Preview the new look of Google Apps

Posted by Simon Smith, Google Apps User Experience lead

Google Apps, along with all of Google, will get a new look over the course of the summer to make the user interface more focused, elastic and effortless to use. We continuously improve and seamlessly update our products (there were over 125 new features added to Google Apps last year) and hope that these user interface updates will make features easier to find when you need them and hide them when you don't. Our goal is to give you the best possible experience across all of our apps on all of your devices.

Just like you, we rely on Google Apps every day and we know that change can take a little while to get used to. So we want to give you a heads-up before the new look becomes the default, and we’d like you to share your feedback along the way. These visual improvements will follow our standard Google Apps release process, with organizations on the Rapid Release track gaining access to the updates first, followed later by organizations on the Scheduled Release track. The first visual updates will be in Gmail and Calendar, and to start they will be available on an opt-in/opt-out basis, so you can continue to use the old interface and preview the changes before they become the default later this year. When you do give it a try, we hope you enjoy a cleaner, more modern look.

On the whatsnew.googleapps.com site, you’ll find instructions on how to access the latest designs for Gmail and Calendar. We’ll keep this site up-to-date with the latest information about the new look as well as a feedback form and other resources for Google Apps administrators and users.

Decades in the Making

from Ali Noorani, Executive Director, National Immigration Forum

Sonn Ke’s journey to America began in 1980. She and her six children escaped the brutal Khmer Rouge by trekking through the Cambodian jungle on foot and avoiding minefields at every turn. Eventually the family made it to the Thailand border, where they awaited their fate with 40,000 other refugees.

Five years later, Ke and her children received word that they would be sent to Fresno, CA. There, Ke’s children attended school, learned English, started their own families, and eventually became American citizens.

More than two decades after arriving in Fresno, Ke was the only member of her family left who was not a U.S. citizen. Her son, San Soth, says Ke worried that she would be sent back to her native country if she could not become a citizen.

Thirty-one years after it began, Ke’s journey finally reached its last leg. Yesterday she joined 58 other refugees in an official citizenship ceremony. At the age of 84, a wheelchair bound Ke grasped a miniature flag and was sworn in with her son at her side.

Upon receiving her citizenship papers, Ke smiled broadly and declared, "I'm happy to become a citizen. I don't want to go back to Cambodia."

Are you happy and thankful to be an American like Ke? What does being an American citizen mean to you? Tell us at KeepersoftheAmericanDream.org.

Thanks,
Ali Noorani
Executive Director, National Immigration Forum

P.S. Save the Date! The 2011 Keepers of the American Dream Awards event will be held Thursday, October 13th. Stay tuned for more details.

Illegal Aliens Step Boldly Out of the Shadows at DREAM Hearing

Hundreds of illegal immigrants were in the room when the DREAM Act finally started the Senate hearings. - - Donna Poisl

by Audrey Hudson

It’s not unusual for politicians on Capitol Hill to recognize citizens during hearings on legislation that would have a positive or negative impact on their lives.

But that tactic took a different turn this week when hundreds of illegal immigrants filled the largest hearing room in the Senate to openly participate in the proceedings.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

LULAC Reports on Latinos Living Healthy: State of the Nation and Solutions

PRESS RELEASE

CINCINNATI, June 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- America's health challenges include dramatic increases in diabetes, obesity, heart ailments and other diseases driven by sedentary lifestyles, obesity and poor nutrition.

Last week, Harvard University and Imperial College in London announced that the global incidence of diabetes has doubled since 1980. Furthermore, the United States ranks as the country with the highest body mass indexes which contribute to a number of disease states. LULAC and Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, who is speaking at the convention today, worked hand in hand to pass the Affordable Care Act which will benefit millions of Hispanic families.

As part of today's press conference, conducted at the 82nd Annual National Convention, LULAC highlighted its commitment to improving health among the U.S. Hispanic population. One initiative, Latinos Living Healthy, is aimed at reducing childhood obesity among vulnerable populations. Spearheaded by LULAC and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it seeks to enable all children to have access to nutrition information, foods that are healthy and affordable and access to safe spaces where they can engage in physical exercise.

"Hispanic health is often shaped by factors such as language and cultural barriers, lack of access to preventive care, and the lack of health insurance," remarked Margaret Moran, LULAC President. "Through proper relevant health care outreach and programming, we can make a difference."

LULAC hopes to reach 100,000 Latinos through health festivals, starting with one this fall in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The festivals will provide free health screenings, healthy foods and sports competitions as well as salsa aerobics.

At the same time, the National Park Service launched its Healthy Parks initiatives. This program, announced at the LULAC convention, furthers the parks' century-long commitment to preserving the environment for responsible public access to our nation's beautiful parks and recreation facilities.

Additionally, Lisa Pino, deputy administrator for USDA food and nutrition spoke about her agency's efforts to ensure children have adequate access to healthy meals.

Studies suggest that lack of health insurance, language, and citizenship are key barriers that prevent many Hispanics from accessing health services and from receiving quality health care. It is significant to note that Hispanics have the highest uninsured rates of any racial or ethnic group within the United States.

For convention details log onto, www.lulac.org.

CONTACT: Paloma Zuleta, +1-202-812-4477, pzuleta@lulac.org

California Can't Say It Wasn't Warned: 'Amazon Terminates Contracts With CA Affiliates'

“Governor Brown has signed into law the bill that we emailed you about earlier today. As a result of this, contracts with all California residents participating in the Amazon Associates Program are terminated effective today, June 29, 2011.”--- Portion of Amazon's termination letter.

25,000 California websites and small businesses were just terminated by Amazon.com due to a law California Governor Jerry Brown just signed which would require Amazon.com and other large out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes on purchases that their California customers make online.

Had Amazon not terminated those contracts, Accounting predicted the tax would bring in an estimated $200 million a year, but the end result, which Amazon did provide adequate warning of, is a loss of $152 million California revenue instead.

Many of about 25,000 affiliates in California, especially larger ones with dozens of employees, are likely to leave the state, said Rebecca Madigan, executive director of trade group Performance Marketing Assn. The affiliates combined paid $152 million in state income taxes last year, she pointed out.

"We have to consider it," said Loren Bendele, chief executive of Savings.com, a West Los Angeles website that links viewers to hundreds of money-saving deals. "It does not look good for our business."

The terminations will effect affiliates of endless.com, myhabit.com and smallparts.com as well.

Since we are talking about the affiliate program, I will put my own affiliate Amazon banner below... just for my own personal entertainment and income.

More possible unintended consequences for California below the Amazon ad.





Although the California law's intent was to go after Amazon, Big Government points out one unintended company that may now be caught in the crosshairs- EBAY.

But from the Sacramento Bee, we learn that California-based eBay– a big name in the state– has also grown deeply concerned about the effects of the proposed legislation:

California lawmakers thought they were targeting Amazon.com, the out-of-state giant, when they voted last week to force Internet retailers to collect sales tax.

It turns out eBay Inc., California’s own golden child of e-commerce, isn’t so thrilled about it, either.

The San Jose online auction company says the legislation would hurt its business model, which relies on thousands of entrepreneurs who sell goods on its site.

The intent may have been to go after Amazon, but “we’re literally caught in the crossfire,” said David London, senior director for state government relations at eBay.

George Runner, a member on the Board of Equalization rips into Brown for signing the law. "Even as Governor Jerry Brown lifted his pen to sign this legislation, thousands of affiliates across California were losing their jobs. The so-called 'Amazon tax' is truly a lose-lose proposition for California. Not only won’t we see the promised revenues, we’ll actually lose income tax revenue as affiliates move to other states."

[Update] Retired Bill Quick on the money California just cost him, headlines with "Leftist Wreckers In California Just Stole $3500-$5000 A Year Right Out of My Pocket."

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Sick day

It was sadly a long puke filled night for the junior team. We woke up to find all but three juniors sick and out for the count. Needless to say breakfast was quiet and caution was taken with what we ate. Later we found out that seven of the swedes were also affected. So the morning was spent talking to the hotel and moving to clean rooms.

Around 10:30 the three survivors and the giant decided to leave the sick to sleep and get in a bit of training. We went out to the map behind our hotel for some fun in the woods. We ran a course and stopped at each control to talk about what the possible route we saw to take were, which might be the best, and what features/techniques are good to use. Most of the forest was open and fast. However that being said it was easy enough to pick up a parallel feature or drift off track if you're contouring around. I found this type of training really useful. Getting to talk when actually seeing the terrain. Getting to run with other people around and trying to ignore them and then getting to have the giant around to help us figure out what we had done and to provide safety tips on how to plan a good route. We were out for around an hour.

By lunch there were still only four fully well. But chicken noodle soup and rice was dished out and people seemed to be a bit on the up.

By the time we headed over to visit with the Canadians we were up to five of us. So we went out and were told to walk around the sprint course the Canadians had just done. It would have been nice to get some speed and see how easily one could read things on the run, but even walking around to get a feel for things was better than nothing. The key in the sprint I think is going to be how well you're able to read ahead and how well you can switch from town to woods and maybe back.

We socialized with a few teams after walking the sprint. And then five of us were at dinner. Hopefully we will have a full table for breakfast again tomorrow!

- Alison Campbell

GoPro Captures The Ouch!

We all know that GoPro helmet cams can be a lot of fun, and have provided endless hours of entertaining video over the past couple of years, but this video puts it all into a new perspective. It captures two mountain bikers bombing down a run, and then crashing along the way. I won't give too much away, but there were too moments that made me wince and say "ouch!" out loud. First, when the lead rider crashes, then bounces off a tree, and second when the cameraman runs him over. Both made me hurt just watching 'em.

Thanks to the Goat for sharing. Nice find!



Mount 7 Wet Dream Crash from Robb Thompson on Vimeo.

Second Gaza Flotilla: Humanitarian Aid or a Political Protest?

Many people have been writing a lot of pieces expressing a wide range of opinions on the upcoming Gaza Flotilla. As is par for the course with anything relating to Israel I can predict with very high accuracy what a particular article or opinion piece is going to say based solely on the name in the by-line. People have their perspectives, their world views, and rarely do any of the folks who grapple with these issues on a regular basis surprise me. That’s fine, except everyone seems to be missing what I think the central issue with this second flotilla really is; the question of its goals and the mission it is actually seeking to accomplish.

Let me explain. I’m not talking about whether the flotilla is “good” or “bad”. I’m not talking about whether it is over hyped and has too much media exposure. And I’m not talking about whether it is too explicitly pro-Palestinian. The question that concerns me is if the mission of this flotilla is to deliver humanitarian aid, be a high profile international protest, or an attempt at both.

The question matters. It has implications that reach far beyond the shores of Gaza and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And for me, clarity on this issue is critical for understanding what the flotilla is and what value it ultimately creates.

To get at this question we first need to address what good humanitarian aid looks like. I have been fortunate enough to study humanitarian aid; its best practices, successes and failures, and core principles, at the graduate school level from a leading aid practitioner. My teacher, who has her M.D. in Emergency Medicine a M.P.H. in Public Health and a M.P.H. in Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and has been on the ground providing aid throughout Africa, in post-tsunami Indonesia and in post-earthquake Haiti. Without exaggeration, she is one of the best in the world, though she is much too modest to ever say so herself.

I’m providing a truncated resume to add the appropriate weight and correctness to what she taught me about humanitarian aid. Not all of what I learned about providing aid is relevant to the case of the flotilla, but several very important aspects are.

1. Aid workers should never, ever, under any circumstances, be armed. During the first flotilla some of the participants were armed to various extents, from metal pipes to knives and perhaps even guns. Being armed does not make an aid worker safer; it puts them in greater danger. It also calls into question the humanitarian nature of their mission and if they are doctors their ability to uphold the Hippocratic Oath.

2. Aid workers should never, ever, under any circumstances, take sides in a political conflict. Doing so can lead to several problems including being used as pawns in a conflict and only providing aid to one party to a conflict. Aid workers need to remain impartial so that they can be of assistance to all those in need.

3. Humanitarian aid should address the specific needs of a particular situation and be tailored to provide what is actually needed. It should also be as efficient and effective as possible, which often means working in coordination with local governments. Humanitarian aid can be temporary shelter, building supplies for construction, food, clean water, sanitation facilities and medicine just for starters. Effective aid cannot be delivered without local government permission at the very least and coordination and co-implementation in the best cases.

It is important to keep all of this in mind when assessing if this second flotilla is an aid mission and if it has a legitimate chance of actually providing much needed aid to the people of Gaza.

The second aspect of this question is what international protest looks like. I’m a rabble rouser by nature. I have not tolerance for injustice and discrimination and I’m a big believer in the power and value of non-violent political protest by “the people”. It’s important to speak truth to power and fight the powers that be for justice and equality. If that came off as cheesy or too earnest, I apologize; I am truly sincere in this stance and world view.

The Israeli blockade of Gaza by land, sea, and air is cruel and unjust. The policy is mostly about punishing an entire population of roughly 1.6 million people; not preventing terrorism. Such a total blockade creates a level of control that calls into question Israel’s assertion that it is no longer occupying Gaza. The blockade has created a preventable humanitarian crisis and the people of the world have a right to protest this policy. I oppose the blockade policy and I’m not afraid to say it. Non-violent political protest in the face of injustice and suffering is not only legitimate; it’s perhaps the most important type of action that people of conscious can take. And for non-violent actions of protest to be really effective they have to be high profile, they have to create controversy, they have to shine a light on the hypocrisy and injustice that they oppose.

Clearly, humanitarian aid missions and high profile political protests are very different things. They have different goals and different modus operandi. I believe that both are valuable for making the world a better place. But I also believe that they are distinct for a reason and that trying to combine them into one operation will result in the failure of both sets of goals.

If the primary goal of the flotilla is to deliver aid, then it should make sure none of the flotilla participants are armed in any way. It should do everything in its power to avoid armed conflict. It should bring as much as the needed aid items as possible and not waste cargo space with letters of peace and hope. It should pressure the Israeli authorities to deliver aid in an effective and timely matter but at the same time coordinate the relief effort with the government. If the goal is to be an aid mission the flotilla should conduct itself according to international standards and best practices of aid missions, and it should do so not only to increase its chances of success but also to avoid putting future aid missions around the world in danger by confusing the purpose of an aid mission with something else.

If the primary goal of the flotilla is to protest an unjust policy, then it should not even attempt to run a military blockade with humanitarian supplies. It should focus all its messaging on human rights, the occupation, and on Israeli policies. It should train all flotilla participants in non-violent protest techniques. And most of it should be up front and explicit that it is trying to make a point, stir the pot, cause a ruckus, and ultimately challenge injustice in order to bring it to an end. It’s a noble goal. It’s a legitimate goal. And if it is the goal then the flotilla organizers and participants need to own it; not conflate it with a separate and distinct type of mission.

Which brings me back to the original question, what is this second flotilla trying to be; an aid mission or a profile protest? It can’t be both. It has to choose.

By The Numbers: Obama's False Tax Narrative

Barack Obama and liberals across the board continue to harp on raising taxes aka revenue as they battle against meaningful spending cuts, but the numbers, the data prove that narrative to be false.

Wall Street Journal's Review and Outlook explains:

But what about the liberal claim, repeated constantly, that the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 caused today's deficits? CBO has shown this to be demonstrably false. On May 12, the budget arm of Congress examined the changes in its baseline projections from 2001 through 2011. In 2001, it had predicted a surplus in 2011 of $889 billion. Instead, it expects a deficit of $1.4 trillion.

What explains that $2.29 trillion budget reversal? Well, the direct revenue loss from the combination of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts contributed roughly $216 billion, or only about 9.5% of the $2.29 trillion. And keep in mind that even this low figure is based on a static revenue model that assumes almost no gains from faster economic growth.

After the Bush investment tax cuts of 2003, tax revenues were $786 billion higher in 2007 ($2.568 trillion) than they were in 2003 ($1.782 trillion), the biggest four-year increase in U.S. history. So as flawed as it is, the current tax code with a top personal income tax rate of 35% is clearly capable of generating big revenue gains.

CBO's data show that by far the biggest change in its deficit forecast is the spending bonanza, with outlays in 2011 that are $1.135 trillion higher than the budget office estimated a decade ago. One-third of that is higher interest payments on the national debt, notwithstanding record low interest rates. But $523 billion is due to domestic spending increases, including defense, education, Medicaid and the Obama stimulus. Mr. Bush's Medicare drug plan accounts for $53 billion of this unanticipated spending in 2011.

The other big revenue reductions come from the "temporary" tax changes of the Obama stimulus and 2010 bipartisan tax deal. CBO says the December tax deal—which includes the one-year payroll tax cut and the annual fix on the alternative minimum tax—will reduce revenues by $196 billion this year. The temporary speedup in business expensing will cost another $55 billion.

The payroll tax cut was sold in the name of stimulating growth and hiring, yet the economy has grown more slowly this year than in last year's fourth quarter. As we've long argued, the "temporary, targeted and timely" tax cuts favored by Keynesians and the White House don't do much for growth because they don't permanently change incentives to save and invest. Mr. Obama was hawking more of those yesterday, even as he wants to raise taxes overall.

Bloomberg points out that that in yesterday's speech, the same speech that MSNBC senior political analyst Mark Halperin is catching flack for calling Barack Obama a "dick" for, Obama mentioned corporate jet benefits and ending tax breaks for corporate jet owners, six times, yet as the article informs it's readers, that would account for "less than one-tenth of 1 percent of his target for reducing the federal deficit."

Obama's purpose in specifying that one item is to feed into a class warfare mindset, an "everyone should hate the rich because we are not rich too" type of thought.

Heritage seems to find it ironic that the very benefits Obama was criticizing in his speech, were "created by his own stimulus package."

But the corporate jet tax break to which Obama was referring – called “accelerated depreciation,” and a popular Democratic foil of late – was created by his own stimulus package.

Proponents of the tax break lauded it as a means to spur economic activity by encouraging purchases of large manufactured goods (planes). So the president’s statement today – and his call to repeal that tax break generally – is either a tacit admission that the stimulus included projects that did not, in fact, stimulate the economy, or an attempt to “soak the rich” without regard for the policy’s effects on the economy.

Redistribution of wealth is Obama's meme again,, where those that earn more money than others should be soaked for more than 35 percent of their income to provide for those who make less, is popular among liberals and Barack Obama, but even if the government stole 100% of the so-called rich's money, our debt would still not be paid off.

Obama is desperate for a platform for his 2012 reelection campaign since his actual record is weak because his policies have failed to stimulate the economy, failed to bring unemployment down but has seen it rise during his term, failed to cut government spending, and has instead created more debt and more spending.

Obama has simply failed across the board so he cannot run on his "success" because he has none economically and polling shows the public knows it and severely disapproves of his whole handling of the economy and deficit problem as I noted and linked to various polls from multiple organizations in the "by the numbers" portion of yesterdays post showing Obama is losing yet another portion of a demographic, pro-Israel Jewish Democrats, approval.

His swan song is old and I seriously doubt the majority of the American public, aside from his most liberal base, is going to join him in singing the chorus this time around.

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Video- MSNBC Analyst Mark Halperin Calls Obama A 'Dick', Apologizes, Then Gets Suspended

Video below:



Call me amused.

The Politico reports that editor-at large for Time, Mark Halperin, who is also a senior political analyst for MSNBC (suspended now)was referencing Barack Obama's speech yesterday and said "I thought he was a dick yesterday."

During the Morning Joe show, host Joe Scarborough hoped to prevent the comment from being broadcast, saying, “Delay that. Delay that. What are you doing? I can’t believe… don’t do that. Did we delay that?”

Just minutes later, Halperin quickly apologized on the air to the president and viewers for his choice of words. “Joking aside, this is an absolute apology. I shouldn’t have said it. I apologize to the president and the viewers who heard me say that,” Halperin said.

“We’re going to have a meeting after the show,” Scarborough said.

According to Scarborough, there had been a mishap with the seven-second delay button – a new executive producer apparently didn’t know how it worked. “You are supposed to know how to do the job,” Scarborough said of his producer. “I would tell you what I think of him, but he doesn’t know what button to push.”

Later in the show, Halperin again apologized, saying, “I can’t explain why I did it. It’s inappropriate, disrespectful. I’ve already apologized, and I will again to the President. I’m sorry, I’m sorry to the viewers…It is disrespectful, what I said was disrespectful to the president and the office but it also lowers our discourse.”

Everyone issued statements, Halperin with yet another apology on Twitter and via statement, MSNBC and Scarborough himself again at the end of the show.

Hat Tip Hot Air via Ed Morrissey's Tweet

Morrissey also has a updated question he ends his piece with: "Did MSNBC get mad because of the word, or because it was aimed at Obama?"

Still amused here at the fuss Halperin's Obama "was a dick" comments are creating around the blogosphere.

[Update] CNN does a piece on this and cannot even bring themselves to spell out the word dick in their article:

MSNBC contributor Mark Halperin was suspended indefinitely Thursday from the cable network after calling President Obama a "d**k."

They actually do that twice.

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Obama to North Dakota: Tough Luck Cracker Honky Whitey

While the president is playing golf and making excuses, the people of Minot, North Dakota are rolling up their sleeves and trying to save their town after the floods. Please help them if you can.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/06/obama-to-north-dakota-tough-luck-cracker-honky-whitey/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Ten Things You Should Know From the 2011 State of the Nation’s Housing Report

This post originally appeared in Stabilize, the blog of NeighborWorks America's Stable Communities Initiative.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University recently released its 2011 State of the Nation’s Housing report. The annual report identifies and analyzes demographic, economic and social trends that affect the housing industry, and is a must-read for thought leaders, policymakers, funders and practitioners.

Don’t have time to read it all now? Here are the 10 things we think you should know right away:

1. Recovery Good News

• With employment growth strengthening, consumer spending up, and rental markets tightening, some of the ingredients for a housing recovery were taking shape in early 2011.

2. Recovery Bad News

• Yet in the first quarter of the year, new home sales plumbed record lows, existing sales remained in a slump, and home prices slid. Tight underwriting requirements, on top of uncertainty about the direction of home prices, continue to dampen homebuying activity. The weakness of demand is slowing the absorption of vacant properties for sale, hindering the recovery.

3. The Rental Market is Tightening

• Conditions in the rental and owner markets have begun to diverge.
• Even with the net shift of 1.4 million single-family homes to rentals in 2007–9 (nearly double the number in 2005–7), rental vacancy rates have fallen and given a lift to rents and property values.
• The rental vacancy rate fell from 10.6 percent in the first quarter to 9.4 percent in the last, the lowest quarterly rate posted since 2003.
• With vacancy rates down, the pressure on rents is up. Nominal rents for professionally managed apartments were up 2.3 percent last year, recovering some of the ground lost in 2009.

4. The Homeownership Rate is Declining

• With an unusually large number of households leaving homeownership and an unusually small number of renter households buying homes, the national homeownership rate dipped below 67 percent in 2010, down from 69 percent in 2004.
• Given that the foreclosure wave is still cresting and would-be buyers are waiting for prices to firm, homeownership could continue to decline in 2011. The farther the homeownership rate falls, the longer it will take to work through the excess inventory of homes for-sale and held off market

5. Household Growth is Declining

• Even though the echo boomers (born 1986 and later)—the largest generation ever to reach their 20s—are entering their peak household formation years, household growth flagged during the late 2000s as more young adults delayed setting out on their own and growth in foreign-born households came to a halt.
• While estimates vary widely, the Current Population Survey indicates that household growth averaged about 500,000 per year in 2007–10. This is not only less than half the 1.2 million annual pace averaged in 2000–7, but also lower than that averaged in the 1990s when the smaller baby-bust generation entered the housing market.

6. The New Credit Environment is a Significant Obstacle to Would-Be Homebuyers and the National Recovery

• Many households still aspire to homeownership, but new underwriting standards are a significant obstacle.
• Even FHA-insured mortgage programs, one of the few places where lower down payments are available, have tightened requirements and raised costs.
• The combination of higher income, downpayment, and credit score requirements in today’s broader mortgage market will prevent many borrowers from getting the loans today that they would have qualified for in the 1990s before the housing boom and bust.
• “While a return to more stringent standards was clearly warranted, there is concern that overly rigid guidelines may unnecessarily restrict access of low- and moderate-income households to the benefits of homeownership.”

7. Nearly 4 Million Baby-Boomers Will Move to Smaller Homes

• The aging of the baby boomers (born 1946–65) is projected to drive up the number of households over age 65 by some 8.7 million by 2020—a 35 percent increase from 2010.


• One in three heads of households aged 65–74 in 2007 reported having moved in the previous 10 years, many to smaller homes. “If the older baby boomers match this mobility rate, some 3.8 million would downsize their homes over the coming decade, lifting the demand for smaller units.”

8. Minorities Will Make Up 70% of Net New Households 2010-2020

• Minorities will account for seven out of ten of the 11.8 million net new households in 2010–20.
• Hispanics alone will contribute nearly 40 percent of the increase.
• By 2020, minorities are expected to make up a third of all U.S. households. But with their lower average incomes and wealth than whites, more of these households will have to stretch to afford housing.

9. The Foreclosure Crisis Continues

• As of March 2011, about 2 million home loans were at least 90 days delinquent.
• Another 2.2 million properties were still in the foreclosure pipeline, with 67 percent of owners having made no payments in more than a year, and 31 percent having made no payments in two years.
• The crisis is especially acute in pockets across the country. Just 5 percent of census tracts accounted for more than a third of all homes lost to foreclosure since 2008.
• “It will take years for these neighborhoods—which are disproportionately minority—to recover from this calamity. As policymakers tackle the regulation and redesign of the mortgage market, it will be important to keep sight of the needs of these hard-hit communities.”

10. Affordability Problems Are Creeping Up the Income Scale

• Households earning between $45,000 and $60,000 saw the biggest increase in the share paying more than 30 percent of their incomes for housing, up 7.9 percentage points since 2001.

Of course, the beauty of the State of the Nation’s Housing report is in the detailed findings and sources it describes, so do try to read it soon. By following their sources, you can often find local data to compare to the national findings, giving your organization a jump-start on market or SWOT analysis, or a way to start a meaningful discussion with your board of directors about future direction.

What might these top-ten findings mean for your work?

Expedition Impossible Episode 2 Is Tonight

The second episode of ABC's summer reality show Expedition Impossible is set to air tonight, and I know that some of you, like me, enjoyed the first episode and are looking forward to the race continuing. With that in mind, I have a few links to share this morning that fans of the show might really enjoy.

First, we have a great post from Eric Weihenmayer on his BlindVision Blog in which he gives a peek behind the curtain and shares some details of what really went on during the race. If you're watching the show, he's the "blind guy," although most of us know him as the first blind person to summit Everest. Eric isn't giving anything away in his post, so no worry about spoilers, but he does share insights into some of the events that went down on the first episode. For instance, he mentions that the show was actually filmed over the course of two days, but edited to seem like one. He also says that the first impressions of a couple of the teams were a bit gruff, but that they actually turned out to be good people once they got to know them, specifically the NFL Players and The Fishermen.

One thing that Eric noted that stuck with me was that the contestants to the race really didn't know what they were getting themselves into and small details made a difference. For example, Eric was the only one who brought gaiters with him on the race, something I noticed and actually mentioned while watching. (Yes, I'm a gear nerd!) That shows his experience in rough terrain, and it helped his feet in the desert. Meanwhile, everyone else, including his teammates, suffered with sand in their shoes. Ugh!

Eric promises to do similar recaps after every episode, and while this one was published last week, it is still worth a read before heading into tonights episode.

Speaking of tonight's episode, the PR team over at ABC has been excellent at sharing video clips leading up to the start of the race. Turns out they have a few more to offer for tonight as well. Check out the preview below to get you ready for a new episode tonight. Hopefully we'll start to get to know the teams a bit better and see some really interesting challenges. Enjoy!

The Patagonia Expedition Race To Air On Outside Television

Fans of adventure racing will have yet another chance to catch a race on TV, provided you're lucky enough to have Outside Television in your market. The network has announced that it will begin showing the video of the 2011 edition of the Wenger Patagonia Expedition Race on July 6th at 1 PM.

The video of the race has been garnering plenty of attention at adventure film festivals across the globe. It won the "Adventure Sport" category at the inaugural Killarney Adventure Film Festival, and is also a Finalist at the New Zealand Mountain Film Festival as well. Additionally, it was an Official Selection at the Breckenridge Festival of Film held a few weeks back too.

I've been fortunate enough to have seen the video, and I can attest to its quality. It is a fantastic film covering not only this particular race but also doing a good job of capturing the spirit of adventure racing in general. Considering the remote nature of Patagonia, and the unpredictable weather conditions there, it is remarkable that producer Brian Leitten was able to put together such comprehensive coverage of the event. You can watch the trailer for the video below to get a glimpse of what you can expect.

If you're luck enough to have Outside TV, set your DVR's for July 6th at 1 PM. You'll be glad you did!

500 reasons to consider Google Apps

Posted by Shan Sinha, Google Apps Product Manager

Monday we shared some thoughts on why you might consider going Google. Since some of you asked for more, we invited our customers and partners to help us. After all, who knows the reasons better than they do?

We were humbled by the speed and thoughtfulness with which hundreds of people responded. Within 24 hours, we received more than 500 reasons to consider Google Apps. Thank you!

Just for fun, we put all the answers into a word cloud to offer a glimpse at what’s most important to our customers. We were pleased to see alignment with the four categories we shared Monday: pure and proven cloud, designed for teams, productive anywhere, and simple and affordable. If you’re interested, you can see the full list of responses here.

Word cloud based on over 500 reasons provided by our customers and partners.

Over the course of the coming weeks we hope to share as many of these reasons as possible in a more digestible way. Feel free to share additional thoughts by completing this form.

Thanks again for all the kind words!

New Gaza flotilla gearing up

Pro-Palestinian activists are ready to set sail with a second flotilla intended to break the blockade of Gaza.  The NY Jewish Week's Israel correspondent, Joshua Mitnick, contends that "Israel is better prepared this time, both diplomatically and militarily." He reports on differences with last year's situation, including the fact that the government of Turkey has withdrawn support for flotilla activists; Turkey is understood to be tied down with the refugee crisis at its border with Syria, and is said to be trying to repair last year's rupture with Israel.  Also:

... the fact that [Israel] has lifted a ban on imports into Gaza puts it on more solid ground for public diplomacy.  The restored flow of consumer goods and industrial raw materials to Gaza has given Israel a more effective position to argue against the flotilla.

In an April report, the International Monetary Fund described the economy of Gaza trying to “catch up” to normal levels: it noted a 15 percent jump in output in 2010, (though that remains 20 percent below what it was six years ago).

[But] Critics still say that Israeli restrictions on exports from Gaza and the ban on the import of building materials will greatly hamper any recovery in Gaza. “There have been improvements over the last year, but we’re far from a policy of free movement,” said Sari Bashi, director of Gisha, an Israeli nonprofit that advocates for lifting restrictions on the Palestinians there. ...

This month's issue of "In These Times" magazine has an interview with a 
woman who has volunteered for the "Audacity of Hope," the American-crewed ship preparing to participate.   I am sure that she has the best of intentions, but I see Kathy Kelly as under-informed in "Breaking Blockades for Peace" by Jenny Tomkins (I'll elaborate after the following introductory snippet): 

“Courageous” is not a term that Kathy Kelly would ever use to describe herself, but others might. When the shock and awe campaign was bombarding Baghdad in March 2003, Kelly was not on the streets protesting or at home watching the nightly news. She was in Baghdad with the friends she had made there on 24 previous visits to deliver medical and other supplies during the U.S.-led embargo.

Kelly, a co-coordinator of the antiwar group Voices for Creative Nonviolence, has been living her pacifist philosophy for decades now. It began when she was studying for an M.A. in theology, living in Chicago’s Hyde Park. ...

.... She lives a life of voluntary poverty—not a big stretch, she says, since she was raised by nuns who were never intent on acquiring personal wealth.

... Kelly will travel to Gaza ... challenging the Israeli blockade by delivering aid. Kelly spoke with In These Times about the role of nonviolence in the Middle East....

Me again: I was appalled and saddened when Israel attacked Gaza in 2008-09, in response to renewed rocket fire.  Israel was not wrong to react militarily, but it was an over-reaction.  Most Israelis deluded themselves into thinking that there was a military solution to this problem.  Still, I wonder what Ms. Kelly proposes that Israel do to protect its citizens from cross-border attacks, which have emanated from Gaza for years following Israel’s total withdrawal from there in the summer of 2005.

She might have been asked by "In These Times" if it’s unreasonable for Israel to check the cargoes being shipped on the flotilla to make sure there are no munitions or military-related materials.

I believe that the siege of Gaza’s civilian population was too restrictive, but I also believe that Gazans have had the odd habit of biting the hand that feeds them.  Still, this siege has not been total, or else we’d hear of mass deaths from starvation.  And now, with the Egyptian border opened up, and Israel having already eased its blockade, it has been significantly lifted.

If the flotilla activists were more logical and consistent in intervening on behalf of peace, wouldn’t they also bring the message to the Hamas authorities in Gaza that it’s high time that they recognized Israel and fully endorsed a two-state solution?  At the very least, shouldn’t Hamas announce that it no longer advocates blind hatred and even the mass murder of Jews, as suggested in its charter?

Google Earth API and StrataLogica: Changing Education

(Cross-posted on the Lat Long Blog)

Editors note:
The Google team encounters fun and new ways of using the Google Earth and Maps API. Here’s an example of how a century old educational map and globe publishing company realized more students wanted to learn online and transformed their teaching methods to include a program built on the Google Earth API. Don Rescigno, from Herff Jones | Nystrom, explains how students and teachers benefit from technology in the classroom with StrataLogica.

With today's technology enabling information to travel at a much more rapid rate than in the past, students feel more advanced than what many of us can remember from our own days in school. Elementary school students use a school computer, manage multiple usernames and passwords, work with spreadsheets, develop their own blogs and websites, and more. They’re tech savvy and they’re connected.

The challenge for educators is to use tools and resources that take advantage of students' advanced technological skills. Combining educational content with technology like the Google Earth API gave us the opportunity to foster a new and immersive experience that changes the way students see our world.

StrataLogica—combined with the Google Earth API —provides students with powerful tools to visualize and comprehend the ways in which geography has impacted events, politics and populations throughout human history. Students have the ability to see current events, taking place around the world, from their classroom.

Using a computer or interactive whiteboard, students uncover layers of educational content and can then drill down to Google Earth’s satellite imagery, see what’s actually there, and even use historical imagery to compare then and now. Recently, I had to play the role of a teacher when one of my children overheard a CNN report on Japan and asked, “Dad, what made the earthquake and tsunami?” The ability to access and interact with so many resources—aerial imagery of the earthquake, videos, and photos posted by Japanese citizens, local news stories—allowed me to teach him about the Earth’s processes and their impact. It helped to create a better understanding beyond the news story. It fostered critical thinking and a global perspective.



Like so many with children, I want to see students learning in a new way that
inspires them. It’s important for our future generation to understand how we are all connected — to think
globally and comprehend world impact. We want them to truly become global
citizens. StrataLogica and the Google Earth API are helping change the way students see the world; they can “fly” to any location in a matter of seconds, zoom in to imagery and see street views of historical sites that they may never have an opportunity to visit, embed videos and photos, and experience their own virtual field trips.

If you’re an educator interested in teaching geography, history, earth science and
more, visit stratalogica.com to learn more.


Posted by Natasha Wyatt, Google Earth and Maps Enterprise Team

Greg Beale on the Use of the Old Testament in the New

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has a series of three lectures by Greg Beale on various aspects on the New Testament's use of the Old. They are available both in audio and video formats on this page.

U.S. National Parks Face Major Threats To Their Future

This story was the topic of my daily post at Gadling.com today, but it is an important one, so I wanted to share it here as well.

Yesterday, the National Parks Conservation Association released a report that examines the biggest threats to America's national parks and assesses what can be done to address those threats. They found that climate change, invasive species, increased development, and a number of other forces are all causing major issues in the parks now, and will only continue to do so in the future, unless a comprehensive plan is created to help protect those natural places. The NPCA also cites a lack of funding for being a major issue as to why the National Park Service can't address these issues properly at the moment.

The report, which is being called the most complete examination of the future of the national parks, was conducted over a ten year time frame. During that time, researchers surveyed 80 parks in the U.S. system and came away with some sobering facts. For instance, they discovered that 95% of the parks assessed had completely lost at least one plant or animal species over the past decade. Furthermore, 63% of the parks also showed signs of degradation to the air and water quality as well.

It isn't all bad news however, as the NPCA noted in the report that with proper funding, training, and education, the Park Service can take measures to protect the parks and prevent irrevocable changes to their landscapes. They even list a couple of good examples to illustrate their point. The problem is "proper funding" does't seem to be available right now thanks to a sluggish economy and an ongoing budget crisis. Still, the organization recommends that the Obama Administration pledge federal resources to helping protect the parks for future generations to enjoy as well.

I'm a huge fan of America's national parks. They are amazing places that have, in some cases, been neglected in recent years due to lack of funding. I know, and understand, that climate change is going to alter those places dramatically no matter what we do, but that doesn't mean we can't take other measures to ensure that the parks are safe and are given the proper attention to steward them into the future in fine fashion.

The entire NPCA report can be found here. Definitely worth a read if you're a fan of the parks as I am.

Wednesday JWOC training

For our Wednesday training in the spacious woods of Poland we did an easy training focusing in on following our route choices. So even though we were running much slower than race pace we were still supposed to run the routes that we would run in a race and not take the easy way out. As it being my first day of training here I found that the woods are quite open, even the green areas are not that thick or difficult to run through. Also you should not rely on rocks as an attack point; even though there are not very many of them they are very small and would be easy to just run by.

- Carl Underwood

Quality Distribution spends less on hardware and more innovation

Posted by Dan Moore, CIO, Quality Distribution

Editors note: Today’s guest blogger is Dan Moore, CIO for Quality Distribution (QDI), the largest tank truck operator in North America and a major transporter of hazardous materials. See what other organizations that have gone Google have to say.

Prior to switching to Google Apps, QDI was a 100% Microsoft®-enabled shop. We heavily leveraged Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Outlook, SharePoint Portal Server 2003, and all of the Microsoft Office suite. Like many companies in recent years, our budgets were tight, and our business requirements were not getting simpler. With approximately 1,000 administrative personnel and 2,500 drivers, and an aged desktop client base, we looked to cloud computing as a silver bullet.

We compared both Google Apps and Microsoft Office 365 for several months in 2010. We decided to go with Google’s product line due to their simpler cost model, wider breadth of applications, and deeper experience at building applications for the cloud. Microsoft Office 365 did not seem as cohesive as the Google cloud offerings. The Microsoft total cost of ownership was higher, had more dependencies on the physical device, and fewer features.

We rolled out Google Apps to our all of our corporate users over the course of a month, and we’ve already received positive feedback from employees. We anticipate saving $250,000 annually in software licensing, plus the cost avoidance of future spend on data center hardware. Perhaps more compelling, is the time savings opportunity of collaborating in Google Docs. We are already seeing early adopters embracing the collaboration of Google Apps, and I believe the time savings will only increase with the users experience.

For the users that have migrated their documents to the cloud, we will be replacing their older PC’s with net-books such as Google’s Chromebook. The lower hardware requirements of web enabled applications, allow our IT department to spend more time delivering improvements to the the user experience. One of our first examples of this was our implementation of video and voice chat via Google Talk into our driver recruiting process.

Finally, as Google Apps comes with access to the Google Apps Marketplace, our team has begun evaluating apps as solutions to business problems previously prohibitive due to expensive hardware and support costs. These apps are generally priced at levels with little risk to adoption while seamlessly integrating into the Google Apps enterprise.

Our company still has a long way to go before I can say we are 100% cloud, but the trip so far has had few storms and many silver linings.

My Burger Roundup for Edible Queens

Edible Queens asked me to write about my 5 favorite go-to burgers in Queens and the piece is in their Summer issue, on streets now. The standouts, for the most part, were pretty easy to spot and not surprisingly 3 of the 5 had only been open for under a year. The list? Burger Garage, Donovan's Pub, Custom Burger, Astor Bake Shop, and Hollis Famous Burgers. Pick up a copy of the mag at these places in Queens.

Joe DiStefano published this companion piece yesterday, a pretty straightforward interview with me..

My Burger Roundup for Edible Queens

Edible Queens asked me to write about my 5 favorite go-to burgers in Queens and the piece is in their Summer issue, on streets now. The standouts, for the most part, were pretty easy to spot and not surprisingly 3 of the 5 had only been open for under a year. The list? Burger Garage, Donovan's Pub, Custom Burger, Astor Bake Shop, and Hollis Famous Burgers. Pick up a copy of the mag at these places in Queens.

Joe DiStefano published this companion piece yesterday, a pretty straightforward interview with me..

“Standing with Indiana” Petition Against Obama Administration's Bully Tactics

H/T Hot Air for pointing to the video below and the I stand with Indiana petition.



Ed Morrissey explains what the petition is about.

Indiana recently stripped the nation’s largest abortion chain store from receiving Medicaid funding, a decision that has the Obama administration fuming. The White House has threatened to hold $4.2 billion in federal Medicaid funds from Indiana unless it restores Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider, claiming — as does Planned Parenthood’s national leadership — that the decision leaves women without reliable gynecological care. Is that true? Live Action Films made phone calls to PP clinics across the state, and as it turns out, even Planned Parenthood admits that women can find that care easily in their communities:

He also points readers to Live Action’s fact-check of Planned Parenthood’s claims in Indiana.

Read the entire Hot Air piece, follow the links, read up and determine if you stand with Indiana in defunding Planned Parenthood, if you do, please sign the petition.

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'Rookie Mistakes And Bumbling' Concern and Appall Die Hard Jewish Democrats

Every election year we see Republicans claim they are making inroads with the pro-Israel Jewish community. A donor here and a donor there, some Jewish American votes are inroads when the majority of time Jewish Americans vote for Democrats.

When die hard Democrats and Jewish Obama defenders start saying they are "appalled by Obama’s “rookie mistakes and bumbling” and other pro-Israel "traditional" Democrats state that to their own astonishment they are considering voting Republican in 2012, then Barack Obama's inexperience and stumbling has cost the Democratic party more than just votes, but donors as well.

The Politico concludes, after what they refer to as several dozen interviews with center-left American Jews and Obama supporters many of which were Democratic donors, that a "tipping point has been reached."

Matasar remembers his friends’ worries over whether Obama was “going to be OK for Israel.” But then Obama met with the community’s leaders during a swing through Cleveland in the primary, and the rabbi at the denominationally conservative synagogue Matasar attends — “a real ardent Zionist and Israel defender” — came back to synagogue convinced.

“That put a lot of my concerns to rest for my friends who are very much Israel hawks but who, like me, aren’t one-issue voters.”

Now Matasar says he’s appalled by Obama’s “rookie mistakes and bumbling” and the reported marginalization of a veteran peace negotiator, Dennis Ross, in favor of aides who back a tougher line on Netanyahu. He’s the most pro-Obama member of his social circle but is finding the president harder to defend.

“He’d been very ham-handed in the way he presented [the 1967 border announcement] and the way he sprung this on Netanyahu,” Matasar said.

A Philadelphia Democrat and pro-Israel activist, Joe Wolfson, recalled a similar progression.

“What got me past Obama in the recent election was Dennis Ross — I heard him speak in Philadelphia and I had many of my concerns allayed,” Wolfson said. “Now, I think I’m like many pro-Israel Democrats now who are looking to see whether we can vote Republican.”

By the Numbers

Obama won the 2008 presidential election against John McCain by 7 percent 53 to 46 percent.

No one bloc of voters will guarantee Obama's reelection or loss of reelection in 2012, but numbers show that Barack Obama is losing some support from virtually every demographic.

According to Gallup in April, 2011, when Obama took office in 2009, 60 percent of non- Hispanic whites approved of Barack Obama, that number has dropped to 39 percent.

73 percent of Hispanics approved of Obama in 2009, that is down to 54 percent.

93 percent of non-Hispanic blacks approved of Obama in 2009, that is down to 85 percent.

Approval from Independents, a bloc helped Obama win in 2008, for Barack Obama fell from 47 percent in February to just 37 percent in March according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Pew Research shows that Independents, like Republicans are more likely to view the economy as poor and a McClatchy-Marist poll shows that 60 percent of Independents disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy.

Gallup, Rasmussen, McClatchy-Marist and Democratic leaning pollsters from Democracy Corps, all show Obama with a higher disapproval rating than approval overall.

According to Gallup and Rasmussen, both in June 2011, a Generic Republican would beat Obama in the presidential election if it were held today, by a 4 to 5 percent margin.

Add the unhappy pro-Israel demographic that Politico just reported on into the mix and that 7 percent margin that won Obama the 2008 election is gone.

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Boeing and gay labor unions

What do the floods in North Dakota and the Boeing plant in South Carolina have to do with gay marriage in New York? Today I tie together the conspiracy.

http://www.tygrrrrexpress.com/2011/06/boeing-and-gay-labor-unions/

eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

Alan Arnette On Denali

While I've posted a few times on the start of the climbing season in the Karakoram, I have barely mentioned the attempts on Denali so far this year. As many of you know, the 6196 meter (20,327 foot) mountain, located in the heart of Alaska, is the tallest peak in North America, and a formidable challenge at any time of the year. Most climbers attempt the peak in June and July in an attempt to avoid the worst of the weather there, although conditions can be unpredictable and dicey year round.

Fresh off his successful summit of Everest this past spring, Alan Arnette has traveled to Alaska and has already been sending back some excellent dispatches from the road. Alan set off on his latest expedition on Saturday and arrived in Base Camp yesterday, where he reports that his team has the place all to themselves at the moment. The climb itself begins in ernest today, with the team, which is being led by Mountain Trip guides, heading up to Camp 1, located at about 2408 meters (7900 feet). They'll now spend a few nights there before going back down to BC as part of their acclimatization process.

This is the fourth leg of Alan's 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer's project, during which he is hoping to raise $1 million for the Cure Alzheimer's Fund. Having already finished off Vinson in Antarctica, Aconcaqua in South America, and Everest in Asia, Denali is the toughest of the climbs left on the schedule. It is also a mountain that Alan is familiar with, having attempted it on two occasions in the past. He's hoping that third time will be charm however, and that this time, he'll stand on the summit.

Follow along with Alan's adventure with regular updates on his blog. He always offers great insights into what ever climb he is on and shares his experiences in a wonderful manner. I'll post updates has he heads up as well.

2011 Tour de France Begins Saturday!

One of the greatest annual sporting events in the world gets underway on Saturday, when the 2011 Tour de France begins. As usual, this year's Tour will no doubt bring plenty of excitement and drama, with the top cyclists in the world sparring with one another across 3430.5km (2131.6 miles) of French road. Over the course of 21 days, they'll face 10 flat stages, 6 mountain stages (with 4 summit finishes!), 3 medium mountain stages, 1 individual time trial, and 1 team trial. There will also be 2 rest days thrown in for good measure.

The 2011 Tour begins with a 191km (118.6 mile) ride from Passage du Gois La Barre-de-Monts to Mont des Alouettes Les Herbiers in the  Province of Liège. This is a bit of a departure from recent Tours, in which the riders start the race in an individual time trial as part of a short Prologue. This year, they'll be out on the road instead, and the stage even finishes with a brief climb, which should provide some much welcome fireworks for the first day. Don't look for the General Classification contenders to do much more than pace one another and stay close to the pack, but the sprinters should be jousting early on before giving way to one of the more well rounded riders later in the day.

After that, it'll be a sprinter's paradise until Stage 8 or so, when the first mountains will come into play. As usual, the Le Tour will be decided in the Alps and they Pyrenees, with the best climbers dueling it out on the slopes to see who will eventually ride into Paris in Yellow. This year, they'll even get to battle on the most famous Tour mountain of them all, Alpe-d’Huez, which comes late in the race at the 19th stage.

The field of contenders is deep, with a number of great riders hoping to claim victory. But the odds on favorite remains Alberto Contador, who is coming off a big win at the Giro d'Italia and is the defending champ of the Tour as well. He'll be pressed by Andy Schleck, who is riding with a new team this year, and has to be thinking that it is now or never. He has finished behind Contador the past two years, but now has a lot more experience and a better team to protect him. With a cloud of controversy hanging over Contador, this could finally be the year for Andy to break through and win the race.

These two aren't the only contenders of course. Andy's older brother Frank has the possibility of pulling off the win as well, although he is more likely to ride in support of his kid brother. Spanish rider Samuel Sanchez finished fourth last year, and has designs on standing on the podium in 2011, as does Belgian Jurgen Van Den Broeck, the fifth place finisher in 2010. Australian Cadel Evans is always a popular pick, and he has displayed the talent to win, although he does seem cursed in France. Last year, he was a minute and a half in front of Contador when he crashed and fractured his elbow. Other potential threats to Contador's crown include Levi Leipheimer, Bradley Wiggins, and Ivan Basso.

For me, the month of July is one of the best times of the year, and I can't wait for the race to get underway. As usual, I'll post regular updates on the results, standings, and strategies. I know a lot of readers are also big fans of the Tour, and I'll try to keep that in mind when I send out tweets so as to not spoil the events for those that watch the coverage in the evening. It should be a great race once again this year, and I'm eager for it to begin.

Sen. Durbin goes to bat for children of illegal immigrants

All these years talking about the DREAM Act and this is the first time it has gotten a Senate hearing! - - Donna Poisl

by erin kelly

WASHINGTON — Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), trying to revive the legislation that has been under consideration by Congress for a decade, on Tuesday urged his Senate colleagues to work to pass the Dream Act.

The Dream Act, which would allow some children of illegal immigrants to become legal residents and eventually citizens if they attend college or serve in the U.S. military, has never passed both chambers in the same session.

Durbin presided Tuesday over the first public Senate hearing the bill has ever had.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Democrats pitch DREAM Act as needed economic patch

We definitely need these kids to become educated citizens, starting businesses and paying taxes. Keeping them in low paying jobs or deported does NOT help. - - Donna Poisl

By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The last time the Obama administration made a hard push to legalize some of the children of illegal immigrants, officials focused on some of the inspirational and sympathetic stories of honor students who could gain legal status through the DREAM Act.

As Democrats renew their push for that act in a Senate hearing Tuesday, the sales pitch will also focus on how those children can help the nation's foundering economy.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Who Really Owns the 2012 Hispanic Vote?

A long piece, giving all sides to this question. Very interesting. - - Donna Poisl

by Glenn Llopis, THE IMMIGRANT'S PERSPECTIVE

As the 2012 Presidential campaign begins and questions loom about who the GOP front runner will be and Obama’s second term fate; there is one critical question that remains unasked, let alone unanswered: Who really owns the Hispanic vote?

It is clear that the Hispanic voice matters. This is overwhelmingly evident with President Obama’s recent visit to Puerto Rico and the GOP’s efforts in January to begin charting a course of action under the leadership of Jeb Bush – the proclaimed GOP ambassador to Latino voters. However, it is fair to say that progress is slow and both the Democrats and Republicans are being challenged in their efforts to solidify a trustworthy relationship with the Hispanic community.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

New life for DREAM Act

from Dick Durbin, U.S. Senator

More than 10 years ago, I wrote the DREAM Act to address an injustice: thousands of promising young people who were brought here as children -- without a choice -- and grew up pledging allegiance to the American flag are not able to fully contribute to this country.

The DREAM Act would allow this select group of students with great potential a chance to earn legal status if they: have good moral character, have lived in the U.S. for at least five years, came here before the age of 16, earn a high school degree, and complete at least two years of college or military service in good standing.

I have been fighting to pass the DREAM Act ever since.

With help from you and 27,000 citizen co-sponsors of the DREAM Act, we now have a real shot at giving these bright young people a chance at the American Dream.

That's because tomorrow, I will be chairing the first-ever hearing on the DREAM Act to discuss how it will make our country stronger.

But I need your help to convince a few more of my colleagues to support its passage.

Will you ask your friends and family to join you as a citizen co-sponsor of the DREAM Act? Click the headline to use our simple tell-a-friend tool -- and help give a select group of bright immigrant students the chance to contribute more fully to America.

I know we don't have an easy road ahead, but I am hopeful that tomorrow’s hearing will provide us with the platform needed to illustrate how these young people -- who have lived in America much of their lives, sat in our classrooms, and know no other home -- deserve the chance to be legal, fully contributing members to society.

Please, help me give them that chance.

Thank you for standing with me, and for helping me do right by these young people.

Sincerely,

Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator

So, who will pick the fruit? Kicking out immigrants has a high price

I have been asking this question for years, no one cares. - - Donna Poisl

by TRACY WARNER

What would happen if the illegal immigrants didn’t show up?

Look around and get a few hints. See Georgia, for instance, where with great fanfare the Legislature passed an immigration enforcement law that did Arizona one better.

Among many provisions, such as authorizing local police to investigate and jail illegal immigrants, it makes it a crime to use fake identification to get a job, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison and $250,000 fines.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Academy for immigrant students to open

The Rochester International Academy is starting a new program which concentrates on new immigrant students to give them a good start in school. - - Donna Poisl

Written by Tiffany Lankes

Within days of their arrival, young immigrants find their way to the school system.

Many come with limited English skills, or little schooling in their native country. They must not only acclimate to their new surroundings, but learn academic skills appropriate for their age level.

Now, city school administrators hope that a new program designed for students new to the country will help those young people get a jump-start on the social and academic skills they need to succeed in school.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

Bill would freeze Obama's power to grant illegals amnesty

We must hope this bill fails to be passed. - - Donna Poisl

By Jordy Yager

The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is crafting a bill that would temporarily freeze the Obama administration’s power to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.

The measure is in response to a memo issued by the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week that approved a broader breadth of discretion for agency officials when considering whether to deport someone through the Secure Communities program.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

LULAC Supports Immigration Reform and Amnesty for DREAMers

PRESS RELEASE

Senator Durbin Leads Hearings on DREAM Act

CINCINNATI, June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- With the backdrop of the 2011 National Convention & Expo in Cincinnati, the Ethnic and Ancestry Branch Chief for the U.S. Census Bureau, Roberto Ramirez, analyzed the most recent findings from the 2010 Census.

From Washington State to Key West, the Hispanic population growth is everywhere. Fueled primarily by natural growth, only 35.8 percent of the increase is due to immigration. Some of the most significant growth between 2000 and 2010 were in middle America states that previously were not typical Hispanic communities. South Carolina saw a 148 percent increase in its Hispanic population; Alabama’s grew 145 percent; Tennessee’s Hispanic growth spurt was 134 percent; Kentucky’s Latino community expanded 122 percent while Arkansas’s increased 114 percent.

"These are not just numbers," said LULAC Executive Director Brent Wilkes. "It is an indication that our country has changed demographically, yet our government and communities have not changed their practices to address the needs of our society. If we don't do it now, we'll pay the price in the future.

In fact, Cincinnati was selected as the venue for the 82nd annual convention, in part, because this city of immigrants, a key stop on the Underground Railroad, is now home to 125,000 Latinos.

"Our country historically has opened its doors to the tired and the poor. This indeed is part of what makes the United States so great, and one reason why people have always wanted to call it home," remarked Margaret Moran, LULAC President, at a press conference with the U.S. Census Bureau. "Today is a very special day as hearings begin in Washington on the DREAM Act."

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, (D-IL), chairs the first-ever Senate hearing on the DREAM Act before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security.

"It is un-American to punish our youth who excel in school or serve selflessly in our military," added Moran.

Durbin has been working on the DREAM Act for over ten years. In that time, it passed the House of Representatives, and received a bipartisan majority vote in the Senate, only to fall because of a filibuster. Durbin is expected to give examples of how the DREAM Act will make our country stronger by giving undocumented students a chance to earn legal status if they came here as children, are long-term U.S. residents, have good moral character, and complete two years of college or military service in good standing.

LULAC believes our nation urgently needs an effective and practical immigration system that will reflect the best of America's values. LULAC supports a reform that will reduce the backlog of individuals seeking residency or citizenship and restructure the naturalization process in a manner that is streamlined, consistent, fair, and equitable for those seeking US Citizenship.

For convention details log onto, www.lulac.org.

About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest and largest Hispanic membership organization in the country, advances the economic conditions, educational attainment, political influence, health, housing and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating nearly 900 LULAC councils nationwide.

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CONTACT: Paloma Zuleta, +1-202-812-4477, pzuleta@lulac.org

Relay training

Today we did a 2 man relay in middle terrain. Andrew and I were on a team, and we both ran somewhat smoothly. I was trying to do these a little faster than race pace to try and get an interval like workout in during the training week. I made one mistake on each of my legs--the last control on the first and third legs and the first control on the second leg. The one on the first leg was just because the streamer was on the back of a tree and I ran right by it. The second leg one was a parallel error in the wrong reentrant, which would have been obvious had I been going slightly slower and reading he map. On the third leg the control was at the end of a clearing, but in the actual terrain the clearing went far further than it did on the map, so I ran to the end and had to come back to find the streamer. We also beat the Canadians. Just thought I'd throw that in here. The fact that they were taking it easy today is irrelevant.

As for the rest of our team, Giacomo ran with Zach and Ethan ran with a Canadian girl. It went pretty well for them too. Ethan ran the last leg faster than me and Andrew, but that made sense since I got lost. I think Giacomo and Zach did well enough too. But it was a good workout for all of us and it was nice to run fast. These woods were very open and you could run quite quickly almost everywhere. It was a little hilly, but not enough to really slow us down.

Later on we went with the Canadians to the beach where we played some ultimate frisbee and went swimming in the Baltic Sea. The water was quite nice and it was a good day all around.

-Nate Lyons