result of two factors: The recession has boosted the number who qualify under existing rules. And the White House, Congress and states have expanded eligibility and benefits.

What these people need is not a permanent welfare state fix as they are being given, so dependent on the Government to support them they cannot get a foothold and dig their way out, what they need are jobs.

We need our manufacturing back, we need to give businesses incentive to create more jobs, hire more people, we need to give the wealthy a reason to start spending again, we need to undo the damage not continue to pile on to Government programs. As a country with a massive national debt that continues get bigger, we simply cannot afford to continue to extend benefits for the masses in the hopes that things will get better.

Close to 10 million receive unemployment insurance, nearly four times the number from 2007. Benefits have been extended by Congress eight times beyond the basic 26-week program, enabling the long-term unemployed to get up to 99 weeks of benefits. Caseloads peaked at nearly 12 million in January — "the highest numbers on record," says Christine Riordan of the National Employment Law Project, which advocates for low-wage workers.

(Chart from US Government Spending)

Is it any wonder that 62 percent of the country believes we are going in the wrong direction?

[Update] Excellent, must read piece by Robert Barro, titled "The Folly of Subsidizing Unemployment," where he explains "My calculations suggest the jobless rate could be as low as 6.8%, instead of 9.5%, if jobless benefits hadn't been extended to 99 weeks."

In a recession, it is more likely that individual unemployment reflects weak economic conditions, rather than individual decisions to choose leisure over work. Therefore, it is reasonable during a recession to adopt a more generous unemployment-insurance program. In the past, this change entailed extensions to perhaps 39 weeks of eligibility from 26 weeks, though sometimes a bit more and typically conditioned on the employment situation in a person's state of residence. However, we have never experienced anything close to the blanket extension of eligibility to nearly two years. We have shifted toward a welfare program that resembles those in many Western European countries.

The administration has argued that the more generous unemployment-insurance program could not have had much impact on the unemployment rate because the recession is so severe that jobs are unavailable for many people. This perspective is odd on its face because, even at the worst of the downturn, the U.S. labor market featured a tremendous amount of turnover in the form of large numbers of persons hired and separated every month.

For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, near the worst of the recession in March 2009, 3.9 million people were hired and 4.7 million were separated from jobs. This net loss of 800,000 jobs in one month indicates a very weak economy—but nevertheless one in which 3.9 million people were hired. A program that reduced incentives for people to search for and accept jobs could surely matter a lot here.

Moreover, although the peak unemployment rate (thus far) of 10.1% in October 2009 is very disturbing, the rate was even higher in the 1982 recession (10.8% in November-December 1982). Thus, there is no reason to think that the United States is in a new world in which incentives provided by more generous unemployment-insurance programs do not matter much for unemployment.

Another reason to be skeptical about the administration's stance is that generous unemployment-insurance programs have been found to raise unemployment in many Western European countries in which unemployment rates have been far higher than the current U.S. rate.....

Read the entire piece.

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Chances Of GOP Takeover Of The House Continue To Rise; UPDATE- Senate In Play As Well

REMEMBER NOVEMBER.



Nine and a half weeks to go until the midterm elections and the chance for a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives is looking more likely, according to The Hill:

The playing field of competitive House races has expanded substantially over the past two months, increasing the chances that Republicans will control the lower chamber next year.

The news is good for Republicans, as many open seats are trending to the GOP while dozens of Democratic incumbents are scrambling to keep their jobs.

Democratic leaders are on the defensive, making the case they can still retain the majority in November while playing defense in districts they weren't expecting to be concerned about earlier in the cycle.

As the election environment has worsened for Democrats amid troubling new economic and polling data, Republicans have become increasingly bullish in their projections of major House gains.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) vice chairman, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), predicted Wednesday that as many as 80 seats will be in play this fall.

Over the past two weeks, Republican campaigns have gleefully blasted out internal numbers claiming leads for their challengers in districts that were considered safe bets for Democrats to retain.

The mood in Democratic and Republican circles is strikingly different from more than three months ago, when Mark Critz (D) easily won the special election to replace the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.). That GOP loss stifled talk of Republicans winning control of the House in November. But the chatter is back, and it’s backed up by nonpartisan analysts.

As the article goes on to explain, Democrats will be putting considerable effort into a "get-out-the-vote campaign, encouraging Democratic supporters to go to the polls in November to help them retain their seats and control of the House of Representatives.

Last Friday news hit that voters now trust the GOP on all ten key issues they were questioned on, more than they trust Democrats and Republicans hold a nine point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot, all signs that the chance of a GOP takeover of the House is still rising.

Voters will determine that, voters unhappy with the way Washington has been run since Democrats took control of the House and Senate, voters unhappy with the way it has been run and the bills jammed through since Obama became president.

It all comes down to getting to the polls, casting your vote. If you are unhappy with how Washington is being run, the only way to change it is to go vote on November 2nd.

No matter what the new projections are, no matter how much of the country believes the country is on the wrong track (62 percent via RCP average of the latest 6 polls done), no matter how much of a majority lambastes Democrats for the way they have jammed through Obama's agenda in the House and Senate, if those same people do not go to voting booths in November and throw the Democrats out, they will retain control.

[Update] Even control of the Senate is not out of the realm of possibility anymore.

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Jeffrey Goldberg smeared as 'neocon'

Jeffrey Goldberg's feature article in the Sept. issue of The Atlantic is provocatively entitled on its cover, "Israel Is Getting Ready To Bomb Iran: How, Why and What It Means"; but he is examining the issue, not actually advocating war. A NY Times article, published around the same time, although framed to cool down speculation over the need for a quick decision regarding Iran, actually affirms the conclusion that Iran is a year away from getting the bomb, as Goldberg has written.

Goldberg's recent blog post defending Imam Rauf, the Sufi spiritual head of the proposed downtown Manhattan Muslim community center, shows that he's neither right-wing nor anti-Muslim, despite efforts by Trita Parsi, Juan Cole and MJ Rosenberg to characterize him as such, and to condemn him as part of a "neoconservative" war-mongering campaign.

Prof. Cole is particularly obnoxious in this regard, referring derisively to the journalist, because of his stint as a young recruit in the IDF, as "Cpl. Goldberg." Goldberg's experience as a military prison guard over 20 years ago, during the first intifada, motivated him to pursue personal relationships with Palestinian prisoners, and a friendship with one in particular, thereby obtaining insights he shared with the world in a highly-regarded book ("Prisoners: A Muslim and A Jew Across the Middle East Divide"). Cole sneers that Goldberg "claims" to support a two-state solution and practically makes him into a Likudnik, rather than someone who was introduced to Zionism via the left-wing Hashomer Hatzair youth movement.

I've already written on how Goldberg's initial skepticism of Jeremy Ben-Ami and J Street has evolved into a respectful relationship.

Although the temptation for Israel to preempt Iran's extreme Islamist regime from going nuclear risks a nightmare scenario, it is perfectly understandable. The Islamic Republic of Iran constantly threatens Israel (couched in language that nastily predicts Israel's demise or the end of "Zionism") and has a president who infamously denies the Holocaust. This is a regime that has sacrificed many thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) of its own youth in human wave assaults during the 1980s war against Saddam Hussein---after Iraq had been driven back onto its own soil and had sued for peace; adolescents charged Iraqi trenches with plastic "keys to paradise" dangling from their necks.

What is especially worrying, by way of hinting at Iran's worst possible intentions, is the 2001 statement of Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani---a former Iranian president who has sided with the reformers in the past year against Ahmadinejad. He is quoted by Goldberg (and he's not the only one who has cited this) that Iran could afford a nuclear exchange with Israel: “The use of an atomic bomb against Israel would destroy Israel completely while [a nuclear attack] against the Islamic countries would only cause damages.” Iran has ten times Israel's population and many more than ten times its area.

Even so, I share the doubts of skeptics that Iran is truly suicidal in desiring nuclear war with Israel, and I dread the dire consequences of Iran's retaliation for an Israeli attack (e.g., massive bombardments by Hezbollah and Hamas, terrorist attacks on Jews and Americans worldwide, etc.). Still, I can't blame Israelis for seeing Iran's nuclear program as an existential issue and planning accordingly.

Goldberg's article does not downplay the negative consequences. Nor does he actually advocate an attack on Iran, which you would think is the case from his hysterical, name-calling critics. I agree with Goldberg that it may be wise from a diplomatic standpoint that Iran sees a military strike by Israel and/or the United States as a real possibility, if it continues on its reckless course toward nuclear arms. If an attack is credibly on the table, hopefully cooler heads may yet prevail in Iran.

Instead of railing against Goldberg, attacking the messenger, for carefully documenting the pros & cons from supporters & nay-sayers for an attack on Iran, his critics would do well to demand an end to Iran's insane hostility toward Israel, and of its devious resistance to international efforts to insure that its nuclear program be used for peaceful purposes.

Dealing with Iran is a quandary. The Holocaust makes it very plausible for Jews to again fear annihilation. Goldberg's critics could at least have the decency of acknowledging this, and pointing out that it's Iran that's been provocative all these years in threatening Israel.

Religion in Communist Lands journal now on-line

I am pleased to announce that the journal Religion in Communist Lands is now available on-line here. Although its subject matter might be considered peripheral to Biblical Studies it represents a unique archive of an important period in modern church history which will be of great interest to many. The articles will later be listed on my missiology website when time and resources become available to proceed with its development. I am grateful to the Trustees of the Keston Institute for their enthusiasm to see this journal and its successor Religion, State and Society placed on-line for free public access.

No more spilling of vitriol on immigration

We can only wish and hope that this could happen; no more rage or hate. - - Donna Poisl

by Jan Jarboe Russell

No matter what you think about immigration reform, surely we can all agree that the solution will not be found on rage-fueled talk radio.

The problem is, we are captured between two opposing, entrenched extremes. On one side, there are those who want to close the border to Mexicans and deport the millions of illegal immigrants already here. On the other sits the group that wants a more open border and amnesty for those here illegally.

If we took the politics out of the equation, what would a smart solution — one that puts America's interests first — look like?
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Immigrants Might Leave Arizona But Not The Country

Immigrants left Arizona after SB 1070, many moving to Colorado, California and New Mexico. - - Donna Poisl

by SERGIO QUINTANA

When Arizona legislators introduced SB 1070 earlier this year, their intention was to crack down on illegal immigrants in the state. The law requires police to check the immigration status of anyone in custody. Since the controversial law took effect, many of the toughest measures have been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

One of the key goals of the law was to encourage undocumented immigrants to self-deport to their home countries. But while people are leaving Arizona, many may be moving to other states, including neighboring New Mexico.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

How do you become American?

An opinion piece about immigrants and what they do to become Americans. - - Donna Poisl

by Joan Leon/Looking Forward

What does it mean to be an American? What is the perception of an American in other parts of the world?

Is it speaking English, with the many different accents heard in New York or Georgia or Texas? Is it our can-do attitude? Is it the sense of humor, an assured manner? Is it our confidence that our government will be stable and powerful? Is it our materialism?

Is it finally becoming a citizen?

It may take several generations to assimilate into American mainstream, but retaining customs and traditions of other cultures adds to our diversity.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Sender Films Present First Ascent: The Series

Sender Films make some of the absolute best climbing movies that you'll find anywhere, with their First Ascent Series being chief amongst them. The company has just released the box set of the 6-part series, which can be purchased here for $49.95.

Below is a teaser trailer of what you can expect out of these videos, with some spectacular scenery, great climbing, and excellent filmmaking. It's a glimpse of what you get on the 3-disc set and what Sender is all about.




"First Ascent: The Series" Trailer from Sender Films on Vimeo.

A Big Thank You To The Adventure Blog Readers

This weekend I'll be heading off to Montana for what is shaping up to be a great time in the mountains that will involve kayaks, bikes, horses, and trails. But before I go, I wanted to pass along a big thank you for all the readers of this blog. August has already been the best month in terms of traffic that I have ever had on The Adventure Blog, and there are still several days to go. I just wanted to let everyone know that I appreciate you stopping by, sharing your comments, and sending me thoughts and perspectives on the adventure community. This is indeed a labor of love, and I'm glad that I can share it with all of you.

While in Montana, I'll be having some fun adventures of my own, and I'm looking forward to visiting Yellowstone and taking in some of the spectacular scenery out there. That means I won't be posting any updates next week, but will probably have some things to share starting on the 4th of September or so. I'll take lots of pictures and you know I'll be writing about the trip, as I haven't been to Montana since I was there in 2008 for Primal Quest.

Everyone have a great weekend. Get out on trail somewhere and enjoy the final weeks of summer. Autumn isn't as far away as we'd like to believe at this point. I'll be back soon!

Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc Canceled Due To Bad Weather!

One of the toughest endurance events in the world got underway earlier today, and then was promptly canceled part way in. The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc was stopped 31 miles in due to severe weather on the trail, particularly at higher altitude. Detail are still a bit sketchy at this time, but a press conference is expected to take place shortly with the race director explaining the situation. As of this writing, the athletes are all being shuttled back to Chamonix.

The UTMB is an ultramarathon that takes place annually crossing through the Alps and covering more than 100 miles, and passing through France, Italy, and Switzerland. It routine attracts some of the best long distance endurance athletes in the world, and is considered one of the crown jewels in the ultramaraton schedule each year. The trail is a loop around Mont Blanc that typically requires about 20 hours to complete, with the bulk of the racers finishing in the 30-40 hour range

From reports from the race, it seems that many of the racers are quite upset with this turn of events. I'm sure that the race management team only has their best interest in mind, but after training for months to prepare for the run, it can be quite disappointing to have it end like this.

I'm sure we'll know more on this story soon.

Trans-Kalahari Adventure Run Update: 2/3 Done!

The Trans-Kalahari Adventure Run began back on August 14th, with Jukka Viljanen, Kirsi Montonen, and Greg Maud all hitting the trail to raise funds for Cheetah Conservation Botswana. The plan is to run 1000km (620 miles) across the Kalahari Desert, which they estimated would take about 20 days to complete. Now, two weeks into their adventure, it seems that they are on pace to finish as expected.

In the latest updates to their blog, the team says that they should complete the first two-thirds of their journey today. They also remark that the past few days have been spent in a very sandy section of the route, and with the winds picking up, it has made for a challenging slog. Most of the route has been along dirt jeep roads and a game trails thus far, so these conditions were expected, although that doesn't make them any easier to deal with.

They've also been encountering their fair share of wildlife as well, although thus far no big cats. In today's update the note that they have been seeing a lot of lion tracks on the route, but they have remained elusive to date. The team holds out hope that they'll spot a few along the way, but it remains to be seen if that is a good idea or not. If they're anything like my big house cat, they'll pounce on just about anything that is moving.

Despite the absence of lions thus far however, they've still had to keep their eyes peeled for other nasty critters. A few days back they ran into no less than eight puff adders in a 3km stretch of road, which kept them on their toes to say the least. The venomous snake is one of the most aggressive in Africa and it kills more people there than any other. Being in a remote area of Botswana, and getting bitten, would not be a good thing to say the least.

With their current pace, it appears that the team should be on track to wrap up their run sometime late next week. I would anticipate them finishing on Friday or Saturday, depending on conditions. It appears that they are enjoying their African excursion thus far and the challenge of crossing the Kalahari on foot.

Pakistan Needs Help From The Mountaineering Community

Explorers Web has a good post this afternoon reminding us that even though the Karakorum climbing season is over for the year, we shouldn't forget about the people living in Pakistan who are continuing to suffer thanks to the ongoing flooding there. This year the monsoon has been especially bad, and the entire region, including Nepal, China, India, and others, has been inundated with rain, but Pakistan seems to be getting the worst of it, with current estimates saying that more than 17 million people have been affected by the floods, and the waters continue to rise.

According to this story from the BBC, more than 1.2 million homes have been destroyed, leaving 5 million people homeless at the moment, and while these immediate needs have to be addressed, the long term outlook is not good either. With nearly 8 million acres of farm land already under water the country could be facing a foot shortage in the weeks ahead, and with that much standing water, the threat of disease such as malaria, is on the rise too.

International aid is arriving in Pakistan, and aid workers are doing their best to get everything distributed properly, but as if they didn't have enough to worry about, the Taliban has made threats against the workers as well. While these efforts will continue in the days ahead, many Pakistani's are fleeing to the southern portion of the country to escape the devastating floods.

The Field Touring Alpine Blog posted a number of updates on the situation last week, and has recommended that the climbing community offer up any support they can to the flood victims. They also posted a link with a number of great organizations that are accepting donations and lending aid to the people of Pakistan as well. You can find that list by clicking here.

FTA operates several climbs in Pakistan each year, most recently sending teams to Broad Peak and K2, so applaud them for helping to spread the word about what is going on there. From the sound of most reports, this has been an incredibly crippling disaster that could take years to recover from. It has been a very trying couple of months in the central Asian country, lets hope that the Monsoon will now move on, and allow things to begin to get back to normal there.

NeighborWorks America Continues Commitment to Gulf Coast Region

On the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, NeighborWorks America underscored its commitment to the Gulf Coast region, announcing that it will invest $3 million in the region by the end of 2010. Since 2006, NeighborWorks America has invested $15 million in resources in the Gulf to support an array of rebuilding efforts.

Here's some of the major areas where NeighborWorks is having impact:

• The construction or rehabilitation of 3,718 for-sale and multifamily affordable housing units, 250 of which incorporate green building techniques
  
• Financial and homeownership education for 26,030 Gulf Coast residents
  
• Support, technical assistance, and training for local nonprofit affordable housing and community development organizations throughout the region.
  
  “NeighborWorks remains committed to rebuilding the communities of the Gulf Coast, and will continue to work effectively with our local and regional partners to rehabilitate and develop affordable housing, deliver financial education and homeownership counseling, and provide technical assistance and support for the nonprofit community. With the help of our partners, we will continue to empower affected families and help to build a better future for generations to come,” said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America.
  
  This year alone, NeighborWorks America is investing an additional $3 million in the region, including $225,000 in grants to four Gulf area organizations who are providing assistance to constituents impacted by the BP oil spill.
  
  James Ross, Gulf Rebuilding manager at NeighborWorks, works closely with Gulf partners has seen first-hand the impact of this latest crisis. “Folks here are blindsided by this disaster – they don’t know how to support their families or pay their mortgages now that their businesses have been shuttered and their way of life has been threatened. Funding from NeighborWorks gives partners much-needed flexibility to address issues resulting from the oil spill.” View news release.

The Hood to Coast Run is Tomorrow

Billing itself as the "Mother of all Relays" the 29th annual Hood to Coast Relay is scheduled to take place tomorrow, with 12,000 runners gathering to take part in the event. The run begins at the Timberline Lodge, located at 6000 feet, on Mt. Hood in the state of Oregon and ends in the town of Seaside on the Pacific Coast, covering 197 miles in the process.

The Outside Blog, who tipped me off to this story, says that for the past 12 years this event has filled it's quota of 12,000 runners on the first day that registration opens, so clearly it is a fun and popular race. The teams will set off from the start line in waves, beginning at 6:30 AM and the last team won't get underway until 6:45 PM. The course is divided into 36 legs, which range in distance from 3.6 to 7.4 miles, and each member of a team is expected to run at least three of the legs. Teams consist of 8 to 12 runners, who will cover the entire course over the two days of the weekend.

Looks like a lot of fun! Check out the trailer for the Hood to Coast movie below.




Hood To Coast Movie Trailer #2 of for Race Website from HoodToCoastMovie on Vimeo.

Going Google across the 50 States: Bowery Lane Bicycles in New York rides towards success with Google Apps

Editor’s note: Over the past couple months, thousands of businesses have added their Gone Google story to our community map and even more have used the Go Google cloud calculator to test drive life in the cloud. To highlight some of these companies’ Gone Google stories, we decided to talk to Google Apps customers across the United States. Check back each week to see which state we visit next. To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit our community map.

Two years ago, Patrick Benard and Sean Naughton completed their first handmade bicycle. Shortly after, they opened Bowery Lane Bicycles in Manhattan with a commitment to having a positive impact on the environment and the local community. Today, they continue to design bicycles for the urban cyclist, build them by hand in New York – in a local factory that uses solar panels to generate 30% of its power – and sell them from their showroom and at city cycling events. Even on the business side, the founders have taken a community approach, working only with local vendors and freelancers.

A year after Bowery Lane Bicycles opened, Michael Salvatore, chief officer of just about everything, was brought on board to help run the business. His first task was to get the company operating and communicating on a more professional level by implementing Google Apps so everyone had @bowerylanebicycles.com email addresses. From experience at previous companies, Michael knew that email addresses were only the beginning and started using Google Apps to improve other business processes. He shares with us how this was done.

“We rely on freelancers and friends located throughout the city to get projects done, and Google Docs makes this possible. Our friends have day jobs so being able to access everything online and collaborate with us in real-time, from anywhere, is not only convenient, it’s essential.

Google Calendar also helps us quickly spread the word among our friends about upcoming cycling and charity events where we’ll need staffing help. We keep a master calendar of all events and send out invites directly from Google Calendar. On the sales end, our showroom is viewed by appointment only, so we use a shared calendar for all of our scheduling.

To track inventory, I use Google forms. When a sale is made the model number of the bicycle purchased and other relevant information is inputted into a form. All the details are then populated directly into my spreadsheet and I can keep track of which bikes are low in inventory and when I need to order more. It’s simple but efficient.

With most of our business software needs taken care of, we can focus on our main goal – manufacturing the best bikes we can. Yes, we’re a small start-up, but we realized early on that successful companies need to be able to communicate quickly and keep track of their business as they expand. We can do just that, thanks to Google Apps.”

Posted by Michelle Lisowski, Google Apps team

Iris Cross: Manager, External Affairs, Houston, BP America

Now appearing in BP television commercials

Twenty five years experience in government and public affairs, with extensive knowledge in philanthropy and community relations. Currently responsible for shaping and implementing BP’s community investment programs.

Tenure with BP also included Director, Community Relations, BP Texas City, where an extensive community relations program was implemented, building relationships among employees, community and city reps.; Director, National Programs, which included managing the company’s national constituent initiatives, administered a $10 million budget, which included local and national recommendations, volunteerism programs, and corporate contributions, planned and coordinated highly visible BP sponsored events; Director, Community Relations, Houston; and Consultant, Community Relations, California.

Prior to the merger of Amoco with British Petroleum, held numerous positions in Chicago, including Program Advisor, Community Relations; Coordinator, Community Affairs; and Secretary of the Board, Amoco Foundation, Inc. (Linkedin)

BP Rejects AAEA's Partnership Proposal

Work better across time zones with Google Calendar

Collaborating with colleagues from various teams in different offices is a daily facet of my work. I am based in Zurich, Switzerland, and many of the people I interact with are in California, USA, which is nine hours behind. Oftentimes I find myself invited to attend meetings that happen late in my evening, which proves that coordinating across time zones can be a challenge.

At Google we want to help you maintain a healthy work/life balance, so today we’re launching a set of new features that will improve your experience whether you’re scheduling across time zones or just across the hall.

Setting Up Working Hours
For Google Apps users, the new ‘Working hours’ setting allows you to configure the hours that suit your schedule, as you can see in the screenshot below:


Users setting up an event will be able to see your working hours clearly marked in your calendar in the event creation page. They will also be warned if they schedule an event outside your working hours. For example, when someone in California is scheduling an appointment with me for 11am their time, they will see a warning like this:


Find a Time, Make it Recurring
The new "Find a Time" tab on the event scheduling page lets you view your coworkers’ schedules at-a-glance and choose the best time for a meeting. This is especially helpful for scheduling events with a large number of attendees, particularly if they are spread out geographically. Also in the event scheduling page, we’ve launched a simpler interface for setting recurring meetings with a small window that appears when you select the “Repeats” check box. For Google Apps customers with the administrative control panel option set to “enable new pre-release features” users will automatically see these new changes to the event editor.

We’ve also made a number of changes on the back-end that improve the performance, consistency, and extensibility of Calendar, which we’ve announced on our Gmail blog today. Enjoy your meetings, now with fewer time zone scheduling hassles!

Posted by Oana Florescu, Software Engineer, Calendar

Update (8/30): While rolling out the new calendar features last week we identified a potential issue that caused us to delay the update. We are working to launch these new feature to users on domains that do not utilize the Google Calendar Connector (GCC) service early this week and we are working on supporting GCC users in the near future.

Proof That Any Clown Can Kayak

This video really shows you how easy it is to kayak, even on semi-challenging waters. I mean, just take a look. Clearly any clown can learn to paddle.

Thanks to Paddling Life for the video!

This Week in Microfinance

It was a very active week for the international microfinance community. The following articles are all worth checking out. It’s amazing that microfinance is growing so fast and that new operations are being started all over the world, within days of each other.


Ibdaa Microfinance Bank launched in Syria. It hopes to distribute 407,000 loans over the next 5 years through 40 branches. This new MFI will also create another 500 jobs companywide. Read about it in Zawya by clicking here.


In Vietnam, the first official microfinance organization, the TYM, was put into operation by The Vietnam Women’s Union. As reported by Vietnam Business, “The TYM, formerly named the Compassion Fund, has helped more than 80,000 women access basic financial services and escape poverty over the past 18 years”. Its new status allows it to take savings. Read the report by clicking here.


Barclays Bank has been busy investing in Microfinance this week. They invested IRN54.6 Million (around $1.1 Million) microfinance in India. Meanwhile, in Africa, the British bank invested $50 Million dollars in microfinance programs in 10 countries. The funding will go to help around 500,000 people. In both cases Barclays is partnered with CARE International and together are running a program called Banking for Change.
Learn more about this by clicking here for India and here for Africa.


In another interesting story about countries learning about microfinance from each other, Yemen has sent a delegation to the Phillipines to learn about the success of their programs. Read more about it in the Yemen Observer here.


There is a new program started by the International Finance Corporation (IFCA) in the Pacific. It will provide funding for microfinance operations in East Timor, Papua New Guinea, and other Pacific countries. Follow the link here for information about the project and an interview with IFCA Financial Markets Specialist, Deva De Silva from Radio Australia.


Check back next week for more international microfinance news!