Breaking News: Kevin Welner's Charter School Dirty Dozen ...

Welcome to the third installment of Cloaking Inequity?s new comic series Breaking News. Today the comic represents Kevin Welner?s ?The Dirty Dozen: How Charter Schools Influence Student Enrollment. Dr. Welner is a?professor of education policy at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education and director of the National Education Policy Center. What are the dirty dozen? Welner was inspired to write this analysis after reading a?February 2013 article?written by Reuters reporter Stephanie Simon. Her article described a variety of ways that charter schools ?get the students they want.??The NEPC release states:

Charter schools may be public, but they can shape their student enrollment in surprising ways. This is done though a dozen different practices that often decrease the likelihood of students enrolling with a disfavored set of characteristics, such as students with special needs, those with low test scores, English learners, or students in poverty.

When charter schools fail to serve a cross-section of their community, they undermine their own potential and they distort the larger system of public education. ?It doesn?t have to be this way,? says Welner. ?The task for policymakers is to redesign charter school policies in ways that provide choice without undermining other important policy goals. For instance, being innovative doesn?t require being selective or restrictive in enrollments.?

?These practices,? Welner explains, ?also make it difficult for researchers to accurately compare the effectiveness of charter and non-charter schools.? High-quality research studies make great efforts to include a comparison group of non-charter school students that matches charter school students in key ways such as race, free and reduced lunch status, and gender.

Yet the many ways charters influence enrollment create daunting obstacles for researchers. Welner cautions researchers and policymakers: ?These studies cannot account for all these practices merely by research design or statistical adjustments. Studies of charter school performance are almost surely attributing results to charter school instructional programs that are caused in part by charter school enrollment practices.?

Are all charter schools bad news by excluding students of certain types? Of course not! I was an instructor at an Aspire charter school and I currently serve on the UT-Austin elementary charter school board? but? Welner:

There are plenty of charter schools that try to enroll a diverse and representative group of students. ?There are plenty of others that use a potent combination of the ?Dirty Dozen? practices to shape their enrollments in ways that flout our societal understandings of public schooling.

See all of Cloaking Inequity?s posts on charters here. Check CI?s dispute with KIPP on their attrition here.

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Welner?s Dirty Dozen:

#1: Description and Design: Which Niche?

The designers of a new charter school face a variety of decisions. Will the school portray itself as focused on rigorous academics? Or perhaps the design will cater to children with autism? Will it have the facilities to provide free or reduced-price lunch? Will it have teachers for English learners and for students with special needs? In short, which niche will it be designed to fill? Given the high-stakes accountability context, a school designed to serve an at-risk student population will face greater survival obstacles. Low test scores lead to lower school performance ratings and eventually to closure. In contrast, high test scores lead to acclaim and to positive word-of-mouth from realtors, press, friends and neighbors. In short, nothing succeeds like success, and the greatest determinants of success are the raw materials ? the students who enroll.

#2: Location, Location, Location

As has long been recognized by the courts, the siting of a school is an effective way to influence student demographics (Kennedy, 2007). A school that intends to serve students who live in an urban area will locate in that neighborhood, while a school with an intent to serve a suburban population will make a different decision. Because families with less wealth tend to have fewer transportation options, this is particularly important when thinking about disadvantaged groups.

#3: Mad Men: The Power of Marketing and Advertising

Charter schools are not allowed to directly select students based on those students? demographic characteristics. But if a school wants to enroll English learners, it will produce and distribute materials in the first language of those families. If it does not, it will produce and distribute materials overwhelmingly in English. Similar decisions can be made regarding special needs populations and lower-income populations. And if it wants students with higher incoming test scores and a drive to excel academically, it can advertise as ?college prep? and highlight the rigor of its curriculum. Even the visual images used in marketing materials can send distinct messages about who is welcome and who is not. When a school makes deliberate decisions about how and where to market, it is exercising influence over who applies.

#4: Hooping It Up: Conditions Placed on Applications

Through the application process, charter schools can control the pipeline that leads to enrolled students. If less desirable students do not apply, they will not be enrolled. Charter schools are usually in charge of their own application processes, and many impose a daunting array of conditions. These include lengthy application forms such as a required essay simply to get into the lottery, mandatory character references, parents required to visit the school before applying, short time windows to file the applications, special ?pre-enrollment? periods for insiders, and admissions tests to determine grade placement or learning group. These policies and practices can directly turn away families (I?m sorry, but you can?t enroll here because you didn?t visit). Further, they can serve their purpose by discouraging parents who lack the time, resources, or overall commitment to jump through the hoops.

#5: As Long As You Don?t Get Caught: Illegal and Dicey Practices

As noted earlier, Simon (2013) documents instances of charter schools that require applications to ?present Social Security cards and birth certificates for their applications to be considered, even though such documents cannot be required under federal law.? She also notes some schools that require special needs applicants to document their disabilities ? which may or may not be illegal but which is certainly contrary to the intent and spirit of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Such policies will have the effect of discouraging special needs students and, in some communities, minimizing the enrollment of immigrant students. Another troubling, and possibly illegal, practice involves elementary-level charters with attached, private pre-k schools that charge substantial tuition ? and the using of that pre-k school to funnel students into the public charter and thereby create a wealthier student demographic (see, e.g., Dreilinger, 2012; Ferguson, 2011; Ferguson & Royal, 2011).

#6: Send Us Your Best: Conditions Placed on Enrollment

Simon?s (2013) article also pointed to ?One charter high school in [California that] will not consider applicants with less than a 2.0 grade point average. Another will only admit students who passed Algebra I in middle school with a grade of B or better.? She also points to states that allow a charter school to give an admissions preference to students based on a demonstration of interest in that school?s theme or focus: ?Some schools use that leeway to screen for students who are ready for advanced math classes or have stellar standardized test scores.? Other charter schools, including KIPP, require that students and their families commit to longer school days and school hours. Many also require so-called ?sweat equity? contracts from parents, whereby they commit to contribute service to the school. As with conditions placed on applications, these conditions of enrollment can work by directly turning away families as well as by discouraging families perceived to be less desirable.

#7: The Bum Steer

Connected to these application and enrollment practices is the old practice of steering away less desirable students (Fiore, et al., 2000). The typical scenario involves the parent of a high-needs child who drops by the school to inquire about enrolling and is told that opportunities for that child will be much richer at the public school down the road. These are among the allegations in the Southern Poverty Law Center?s lawsuit against the Recovery School District in New Orleans (Mock, 2010).

#8: Not In Service

As noted above, a charter school may or may not have services designed to meet the needs of a given group of higher-needs children. For instance, teachers with TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) training or certification may be unavailable. Similarly, a charter school may not have the resources necessary to meet the special needs of a child with so-called low-incidence disabilities. But even reading specialists, for instance, may be unavailable. While a charter school may not, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), be legality entitled to reject a students with special needs and his or her individualized education plan (IEP), pointing out the unavailability of resources and services is often sufficient to do the trick (Welner & Howe, 2005).

#9: The Fitness Test: Counseling Out

Parents of less successful students or those who are viewed as a poor fit may simply be told that they should consider a different option. This is usually accomplished through ongoing meetings with the charter schools? teachers and administrators. (Bobby isn?t responding well to instruction, getting along well with other students, etc.) In a school choice context, a reasonable way to address a disappointing experience is to seek out a different school, and a nudge from school staff can help move this process along.

#10: Flunk or Leave: Grade Retention

One such nudge can be provided by telling the student and parent that if the student remains at the school, she will be retained in grade. Grade retention is extensively used, for instance, at KIPP charter schools. One effect of such policies is to rebuke less successful students and to suggest that those students may do better elsewhere (and to inform them that they will have to go elsewhere if they want to graduate on time).

#11: Discipline and Punish

Charter schools? discipline policies generally differ from those of their nearby school districts. Washington DC?s charter schools, for example, have much higher expulsion rates than do district schools (Brown, 2013). The New York Times wrote in 2012 about a charter school in Chicago that has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines from students for infractions like ?not looking a teacher in the eye? (Vevea, 2012). Through direct expulsion and through harsh discipline regimes, such charter schools are able to maintain a more controlled school environment, but one effect of doing so is the selective removal of students who are more disruptive ? or, in the case of the Chicago school, less able to afford the fines.

#12: Going Mobile (Or Not)

Low-income communities across the country tend to have high rates of student mobility. Many students exit and enter each year and ? most disruptively for all ? during the school year. Neighborhood public schools generally have no power to limit this mobility and must focus instead on minimizing the disruption. Charter schools, however, can decide to enroll few or no new students during the year or in higher grades. Researchers refer to this addition of new students as a choice of whether or not to ?backfill? the students charters lose through normal attrition or through counseling out. A related issue is the common practice among new charter schools of ?feeding from below.? To illustrate, imagine a new charter authorized to serve grades k-8. Such a school would often open with just grades k-2, and then each year would bring in a new kindergarten cohort and extend up one year, to k-3, then k-4, and so on. This approach tends to create stability and to screen out more transient students and families.

The general population doesn?t know what?s happening, and it doesn?t even know that it doesn?t know.?Noam Chomsky

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Source: http://cloakinginequity.com/2013/08/04/breaking-news-kevin-welners-charter-school-dirty-dozen/

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Flash floods kill 58 in eastern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Heavy rains swept across eastern Afghanistan, leveling homes and killing at least 58 people in five provinces, while an estimated 30 others remain missing, officials said Sunday.

Provincial spokesmen in Nangarhar, Kabul, Khost, Laghman and Nuristan said that all the floods struck early Saturday. Flash floods are common in those provinces and all are fed by rivers that eventually intersect in Nangarhar.

In Kabul's Surobi district, police chief Shaghasi Ahmadi said 34 people were killed in a remote and mountainous area. He said 22 of the bodies from Surobi were later found downstream in Laghman.

Surobi has a number of rivers running through it. It is also rife with Taliban activity.

Ahmadi said food, tents and other emergency supplies were being sent to the district from the capital.

Downstream in the adjacent province of Nangarhar, a government statement said 17 people were killed by the floods.

President Hamid Karzai's office said another seven died in Khost and Nuristan.

Rains quickly can weaken the structures of the mud-walled homes that dot the countryside in Afghanistan, causing the buildings to collapse during heavy downpours. In neighboring Pakistan on Saturday, the same storm system brought heavy rains that caused more than 100 homes to collapse and caved in a factory wall, killing at least 14 people.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/flash-floods-kill-58-eastern-afghanistan-133215142.html

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Africa?s boom ?fails to dent poverty level?

Fast-paced African countries may have growth rates that are the envy of developed economies, but the continent?s boom has failed in recent years to significantly dent poverty levels, economists say.

Sub-Saharan Africa is set to grow by 5.6 percent in 2012, according to latest figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with 18 countries hitting at least six percent.

?Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to continue growing at a strong pace during 2013-14, with both resource-rich and lower-income economies benefiting from robust domestic demand,? the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook.

According to the World Bank, foreign direct investment inflows rose 5.5 percent in the region last year, against a plunge of 6.6 percent in developing countries worldwide.

The investment-to-GDP ratio is the lowest among developing regions, which the bank likens to pre-boom levels in 1960s China

and 1980s India ?suggesting increased scope for further expansion in productivity-enhancing investment?.

Africa?s oil and mining wealth means that these sectors dominate the overall flows, but investment has also risen in services such as water, construction, and electricity projects.

States with growing middle classes ? such as Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Kenya ? are also drawing investment to consumer areas such as retail and banking.

Consumer spending makes up more than 60 percent of Africa?s GDP, a sector recently highlighted by McKinsey & Company who found urban Africans spent more on clothing and food than those in Brazil, China and India on average.

Telecommunications, banking and retail are flourishing, construction is booming and private investment inflows surging.

But the continent?s poor are still not riding the wave.

?More than a decade of strong economic growth has reduced poverty in sub-Saharan Africa ? but not by enough,? said the World Bank last week.

Growth has been less poverty-reducing than elsewhere in the world; and despite the faster growth in resource-rich countries, levels of poverty are falling at a slower rate, it said.

While strides have been made in reducing the levels of Africans living on less $1.25 a day, more than a third of the world?s extreme poor still live in sub-Saharan Africa

And it is still the only region in the world where the number of poor people rose ?steadily and dramatically? between 1981 and 2010, according to a recent bank note on poverty.

?The poverty rate is not going down at the same rate that the growth rate is going up,? said Soren Ambrose, economist of anti-poverty group ActionAid in Nairobi.

?The mining companies were given attractive deals: those companies come in and do their business and as a result the growth rates are up.?

But, he added: ?Not much remains, the amount that is left in the country is not so much.?

This year, only two regional economies, Swaziland and oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, are set to shrink. Powerhouse South Africa is struggling to take off, with only 2.8 percent growth forecast.

Next year however, the IMF predicts growth of 6.1 percent in the region, largely thanks to the revival of South Africa.

In its latest Africa analysis, the World Bank says high commodity prices and domestic spending will ensure the region stays among the world?s fastest growing.

But more has to be done to unleash the potential of the continent?s opportunities, it argues.

?Higher economic growth does not automatically translate into higher poverty reduction,? states the report. ? Sapa-AFP

Cross-posted from Business Report

Source: http://mdginafrica.wordpress.com/2013/08/03/africas-boom-fails-to-dent-poverty-level/

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Watch live: Japanese space launch sends Kirobo up to the ISS (video)

You love robots, and you love rocket launches... right? So, you're going to want to watch the double whammy this afternoon we're guessing. That cutesy little Kirobo fella is making his way up to the ISS, and you can see it unfold live, right here, with coverage starting at 3:00pm ET. So, grab a sandwich and get comfortable. Though, we can't promise Kirobo will be making an actual appearance, stranger things have happened.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Source: Space

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/l0YZquiq7ag/

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FORD 03 EXPEDITION 106K mi, V-8, leather int & 3rd row

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Iran as determined as ever to threaten Israel: Netanyahu

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday Iranian president-elect Hassan Rouhani had shown his true face after he was quoted as saying Israel was a "wound" that must be removed.

Netanyahu said Rouhani, due to take office on Sunday, was no less anti-Israel than his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and said the world must not allow Iran to pursue its nuclear ambitions and threaten Israel.

"The true face of Rouhani has been revealed sooner than expected ... this is what the man thinks and this is the Iranian regime's plan of action," Netanyahu said in a statement.

"A nation that threatens to destroy the state of Israel must not be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction," he said.

Iran's student news agency reported that Rouhani had said in a speech: "The Zionist regime is a wound that has sat on the body of the Muslim world for years and needs to be removed."

Israel - widely believed to possess the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal - says Iran is planning to build nuclear weapons and has hinted it might take military action if other nations fail to persuade Tehran to curb its atomic program.

Iran denies it is planning to build an atomic bomb and says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-determined-ever-threaten-israel-netanyahu-110227740.html

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What Poisoned Pomegranates Tell Us About Food Safety

Imported food is getting the kind of attention these days that no product wants. Health officials in Iowa and Nebraska are blaming salad greens for making hundreds of people sick with a parasite called cyclospora. That parasite usually comes from the tropics, so it's likely the salad did, too. Earlier this summer, pomegranate seeds from Turkey were linked to an outbreak of hepatitis A.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration announced a plan to prevent such problems. Michael Taylor, the FDA's deputy commissioner for foods, said that the hepatitis outbreak showed exactly why new rules are needed. "That sort of incident is exactly the sort of problem that this new system is intended to address," he said.

But the case of the poisoned pomegranates actually teaches a more complicated lesson: That safety systems, however helpful, are not foolproof.

The outbreak began in the spring and mainly affected consumers in Western states. Michael Walters, who lives in Foxfield, Colo., first felt symptoms while visiting Yellowstone in late May.

Walters had been on a health kick. He was eating superfoods: smoothies made from spinach, kale and avocado. To add a bit of sweetness, he added some frozen berries ? a product called Organic Antioxidant Blend ? that he picked up at Costco. "I was really loading up on what I thought were very healthy, natural kinds of foods," he says.

The disease hit with a feeling of overwhelming fatigue. Walters didn't know it yet, but more than 100 other people were getting it, too. And investigators found a link between them. They'd all bought that frozen berry mix.

Costco recalled the product. Walters' daughter saw the warning on the Internet and called her sick father. "We went online to the Costco website. They had a picture of the product," recalls Walters. "We went to our freezer. There was the bag!"

Walters ended up in the hospital for four days. Today, two months later, he's still trying to get his strength back.

In that bag of frozen berries, only one thing came from a part of the world where you find this strain of hepatitis A: pomegranate seeds from Turkey.

So how will the FDA's new rules try to prevent this sort of thing? FDA officials describe their proposal as a fundamental shift in approach. Instead of just trying to catch contaminated food at the border, they'll require safety checks throughout the supply chain, all the way back to the fields and orchards overseas.

If the rules go into effect, U.S. companies that import food will be legally required to show proof that their foreign suppliers are operating just as safely as suppliers in the U.S. "It really boils down to expecting our importers to know their supplier, to know the food and its potential hazards, and to verify that preventive steps had been taken to minimize those hazards," says the FDA's Taylor.

But here's the twist in the pomegranate story: The companies that imported the pomegranates apparently were doing exactly this already.

Costco requires that its suppliers are audited for safety by outside experts. So does Townsend Farms, the Oregon company that actually packed the berry mix. And the Turkish processing plant that handled these pomegranates was following the rules of an international code of safety called GMA-SAFE.

Les Bourquin, a professor of food science at Michigan State University, has encountered GMA-SAFE frequently while working with food companies in foreign countries, helping them to develop food safety systems. He says that this certification generally satisfies the FDA's demands. "It may not hit all the points of the new requirements, but it would be close," he says.

Bourquin says we don't know yet exactly how this contamination happened ? whether the safety rules weren't good enough or whether somebody broke the rules.

But it's a reminder that it's really hard to guarantee safety in a system that stretches from pomegranate orchards in Turkey to your local grocery store. "Failures do occur, even in good companies that are doing a very good job," he says.

Still, Bourquin says, the FDA's proposed rules will have a big impact, especially on companies that have not been insisting on safety audits at their foreign suppliers. "There are companies that don't do this," he says. The FDA rules "will make some companies take it much more seriously." Even companies that are carrying out safety audits and testing, Bourquin says, like the plant in Turkey, can always find ways to do it even better.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/01/207953614/what-poisoned-pomegranates-tell-us-about-food-safety?ft=1&f=1007

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Largest neuronal network simulation to date achieved using Japanese supercomputer

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Scientists have carried out the largest general neuronal network simulation to date.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/computers_math/information_technology/~3/seO1ykZF0A4/130802080237.htm

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Adam Rutherford's Creation Science (the Real Kind), Part 1

Science journalist, author and Nature editor Adam Rutherford talks about new book Creation: How Science Is Reinventing Life Itself, which looks at the science of the origin of life and at the emerging science of synthetic biology

More Science Talk

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Science journalist, author and Nature editor Adam Rutherford talks about new book Creation: How Science Is Reinventing Life Itself, which looks at the science of the origin of life and at the emerging science of synthetic biology.???

Also check out the podcast interview with Nobel laureate Jack Szostak about his origin of life research. And the podcast interview with Jerry Coyne about his book Why Evolution Is True. As well as the preview of the article Are Aliens Among Us?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/sciam/chemistry/~3/z_TN48zs_CU/episode.cfm

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Music from a 400-year-old cutting edge In Stile Moderno finds outlet for its creative energy in 17th century Italian baroque revolution

Thursday August 1, 2013

BRATTLEBORO -- The last time he performed in Brattleboro about 10 years ago, Nathaniel Cox was pretty sure he was going to be an orchestral trumpet player.

That all changed as he was studying modern trumpet at Oberlin College and Conservatory

"I began to see that life as an orchestral trumpet player was looking somewhat limiting," said Cox, who grew up in Brattleboro, where his trumpet skills were nurtured by Jim Kurty, Steve Rice and Dan Farina, and he performed and clowned with Stephen Stearns at New England Youth Theatre.

To free himself from what he saw as the limitations of life in the trumpet section of a symphony orchestra, Cox eventually found himself traveling back four centuries, where he discovered the surprisingly innovative and experimental baroque music composed in the early 17th century in Italy.

Dubbed "In Stile Moderno" (in the modern style), this music was created by composers in Italy who were interested in breaking loose from the older, polyphonic style. Championed by royal patrons in Italy, it quickly spread across Europe. Ultimately, it caught Cox?s attention.

"Early music really kind of attracted me. There?s so much flexibility. There?s so much you can do," said Cox.

If that seems counter-intuitive to you, it did to me, but Cox explained that in classical composition, "there?s a whole movement toward specifity."

Early music leaves more up to the musician

in terms of instrumentation, ornamentation and improvisation and that appealed to Cox.

On Sunday, Cox will be returning to his hometown to perform music of the early Italian baroque with his ensemble, In Stile Moderno. The concert, which will feature the old and evocative sounds of cornetto, theorbo, soprano voice and harpsichord takes place at 4 p.m., in the sanctuary of St. Michael Episcopal Church, 16 Bradley Ave.

The program, titled "Un Concerto per Barberini," brings together music composed under the patronage of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII. This concert will feature the works of two of the musicians in his patronage -- Girolamo Frescobaldi and Johannes Hieronymus Kapsberger, both of whom were virtuoso musicians.

Founded in 2012 in Basel, Switzerland, where Cox lives, In Stile Moderno features soprano Agnes Coakley and cornettist/theorbist Cox and is devoted to exploring the music of the "new style" that had its origins in late 16th century Florence. They will be joined by Benjamin Katz on harpsichord.

In addition to playing this music because they?re passionate about it, In Stile Moderno strives to champion both these two composers, who are less well-known than other contemporaries like Monteverdi, and to champion this music in general, which has retained an excitement and electricity through the centuries.

"There is kind of a double meaning in the name ?In Stile Moderno.? ... I think we want to bring a fresh approach to this music. We?re not just picking up 400-year-old fossils, we?re making this music alive now," said Cox. "We?re trying to bring freshness to the music.

"In my experience, contemporary music and early music tend to attract the same kind of people, and there?s a surprising number who do both," he added.

In exploring this music, Cox discovered two new instruments. One is the cornetto, a natural step for a trumpet player since it is a wooden horn wrapped in leather, with finger holes like those of a recorder.

Cox described it as being "like if you merged a trumpet with an oboe with a flute" and added that in the 17th century, it was the instrument "best able to imitate the sound of the human voice."

The other instrument is the theorbo, and it represents a new direction entirely for Cox.

He described the theorbo as a bass lute -- with the six regular strings of a lute and eight additional bass strings. It?s ideal for bass accompaniment. Knowing of Cox?s affinity for early music, a friend in Basel recommended he try playing one.

"In Basel, it?s not hard to find. You walk down the street and trip over a dozen theorbo players," Cox said.

The concert the ensemble will play in Brattleboro is also scheduled to be performed in the Boston area on July 30-31 and Aug. 1, under the sponsorship of the Society for Historically Informed Performance.

St. Michael?s Episcopal Church is handicapped-accessible. Admission to Sunday?s concert is by donation, with $15 suggested. For more information, contact Doug Cox at 802-257-1024 or dcox@sover.net.

Source: http://www.reformer.com/ci_23771659/music-from-400-year-old-cutting-edge-stile?source=rss_viewed

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Real Estate Down Slightly During The Second Quarter | Marotta On ...

Real Estate Stocks are an important part of the category of Resource Stocks, sometimes called ?Hard Asset? Stocks. They were down slightly in the second quarter of 2013. Foreign real estate was down more for the quarter because the U.S. Dollar strengthened against foreign currencies.

• Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ) was down 1.6% during the second quarter, but still up 9.08% for the past year and still averaging 8.11% for the last 5 years.
• Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF (VNQI) was down 6.72% during the second quarter, but still averaging 18.29% for the past year.

We still recommend a healthy allocation to publicly traded real estate investment trusts.

Source: http://www.marottaonmoney.com/real-estate-down-slightly-during-the-second-quarter/

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Aquatic playground can turn water tanks into fish schools

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Raising fish in tanks that contain hiding places and other obstacles can make the fish both smarter and improve their chances of survival when they are released into the wild, according to scientists.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/vWg_zB0ZT3U/130730193532.htm

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Apple Inc. (AAPL) And Samsung Dominate Value Share: Canaccord

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) remained the most profitable company in the smartphone market compared with its competitors in terms of profit value share, according to investment research firm, Cannacord Genuity.

Apple (AAPL) Value shares down in second quarter

Based on the latest data released by Cannacord Genuity senior analyst, Michael Walkley,?Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) value share in smartphone profits during the second quarter was 53% down from 57% in the first quarter. Its value share is even significantly lower than its 69% value share in 2012.

For the June quarter,?Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported that it sold 31.2 million iPhones compared with 26 million units sold a year ago.

Despite the decline in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)?s share in smartphone profits, it is interesting to note that the iPhone maker remains more profitable than its strongest rival,?Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) with 50% value share in the second quarter.

Samsung?s market share grow every year

It is also important to note that the South Korean electronics manufacturer?s value share in the smartphone market continues to grow every year. In 2011, its value share was 17% and the following year its share jump substantially to 34%. In the first quarter of 2013, its value share increased by 11% to 43%. The figures clearly shows that?Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) is taking a bite out of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as well as other competitors in the market.

During the second quarter, Walkley estimated that Samsung shipped approximately 72.5 million smartphones, up from 69.7 million units shipped in the previous quarter. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930)?s IT Mobile Communications unit posted?KRW 35.54 trillion sales.

Walkley?s research showed that the smartphone market is 100% dominated by?Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung because the profit value share of other manufacturers in the industry have were, break-even, zero or negative.

Other companies negative in value shares

Data showed that the smartphone profit value shares of Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V), LG Electronics Inc. (KRX:066570) (KRX:066575), and Sony Ericsson recorded 0% profit value shares.?BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) and?Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc (NYSE:MMI) posted negative value shares.

In terms of smartphone operating system unit share, Cannacord Genuity revealed that the Android operating system of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is the market leader with 74.6%. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)?s iOS operating system has only 13.5% market share while Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)?s Windows Phone has 5.1% market share and the BlackBerry 10 operating system has 2.9% market share.

Walkley estimated that Android OS will gain another 2.5% in the next quarter to 77.1%. The iOS and the Windows Phone will decline by 2% and 0.3%, respectively to 11.5% and 4.8%.

According to Walkley, the major smartphone suppliers will profit from LTE smartphone sales growth in Western markets and global upgrades from feature phones to 3G smartphones. The analyst believe that the sales of smartphone globally is better than feared by investors. Walkley said, ?In fact, we believed depressed valuations reflect an overly pessimistic view of the global smartphone market.?

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This entry was posted on July 31, 2013 at 8:00 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Source: http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/07/apple-inc-aapl-and-samsung-dominate-value-share/

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India may test bench strength in 4th ODI

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Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com --- Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Having clinched the series with a 3-0 lead, India may look to test their bench strength when they take on Zimbabwe in the 4th ODI on Thursday. ? ? ? ? ...

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Last Year's Lions | The Wildlife Society News

By Alexandra E. Sutton

A young boy herdsman (laiyoni) stands at his father?s ?boma,? a livestock enclosure. (Credit: Alexandra E. Suttton)

Jambo!

My first field notes blog introduced the goal of my project here in Kenya: to study the effectiveness of predator-proof fences in reducing human-carnivore conflict in the Western Mara. Now, I?ll write a bit about how I plan to conduct my research.

Unfortunately, there?s no perfect way (short of a time machine) to collect information about past predation rates. So I?m gathering data from a number of different sources to put together a clear picture of past predation. These include historical records of compensation paid to herders for loss of livestock, more recent yet patchy data on predation events, and retrospective interviews with herders.

By drawing on all of these data sources, I believe that we can uncover information that will help us reach our ultimate goal: to inform and improve conservation work here in the western Mara.

Historical Records
Although there are some historical records in the western Mara, they are spotty and imperfect. Some handwritten accounts of predation rest in the Mara North Conservancy?s headquarters and in the main office at Oloololo Gate, but these records cover only a small number of historical predation events, and are often secondhand accounts. Nonetheless, historical records (even imperfect ones) can provide an important buttress to the information that we gain now about current and recent predation.

These historical records also fall prey to a reporting bias problem: the Mara Conservancy compensated cattle owners until 2005 for ?huge losses? of livestock to predators. As a result, only predation that might have met the ?huge loss? criteria was reported. Although the ?huge loss? incidents might have a significant emotional impact on a cattle owner (one can just imagine the horror of waking up to find 89 goats and sheep killed out of 100), and might even be financially devastating, they often do not represent the bulk of predation.

I?m hoping to get a more complete picture of the ongoing nature of predation ? not just the incidents where a hyena or leopard killed a large number of animals in one sitting. In other words, a sudden break in a water pipe may be painfully costly to a homeowner, but a years-long slow leak might ultimately be a greater loss.

Sutton and her research team reach out to herding communities in the Maasai Mara to help build better livestock enclosures. This enclosure (above) is a traditional ?boma,? built with sticks and acacia thorns. Stronger enclosures (below) are often reinforced with chain link fence,? which reduces predation and, consequently, retaliatory attacks on wildlife. (Credit: Alexandra E. Sutton)

Recent Data
Other conservation groups working in the Mara, such as Friends of Conservation,? are sharing their recent predation data with us. But small staff size limits the ability of these groups to record all predation incidents, so patchiness and bias are inevitable in these data as well.

Interviews & Questionnaires
Interviews and questionnaires can yield incredibly rich information about human experiences; unfortunately, they?re incredibly challenging to perform well, and improper interpretation can produce data that is rife with errors. We?ve adapted survey methods originally developed by Amy Dickman during her work on the same types of human-wildlife conflict in Tanzania.

Working as a team, we?re able to provide simultaneous translation to our interview participants while providing depth and context to any answers we receive. We arrive at each boma (livestock enclosure) owner?s home, usually after giving advance notice to him or to the most senior of his wives. We introduce ourselves and our project and I offer a standard disclaimer that there will be no financial compensation for participating in the survey, or any cost to participate, and that we plan to use the data to help bolster the Anne K. Taylor Fund?s community efforts.

Elias Kamande, Kimoro Sakui, and myself ? all with the Anne K. Taylor Fund ? each play a different linguistic role during the interviews. Kimoro, a field team member, is a native Maa speaker (the Maasai language), and a well-respected member of the local Maasai community. This makes him an excellent community liaison, but he only speaks a small amount of Swahili and very little English. Kimoro can explain (in Swahili) when an interviewee has referenced a local event or has used a Maa aphorism that escapes direct translation. When Kimoro is called away by other duties, Sakat Jackson, a staff member at the Mara North Conservancy and also a native Maa speaker, helps us out.

Elias, our field team leader and a brilliant birder who knows the area?s ecology like the back of his hand, speaks Kikuyu ? the language of the largest ethnic group in Kenya. Elias also speaks Swahili and English quite well, but knows very little Maa. He?s able, however, to translate so that Kimoro and I can communicate with each other.

I am the native English speaker of the group, able to interpret our survey and research goals to Elias and Kimoro in Swahili (and, very rarely, a tiny bit of Maa) using my three years of training in Swahili and two months of immersion in the culture.

Even with these linguistic barriers conquered, the challenge of imperfect recall remains. People rarely remember distant events accurately. For this reason, we are only asking about predation events that occurred during the past year (May 2012 through June 2013).

In order to identify and compensate for outsize estimates of past predation, we ask our questions more than once and in different ways. Early in the interviews (which take about two hours each), we ask boma owners to estimate their total annual predation loss for cattle and smallstock (sheep and goats, also collectively referred to as ?shoats?). Later in the interview, we sit down for an accounting session during which we ask people to describe each predation event by the type of predator, starting with the largest ? lions and working down to the smallest ? honey badgers.

A teenaged herdsman (morani) holds a young goat that was injured by a hyena. Local herdsman are not as concerned with attacks on young livestock as they are with attacks on adults because the young are less valuable. (Credit: Alexandra E. Sutton)

Using the accounting method, the number of predated cattle typically turns out to be about half as many as the owner originally estimated, while the number of predated shoats is actually double the original estimate. This phenomenon might reflect the outsize emotional importance that owners place on cattle in Maasai culture.

The Maasai tend to overlook or ?forgive? predation of juvenile sheep and goats, taking stock only when adult animals are lost. As one Maasai put it, ?You cannot protect every animal. Some things are just lost, but that is okay. The small ones, there are many.? When we press interviewees for full counts of all animals during the accounting process, we often uncover large numbers of lost juvenile smallstock that the owner did not mention initially. So it appears that in this area, there?s a general forgiveness for juvenile smallstock predation, particularly when it occurs outside of the boma. During our interviews, we make every attempt not to call extra attention to the juvenile smallstock losses, hoping to prevent further degradation of the perspective on predators.

These observations give us valuable insight into the types of livestock loss that are more likely to trigger retaliation against local predators. Lions are often the target of retaliatory attacks because they are more likely to prey on cattle, while less concern for smallstock losses may account for the lack of retaliation against smaller predators like jackals and baboons.

Next Steps
I?ll be delving more deeply into my data this week, as I take a week?s break to visit another research group up north, in Laikipia ? a Kenyan district north of the Mara. I look forward to sharing some early insights with you all!

Tutaonana baadaye! (See you later!)

Source: http://news.wildlife.org/featured/last-years-lions/

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GOP donor's school grade changed

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Former Indiana and current Florida schools chief Tony Bennett built his national star by promising to hold "failing" schools accountable. But when it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, Bennett's education team frantically overhauled his signature "A-F" school grading system to improve the school's marks.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show Bennett and his staff scrambled last fall to ensure influential donor Christel DeHaan's school received an "A," despite poor test scores in algebra that initially earned it a "C."

"They need to understand that anything less than an A for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work," Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12 email to then-chief of staff Heather Neal, who is now Gov. Mike Pence's chief lobbyist.

The emails, which also show Bennett discussed with staff the legality of changing just DeHaan's grade, raise unsettling questions about the validity of a grading system that has broad implications. Indiana uses the A-F grades to determine which schools get taken over by the state and whether students seeking state-funded vouchers to attend private school need to first spend a year in public school. They also help determine how much state funding schools receive.

A low grade also can detract from a neighborhood and drive homebuyers elsewhere.

Bennett, who now is reworking Florida's grading system as that state's education commissioner, reviewed the emails Monday morning and denied that DeHaan's school received special treatment. He said discovering that the charter would receive a low grade raised broader concerns with grades for other "combined" schools ? those that included multiple grade levels ? across the state.

"There was not a secret about this," he said. "This wasn't just to give Christel House an A. It was to make sure the system was right to make sure the system was face valid."

However, the emails clearly show Bennett's staff was intensely focused on Christel House, whose founder has given more than $2.8 million to Republicans since 1998, including $130,000 to Bennett and thousands more to state legislative leaders.

Other schools saw their grades change, but the emails show DeHaan's charter was the catalyst for any changes.

Bennett rocketed to prominence with the help of former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and a national network of Republican leaders and donors, such as DeHaan. Bennett is a co-founder of Bush's Chiefs for Change, a group consisting mostly of Republican state school superintendents pushing school vouchers, teacher merit pay and many other policies enacted by Bennett in Indiana.

Though Indiana had had a school ranking system since 1999, Bennett switched to the A-F system and made it a signature item of his education agenda, raising the stakes for schools statewide.

Bennett consistently cited Christel House as a top-performing school as he secured support for the measure from business groups and lawmakers, including House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long.

But trouble loomed when Indiana's then-grading director, Jon Gubera, first alerted Bennett on Sept. 12 that the Christel House Academy had scored less than an A.

"This will be a HUGE problem for us," Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12, 2012 email to Neal.

Neal fired back a few minutes later, "Oh, crap. We cannot release until this is resolved."

By Sept. 13, Gubera unveiled it was a 2.9, or a "C."

A weeklong behind-the-scenes scramble ensued among Bennett, assistant superintendent Dale Chu, Gubera, Neal and other top staff at the Indiana Department of Education. They examined ways to lift Christel House from a "C'' to an "A," including adjusting the presentation of color charts to make a high "B'' look like an "A'' and changing the grade just for Christel House.

It's not clear from the emails exactly how Gubera changed the grading formula, but they do show DeHaan's grade jumping twice.

"That's like parting the Red Sea to get numbers to move that significantly," Jeff Butts, superintendent of Wayne Township schools in Indianapolis, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

DeHaan, who opened the Christel House Academy charter school in Indianapolis in 2002 and has since opened schools in India, Mexico and South Africa, said in a statement Monday that no one from the school ever made any requests that would affect Christel House's grades.

Current Indiana schools chief Glenda Ritz's office declined comment on the emails.

Ritz, a Democrat, defeated Bennett in November with a grass-roots campaign driven by teachers angered by Bennett's education agenda.

Bennett said Monday he felt no special pressure to deliver an "A'' for DeHaan. Instead, he argued, if he had paid more attention to politics he would have won re-election in Indiana.

Yet Bennett wrote to staff twice in four days, directly inquiring about DeHaan's status. Gubera broke

the news after the second note that "terrible" 10th grade algebra results had "dragged down their entire school."

Bennett called the situation "very frustrating and disappointing" in an email that day.

"I am more than a little miffed about this," Bennett wrote. "I hope we come to the meeting today with solutions and not excuses and/or explanations for me to wiggle myself out of the repeated lies I have told over the past six months."

Bennett said Monday that email expressed his frustration at having assured top-performing schools like DeHaan's would be recognized in the grading system, but coming away with a flawed formula that would undo his promises.

When requested a status update Sept. 14, his staff alerted him that the new school grade, a 3.50, was painfully close to an "A." Then-deputy chief of staff Marcie Brown wrote that the state might not be able to "legally" change the cutoff for an "A."

"We can revise the rule," Bennett responded.

Over the next week, his top staff worked arduously to get Christel House its "A." By Sept. 21, Christel House had jumped to a 3.75. Gubera resigned shortly afterward.

He declined comment Monday.

The emails don't detail what Gubera changed in the school formula or how many schools were affected. Indiana education experts consulted for this article said they weren't aware the formula had been changed.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WISHTV_News/~3/oDmi9BCNaZk/gop-donors-school-grade-changed

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Initiation deaths in South Africa a health problem, doctor says

This is a grim time of year for a hospital in the rolling hills of South Africa?s Eastern Cape province, where mattresses are laid on floors to cope with the stream of young men with severe injuries from botched circumcisions at initiation ceremonies.

Some patients with amputations, a doctor says, were told by their handlers that their genitals would grow back, reflecting a fog of misinformation that makes it hard to stop what has become an annual health crisis.

More Related to this Story

It wasn?t supposed to be this way. The traditional ritual, which goes back centuries, is meant to usher youths into manhood, inculcating them with the responsibilities to become valued members of their community. Former South African President Nelson Mandela wrote about the spiritual meaning of his own circumcision in the same province where the Holy Cross Hospital is struggling to handle the influx of wounded males.

At least 60 males have died at initiation schools in eastern South Africa since the start of the initiation season in May, health officials confirmed. Thirty of them died in the Eastern Cape in the last six weeks, and 300 others were hospitalized with injuries.

Dingeman Rijken, a doctor at Holy Cross Hospital, has treated so many cases that he is campaigning for better practices at the ceremonies, circulating a training manual that calls for proper medical precautions. The manual contains graphic images of circumcisions and offers an ideal method of performing the procedure, which he?s shared with people involved in initiation ceremonies around Eastern Cape?s Pondoland region.

?It is becoming a psychological issue,? said Rijken, who has treated 140 initiates in the last year and admitted another 150 for serious injuries. ?I have had to tell eight boys this season that they?ve lost their glans or parts of their penis, so it is a health problem. We can?t run away from it, we need to address it.?

He said nurses struggle to keep up with the overflow of more than 68 initiates who were admitted in the last two weeks with badly infected genitals, dehydration or other serious injuries.

The worst of the injuries occurred after botched circumcisions performed by inexperienced traditional nurses, who use the same spear on multiple initiates without protecting against the spread of infections, then cover up wounds with tightly wrapped bandaging that cuts off blood supply to the area. After about 10 hours the genitals can become gangrenous and in some cases permanently damaged, but many initiates do not seek hospital treatment for another five to 10 days, Rijken said.

By this time very little can be done. Doctors cannot perform surgery because initiates suffer from sleep deprivation and dehydration and are not in a condition to give consent.

In minor cases, Rijken cleans off loose gangrenes around the affected area, bandages it and treats it with antibiotics, which eventually may result in a partial amputation of the penis. In more serious incidents, boys wait a period of one to six weeks until the entire organ falls off, he says.

Initiations are mostly practiced, though not exclusively, by the Xhosa tribe in eastern South Africa. Young males participate in the ritual as a formal preparation for adulthood, usually undergoing circumcision and survival tests in secluded sites outside their communities.

Most of the deaths in the Eastern Cape were in Pondoland, where the practice was banned in the 1820s by its then ruler, and then reintroduced in the last three decades as men who left their communities to work in mine fields were ostracized because they were not considered men if they were not circumcized, Rijken said, citing his research of its history.

Government legislation stipulates that participants should be at least 18, but parents can sign a consent allowing younger boys to participate. Rijken has monitored more than 60 ceremonies and rescued several injured boys, and says he sees initiates mostly between ages 14 and 17, but has treated boys as young as 12 who are too young to understand the implications of losing their male organ.

He said initiates rarely complain about pain because they fear being beaten by nurses and ridiculed by peers for not properly observing a tradition that encourages initiates to develop a tough demeanour. One patient had part of his injured penis ?yanked off? as punishment for complaining, and those who suffer penile amputations are frequently told by handlers that their penises would grow back, Rijken said.

?But that?s why we need to involve the community, to tell them it won?t grow back,? he said.

Like others who have spoken about the long-held tradition, Rijken believes it will take the combined effort of traditional leaders, provincial health departments and effective government regulation to end the killings and save the cultural practice, but he said it?s time the community is educated on the dangers.

?At a certain point if you see so many boys are dying, then it?s time to talk about it,? he said. ?We want people to do away with the secrecy and get the community involved.?

More Related to this Story

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/initiation-deaths-in-south-africa-a-health-problem-doctor-says/article13471805/?cmpid=rss1

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Britain's SFO to receive funding for Barclays probe: FT

(Reuters) - Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is expected to receive about 2 million pounds ($3.07 million) from the UK Treasury to support its criminal probe into the dealings between Barclays Plc and Qatar Holding, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Barclays is being investigated by the SFO and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for an allegation that the bank lent Qatar Holding, a part of the Qatar Investment Authority, money to invest in it as part of a rescue fundraising at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

UK rules forbid a public company from giving financial assistance in order to acquire its shares or those of a parent company.

The bank has been deeply investigated by the FCA, which is now taking a back seat with the SFO probing into other parts of the fundraising, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter. (http://link.reuters.com/muz89t)

A treasury spokesperson and the SFO declined to comment on the matter, while Barclays was not available for comments outside regular business hours.

David Green, the head of the SFO, has said he expects to secure extra funding from the government for some complex investigations, partly because the agency's annual budget has been slashed to around 30 million pounds - a fraction of the budget of some regional police forces.

Green, who has said he hopes for progress in the Barclays investigation by year end, is already receiving more than 3 million pounds per year in extra government funding the help with the largest and most complex inquiry on his books - the investigation into Libor rate rigging.

Some lawyers have argued that this so-called 'surge' or 'blockbuster' funding for specific investigations risks undermining the independence of the SFO, which is battling to restore faith in its crime-busting abilities.

Barclays, which publishes financial results on Tuesday, is expected to set out plans either to sell bonds that are wiped out if it hits trouble or to raise equity to meet tougher UK rules on capital.

($1 = 0.6506 British pounds)

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bangalore and William Schomberg in London; Additional reporting by Kirstin Ridley; Editing by Diane Craft)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-sfo-receive-funding-barclays-probe-ft-002754710.html

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Internet Marketing Solutions: Dealing With The Fear Of Commitment ...

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We have separated the key issues and put them on their own pages to make them easier to access. You will find the posts highly informative, and while here, have a look at the comments as well. There are lots of great suggestions from our readers, in fact, share your own suggestions, we would love to hear them.

Before you do though, check out the article below: it is intelligently written and the author makes some insightful points.

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Internet Marketing Solutions: Dealing With The Fear Of Commitment

Submitted by: Andy Eliason

Fear of commitment. To some degree we've all experienced it. Relationships are a difficult thing, whether they are social relationships or business relationships, we still have some natural hesitancy to fully commit to someone or something. As you search for Internet marketing solutions, from a company or packaged as software tools and applications, a little fear is a good thing. But if your fear controls you, the right Internet marketing solutions might pass you by.

Internet marketing solutions come in many shapes and sizes, and many times they will be accompanied by Claims or, even worse, Guarantees. And, when it comes to Internet marketing solutions, Claims and Guarantees should cause more fear than Commitment does. So in the instances where these solutions seem held up by Claims and Guarantees, treat them as you would any other relationship that seems too good to be true ? with skepticism and a healthy dose of paranoia.

Common wisdom has taught us all through the years that things which seem too good to be true probably are. Internet marketing solutions are no different. A Guarantee that a company can get you a number one ranking or claim that they will put you at the top of Google within a given time frame definitely fits into this category.

Google itself tells you in their Webmaster Help Center that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking in Google. And, for better or for worse, the people who are making Google work are a lot smarter than most of us. So in these cases of Claims and Guarantees it's okay to let your Fear guide your decisions.

Which is not to say that all of those promises are blatantly false. It really could be that some of those companies have a ?system? or ?method? that will get you to the top of the search results, but, strangely enough, the guarantees don't seem to include the length of time you will remain at the top. And it probably goes without saying (but I'm going to say it anyway) that they also very specifically don't guarantee that you won't get banned.

And when we look at it this way, at least we can say that our Fear of Commitment is not completely irrational. Companies that employ unethical Internet marketing solutions can get you to the top. They can also cause irreparable harm to your business and reputation.

At the same time, if you want to succeed on the Internet you have got to face your fears, cope with your hesitations, and confront your worries. (And any other encouraging statements you feel might apply.) Because not every company is like that, and there are a number of ethical, established, and proven Internet marketing solutions, and the right Internet marketing company can help you build a powerful web presence and improve your overall marketing strategy.

A couple methods that are common practices in Internet marketing include search engine optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC). Both require skilled and knowledgeable application, but both can help you develop your online strategy and work your way up the search engine results.

However, SEO is not a quick or instant method. It takes time. And we've already discussed how the companies that promise instant SEO are justifiable sources of fear. Unfortunately a company's fear of commitment can often influence decisions when, in fact, you should be standing up to your fears. Fear enters corporate mentality when things don't progress as fast as they think it should. The wrong expectations can create the kind of fear that leads to bad decisions.

We can draw the same analogy to social relationships. How many of them have gone south because, even though both parties want the same outcome, they let their different expectations about how to achieve the end result destroy their chances of getting there. If you want to succeed it takes time. And more importantly, it takes commitment.

The moral of the story: Don't let your fear of commitment stop you from trying to find the right Internet marketing solutions. Not every relationship is going to work out on your first try, but if you really want to achieve the best possible outcome, you'll keep at it until the method and the achievement are exactly what your business needs.

About the Author: Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet Marketing and Development company. If you'd like to learn more about our Internet Marketing Solutions visit http://www.main10.com/ or http://www.main10.com/marketing/internet_marketing_solutions.php

Source: www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=195374&ca=Marketing?

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You get to be with the celebs It is no secret that the area is home to some of the most popular celebs around the world. Apart from all that, buying a condo itself has its advantages over buying a complete house to yourself: Everything is taken care of by the association concerned. Miami Beach Condos miami beach condos

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Charleston area?s District 42 at the heart of search for a new senator to replace Robert Ford

James Smalls and his wife Annette have lived in the Maryville-Ashleyville neighborhood since 1969, converting a small, run-down block house into a two-story brick home with a tidy yard.

They have seen crime up close but also witnessed the narrow streets here become more safe. They have seen improvements to their neighborhood playground where children can shoot hoops or just hang out and repair a bike.

And they fought hard ? and successfully ? to rid the neighborhood of what they saw as its biggest problem: an adult bookstore right in the middle, at Sycamore Avenue and St. Andrews Boulevard.

But they realize that they will need help if the neighborhood is going to continue to improve, and that?s why the upcoming Aug. 13 Democratic primary and Oct. 1 special election to fill Robert Ford?s state Senate seat is on their minds.

?When Robert Ford was in the Senate, he?d always come back into the neighborhood,? Smalls said. ?That?s the kind of representation we want for the community ? not just someone to get our vote and forget about us after the election.?

His wife Annette nodded. ?If I support them,? she said, ?I expect them to support the community we live in.?

Special race, special place

Among all those voting in the upcoming state Senate 42 election, residents of Maryville-Ashleyville, a historically African-American neighborhood in West Ashley, may have an extra sense of what?s at stake.

The contest not only will fill the seat vacated when Ford resigned amid ethical problems but also will determine who gets a high-profile post to represent the Lowcountry?s large black community.

Old timers here appreciate how powerful Columbia can be. Maryville once was one of the Lowcountry?s few majority black towns ? where black elected officials levied taxes and policed the streets decades before the civil rights movement. In 1936, as friction emerged between black and white residents, state lawmakers stripped away that power and dissolved the town.

Neighborhood Association President Diane Hamilton said the incorporation fight is over, but residents here still want respect.

?There are always some people who are going to object, whether it?s 2013 or 1936,? she said. Revoking the charter did not simply reflect Maryville?s lack of clout, she said, ?but those in the majority didn?t have any compassion for the minority. And we?re still dealing with that even today.?

Three centuries-plus of history

The Maryville-Ashleyville neighborhood lies just south of Charles Towne Landing and traces its earliest history to the years immediately following the 1670 founding of the Carolina colony.

But the neighborhood that exists today began taking shape shortly after the Civil War, when the land here was subdivided and sold to local black and white families. A black woman named Mary Matthews Just encouraged residents here to transform their community into a town.

In 1886, her efforts paid off, and the town ? one of the state?s first with a majority black voting population ? was named in her honor.

But the area, like today, was integrated, and the first attempt to disband the town came in 1933, when some white merchants in the town bristled at being taxed. A compromise was reached, but three years later, the end arrived.

A 1936 News and Courier article noted a growing number of white residents sought to revoke Maryville?s charter ?to improve the policing, health and road conditions. ... The county police have no right in there, therefore the white residents are at the mercy of these negroes.?

The story also noted calls to disband Lincolnville, a similar town near Summerville, but it managed to survive.

Later in the 20th century, the community was split by Saint Andrews Boulevard ? a four-lane highway serving new developments farther from the city. The blocks west of the new highway kept the Maryville name, while the section closest to the river began to be called ?Ashleyville.?

A heated election

This working-class community along the banks of the Ashley River already has seen heavy campaigning: Most candidates have stopped by, and their signs dot its narrow streets just off St. Andrews Boulevard.

Six Democrats will meet in an Aug. 13 primary, and a Republican and a Libertarian also will be on the Oct. 1 special election ballot.

These seats don?t come open often ? Ford held his seat for about 20 years ? so the crowded field is no surprise.

Randy Gillispie, a disabled veteran who has lived in the neighborhood before its streets were paved, said it?s the kind of neighborhood where people pull each other?s garbage cans back.

?Everybody knows everybody,? he said.

Gillispie recently talked near a corner marked by four different political signs. One reason campaigning here is intense is that no candidate lives nearby ?no one has home-field advantage here.

Democrat Emmanuel Ferguson, a Charleston lawyer, is the only candidate who lives in West Ashley. Gillispie said he is backing Ferguson, but not because of where he lives. ?I just like him,? he said. ?He?s about trying to give something back.?

Going door to door

North Charleston businesswoman Margaret Rush said she has campaigned door to door here, as have her opponents.

Marlon Kimpson, a Charleston lawyer who also is making his first run for office, said he made a point to visit Maryville-Ashleyville early. He called the neighborhood ?a culturally significant and politically aware area.?

State Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a Charleston Democrat supporting Kimpson, represents this area in the House and introduced Kimpson to James and Annette Smalls. They were sold and have one of Kimpson?s purple yard signs in front of their home.

?I like the way he speaks,? Smalls said of Kimpson.?

But the other candidates also have been hard at work here.

Retired veterans? counselor Herbert Fielding, whose father held the Senate seat before Ford, said he gets a little different feel when campaigning here. ?A lot of people say, ?We got you, don?t worry about it. We?ve got your back,? ? he said.

Overall, Fielding said this Senate 42 race is stirring up interest not only in this neighborhood but also in the larger black community.

?I think this race is good for the black community because they?re interested in it. The community can be apathetic, but they aren?t this time,? he said. ?They?ve got a good field of candidates.?

Ferguson said when he has campaigned there, he has talked to residents concerned about their ability to remain in the neighborhood as more discover its marsh views with the peninsular city in the distance.

?I campaign there,? he said, ?and have met people who fear they will be carried away by either the ?law man? or the ?tax man.? ?

Former Charleston City Council candidate Maurice Washington said he feels a special kinship to the neighborhood because he led an effort to annex the area into the city.

?I challenged city officials to go back out and do the proper solicitations to bring Ashleyville into the city,? he said. ?I understand that community very well.?

?Those are serious voting people,? he added. ?It?s going to be a very, very important of determining who the next Senator is going to be, I believe.?

About the future

While the town is long gone, its independent spirit remains.

?I think it?s a very important election because we need someone who will go to the state capital and voice our views and fight for the things that would benefit the neighborhood,? said Hamilton, a retired school teacher.

She said she is most interested in funding for public education and in the state?s refusal to expand Medicaid as outlined under the Affordable Care Act.

?I think we ought not to look at just the wealthiest people in our community but also focus on the working class,? she said. ?Everything seems to be for business, but what about the people these businesses will serve? I don?t see anything filtering down. Those who have get more. Those who do not have get less.?

Because the Senate district is 62 percent black, whoever wins the Aug. 13 Democratic primary ? or the likely Aug. 27 Democratic runoff ? will be seen as the heavy favorite on Oct 1. But if a Democrat is elected, the new senator will have to serve in a Statehouse that has grown increasingly Republican.

Ford had a reputation, especially early in his career, for being outspoken and ruffling feathers, and Hamilton liked that.

?He would say things that needed to be said. He was not afraid to address certain issues. We need someone who will continue that,? she said. ?This is going to be a difficult decision.?

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771.

Source: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130727/PC16/130729507/charleston-area-x2019-s-district-42-at-the-heart-of-search-for-a-new-senator-to-replace-robert-ford&source=RSS

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