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MIT scholar builds a self-balancing unicycle to roll fast and furious around campus (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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By Helen A.S. Popkin
Our pre-caffeine roundup is a collection of the hottest, strangest, and most amusing stories of the morning. Here's everything that you need to know before taking that first sip of coffee today.
Looks like "Dump GoDaddy Day" totally worked. The website hosting company now straight-up denounces SOPA.
Steve Jobs is totally getting a Grammy.
Meanwhile, MySpace is "a cesspool no on wants to visit," says your first friend, Tom.
On Wednesday, Verizon Wireless customers had to deal with yet another data outage. Like previous technical glitches, the outage was resolved within a day's time and Verizon tweeted an obligatory line about things being back to normal.
NORAD says its Santa-tracking operation broke its own records for phone calls, emails and Facebook and Twitter followers on Christmas Eve.
While politicians routinely cite video games as a contributing cause for everything from childhood obesity and lower test scores to youth violence, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) recently labeled a video game museum as something else ? a waste of taxpayer funds.
Speaking of a waste of money, a man in China spent $16,000 for a virtual sword on a game that has not even been released yet.
An Israeli law center is threatening to sue Twitter unless the social network cuts off access to groups, including Hezbollah, that are considered terrorist organizations by the United States.
Meanwhile, Fox Latin America apologized for a poll on whether Jews killed Jesus Christ that one of its staffers put on a Facebook page promoting the National Geographic Channel's Christmas special.
In closing: "Blade Runner" sketch book! "Blade Runner" sketch book!?
? compiled by Helen A.S. Popkin, who invites you to join her on Twitter and/or Facebook.?Also, Google+.??
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The Pentagon cites policy changes following the release of a study that found a 65 percent increase in reports of sexual assault at military academies between 2010 and 2011.
There has been a worrisome increase in the number of sexual assaults reported at America?s military academies, according to a congressionally mandated study released Tuesday by the Pentagon.
Skip to next paragraph?One sexual assault is too many,? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement in the wake of the study ? which found a 65 percent increase in reported incidents of sexual harassment and violence between 2010 and 2011. ?We treat each other with dignity in this institution. I expect everyone in this department to live up to that high standard.?
The Defense Department said it was implementing some changes in policy in the wake of the study findings, including new policies that senior defense officials said were meant to improve the treatment of assault victims at the academies.
However the most concrete policy change, which facilitates the speedy transfer of assault victims should they wish, also obliges them to surrender a degree of protective anonymity.
The study found that there had been 65 reports of sexual assaults at the academies between 2010 and 2011, compared to 41 the previous year.?It did not specify whether the number of reported incidents was indicative of a wider unreported problem, as is often the case with sexual assaults.
Mr. Panetta called the increase in sexual assault reports ?a leadership issue, first and foremost, so I expect us to lead with integrity and with energy to eliminate sexual assault and harassment from our culture.?
To this end, Pentagon officials are asking the academies to develop methods and metrics to evaluate sexual assault initiatives.
Advocates of sexual assault victims question why such metrics have not been developed earlier.
Part of the problem, they say, is that the Pentagon itself does not conduct any military-wide surveys on the incidences of sexual assault. Instead, defense officials release the number of official sexual assault reports they have received. If those figures go up, defense officials often argue that it simply means victims are more comfortable seeking help than before.
The Air Force recently commissioned its own?Gallup poll of sexual assault throughout the force, the first service to do this. It found one in five women had been the victim of sexual assault.
Many of these statistics mirror the experiences of the general US population, say defense officials. ?We know that the military academies are similar to college campuses around the country in that sexual harassment and assault are challenges that all faculty, staff, and students need to work to prevent,? adds Maj. Gen. Kay Hertog, director of the Pentagon?s Sexual Assault Prevention Office.
Yet assault within the service academies is particularly egregious, argues Greg Jacob, policy director for the Service Women?s Action Network. Though ?military service academies are similar to civilian universities and colleges in their student demographics, in other ways they are unique.?
That?s because the ?vast majority? of higher-echelon officers come from the academies and ?are in charge of developing implementing and enforcing sexual harassment and assault policies in today?s military,? Mr. Jacob notes. ?Ending the widespread issue of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military starts by ending it at the service academies.??
In the meantime, a new Pentagon policy provides for the expedited transfer of those who have been the victim of sexual assault to be transferred, should they so wish.
The problem, some point out, is that in order to qualify for such a transfer, victims must file what the military calls an ?unrestricted report,? which requires a commander to launch a military criminal investigation,?rather than a ?restricted report,? which allows the victim to remain anonymous.
The report found some positive developments at the academies. West Point named its superintendent to chair the Sexual Assault Review Board ?to ensure the highest-level awareness of the academy?s cases,??according to the Defense Department?s release. The Naval Academy established a therapist-led support group, and the Air Force Academy created an electronic reporting program to ?improve its 24/7 response capability.?
?We owe it to those who have been victimized, and to every cadet and midshipman," Maj. Gen. Hertog said, "to do everything possible to provide needed support and to hold those who commit sexual assault appropriately accountable.?
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<a href="http://www.thehour.com/story/516904/">Stamford mayor: No foul play in fire that killed 5 </a>
JOHN CHRISTOFFERSENSTAMFORD (AP) - A Christmas Day fire that killed three children and their grandparents was a tragic accident related to a fireplace in the home, not the result of foul play, the mayor said Tuesday.
Investigators were expected to reveal the cause of the fire later Tuesday, but Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia told The Associated Press described the cause as "fireplace-related." He could not provide more details.
"The preliminary information is it was just a tragic accident," he said, adding that foul play had been ruled out.
Neighbors said they were awakened by screams shortly before 5 a.m. Sunday and rushed outside to help but could do nothing as flames devoured the large Victorian home.
The home's owner, New York advertising executive Madonna Badger, and a male acquaintance escaped the Christmas morning fire. Her parents, who were visiting for the holidays, and her three daughters -- 7-year-old twins and a 10-year-old - were killed.
Badger's father, Lomer Johnson, had a long career as a safety chief at Louisville, Ky.-based liquor maker Brown-Forman Corp., where he retired from his job as safety and security director several years ago. He worked as a department store Santa Claus this season.
"He spent his career trying to keep others safe," retired Brown-Forman executive Robert Holmes Jr. said Monday in a telephone interview. "And the irony is that he dies in a fire."
The other victims were Badger's mother, Pauline Johnson, and daughters, 10-year-old Lily and twins Grace and Sarah. The Johnsons lived in Southbury, about 45 miles northeast of Stamford.
The acquaintance was a contractor working on the home, police said. He was identified by the Stamford Advocate newspaper as Michael Borcina.
The severely damaged $1.7 million Victorian house situated along the Connecticut shoreline was torn down Monday after the buildings department determined it was unsafe and ordered it razed, Stamford fire Chief Antonio Conte said.
He told WFSB-TV that bodies were found on the second and third floors and on the stairway between the floors.
Firefighters knew there were people trapped in the home but could not get to them because the flames were too large and the heat too intense, officials have said.
Bill Avalos, a retired captain at the Stamford Fire Department, said the department is now arranging crisis intervention for the firefighters who battled the blaze.
"We have a younger department. We want them to stay healthy," he said. "They did everything they could do to have a better outcome."
Lomer Johnson most recently worked as a Santa this year at the flagship store of Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a store spokeswoman said.
"Mr. Johnson was Saks Fifth Avenue's beloved Santa, and we are heartbroken about this terrible tragedy," spokeswoman Julia Bently said in a statement.
Holmes, who worked with Johnson for more than a decade at Brown-Forman, remembered his co-worker as a big man with white hair and a commanding presence.
"He was a man of not a lot of words, but when Lomer spoke or gave his opinion, it was always well thought out," Holmes said.
He said he was a bit surprised that the longtime security chief had become a department store Santa but added, "I could see Lomer doing something like that because Lomer had a passion for people."
During Johnson's long career with Brown-Forman, whose many brands include Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey and Southern Comfort, he was responsible for security and safety at the company's headquarters and production plants. His responsibilities included helping plan fire drills, Holmes said.
"He spent his life as a safety professional making sure our facilities were safe from fire," Holmes said. "And in the event there was a fire, that people knew what to do in terms of getting out of the buildings."
Badger, an ad executive in the fashion industry, is the founder of New York-based Badger & Winters Group. She was treated at a hospital and was discharge d by Sunday evening, a hospital supervisor said. Her whereabouts Monday were unknown.
Borcina was hospitalized Tuesday in stable condition, a nursing supervisor said.
Property records show Badger bought the five-bedroom, waterfront home for $1.7 million last year. The house was situated in Shippan Point, a wealthy neighborhood that juts into Long Island Sound.
The lot where the house stood was covered with charred debris and cordoned off by police with tape on Monday. Passers-by left floral bouquets, stuffed animals and candles.
___
Associated Press writers Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Ky., and Tom Hays in New York contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/story/516904
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Better Late Than Never...
A little over a year ago, I interviewed Buffy Sainte-Marie for the second time with the intention of posting it immediately. For whatever reason, this one got lost and after coming across it recently, I read the transcript for the first time and felt pretty bad that this one somehow flew under the radar. Considering its content and the amount of education Buffy dispensed during our conversation, even though it's ridiculously late in posting, I'd still like to share her thoughts with everyone. Apologies to Buffy. Finally, here is the interview...
A Conversation with Buffy Sainte-Marie
Mike Ragogna: Hello, Buffy.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Hi, Mike.
MR: Thank you so much for your time.
BSM: Oh, my pleasure.
MR: The last time we spoke, we talked about your Running For The Drum album.
BFS: It was just coming out then.
MR: It was just coming out, and there was a DVD component that I actually had never seen at the time. Could you talk about how that DVD married with the album?
BFS: I had completed the album and we had completed the DVD, and I had been asked in the past by lots of the usual suspects to do a film or TV biography, but I was never turned on by it because it always seemed to be just from the point of view of the past according to what people knew about me in the West. Of course, I was kind of taken out of the game in the US, but continued on in Asia and Europe and Canada to have a real active career, which I have still today. So, when a Canadian company who really understood a lot more about me than just "Buffy from the sixties" showed an interest in giving people a portrait of myself, not just a as songwriter but also as an educator and a digital artist and a person who's still in love with the world and traveling and interested in both learning and teaching, I said "yes," and so the bio-documentary is called Buffy Sainte Marie: A Multi Media Life, and it was done in Canada by CineFocus.
MR: Did you find yourself looking at some of that information and going, "Wow, what a trip this has been."
BFS: It really has been, but I'm a lucky person, as I said then. I've been traveling since the sixties--lots and lots of airplanes, lots of countries--so what that does for me is it gives me a lot of reflection time. As a writer, traveling often alone, I appreciate both the outside world and my own head for the reinterpreting of the outside world into the little movies that become my songs and also the non-fiction part that turns into multi-media curriculum. So, it was really nice to able to work with a team who were appreciated of that. It wasn't a great surprise, suddenly you turn around and you look back on your life and you see it all laid out, because as a traveling person, I think I'm just kind of a note-taker. But it was wonderful to be able to put it all together in a documentary that really reflected my personal life in Canada and in Hawaii and all the professional things too.
MR: Now, I guess before we go all retro and ask you some questions about the past, I would love to know what you've been up to since the release of the CD/DVD because you're a very busy woman.
BFS: I travel with three other musicians and a road manager. Our whole band--we're all Canadian, Aboriginal Canadian, and the guys in my band are Ojibwe, and Lakota, and Soto, but they're all from reservations around Manitoba, Canada--so, traveling with this kind of band, guys in their late thirties who have experienced the stuff that my songs are about is really, really nourishing for me. It makes the show that much richer. They're all rockers, but of course, my show covers lots of different styles of music. But to be traveling with other aboriginal performers from a generation behind me, it is really an eye-opener, I think, for the audience. It gives the show a lot of both perspective and energy and it's real contemporary. The live show we did all over Europe...oh gosh, we did lots and lots of concerts in England, lots in Germany. We were in France, Belgium, Holland, Scotland, and just traveling around in Europe with a young aboriginal band was just... I'm glad you mentioned the future because as a songwriter, I'm not looking behind very much since I get to include all my favorite songs in the concert, but I'm always writing new things, and to have them tied in via concerts with the stuff I've always done, it just makes a very rich package for me to continually experience. The life of the artist is such an incredible privilege, and it's just so rich and dense with content and information that keeps happening.
MR: Speaking of your being a songwriter, you had such big hits with "Universal Soldier," "Until It's Time For You To Go," and "Up Where We Belong," that you co-wrote that with Will Jennings and Jack Nitzsche in the eighties. That's a huge credit, what's the story behind the song?
BFS: I had already written that melody, and I had never presented it to anybody, but Jack Nitzsche was looking for a main theme for An Officer And A Gentleman and he hadn't come up with something, so I played him the melody "da da da da da da," and he loved it and presented it to Taylor Hackford who was the director and it became not only the main theme but, of course, a huge hit for Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes.
MR: And it won the Oscar.
BFS: Uh-huh, it did for "Best Song." We also won the Golden Globe for that, and a British Academy Award. Boy that song went everywhere. Other times you write a song that hardly anyone hears and it's still your favorite, you know? A lot of puppies in the litter.
MR: (laughs) Buffy are you constantly working on songs? Also, I've never asked you this question before, what's your creative process, like how do these songs come to you as a writer?
BFS: They're really kind of like dreams. Anybody would have a dream. You know you have something new appear in your head and you say, "Oh wow, that's interesting," and you know, if I like it, I'll remember it. If I don't care that much about it, I'll forget it. And so many songs just kind of show up almost finished, like "Until It's Time For You To Go," which was a big hit for a lot of people. I wrote that right away, I just had to write it down. But other things, like "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" or "No No Keshagesh," it takes a lot of crafting, because what you're trying to do in that case is almost like be a journalist. You're trying to stick to accurate facts but make them exciting enough so that you engage an audience that probably doesn't even want to know about that issue. So, there are different kinds of writing, and the more technical kinds of writing...it's almost like being a college girl writing a thesis and I think that that kind of song really profited by my four years at the University of Massachusetts.
But other songs just happen very naturally, the same way they did when I was a little kid. I'm a totally natural writer. I've never been able to learn how to read music. As a matter of fact, I found out a couple years ago that I'm actually dyslexic in music and I had never heard of such a thing, but it does explain why I can write for an orchestra but then I can't read it back the next day. It's like trying to write with my left hand. It can be done but it doesn't make any sense for me, so I'm totally by ear and I record into anything--a tape recorder, a computer--rather than write things down that I can't read back.
MR: The last time we did an interview, we talked about your wonderful song "No No Keshagesh," but let's discuss your version of "America the Beautiful," which you didn't write, but you explored further.
BFS: Again I expanded on it, as many other songwriters have done. I mean, the melody is so beautiful and the sentiment is so beautiful; lots and lots of people have contributed additional verses. But what I did, I wrote like an introduction and a middle section to it that's truly Native American in feel. I did lobbying on the song; I think a lot of people would like to see that be the National Anthem, but so far, it's not. But in contributing new verses and combing through the various contributions which have been made over the years by other writers, it turns out to have a real Native American feel to it, just the gentleness of it, and the reverence for, not America as nation-state "USA!" but more as "mother country," you know, just the idea of loving America.
MR: You've been representing Native American issues for the longest time. Your love of America and Canada and all things Native America is just amazing. And you have really spent your life fighting for a lot of causes. Are there a couple you've been...
BFS: ...if I can interrupt, Mike? It's not as though I've been fighting for causes. What I've really been trying to do is spotlight things that I think people want to know about. I never really understood the concept of "fighting for peace." I don't do that. I keep it a lot more positive. So, I think that what I'm trying to say is I'm spotlighting the work of local areas and communities that's ongoing all the time, so sometimes, I think I get a little too much credit for that. But I am a fan of the realities of bringing to public awareness the incredible work that's being done in the grassroots Native American community and how much need there is to continue that development on the local level.
MR: Buffy, can you spotlight what's been happening lately that we should be aware of?
BFS: Oh gosh, I would like your listeners and readers to understand some of the organizations that Native American people have been working under for a long time like NARF and Native American Rights Fund, which essentially is dedicated to tribal existence. Every now and then, you'll have somebody come and say, "Well, Indian tribes ought to just be disbanded. They're old-fashioned and blah blah blah," which is totally unknowledgeable, right? Tribal existence and Native rights and natural resources and Native American human rights is sometimes ignored at the local level, and this is all over the country. We're also trying to educate the public all the time through every way. I mean, I do it through songs and writing curriculum. Somebody else does it through some kind of local organization, somebody else is involved nationally and also in the development of Indian law, bringing lawyers to understand what treaty rights are about and what Indian law is about, and how treaty rights are the first law of the land. And in dealing with Native American tribes, the US needs to be cognoscente that this is the same as making a treaty with Russia over bombs. The treaties are in existence and aren't going anywhere. They are the first law of the land. NCAI--which is the National Congress of American Indians--they've been working very hard on tribal law enforcement, because in many cases, tribal policemen, people who are working in the area of tribal law, they don't have the right to see the same information as a non-Indian tribal police would have. You know, it's really old-fashioned and unnecessary, so NCAI is at the moment focusing on that. I'm on the board of another organization which is called "Native Arts and Culture Foundation," and this is a ten-million dollar foundation helped by grants from The Ford Foundation and others, focusing on support to Indian art, Indian culture, Indian artists, craftspeople, sculptors, painters, dancers, and musicians, because there are so many artists in Native America who really don't have any kind of entry either into the business world--like show business, the gallery business, or to the art world, colleges and all--so there's a lot of work to be done there. And it's being done, but you know, there are also a lot of people who deserve the credit for spotlighting the issues and making things better, and the work is ongoing, although it doesn't seem to be a visible priority in the US.
MR: Buffy, who are some of the people out there spotlighting causes like yourself?
BFS: Oh gosh, I can't tell you in the US. I would have to give you a Canadian answer. I don't know whether you could use that. In general, it's not like you would have seen in the seventies when the American Indian Movement was so visible, when you could point to people like John Trudell and other people in the American Indian Movement. Dennis Banks and Russell Means were big names then. It's not so much like that now. I think the real brains of Native America are working within foundations, people like Dr. Valorie Johnson, who's a program officer, working in the area of very young children. She works with the Kellogg Foundation, and was really, really important in establishing grants with the Kellogg Foundation having to do with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and the American Indian College Fund, which support all the tribal colleges within the confines of the US and a couple in Canada. Winona LaDuke, with Seventh Harvest in the Great Lakes area, continues to amaze me. She's a lawyer, Ojibwe background, and continues to really encompass a lot of different areas having to do with foods, sustainability, Native rights, and education. So, she works on a local level, but she does it in a global way too. The internet has changed things so much and has brought so many people together in networking and given others the ability to have a repository for the ongoing work they do, which continues to develop.
So, there are a lot of people. John Trudell is still out doing concerts, teaches. He's an incredible Lakota orator and poet, and a lot of people recognize his name from the American Indian Movement days. He's continued on despite the fact that his family was burned alive in their home during the FBI and other government agency conflicts with the American Indian Movement in which so many people died. But I think most American people aren't aware either of our history or of our ongoing works the way they are in Canada. It's quite different, Mike. The real point is the farther south you go in the western hemisphere, the worse it gets for Native people. And in Canada, we're everywhere, we're in all the processions. The general public is pretty much aware of Native issues, Native culture, Native artists, and people and law, but in the US, it's still very much under the blanket. But that does not daunt the highly qualified organizations who are working on many fronts, and I'm so proud of the work that goes on, even though it's kind of not visible to the general public because of other issues. They are a very small minority you know.
MR: I think you laid this information out in such a wonderfully linear way that it's more digestible than when it's presented by most others.
BFS: Oh, thank you for saying so because I feel like I'm kind of going on and on, and I hope you're not just being polite.
MR: No, no, no, this is beautiful and inspiring, and I think a lot of listeners and readers will go resource some of the stuff you called out just now even further.
BFS: Oh good, good, yeah, please, in the online version, highlight NARF, Native American Rights Fund. Their website is beautiful. NCAI also has some very in depth things to say, and thank you, Mike.
MR: Of course. Please can we go into "No No Keshagesh" again, even though we spoke about it in your last interview?
BFS: Well, really in sentiment, it's kind of a combination between what I was saying in "Universal Soldier," and the attack on greed that's really at the heart of my song "Little Wheel Spin and Spin." So, it's really about environmental greed, and the word "Keshagesh" is a Cree word, and it literally means "greedy guts." But it's playful and the song is playful even though it's about a serious subject. So, "No No Keshagesh" means...it refers to environmental greed, so it's about the "greedy guts" that are just gobbling up everything and making a war over it. It's a serious subject, but it's a way to put it right in front of the people and let them dance, and yell, and sing along with it, and people are just loving it, not only in the US, but also in Europe, Canada, Asia.
MR: Buffy, there's a student from a local college who I invited to the studio here now. His name is Luke Hillis and he has a question for you.
Luke Hillis: Hi Buffy! I was listening to your song "Now That The Buffalo's All Gone," and there's the line: "Has a change come about dear man, or are you still taking our lands?" There's a current issue in the Black Hills. There's a mining company that's moving in trying to make a uranium mine in the southern part of the Black Hills, which could demolish the water tables, potentially poison the water, and completely desecrate such a sacred land. I was wondering if perhaps you were aware of this issue.
BFS: You know, I'm generally aware of it, and I keep hearing about it. I'm not into the details, Luke, but I'm glad you've just spelled it out like that. I couldn't have done better. It's not only there and it's not only in the western hemisphere. The grab for fancy minerals--like lithium in Afghanistan, uranium in the Americas, and also uranium in Sami country in Scandinavia, where the Sami indigenous people in Lapland--it's very similar and the same thing apparently is going on in Australia where people have discovered uranium on the lands of indigenous people there. So, you know, it doesn't surprise me because greed is greed, and companies involved in natural resources have been extremely aggressive since the early days of Standard Oil. And the Navajo, when the Bureau of Indian Affairs was the "War Department," it suddenly became quite different in description, but it never changed that much. It does seem that certain people in the world, whatever country they come from, don't want Indians or anybody else interfering with their complete control of all available lands and natural resources, and unavailable lands and natural resources. So, it's exactly the same thing as the Gold Rush, which, of course, was done by robber barons and corporations who have become very successful or blue chip companies sometimes were involved in just terrible exploitation and it's something that affects us all. You mentioned one area, but this is generally considered "it's just business," so it's something very big. It's something that affects us all, and just like the song "Universal Soldier" is about individual responsibilities for war, we all are responsible, I think, if we allow greedy guys, whoever they are, wherever they come from, to disempower the future by controlling everything, especially something like uranium, which is so volatile and so involved in bombs and war and cancer. We need to have very smart, heartful, intelligent people sitting on boards instead of people who are just having their bottoms stuck on the bottom line. This kind of stuff is not just about money. It's not. It's too important.
MR: Thanks, Luke. Do you actually have another question?
LH: I just had another bit to say about that. There's a lady on Pine Ridge Reservation and she's single-handedly defending the Black Hills against this, and she's raising money to raise awareness and create a documentary to help save the Black Hills. She has a website, it's BringBackTheWay.com.
BFS: BringBackTheWay.com. Okay, I'm going to look at it.
MR: Thank you for taking the questions, Buffy.
BFS: You know, Mike, while we have a minute, I don't know whether we mentioned this last time, but something that is very important to me. I sing "Universal Soldier" almost every night, and everybody says, "Yeah that really, really makes sense." But as proud as I am of my generation for having helped to stop the Vietnam War--I mean, you have to remember that they were saying there was no war at the time that I wrote "Universal Soldier." They said, "Oh, you hippies are all crazy." But even though we brought that war to an end, all these years later, we still don't have colleges of the caliber of West Point, and Annapolis and the Army College of War and the Air Force Academy...you know, we don't have colleges of this caliber dedicated to alternative conflict resolution. So where's that at? That's a perfect place for young people and experienced people to be putting our energy in developing ways for young people to actually understand how alternative conflict resolution is done. And we do have little classes, little courses, and small departments dedicated to this, but you know, where is our Annapolis for peace? Where's our West Point for alternative conflict resolution? Where do we put our brains if we're dedicated to this?
MR: That's a very good point and great way of looking at it, and we haven't really taken care of business in this respect.
BFS: Eh, no problem, we can still do this. There's still a lot of good work left to be done in the world, so let's not cry about what we haven't done, let's just do it.
MR: Buffy, we've already discussed a couple of songs from your Running For The Drum album, but let's close that out with your thoughts about your song "Working For The Government."
BFS: Listen to the words, it's all about mercenaries, and G.I. Joes, and James Bond types that we put up on a pedestal in our movies and things. Really listen to the words in this song. This is a funny song.
MR: Absolutely. Buffy, we've gotten so much information and we've also talked about your album. Is there something else we should discuss?
BFS: I've got a whole lot of material at my website. We keep it up to date. There's lots to listen to, lots to learn from, and just thank you for the support, even though I've been, you know, made absent by two political administrations in the past, so I kind of lost a whole lot of momentum in the US. There's still a core of supporters who think this way and I really look forward to next year spending more time with American audiences as I've continually done in other parts of the world.
MR: Buffy, what advice would you have for new artists?
BFS: Oh my gosh. Just play. Don't wait for some kind of mythological businessman to come along and recognize you. You're already great. If you're writing songs and playing music, play for your friends, then play for some more friends. Then play for their friends. Play every place that you can and write and don't worry about the music business. I mean, it's almost nonexistent right now. Now is the time to create your works and put them on the internet. It's almost like the sixties. It used to be a very welcoming place for musicians and artists and songwriters in the sixties, and then it closed up and you couldn't get into a gallery, you couldn't get a concert, you couldn't get a record company. All of that is falling away, and it's back in the hands of the people. So, look at each other's music, enjoy each other, put yours out there too. It's a free world.
MR: Beautiful. Buffy, you'll come back again someday?
BFS: I hope so! Thank you.
MR: Buffy, really, it's been a pleasure, thank you so much.
BFS: Thank you too, Mike.
Tracks:
1. No No Keshagesh
2. Cho Cho Fire
3. Working For The Government
4. Little Wheel Spin And Spin
5. Too Much Is Never Enough
6. To The Ends Of The World
7. When I Had You
8. I Bet My Heart On You - with Taj Mahal
9. Blue Sunday
10. Easy Like The Snow Falls Down
11. America The Beautiful
12. Still This Love Goes On
Transcribed by Luke Hillis
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Follow Mike Ragogna on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ragz2008
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/better-late-than-never-a_b_1172096.html
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Disparity in tertiary education facilities
by Kwek Jian Qiang
04:45 AM Dec 26, 2011
Singapore has often been accorded the honour of having one of the best education systems. Our students rank high in their scores, from mathematics to other subjects. There are, though, significant disparities in the quality of learning environments.
When my grandmother visited Singapore this year, one of her most striking comments was when she saw a sparkling, shiny Institute of Technical Education (ITE) "skyscraper" campus.
Her first impression was that, in such a quality school environment, the students would be the best and brightest in Singapore. It took me a while to convince her otherwise and her look of dismay was apparent.
Indeed, a question should be raised: In a system where people are rewarded according to merit, why are our best and brightest not getting the best learning environments?
I once attended a seminar at ITE College East. The interior was like a plush hotel: Sleek floors, plush lecture theatre chairs, high-quality tables - quality exceeding that found in our polytechnics and junior colleges (JC).
From the exterior, with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a stadium stand, it looked like it was made for the Youth Olympics.
What saddened me, though, was the graffiti on the tables and chairs. Apparently, the students do not cherish what they have. Should any JC or polytechnic student have access to such quality facilities, I have no doubt they would appreciate it better.
There is a need to equalise government spending on school facilities. Campuses such as Anderson JC's and Victoria JC's pale in comparison to ITE College East's.
Our brightest students, who will become Singapore's future leaders, should get the best facilities in order to excel and grow. We should reward according to merit.
The writer is a JC student.
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RT @abcnews: #BREAKING: Tornado warning cancelled for Melbourne. There is still a warning for severe thunderstorms. #MelbWeather 
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Continue reading So, what'd you get?
So, what'd you get? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Dec 2011 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A MUST SEE: The 7 most illuminating economic charts of 2011 shar.es/WfSTS #tcot #economy #jobs #teaparty 
gatewaypatriot Curtis Kalin
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Being a superpower is supposed to guarantee friends and influence. China, the world?s newest global power, has plenty of the latter. What it lacks ? especially among the 14 countries that surround it ? are solid comrades.
China?s friendship deficit, created by anxiety over its ambitions, was made embarrassingly plain this week as its top leaders joined in the over-the-top mourning for Kim Jong-il. If China were a confident power, a bouquet of flowers from President Hu Jintao to the North Korean embassy in Beijing would have sufficed.
Instead, a remarkable procession was taking place in Beijing. Led by Mr. Hu and his anointed successor, Vice-President Xi Jinping, all nine members of China?s all-powerful Standing Committee of the Politburo made their way to the Hermit Kingdom?s embassy. Each solemnly offered condolences over the death of the man whose image Premier Wen Jiabao bowed to and praised as ?a great party and state leader? and ?an intimate friend of the Chinese people.?
Despite seeing its economy grow tenfold in size and emerging as a diplomatic and military force exceeded only by the United States, China?s clingy reaction is little different today than it was 17 years ago when Mr. Kim?s father and predecessor, Kim Il-sung, died. If anything, Beijing needs Pyongyang more now than it did in 1994 ? a testament to its isolation in East Asia.
Barack Obama?s declaration last fall that Asia will be the focus of his administration?s foreign policy has further complicated matters. The U.S. President backed up his commitment by deploying marines to Australia and renewing engagement with the suddenly reformist government of Myanmar. The American emphasis on the Pacific theatre has raised the paranoia level in Beijing to almost Cold War heights. China already sees Japan, South Korea, India and Taiwan as part of a U.S.-led effort to encircle and constrain it.
Which leaves North Korea, Myanmar and Pakistan as China?s only ?old friends? among its neighbours.
That?s hardly enviable company, and may be why Beijing believes it can?t afford to be picky. By mentioning Kim Jong-il?s son, the 28-year-old ?Great Successor? Kim Jong-un, by name during his visit to the North Korean embassy, Mr. Hu made clear that Beijing will do its utmost to support the transition now taking place in Pyongyang.
The tributes in Beijing this week closely follow traditions established in 1994 when president Jiang Zemin led his Politburo members to the North Korean embassy. But in many ways the China of 1994 ? then ostracized for crushing the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising ? enjoyed more foreign-policy options than it does now. Kim Il-sung died at a time when China was pulling away from North Korea, establishing its first diplomatic and trade ties with Seoul.
The China of 1994 was concerned about what was taking place in Pyongyang, but not beholden to it. Today?s Chinese leaders see the threat of American encirclement as their top concern and seem willing to sacrifice the hope of better ties with South Korea and Japan to preserve the regime they view as a strategic buffer against the United States and its allies.
As unpredictable as the Kim dynasty has been, China?s top desire for the Korean Peninsula is the status quo. ?China?s core interest is to keep the peace,? said Yan Xuetong, dean of the Institute of Modern Foreign Relations at Tsinghua University and one of China?s leading foreign-policy thinkers. ?I know a lot of people want to see some kind of war because of the death of Kim Jong-il. We just hope that this transfer of power can be carried out peacefully.?
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President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in the South Court Auditorium at the White House complex, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011, in Washington. The president was flanked at the White House by several people who commented on Twitter about how they would be impacted if the tax cuts were not extended. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in the South Court Auditorium at the White House complex, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011, in Washington. The president was flanked at the White House by several people who commented on Twitter about how they would be impacted if the tax cuts were not extended. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? For all his problems with the economy, President Barack Obama is getting unexpected help from a Republican Party that seems incapable of capitalizing on its advantages.
Congressional Republicans' fumbling of the payroll tax issue is the latest example of party in-fighting and disarray that gives Democrats hope for the 2012 elections. GOP presidential contenders have tried to distance themselves from the legislative mess. But they might be tarred nonetheless if swing voters decide the party is either inept at governing or too extreme.
The eventual GOP presidential nominee "will be somewhat shackled to the Republican brand," said Democratic strategist Erik Smith, even if congressional Republicans are the ones leading the charge in an unpopular fight over the payroll tax. He said GOP House and Senate candidates will face even more problems.
The Wall Street Journal editorial page ? an important voice among conservatives ? berated Republican lawmakers for their handling of the payroll tax matter. Obama wants to add another year to this year's reduction in the tax, which nearly all workers pay toward Social Security. Senate Republicans, after forcing Democrats to swallow several unrelated concessions, joined in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote to approve only a two-month tax cut extension, with plans to revisit the issue next year.
But House Republicans, who generally disliked the payroll tax cut from the start, refused to concur early this week. Under relentless criticism from conservative bloggers and several GOP senators, House Speaker John Boehner announced Thursday that he expects to pass a new bill by Christmas to renew the break for two months while congressional negotiators work on a longer-term measure.
Unless Congress acts in the next 10 days, the payroll tax rate will return to 6.2 percent on Jan. 1, after one year at 4.2 percent. That would cost a family making $50,000 about $1,000.
Republican congressional leaders' actions "might end up re-electing the president before the 2012 campaign even begins in earnest," the Journal's editorial page said Wednesday.
Democrats point to episodes like the payroll tax fuss and say congressional Republicans are essentially controlled by tea party activists, whose tax and spending agendas are outside the political mainstream.
"Tea Party Republicans blocked a bipartisan bill to extend President Obama's payroll tax cut," the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a fundraising email Tuesday, minutes after a key House vote. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters, "the tea party tail is wagging the elephant."
Democratic strategists hope to remind voters of last summer's near-calamity over raising the limit on the debt ceiling. Then, as now, Boehner struggled to control his GOP caucus and to calculate which bills can and cannot pass. These Democrats want to paint the Republican Party as an out-of-touch institution that would rather stand for rigidly conservative principles than solve the nation's problems.
"I think the tea party-engendered dysfunction has the potential to really get the electorate's attention," said Jared Bernstein, a former Obama administration economist now with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "At this point, the system is crippled by them."
All of this, of course, may be wishful thinking by Democrats. Republicans crushed them in the 2010 elections, giving the GOP control of the House and many governorships. Unemployment and other economic indicators bode badly for Obama's re-election hopes, and the payroll tax fuss may seem a musty memory by next November.
One other worry looms. If the payroll tax impasse remains unresolved, working Americans' taxes will rise by billions of dollars next year. Economists say that would depress spending and slow job growth, at least somewhat. Even if more voters blame Republicans than Democrats, Obama could end up as a net loser politically, given that the economic climate already is deeply troublesome for him. Also, unemployment benefits will be curbed if the legislative package remains stalled.
Analysts in both parties question whether Republicans will take such a risk.
"I think the likely scenario is some kind of bill passes in January, probably with retroactive benefits," Bernstein said. "It's a real pain for businesses," he said, because they would have to adjust their employees' tax withholding programs yet again.
Such an outcome, however, might help Obama and other Democrats politically. Restoration of the lower payroll tax rate would hold the economy harmless. But independent voters might think Republican lawmakers sought to raise their taxes. And hard-core conservative voters might blame those same lawmakers for surrendering to a tax cut they dislike.
Democrats note that Republicans fought fiercely to prevent Bush-era income tax cuts from expiring on schedule, even for the wealthiest people. GOP leaders say income tax cuts do more to stimulate growth than do payroll tax reductions.
The payroll tax impasse seems to have cost Republicans another political victory. In House-Senate negotiations, they forced Obama to agree to an expedited decision on a proposed transcontinental oil pipeline opposed by environmental groups. But it was included in the Senate-passed package with the two-month tax extension. Republicans who gloated over Obama's concession on the pipeline now have nothing to show for their efforts.
Republicans in Congress don't need more bad publicity. Americans hold Congress in extremely low regard, but they put more blame on Republicans than Democrats.
A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that a record-high 50 percent of Americans say the current Congress is less effective than most. By nearly 2-to-1, "more blame Republican leaders than Democratic leaders for this," Pew found. "By wide margins, the GOP is seen as the party that is more extreme in its positions, less willing to work with the other side to get things done, and less honest and ethical in the way it governs. And for the first time in over two years, the Democratic Party has gained the edge as the party better able to manage the federal government."
Such findings may add pressure on Boehner and other Republican leaders to find a way out of the payroll tax cut dilemma.
Associated Pressst.louis cardinals st.louis cardinals drag me to hell alot alot are you afraid of the dark are you afraid of the dark
In this April 23, 2011, file photo, then-Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, right, looks out on the field as he stands with his team before their Spring Game in Columbus, Ohio.
E. Gordon Gee, the president of Ohio State, is disappointed but happy to finally have closure. Gene Smith, his athletic director, is also disappointed and surprised. Apparently the thought that the NCAA might actually ban his school from a bowl game next season never crossed his mind. All of which illustrates two things very clearly: Almost every school that gets in trouble with the NCAA expects to get off with a wrist-slap because history shows the punishment is rarely more severe. And Ohio State was arrogant enough to believe the NCAA wouldn't dare mess with a program that has a license to print money every fall.
In the grand scheme of things, a one-year bowl ban and the loss of three scholarships a year for three years will do very little to Urban Meyer's plans for Big Ten (and no doubt world) domination. He'll still make $4 million in the coming year, and while the bowl ban might cost him a recruit or two this winter, he'll have high school stars banging on the locker room door inside the Horseshoe in short order.
Please don't cry for next year's Ohio State seniors. They will have been to three bowl games. When their president and athletic director refused to self-impose a bowl ban this season -- which would have cost the 6-6 Buckeyes an appearance in a Gator Bowl that will be watched by dozens -- they essentially dared the NCAA to ban them from the postseason in 2012.
"These players fought through a lot of adversity," Smith said in explaining to the Cleveland Plain Dealer why he didn't consider passing on a bowl game this year the way Miami did.
Ah, yes, all that adversity. Playing seven home games in front of 100,000 adoring fans was certainly tough. The non-conference wins over Akron, Toledo (barely) and Colorado were profiles in courage. The 3-5 record in the Big Ten was awe-inspiring.
Here's the bottom line: As Smith himself admitted, it never seriously occurred to him that the NCAA would actually, you know, punish the Buckeyes for former coach Jim Tressel's web of lies, his nearly year-long cover-up and his "resignation," which happened only after months of hemming and hawing. Remember Gee's comment in March when he was asked if he would consider firing Tressel? "Fire him? I just hope he doesn't fire me," Gee said.
Remember: Gee and Smith never pressured Tressel to tell them the truth about the investigation into OSU players getting free tattoos and other benefits from a booster who turned out to be under federal investigation.
They were the ones -- along with the frauds who run the Sugar Bowl -- who pleaded with the NCAA to let quarterback Terrelle Pryor and friends play in last January's game even though the players had violated NCAA rules. Hey, we've got a game to win here and we need some TV ratings! The heck with right or wrong. The NCAA played along with some nonsensical spin about playing in a bowl being a "unique experience."
A truly unique experience would be the NCAA striving for a standard higher than maximizing its own revenues.
Let's not get carried away with the fact that the NCAA imposed one real penalty on Ohio State. The loss of scholarships is meaningless. You don't think a college football program as powerful as Ohio State can't survive with 82 scholarship players for three years? If need be, they'll get around it. You can be sure that no player with serious potential will be told, "We don't have a scholarship for you" in Columbus any time soon.
If the NCAA ever wants to really get serious about punishing cheaters, it can't just knock them out of postseason for a year. It has to take them off television. For all the yammering about how USC paid for the Reggie Bush debacle, the Trojans were on TV just about every week the last two seasons, allowing coach Lane Kiffin to make sure recruits could see just how cool it is when that horse gallops around Los Angeles Coliseum whenever the Trojans score.
But there's too much money at stake to take a name-brand team off of TV. Imagine the screams coming from Bristol if Ohio State wasn't part of the Big Ten TV package for a year. Imagine how the folks at Black Rock would have reacted if Auburn had been banished from CBS in the wake of the Cam Newton investigation.
The NCAA's message remains essentially the same: Cheating pays. There is no better example than the meaningless three-game suspension Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun received last February. Calhoun was allowed to coach his team to the national championship a few weeks later -- and then serve his "punishment" this season.
That may explain why Gee and Smith were so convinced they could take the Gator Bowl bid and then hand Meyer the keys to a brand-new program that could march straight to the Rose Bowl next season. Certainly the fact that the NCAA has allowed Ohio State to operate with two coaching staffs this month -- one preparing for the bowl; the other out recruiting -- would indicate that one of President Mark Emmert's goals is one day to dot the "I" at halftime inside Ohio Stadium.
Investigations continue at Miami, North Carolina and Oregon. One can only hope the penalties they face will be at least as severe as Ohio State's penalties. Oregon wasn't about to skip a chance to play in next month's Rose Bowl; it will take its chances when the time comes with the infractions committee. North Carolina opted to play in a meaningless bowl game while Miami did not. No doubt the leadership in Chapel Hill was thinking along the same lines as Gee and Smith.
Let's hope they're proven wrong too.
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BEREA, Ohio ? Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy still hasn't shaken symptoms from a concussion sustained nearly two weeks ago, one that has reformed the NFL's game-day procedures on head injuries.
McCoy was not cleared to practice again on Wednesday, keeping him sidelined since he was illegally blasted in the facemask by Pittsburgh's James Harrison on Dec. 8. Browns coach Pat Shurmur said McCoy was evaluated by team doctors and did ?a little physical activity? as he continues to recover.
McCoy has not been seen at the team's training facility this week. The second-year QB, who has displayed immense toughness while being roughed up all season, will miss his second straight game Saturday at Baltimore. Backup Seneca Wallace will start against the Ravens, although Shurmur has not made that announcement official.
The Browns are being extra careful in their treatment of McCoy. It was their failure to check him for a concussion on the field or sideline at Heinz Field that prompted the league to institute a policy of having an independent certified trainer, paid by the NFL, in the press box at games to monitor for head injuries and help identify players who need to be tested.
The league said the trainer will not diagnose or prescribe treatment and can't order players be removed from a game. The trainer will be in a booth upstairs with access to video replay and direct communication to the medical staffs of both teams.
Also, the league will allow medical personnel to use their cell phones during games to get information to help any injured player, not just those with head injuries. In a statement announcing the changes, the league stressed the importance of communication between coaching and medical staffs and urged that ?concussions continue to be managed in a conservative and medically appropriate way.?
McCoy wasn't tested for a concussion until after the loss to the Steelers and was sent back into the game after missing just two plays. The Browns said McCoy wasn't showing symptoms of a concussion, so they didn't test him. Also, team doctors were treating other players and didn't see the impact from Harrison's vicious hit, which earned the Steelers linebacker a one-game suspension he served in Pittsburgh's loss to San Francisco on Monday.
Harrison returned to practice on Wednesday and delivered another shot on the Browns. He believes they should be disciplined for their handling of McCoy.
?If he was hurt so bad, I don't know why they let him back in the next two plays later,? Harrison said. ?Something should be done to them, I would think. I got a game, what should they get??
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BEIRUT (Reuters) ? Fierce fighting has continued in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, with activists saying 50 people were killed there and elsewhere on Tuesday, shortly before officials arrive to prepare for an Arab League effort to end nine months of bloodshed.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 23 people were killed in fighting with President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the northern province of Idlib and 14 members of his security forces died in a rebel ambush in the south. The overall death toll on Tuesday was at least 47, it said.
Idlib, on Syria's northern border with Turkey, has seen fierce fighting recently. The Observatory reported that security forces machinegunned soldiers deserting their army base there on Monday, killing more than 60, and said rebels had damaged or destroyed 17 military vehicles since Sunday.
The state news agency SANA said security forces killed five "terrorists" in Deraa province on Monday night. It also said Assad had decreed the death penalty for anyone caught distributing arms "with the aim of committing terrorist acts."
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told Reuters in Cairo that an advance team would go to Syria on Thursday, with the 150 monitors due to arrive by end-December.
"It's a completely new mission ... and it depends on implementation in good faith," he said.
Syria stalled for weeks before signing a protocol on Monday to accept the monitors who will check its compliance with an Arab plan for an end to violence, withdrawal of troops from the streets, release of prisoners and dialogue with the opposition.
"In a week's time, from the start of the operation, we will know (if Syria is complying)," Elaraby said.
Syrian pro-democracy activists are deeply skeptical about Assad's commitment to the plan, which, if implemented, could embolden demonstrators demanding an end to his 11-year rule.
France said it hoped the monitors could carry out their mission quickly. But it also said Assad had a record of broken pledges and that Monday's violence showed there "isn't a moment to lose."
"For months we have seen Bashar al-Assad not keep to commitments he made to his people and he has increased his efforts to play for time in the face of the international community," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.
In recent months, peaceful protests have increasingly given way to armed confrontations often led by army deserters.
Some opposition leaders have called for foreign military intervention to protect civilians from Assad's forces.
In a show of military power, state television said on Tuesday the air force and navy both held live-fire exercises aimed at deterring any attack on Syria by land or sea.
The Syrian authorities have made it hard for anyone to know what is going on in their troubled country. They have barred most foreign journalists and imposed tight curbs on local ones.
The British-based Observatory said three more people had been killed in violence on Tuesday, two in the city of Homs and one in a village in Idlib province, the scene of a sustained military crackdown in the past three days.
SANA said a captain in the security forces had died of wounds inflicted by "terrorists" a week ago in the city of Hama.
U.N. TOLL
The United Nations has said more than 5,000 people have been killed in Syria since anti-Assad protests erupted in March, inspired by a wave of uprisings across the Arab world.
Several weeks ago Damascus said 1,100 members of the security forces had been killed by "armed terrorist gangs." An armed insurrection against Assad has gathered pace since then.
Syria agreed to the Arab peace plan in early November, but the violence raged on, prompting Arab states to announce financial sanctions and travel bans on Syrian officials.
The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Syria, which combined with the unrest itself have pushed the economy into a sharp decline. The Syrian pound fell nearly 2 percent on Tuesday to more than 55 pounds per dollar, 17 percent down from the official rate before the crisis erupted.
Arab rulers want to halt a slide towards a possible civil war in Syria that could shake a region already riven by rivalry between non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran and Sunni Arab heavyweights such as Saudi Arabia.
(Editing by Michael Roddy)
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