We rarely tap into the fullness of a dog’s mental capacity during his or her lifetime. And, as with humans, it’s beneficial to start learning early and continue perfecting new skills throughout life.
My own dog, Stuart, a 6-year-old bull terrier, does some very entertaining behaviors and tricks. He does them so well, in fact, that it’s tempting to just keep doing the same ones over and over. Sometimes, it feels like he tries to communicate, “We’ve done that, now what?”
Stuart occasionally initiates new behaviors on his own. Months ago, he started bringing me shoes and magazines. I hadn’t taught him to do this, but I enjoyed it, so I’d exchange a treat for the offered shoe or magazine. I gave these objects names: “shoes” and “magazine.” Now he brings them to me when I ask for them by name. I’m now expanding his vocabulary by adding and naming new objects.
When folks inquire about whether their dog is too old or too young for one of our classes, I’m sometimes surprised at their perception of age. We encourage owners to enroll puppies in Head Start Puppy Class when they’re as young as 8 weeks old. Remember, “As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.”
The oldest dog we’ve enrolled in our basic Family Dog Training class was a 13-year-old Australian shepherd named Charlotte. Charlotte stayed at home when her owner, Heather, went to college. After college and marriage, Heather wanted to reconnect with Charlotte.
Charlotte seemed distant and not as interested in life as she used to be. With training, Charlotte’s demeanor brightened noticeably. She was more engaged with her family and lived a good many more active years.
Training is bonding and stimulates the brain. Charlotte was the star of her class.
We’d surely have trouble finding homes for many shelter dogs if adolescent or adult dogs (approximately 5 months to 2 years old) couldn’t learn new things. Teaching a dog to be part of a family requires ongoing training.
Trick training usually begins with “sit,” “down,” “come here” or “stay.” These are “foundation” behaviors, formerly called “commands.” As with all of our training, we use lots of positive reinforcement, including treats.
Our emotional state of mind changes when we’re teaching tricks. We’re not so serious. We think it’s more fun. Consequently, it’s more fun for our dog. Training is a lifelong process that keeps strengthening our relationship with our family dog. Don’t let your relationship grow stale — keep it fresh.
2012年8月30日星期四
2012年8月29日星期三
The short answer is that the simple act of running
I started running in high school, taking up track the spring of my sophomore year with the idea that it would help my speed and quickness for my true love, basketball. The following fall I joined the cross-country team with the same objective: improve my athleticism — in this case, endurance — to prepare for the long basketball season over the winter.
Well, long story short, one thing led to another, competitiveness took over, that basketball season never happened, I joined the indoor track team, and before I knew it I had traded in my Nike Flights for a pair of adidas Osweego trainers and Nike Zoom Rival track spikes.
The competitive side of the sport is where I got my start in running — and over time, the only reason I kept running — during my final two years of high school, through college and for eight years out of school until this past spring, when I decided, or perhaps more accurately, realized, that I didn’t necessarily need a race on my calendar to have a reason for lacing up my training shoes every day.
After I ran the L.A. Marathon in March I stepped away from targeted training, taking a short amount of time completely off from running before resuming a regular, albeit unfocused schedule where I didn’t have any specific goal other than to get out the door for an hour a day — just 60 simple minutes to myself, or with others, where I ran as I felt with no regard to pace or distance covered. I just had fun with it. Well, that’s been my M.O. for about four-and-a-half months now, not that it wasn’t fun when every workout previously had some additional ulterior motive behind it. Most days I run for an hour, some days a little longer, others shorter, sometimes not at all, but that’s rarely by choice. I’ve run by myself and with hoards of others, gone to the track and done a workout on a whim, run over 90 minutes a few times and even found myself in the middle of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants fartlek on more than one occasion, but I’m not training for anything. In fact, racing really hasn’t entered my mind, and for the first time in my life I’m A-OK with finding myself in this peculiar predicament. I’ve realized over time that I don’t necessarily need the motivation of competition to get out the door every day.
So why do I, Mr. Competitive Runner from the day I first laced up a pair of running shoes, still try to get out the door as often as I can even if I don’t plan to race?
The short answer is that the simple act of running is just something I really enjoy doing. It doesn’t matter if I’m running at under 5 minutes a mile and holding on for dear life at the end of a tough track workout or trotting along at a pace that more closely resembles walking, charging up one of the challenging hills near my home in San Diego or floating along a flat stretch of road in the middle of some previously undiscovered place, running is a large part of who I am and what I do every day. It’s responsible for many of the opportunities I’ve been presented with in life — including this job — along with the close relationships I’ve made over the years, including meeting my (now) fiance as well as my best friend, who, appropriately enough, I competed against just a few months after I took up the sport in high school.
The reasons why I run have evolved over the years, but today, more than ever, lacing up my running shoes and getting out the door might be the only hour, or 30 minutes, or whatever amount of time I have that day, that I can get away from the busyness of everyday life, the incessant buzzing of my cell phone, dinging of my e-mail alerts — you name it — and have some time to myself or with those who are important to me.
Well, long story short, one thing led to another, competitiveness took over, that basketball season never happened, I joined the indoor track team, and before I knew it I had traded in my Nike Flights for a pair of adidas Osweego trainers and Nike Zoom Rival track spikes.
The competitive side of the sport is where I got my start in running — and over time, the only reason I kept running — during my final two years of high school, through college and for eight years out of school until this past spring, when I decided, or perhaps more accurately, realized, that I didn’t necessarily need a race on my calendar to have a reason for lacing up my training shoes every day.
After I ran the L.A. Marathon in March I stepped away from targeted training, taking a short amount of time completely off from running before resuming a regular, albeit unfocused schedule where I didn’t have any specific goal other than to get out the door for an hour a day — just 60 simple minutes to myself, or with others, where I ran as I felt with no regard to pace or distance covered. I just had fun with it. Well, that’s been my M.O. for about four-and-a-half months now, not that it wasn’t fun when every workout previously had some additional ulterior motive behind it. Most days I run for an hour, some days a little longer, others shorter, sometimes not at all, but that’s rarely by choice. I’ve run by myself and with hoards of others, gone to the track and done a workout on a whim, run over 90 minutes a few times and even found myself in the middle of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants fartlek on more than one occasion, but I’m not training for anything. In fact, racing really hasn’t entered my mind, and for the first time in my life I’m A-OK with finding myself in this peculiar predicament. I’ve realized over time that I don’t necessarily need the motivation of competition to get out the door every day.
So why do I, Mr. Competitive Runner from the day I first laced up a pair of running shoes, still try to get out the door as often as I can even if I don’t plan to race?
The short answer is that the simple act of running is just something I really enjoy doing. It doesn’t matter if I’m running at under 5 minutes a mile and holding on for dear life at the end of a tough track workout or trotting along at a pace that more closely resembles walking, charging up one of the challenging hills near my home in San Diego or floating along a flat stretch of road in the middle of some previously undiscovered place, running is a large part of who I am and what I do every day. It’s responsible for many of the opportunities I’ve been presented with in life — including this job — along with the close relationships I’ve made over the years, including meeting my (now) fiance as well as my best friend, who, appropriately enough, I competed against just a few months after I took up the sport in high school.
The reasons why I run have evolved over the years, but today, more than ever, lacing up my running shoes and getting out the door might be the only hour, or 30 minutes, or whatever amount of time I have that day, that I can get away from the busyness of everyday life, the incessant buzzing of my cell phone, dinging of my e-mail alerts — you name it — and have some time to myself or with those who are important to me.
2012年8月28日星期二
The false status of sneakers
LeBron James had arguably the best NBA season since Michael Jordan was winning championships and starring in movies such as "Space Jam."
James kept his mouth closed for the most part and made many people - outside of Cleveland - forget or forgive him for "The Decision." He won the regular season MVP, NBA Finals MVP, the NBA championship with the Miami Heat and an Olympic gold medal for Team USA in London.
He also got engaged and didn't rule out one day playing for the Cavaliers again sometime in the future. I doubt that will happen, but at least he's trying to make peace with everyone. So how does James cap off one of the greatest NBA seasons of all time?
That's easy. Nike comes out with the most expensive shoe in Nike history bearing James' name.
The LeBron X, which includes its own electronics, is expected to retail for $315 (before taxes). The shoe is supposed to be able to tell wearers how they jump and a bunch of other things that most people don't need unless they are an Olympic or NBA athlete.
Industry experts say there will be a less expensive model of the shoe without all the bells and whistles that will sell for about $190, a price that is still ridiculous.
I'm old enough to remember when kids were robbed and even killed for their Air Jordans. When I was 13, I was robbed for my Hush Puppies. The shoe was popular among gang members in the 1980s. I liked them because they were comfortable. Two bigger teens liked them so much that they chased me down, tackled me to the ground and stole them off my feet.
We might expect more of the same when Nike releases the LeBron X in the fall.
I don't know who to blame for this. Do you blame Nike - which, between its Nike, Jordan and Converse Brands, owns roughly 95% of the U.S. basketball shoe market - or do you blame the player, who could speak out and say that the cost of his shoe should not be equivalent to a car note?
There are some sneakerheads who will wait outside a store for a week to buy these shoes. I'm not really concerned about them. I'm mostly concerned about kids in the inner city who will either be directly targeted by the marketing of this shoe, who believe that they need these sneakers to feel like they are somebody.
I know it gets down to role models and self-esteem, but too many kids don't have positive mentors who can show them a different way. These kids turn to basketball players, rappers and sometimes the negative influences in their neighborhoods to find that connection.
The national Urban League is encouraging parents not to spend their money on an "empty status symbol." Marc Morial, the group's president, said he wants Nike to scrap the shoe altogether.
"To release such an outrageously overpriced product while the nation is struggling to overcome an unemployment crisis is insensitive at best," Morial said.
For kids who feel that they have little else in life, expensive shoes may be that one thing to make them feel like they have value. Last week, three teens allegedly broke into a Foot Action USA store in Houston to steal Air Jordans by cutting a hole through the mall's roof. The teens took 16 pairs of the overpriced sneakers that sell for $175 each.
When the new Jordans go on sale every year, thousands of people line up to buy them. Malls have to hire additional security, and sometimes violence breaks out - over shoes.
Imagine if we could get young people to get this excited over voting or going to school.
No athletic shoe should cost $300, and parents should not give in to their kids who want these shoes.
James should speak out and tell young people that hard work and dedication turned him into a superstar, not the shoes. Maybe that's the all-star message kids need to hear.
James kept his mouth closed for the most part and made many people - outside of Cleveland - forget or forgive him for "The Decision." He won the regular season MVP, NBA Finals MVP, the NBA championship with the Miami Heat and an Olympic gold medal for Team USA in London.
He also got engaged and didn't rule out one day playing for the Cavaliers again sometime in the future. I doubt that will happen, but at least he's trying to make peace with everyone. So how does James cap off one of the greatest NBA seasons of all time?
That's easy. Nike comes out with the most expensive shoe in Nike history bearing James' name.
The LeBron X, which includes its own electronics, is expected to retail for $315 (before taxes). The shoe is supposed to be able to tell wearers how they jump and a bunch of other things that most people don't need unless they are an Olympic or NBA athlete.
Industry experts say there will be a less expensive model of the shoe without all the bells and whistles that will sell for about $190, a price that is still ridiculous.
I'm old enough to remember when kids were robbed and even killed for their Air Jordans. When I was 13, I was robbed for my Hush Puppies. The shoe was popular among gang members in the 1980s. I liked them because they were comfortable. Two bigger teens liked them so much that they chased me down, tackled me to the ground and stole them off my feet.
We might expect more of the same when Nike releases the LeBron X in the fall.
I don't know who to blame for this. Do you blame Nike - which, between its Nike, Jordan and Converse Brands, owns roughly 95% of the U.S. basketball shoe market - or do you blame the player, who could speak out and say that the cost of his shoe should not be equivalent to a car note?
There are some sneakerheads who will wait outside a store for a week to buy these shoes. I'm not really concerned about them. I'm mostly concerned about kids in the inner city who will either be directly targeted by the marketing of this shoe, who believe that they need these sneakers to feel like they are somebody.
I know it gets down to role models and self-esteem, but too many kids don't have positive mentors who can show them a different way. These kids turn to basketball players, rappers and sometimes the negative influences in their neighborhoods to find that connection.
The national Urban League is encouraging parents not to spend their money on an "empty status symbol." Marc Morial, the group's president, said he wants Nike to scrap the shoe altogether.
"To release such an outrageously overpriced product while the nation is struggling to overcome an unemployment crisis is insensitive at best," Morial said.
For kids who feel that they have little else in life, expensive shoes may be that one thing to make them feel like they have value. Last week, three teens allegedly broke into a Foot Action USA store in Houston to steal Air Jordans by cutting a hole through the mall's roof. The teens took 16 pairs of the overpriced sneakers that sell for $175 each.
When the new Jordans go on sale every year, thousands of people line up to buy them. Malls have to hire additional security, and sometimes violence breaks out - over shoes.
Imagine if we could get young people to get this excited over voting or going to school.
No athletic shoe should cost $300, and parents should not give in to their kids who want these shoes.
James should speak out and tell young people that hard work and dedication turned him into a superstar, not the shoes. Maybe that's the all-star message kids need to hear.
2012年8月27日星期一
Warrior Dojo Training Shoes
The Warrior Dojo training shoe is helping pro athletes like lacrosse legend Paul Rabil and NHL pro Adam Henrique set personal and league records.
“I’ve been training in the Warrior Dojos throughout the 2012 season, and I just broke the all-time MLL points record,” Rabil says. “I’ve noticed and enjoyed the light weight of the boot more than anything. The tongue technology has really allowed me to continue multiple workouts at a rapid pace. My recovery rate has been better this season than it’s ever been, and I feel my overall athleticism has benefited.”
The newest shoe in Warrior’s training lineup is designed for “training perfection and street-savvy style.” Among its unique features are a Turf Bone outsole with flex grooves, to grip everything from side-to-side drills to a 10k run; a seamless lightweight upper; and an adaptable compression tongue to accelerate muscle recovery.
New Jersey Devils center Adam Henrique was most impressed by the adaptable tongue. "The compression sock molds and hugs your foot for more support and better fit. They feel like custom-made shoes," he says.
According to Warrior designer Chris Davis, the company wanted the Dojo to be a shoe "for the athlete, by the athlete," so the team got feedback from athletes at all levels, from the pros to high schoolers. He says, “Aside from receiving design cues from the Warrior Players Club, we conducted focus groups with high school and collegiate athletes."
To find out how the Dojo lives up to its training claims, STACK asked Rabil and Henrique how they’ve been using the shoe.
"The Dojos have allowed my body to push the limits without any restraints,” says Rabil. “The light boot helps my feet move quicker, and the traction allows me to cut harder. I do tons of high-intensity training with my strength and conditioning coach, Jay Dyer. We spend a full day on agilities and sprints, another day on resistance running and a day for circuit training that includes the first two plus lifting. The Dojos worked great for me in high-intensity skill and agility training…directly on lacrosse-type movements, sprints and hills."
Henrique reported similar workout results but also offered an additional benefit he gets from training in the Dojos—one that even hours in a gym can't build. He says, "The better the gear, the more confidently I can train. Comfort and confidence are so important because I spend so much time in skates. My feet need the right fit, traction and support. I know I can count on the Dojos to perform, so I can focus on working out and improving my speed, strength, stamina and agility. Really it is about the comfort and confidence I have while working out. Mentally I know they will perform, and they feel great, so I can concentrate more on my workout."
The Warrior Dojo is labeled as a lacrosse trainer, but it’s built for athletes in any sport, since it’s designed to perform just as well during a hardcore run as it does during an agility drill.
"The Dojo was actually not designed as a product specifically targeted for lacrosse, but more of an overall, lightweight, running-inspired training shoe," says Davis, " It’s versatility has really attracted all of Warrior’s endorsed athletes, including numerous NHL players such as Henrik Zetterberg and Zdeno Chara, as well as athletes on Liverpool Football Club in England."
“I’ve been training in the Warrior Dojos throughout the 2012 season, and I just broke the all-time MLL points record,” Rabil says. “I’ve noticed and enjoyed the light weight of the boot more than anything. The tongue technology has really allowed me to continue multiple workouts at a rapid pace. My recovery rate has been better this season than it’s ever been, and I feel my overall athleticism has benefited.”
The newest shoe in Warrior’s training lineup is designed for “training perfection and street-savvy style.” Among its unique features are a Turf Bone outsole with flex grooves, to grip everything from side-to-side drills to a 10k run; a seamless lightweight upper; and an adaptable compression tongue to accelerate muscle recovery.
New Jersey Devils center Adam Henrique was most impressed by the adaptable tongue. "The compression sock molds and hugs your foot for more support and better fit. They feel like custom-made shoes," he says.
According to Warrior designer Chris Davis, the company wanted the Dojo to be a shoe "for the athlete, by the athlete," so the team got feedback from athletes at all levels, from the pros to high schoolers. He says, “Aside from receiving design cues from the Warrior Players Club, we conducted focus groups with high school and collegiate athletes."
To find out how the Dojo lives up to its training claims, STACK asked Rabil and Henrique how they’ve been using the shoe.
"The Dojos have allowed my body to push the limits without any restraints,” says Rabil. “The light boot helps my feet move quicker, and the traction allows me to cut harder. I do tons of high-intensity training with my strength and conditioning coach, Jay Dyer. We spend a full day on agilities and sprints, another day on resistance running and a day for circuit training that includes the first two plus lifting. The Dojos worked great for me in high-intensity skill and agility training…directly on lacrosse-type movements, sprints and hills."
Henrique reported similar workout results but also offered an additional benefit he gets from training in the Dojos—one that even hours in a gym can't build. He says, "The better the gear, the more confidently I can train. Comfort and confidence are so important because I spend so much time in skates. My feet need the right fit, traction and support. I know I can count on the Dojos to perform, so I can focus on working out and improving my speed, strength, stamina and agility. Really it is about the comfort and confidence I have while working out. Mentally I know they will perform, and they feel great, so I can concentrate more on my workout."
The Warrior Dojo is labeled as a lacrosse trainer, but it’s built for athletes in any sport, since it’s designed to perform just as well during a hardcore run as it does during an agility drill.
"The Dojo was actually not designed as a product specifically targeted for lacrosse, but more of an overall, lightweight, running-inspired training shoe," says Davis, " It’s versatility has really attracted all of Warrior’s endorsed athletes, including numerous NHL players such as Henrik Zetterberg and Zdeno Chara, as well as athletes on Liverpool Football Club in England."
2012年8月26日星期日
Taste of life in refugee's shoes
Given the ferocity of the 'Pacific Solution' debate in Australia, Hamid Sultani is surprised how little people know about asylum seekers.
The Dandenong refugee from Afghanistan is one face in the second instalment of the SBS social-experiment series Go Back to Where You Came From, which starts screening tomorrow (Tuesday) night.
The show puts six well-known Australians with polarised views into the shoes of asylum seekers. As part of the journey, rock singer Angry Anderson, writer Catherine Deveny and former defence minister Peter Reith stayed with Sultani for two nights at his home.
During that time, Sultani and his three refugee housemates tell their stories.
He was shocked by some of their views. Deveny was sympathetic, Anderson steadfast in his resolve that boats should be turned back, and Reith - regarded as one of the architects of the Howard government's Pacific Solution - proud that "we stopped the boats".
"They didn't have information about asylum seekers and had not communicated with asylum seekers in Australia," Sultani said.
He hoped to have influenced his guests' ideas by sharing his experience, as well as taking them to speak with fellow refugees who run an Afghan bazaar, and a halal butcher in Dandenong. He welcomed the chance to break bread with his guests and tell his own astounding story on how and why he fled to Australia.
Like half of asylum seekers coming to these shores, Sultani is an ethnic Hazara - a minority that is persecuted by the Taliban insurgents in his homeland.
He said it was simply not safe to live there. The Taliban are against education, technology and modern hospitals. Those who wanted to go to school or university were targeted and labelled as 'infidels'. Those who ran businesses were heavily scrutinised.
"When you step out of your house, you are not safe. A lot of people are losing their life to trrorists."
He first fled to Pakistan as a 15 year old in 1999 when the Taliban took over, closed schools and killed people "not for doing something wrong but for doing something right", Sultani said.
The Dandenong refugee from Afghanistan is one face in the second instalment of the SBS social-experiment series Go Back to Where You Came From, which starts screening tomorrow (Tuesday) night.
The show puts six well-known Australians with polarised views into the shoes of asylum seekers. As part of the journey, rock singer Angry Anderson, writer Catherine Deveny and former defence minister Peter Reith stayed with Sultani for two nights at his home.
During that time, Sultani and his three refugee housemates tell their stories.
He was shocked by some of their views. Deveny was sympathetic, Anderson steadfast in his resolve that boats should be turned back, and Reith - regarded as one of the architects of the Howard government's Pacific Solution - proud that "we stopped the boats".
"They didn't have information about asylum seekers and had not communicated with asylum seekers in Australia," Sultani said.
He hoped to have influenced his guests' ideas by sharing his experience, as well as taking them to speak with fellow refugees who run an Afghan bazaar, and a halal butcher in Dandenong. He welcomed the chance to break bread with his guests and tell his own astounding story on how and why he fled to Australia.
Like half of asylum seekers coming to these shores, Sultani is an ethnic Hazara - a minority that is persecuted by the Taliban insurgents in his homeland.
He said it was simply not safe to live there. The Taliban are against education, technology and modern hospitals. Those who wanted to go to school or university were targeted and labelled as 'infidels'. Those who ran businesses were heavily scrutinised.
"When you step out of your house, you are not safe. A lot of people are losing their life to trrorists."
He first fled to Pakistan as a 15 year old in 1999 when the Taliban took over, closed schools and killed people "not for doing something wrong but for doing something right", Sultani said.
2012年8月23日星期四
Going shopping for one of the girls
The Jewish Family and Children's Services has been flooded with offers of support for the Brown twins, Marian and Vivian. Among the letters received by JFCS marketing man Robert Miller was this from Evelyn Miller Adler, which came along with a contribution:
"This check is for the 'Brown Girls,' as my father called them. Please tell them Abe Miller always thought of them as the ultimate shoppers. For years, he sold them shoes at the downtown Emporium and shared jokes and life tips. The Girls belong to San Francisco; let's see that they stay."
By phone on Tuesday, Adler said that she remembers "the girls," which is what her father called them, "very well." When he worked at the Emporium in the early 1970s, "my father was very fond of them. He was their favorite shoe salesman."
But Adler has another connection with the twins, too. She's a retiree who volunteers as a case aide for the senior department of the Family Services, and one of her regular tasks is shopping for folks who can't do it for themselves. "Vivian must have lost some weight," she said, "so she needed new clothes." Dispatched to purchase clothing for Vivian, she'd just come back from shopping when we talked.
She'd prepared for the trip as she usually does, by using a tape measure to assess Vivian's size, and talking with her about color preferences. "She's able to manage her life pretty well," said Adler, "and knew what colors she liked and what she wanted. ... I bought her slacks and tops, and underwear, a sweater."
At Kohl's, she "did very well," said Adler. "I had one coupon, my daughter had another, and between the two of us we saved them another few dollars." She came back with casual clothes, tops in light colors and bright prints, pants in dark colors.
Adler seemed pleased to help Brown. "My role is as a volunteer," she said, "to do whatever it is to do that social workers deem necessary. ... It really was my pleasure, it's something I do. It's like paying forward. I get a lot of gratification out of it, and it fills my time. And I'm delighted that they're getting the kind of recognition and care that they need."
Linda Naughton e-mailed in response to Tuesday's item about the man whose "stuff" was on a security conveyor belt. At SFO recently, Naughton emerged from the metal detector and the TSA agent asked if she had something in a back pocket. She checked her pockets, said no, and thereupon was subjected to "a very invasive pat-down.
"I was then led to another agent who said he had to swipe my hands. I asked why and was told 'you touched a sensitive area.' " Asked to identify the sensitive area, the agent told her it was her own buttocks.
P.S.: In other matters of law and order, on Facebook I was checking out Artem Kevorkov's pictures of last Friday's gathering, at Justin Herman Plaza, in support of the Pussy Riot rock band sentenced to prison in Russia. The crowd looks colorful, but not large. But plainly visible among the signs is that of Frank Chu, the 12 Galaxies man. Good to see he's keeping up with the latest issues.
Jack Murphy was happy that a local icon, the late Merl Saunders, got national recognition on Saturday as the answer to a clue, "keyboardist Saunders," in the New York Times crossword.
Mel Gibson, child and entourage had burgers and ribs at the Hard Rock Cafe at Pier 39 on Tuesday. Director Paul Thomas Anderson, Maya Rudolph and crew members of Anderson's "The Master," in the neighborhood because of a screening at the Castro, had dinner at La Mediterranee on Noe Street.
As to fewer-than-expected teams competing in the America's Cup, optimist Gar Smith prefers to see America's Cup as half full.
Richard Reynolds, who plays French horn in the Lamplighters' orchestra, reports that in "The Mikado," which has been playing around the Bay Area, Lord High Executioner Ko-Ko carries his list of victims on an iPad. The song's been altered to include among those who would not be missed, "that most annoying roadster, the texting motorist ... on jail we should insist!"
"This check is for the 'Brown Girls,' as my father called them. Please tell them Abe Miller always thought of them as the ultimate shoppers. For years, he sold them shoes at the downtown Emporium and shared jokes and life tips. The Girls belong to San Francisco; let's see that they stay."
By phone on Tuesday, Adler said that she remembers "the girls," which is what her father called them, "very well." When he worked at the Emporium in the early 1970s, "my father was very fond of them. He was their favorite shoe salesman."
But Adler has another connection with the twins, too. She's a retiree who volunteers as a case aide for the senior department of the Family Services, and one of her regular tasks is shopping for folks who can't do it for themselves. "Vivian must have lost some weight," she said, "so she needed new clothes." Dispatched to purchase clothing for Vivian, she'd just come back from shopping when we talked.
She'd prepared for the trip as she usually does, by using a tape measure to assess Vivian's size, and talking with her about color preferences. "She's able to manage her life pretty well," said Adler, "and knew what colors she liked and what she wanted. ... I bought her slacks and tops, and underwear, a sweater."
At Kohl's, she "did very well," said Adler. "I had one coupon, my daughter had another, and between the two of us we saved them another few dollars." She came back with casual clothes, tops in light colors and bright prints, pants in dark colors.
Adler seemed pleased to help Brown. "My role is as a volunteer," she said, "to do whatever it is to do that social workers deem necessary. ... It really was my pleasure, it's something I do. It's like paying forward. I get a lot of gratification out of it, and it fills my time. And I'm delighted that they're getting the kind of recognition and care that they need."
Linda Naughton e-mailed in response to Tuesday's item about the man whose "stuff" was on a security conveyor belt. At SFO recently, Naughton emerged from the metal detector and the TSA agent asked if she had something in a back pocket. She checked her pockets, said no, and thereupon was subjected to "a very invasive pat-down.
"I was then led to another agent who said he had to swipe my hands. I asked why and was told 'you touched a sensitive area.' " Asked to identify the sensitive area, the agent told her it was her own buttocks.
P.S.: In other matters of law and order, on Facebook I was checking out Artem Kevorkov's pictures of last Friday's gathering, at Justin Herman Plaza, in support of the Pussy Riot rock band sentenced to prison in Russia. The crowd looks colorful, but not large. But plainly visible among the signs is that of Frank Chu, the 12 Galaxies man. Good to see he's keeping up with the latest issues.
Jack Murphy was happy that a local icon, the late Merl Saunders, got national recognition on Saturday as the answer to a clue, "keyboardist Saunders," in the New York Times crossword.
Mel Gibson, child and entourage had burgers and ribs at the Hard Rock Cafe at Pier 39 on Tuesday. Director Paul Thomas Anderson, Maya Rudolph and crew members of Anderson's "The Master," in the neighborhood because of a screening at the Castro, had dinner at La Mediterranee on Noe Street.
As to fewer-than-expected teams competing in the America's Cup, optimist Gar Smith prefers to see America's Cup as half full.
Richard Reynolds, who plays French horn in the Lamplighters' orchestra, reports that in "The Mikado," which has been playing around the Bay Area, Lord High Executioner Ko-Ko carries his list of victims on an iPad. The song's been altered to include among those who would not be missed, "that most annoying roadster, the texting motorist ... on jail we should insist!"
2012年8月22日星期三
Lancer lineman Bakos has big shoes to fill
The 22-year-old defensive tackle has been handed the assignment of sliding over to the outside to replace two-time, all-Canadian tackle Seamus Postuma, who stuck with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this season.
“Seamus is a close friend and those are big shoes to fill,” Bakos said. “I’m not looking at it that way because I’d be setting myself up for failure.
“We’re different players. Seamus has the ability to overpower people. I rely more on finesse, speed and intellect in my game.”
Bakos displayed just how effective he could be employing those elements last season. Playing as the ‘plug in the middle’ of the defensive line, Bakos more than held his own despite his five-foot-11, 270-pound frame being nearly 40 pounds lighter than Postuma.
“I had to handle a lot of double teams and that helped Seamus on the outside,” Bakos said.
“I’m not afraid of this challenge. I welcome it.”
Bakos smiles when asked if his game is better suited for the outside.
“I think I’m actually better suited for the three (tackle spot),” Bakos said. “I was forced into a more physical role inside last year, just kind of holding my own tying up two guys.
“At the three (tackle), you’re more one on one with the guard. The onus is on you to break the pocket and get at the quarterback.
“You play a more aggressive style at the three (tackle). That suits me just fine.”
While it won’t be easy replacing Postuma, the Lancers do have three of their four starting defensive linemen back. They also return the majority of their backups at those positions.
Returning veterans include Garrit Post, Stephan Miller and John Langley, who is still likely a month away from playing as he recovers from knee surgery in January.
“No one player can replace Seamus and do the things he could do,” Lancers head coach Joe D’Amore said.
“But we have two or three guys who can step in with various abilities that can fill in the holes. We feel we can use the sum of those skills to help fill Seamus’s role.”
D’Amore said he expects four or five of his rookie defensive linemen to see some consistent action whether on special teams or in their regular spots.
Two of the most promising rookie linemen are London’s Tai Pham (six-foot-four, 273 pounds) and Chatham’s Jordan Deneau (six-foot-three, 275 pounds).
D’Amore describes Phan as very athletic, but a little raw technically while Deneau is extremely strong.
The Lancers will also resort to some more aggressive play from their strong linebacking corp to get sacks and open up lanes to the quarterback to help take some of the pressure off the defensive line.
“We’ve got some great people still on the line,” said D’Amore, who has 11 returning defensive starters. “We need to free people up for the rush by blitzing more.”
In Bakos, D’Amore feels he has another defensive tackle with the athletic ability to play the outside position.
“You have to be quick and athletic to play that spot,” D’Amore said. “Andrew is very athletic and he would’ve been there last year, but for Seamus.”
Bakos will also have to replace his friend in more areas than just the sack category. As a fourth-year veteran, the Tecumseh resident is now a key member of the Lancers’ leadership group.
“I’m looking forward to that,” Bakos said. “I’d like to coach latter on, so I enjoy answering questions from the rookies.”
On the field, that leadership role will also force Bakos into some unchartered territory. The St. Anne graduate admits being really vocal isn’t a trait that comes naturally.
“That’ll be a big challenge for me,” Bakos said. “
“In the past, I’ve just gone about doing my job and not been that vocal on the field. I’m one of the veterans now and I’ll have to push myself that way.”
“Seamus is a close friend and those are big shoes to fill,” Bakos said. “I’m not looking at it that way because I’d be setting myself up for failure.
“We’re different players. Seamus has the ability to overpower people. I rely more on finesse, speed and intellect in my game.”
Bakos displayed just how effective he could be employing those elements last season. Playing as the ‘plug in the middle’ of the defensive line, Bakos more than held his own despite his five-foot-11, 270-pound frame being nearly 40 pounds lighter than Postuma.
“I had to handle a lot of double teams and that helped Seamus on the outside,” Bakos said.
“I’m not afraid of this challenge. I welcome it.”
Bakos smiles when asked if his game is better suited for the outside.
“I think I’m actually better suited for the three (tackle spot),” Bakos said. “I was forced into a more physical role inside last year, just kind of holding my own tying up two guys.
“At the three (tackle), you’re more one on one with the guard. The onus is on you to break the pocket and get at the quarterback.
“You play a more aggressive style at the three (tackle). That suits me just fine.”
While it won’t be easy replacing Postuma, the Lancers do have three of their four starting defensive linemen back. They also return the majority of their backups at those positions.
Returning veterans include Garrit Post, Stephan Miller and John Langley, who is still likely a month away from playing as he recovers from knee surgery in January.
“No one player can replace Seamus and do the things he could do,” Lancers head coach Joe D’Amore said.
“But we have two or three guys who can step in with various abilities that can fill in the holes. We feel we can use the sum of those skills to help fill Seamus’s role.”
D’Amore said he expects four or five of his rookie defensive linemen to see some consistent action whether on special teams or in their regular spots.
Two of the most promising rookie linemen are London’s Tai Pham (six-foot-four, 273 pounds) and Chatham’s Jordan Deneau (six-foot-three, 275 pounds).
D’Amore describes Phan as very athletic, but a little raw technically while Deneau is extremely strong.
The Lancers will also resort to some more aggressive play from their strong linebacking corp to get sacks and open up lanes to the quarterback to help take some of the pressure off the defensive line.
“We’ve got some great people still on the line,” said D’Amore, who has 11 returning defensive starters. “We need to free people up for the rush by blitzing more.”
In Bakos, D’Amore feels he has another defensive tackle with the athletic ability to play the outside position.
“You have to be quick and athletic to play that spot,” D’Amore said. “Andrew is very athletic and he would’ve been there last year, but for Seamus.”
Bakos will also have to replace his friend in more areas than just the sack category. As a fourth-year veteran, the Tecumseh resident is now a key member of the Lancers’ leadership group.
“I’m looking forward to that,” Bakos said. “I’d like to coach latter on, so I enjoy answering questions from the rookies.”
On the field, that leadership role will also force Bakos into some unchartered territory. The St. Anne graduate admits being really vocal isn’t a trait that comes naturally.
“That’ll be a big challenge for me,” Bakos said. “
“In the past, I’ve just gone about doing my job and not been that vocal on the field. I’m one of the veterans now and I’ll have to push myself that way.”
2012年8月21日星期二
What are they buying?
Back to school doesn't just mean students are hitting the books again — they're also hitting the mall, looking for an updated wardrobe filled with the latest jeans, shoes and shirts.
Super-faded and ripped jeans are largely out, and the midtop (rather than low or high-top) sneaker reigns, according to an interactive style game presented to shoppers ages 14 to 24 for USA TODAY by predictive analytics software company First Insight.
And stash the tee shirts with the "silly girl humor," recommends off-price fashion website Ideeli, echoing First Insight's findings that the "statement tops" aren't a top pick anymore.
Clothing purchases helped boost July's better-than-expected retail sales numbers, out last Tuesday, and teen shoppers — and their parents — are helping lead the charge.
"Teens are spending," says retail analyst Jennifer Black, adding that it's because they like to regularly update their outfits.
"Teens don't make investments in clothing," says Black, of Jennifer Black & Associates in Lake Oswego, Ore. "They're more apt to move on to the next trend."
Often, a new teen trend is the opposite of the one that preceded it.
"Everything is a reaction to the last thing that's cool," says Greg Selkoe, founder of the clothing and accessories website Karmaloop, which caters to fashion-forward young people.
The current coolest purchases:
?Jeans. Medium to dark blue and brightly colored jeans are the most popular, according to First Insight and several retail experts. Skinny jeans remain popular with young women, but boot cuts are hottest for young men, who have all but abandoned skinny jeans, the data show.
But the bold colors won't be in for long. Teens who are "more fashion forward will get tired of colored jeans first" and go back to "distressed, faded washes," says Catherine Moellering, executive vice president of trend consulting firm Tobe. It's like a "return to the '90s."
Animal-print jeans were a low-ranked style on First Insight's survey, but flash-sale site Ideeli says they're still very popular with its shoppers.
"They are on fire," says Marie Ivanoff, Ideeli's merchandise director.
Khaki and camouflage, sometimes in animal prints, are selling even better than jeans at Karmaloop.
?Tees. First Insight says graphic and striped tees will be popular with young men, while young women favor a classic, plain tee. The striped tank was ranked second most popular by young women, according to First Insight.
On the outs are shirts with sayings, First Insight's data show. "The feel-good-slogan-and-statements-on-tees trend is saturated," says Raquel Quinones, J.C. Penney senior manager in divisional trends for juniors, which caters to ages 18 to 23.
But Julia Diamond, a high school sophomore from Crofton, Md., says some kids still wear them even though "they're not as big." The 15-year-old says she has several, including one with a "periodic table of texting" and another that says, "I love British boys."
Super-faded and ripped jeans are largely out, and the midtop (rather than low or high-top) sneaker reigns, according to an interactive style game presented to shoppers ages 14 to 24 for USA TODAY by predictive analytics software company First Insight.
And stash the tee shirts with the "silly girl humor," recommends off-price fashion website Ideeli, echoing First Insight's findings that the "statement tops" aren't a top pick anymore.
Clothing purchases helped boost July's better-than-expected retail sales numbers, out last Tuesday, and teen shoppers — and their parents — are helping lead the charge.
"Teens are spending," says retail analyst Jennifer Black, adding that it's because they like to regularly update their outfits.
"Teens don't make investments in clothing," says Black, of Jennifer Black & Associates in Lake Oswego, Ore. "They're more apt to move on to the next trend."
Often, a new teen trend is the opposite of the one that preceded it.
"Everything is a reaction to the last thing that's cool," says Greg Selkoe, founder of the clothing and accessories website Karmaloop, which caters to fashion-forward young people.
The current coolest purchases:
?Jeans. Medium to dark blue and brightly colored jeans are the most popular, according to First Insight and several retail experts. Skinny jeans remain popular with young women, but boot cuts are hottest for young men, who have all but abandoned skinny jeans, the data show.
But the bold colors won't be in for long. Teens who are "more fashion forward will get tired of colored jeans first" and go back to "distressed, faded washes," says Catherine Moellering, executive vice president of trend consulting firm Tobe. It's like a "return to the '90s."
Animal-print jeans were a low-ranked style on First Insight's survey, but flash-sale site Ideeli says they're still very popular with its shoppers.
"They are on fire," says Marie Ivanoff, Ideeli's merchandise director.
Khaki and camouflage, sometimes in animal prints, are selling even better than jeans at Karmaloop.
?Tees. First Insight says graphic and striped tees will be popular with young men, while young women favor a classic, plain tee. The striped tank was ranked second most popular by young women, according to First Insight.
On the outs are shirts with sayings, First Insight's data show. "The feel-good-slogan-and-statements-on-tees trend is saturated," says Raquel Quinones, J.C. Penney senior manager in divisional trends for juniors, which caters to ages 18 to 23.
But Julia Diamond, a high school sophomore from Crofton, Md., says some kids still wear them even though "they're not as big." The 15-year-old says she has several, including one with a "periodic table of texting" and another that says, "I love British boys."
2012年8月20日星期一
Nike's LeBron Sneakers to Test
The price increases, from a company whose trendy footwear sometimes generates long lines of avid buyers, may test even the most dedicated Nike fans.
"Prices are getting crazy excessive and as long as we continue to buy sneakers, Nike is going to keep increasing the prices," said Donell Brown, 30, who owns a cleaning services company in Dearborn, Mich.
Mr. Brown said he and his friends have been posting messages on Twitter and YouTube, urging other longtime sneaker fans not to buy the pricier LeBron shoes and to forgo waiting in line for new sneaker releases.
Nike's price increases are also being felt at the lower end: The venerable Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneaker now costs $50 compared with $45 a year ago.
Nike isn't the only sneaker maker asking customers to pay more. Adidas's signature three-striped Superstar shoes now cost $70, nearly 8% more than a year ago. Overall basketball shoe prices were up 9.4% compared with a year before as of June, according to market researcher NPD Group Inc., while soccer cleats jumped 15.5% and running shoes climbed 5.5%.
Nike's basketball and soccer shoes make up about half its North American business, according to analysts.
Some families are already noting sticker shock as they start back-to-school shopping.
"Sneaker prices have definitely shot up this year," said Lucy Rangel, 37 years old, who was shopping for sneakers with her two teenage daughters at a Foot Locker store in Dallas.
Ms. Rangel said she paid $114 for a new pair of pink and purple Nike sneakers for her 12-year-old daughter, up from $69.99 she paid last year for a similar pair.
While many retailers try to attract budget-conscious consumers by touting price cuts, analysts say shoppers are willing to spend more on products with newer technology and fresher styles. Footwear companies are strategically testing price increases, typically raising them only when they come out with updated products.
Nike is known for some pricey shoes, going back to its first pair of Air Jordans. A new version of the Air Jordan is expected in December at $185, up from its original 1985 price of $64.99 (or $138.38 in today's dollars), a 33% increase when adjusted for inflation.
Nike is "not arbitrarily taking up prices," said spokeswoman Mary Remuzzi. "We are constantly looking at ways to enhance the product line with new innovation and product attributes."
The coming $315 LeBron X Nike Plus, due in the fall, is expected to come embedded with motion sensors that can measure how high players jump. The LeBron 9 PS Elite basketball shoes, which currently retail for $250, feature Nike's signature swoosh in metallic gold.
Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., says it is passing along price increases because many of key materials, such as cotton, have risen in price over the past 18 months. Prices did moderate somewhat in the past quarter.
Nike also faces rising labor costs in China, where it manufactures a third of its products.
The company's shares, which have soared since the recession as it continued to report solid growth, plunged 10% in June after it reported profit dropped nearly 8% from a year earlier to $549 million, or $1.17 a share. Shares closed at $95.77 on Monday and are now flat for the year after hitting an all-time high of $114.81 on May 3.
Adidas is struggling with similar pressures: It said last month it is closing its only company-owned apparel factory in China to "improve efficiency." Adidas's increased labor and materials costs drove gross profit margins down to 48.2% from 49.2%.
"We are trying to mitigate the costs by manufacturing our products more efficiently," said Katja Schreiber, an Adidas spokeswoman. "In some instances we look to increase price, usually in areas where we launch new, innovative products."
"Prices are getting crazy excessive and as long as we continue to buy sneakers, Nike is going to keep increasing the prices," said Donell Brown, 30, who owns a cleaning services company in Dearborn, Mich.
Mr. Brown said he and his friends have been posting messages on Twitter and YouTube, urging other longtime sneaker fans not to buy the pricier LeBron shoes and to forgo waiting in line for new sneaker releases.
Nike's price increases are also being felt at the lower end: The venerable Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneaker now costs $50 compared with $45 a year ago.
Nike isn't the only sneaker maker asking customers to pay more. Adidas's signature three-striped Superstar shoes now cost $70, nearly 8% more than a year ago. Overall basketball shoe prices were up 9.4% compared with a year before as of June, according to market researcher NPD Group Inc., while soccer cleats jumped 15.5% and running shoes climbed 5.5%.
Nike's basketball and soccer shoes make up about half its North American business, according to analysts.
Some families are already noting sticker shock as they start back-to-school shopping.
"Sneaker prices have definitely shot up this year," said Lucy Rangel, 37 years old, who was shopping for sneakers with her two teenage daughters at a Foot Locker store in Dallas.
Ms. Rangel said she paid $114 for a new pair of pink and purple Nike sneakers for her 12-year-old daughter, up from $69.99 she paid last year for a similar pair.
While many retailers try to attract budget-conscious consumers by touting price cuts, analysts say shoppers are willing to spend more on products with newer technology and fresher styles. Footwear companies are strategically testing price increases, typically raising them only when they come out with updated products.
Nike is known for some pricey shoes, going back to its first pair of Air Jordans. A new version of the Air Jordan is expected in December at $185, up from its original 1985 price of $64.99 (or $138.38 in today's dollars), a 33% increase when adjusted for inflation.
Nike is "not arbitrarily taking up prices," said spokeswoman Mary Remuzzi. "We are constantly looking at ways to enhance the product line with new innovation and product attributes."
The coming $315 LeBron X Nike Plus, due in the fall, is expected to come embedded with motion sensors that can measure how high players jump. The LeBron 9 PS Elite basketball shoes, which currently retail for $250, feature Nike's signature swoosh in metallic gold.
Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., says it is passing along price increases because many of key materials, such as cotton, have risen in price over the past 18 months. Prices did moderate somewhat in the past quarter.
Nike also faces rising labor costs in China, where it manufactures a third of its products.
The company's shares, which have soared since the recession as it continued to report solid growth, plunged 10% in June after it reported profit dropped nearly 8% from a year earlier to $549 million, or $1.17 a share. Shares closed at $95.77 on Monday and are now flat for the year after hitting an all-time high of $114.81 on May 3.
Adidas is struggling with similar pressures: It said last month it is closing its only company-owned apparel factory in China to "improve efficiency." Adidas's increased labor and materials costs drove gross profit margins down to 48.2% from 49.2%.
"We are trying to mitigate the costs by manufacturing our products more efficiently," said Katja Schreiber, an Adidas spokeswoman. "In some instances we look to increase price, usually in areas where we launch new, innovative products."
2012年8月19日星期日
Meet the Man Behind Nike's Neon-Shoe Ambush
You probably don't know Martin Lotti. But if you watched the Olympics, you are definitely familiar with his handiwork.
He's the man behind those shoes -- the beautifully crafted, incandescent kicks that whizzed by on the feet of 400 Olympic athletes, including USA's Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee, Great Britain's Mo Farah and France's Renaud Lavillenie, enabling Nike to capture the Olympic gold in ambush marketing.
Mr. Lotti, 37, is Nike's global creative director for the Olympics -- an interesting title, since Nike wasn't an official London 2012 sponsor. An industrial designer by education, he has been at Nike for 15 years, adding the "Olympic" aspect to his title just two years ago, while the brand's preparations for the London games were already underway. His role is to focus on the Nike products that 3,000 Olympic athletes wear on and off the field, from design to deployment.
Painting Nike's Flyknit shoe Volt, as that vivid neon-green-meets-highlighter-yellow color is called, was Mr. Lotti's way to create a kind of "Team Nike." Before London 2012, the brand matched the color of the shoe to the color of the individual athlete's uniforms. It looked pretty, but it blended in. This year, hundreds of athletes across different national federations wore the same color, what Mr. Lotti called "the easiest way" to make a splash.
The result was a wave of attention that could well end up in marketing textbooks for its simplicity and effectiveness. "Nike's move was really clever. They used marketing assets that belonged to them alone, and those assets gave them a pretty unique opportunity to take advantage of the Olympic rules," said Kent Grayson, professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. "The best marketing usually plays with the rules without quite going too far -- striking the right balance between the two is really hard and often risky but Nike got it perfectly this time."
So how did Nike achieve that? It started well before the Olympics, when focus groups of amateur, college and professional athletes were shown different colors of the shoe. "Across the board, everybody loved [the Volt]," said Mr. Lotti.
There's a scientific reason for that. "It's the most-visible color to the human eye," said Mr. Lotti. Even so, Nike left nothing to chance, testing the color against the myriad environments that the shoes would appear in during the games: the red of the track, the blue and white of the fencing stage, and the black and blue of the boxing ring.
He's the man behind those shoes -- the beautifully crafted, incandescent kicks that whizzed by on the feet of 400 Olympic athletes, including USA's Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee, Great Britain's Mo Farah and France's Renaud Lavillenie, enabling Nike to capture the Olympic gold in ambush marketing.
Mr. Lotti, 37, is Nike's global creative director for the Olympics -- an interesting title, since Nike wasn't an official London 2012 sponsor. An industrial designer by education, he has been at Nike for 15 years, adding the "Olympic" aspect to his title just two years ago, while the brand's preparations for the London games were already underway. His role is to focus on the Nike products that 3,000 Olympic athletes wear on and off the field, from design to deployment.
Painting Nike's Flyknit shoe Volt, as that vivid neon-green-meets-highlighter-yellow color is called, was Mr. Lotti's way to create a kind of "Team Nike." Before London 2012, the brand matched the color of the shoe to the color of the individual athlete's uniforms. It looked pretty, but it blended in. This year, hundreds of athletes across different national federations wore the same color, what Mr. Lotti called "the easiest way" to make a splash.
The result was a wave of attention that could well end up in marketing textbooks for its simplicity and effectiveness. "Nike's move was really clever. They used marketing assets that belonged to them alone, and those assets gave them a pretty unique opportunity to take advantage of the Olympic rules," said Kent Grayson, professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. "The best marketing usually plays with the rules without quite going too far -- striking the right balance between the two is really hard and often risky but Nike got it perfectly this time."
So how did Nike achieve that? It started well before the Olympics, when focus groups of amateur, college and professional athletes were shown different colors of the shoe. "Across the board, everybody loved [the Volt]," said Mr. Lotti.
There's a scientific reason for that. "It's the most-visible color to the human eye," said Mr. Lotti. Even so, Nike left nothing to chance, testing the color against the myriad environments that the shoes would appear in during the games: the red of the track, the blue and white of the fencing stage, and the black and blue of the boxing ring.
2012年8月16日星期四
Counterfeit Christian Louboutin Shoes Confiscated
If you find a pair of those trendy red-bottom heels for a deal that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confiscated 20,457 pairs of counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport.
“They label the shipments as generic shoes when, in fact, they’re bringing over contraband,” said Jaime Ruiz, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
According to the CBP, the knock-off shoes that were transported in five different shipments on a cargo ship in large boxes from China had a domestic value of more than $57,000, meaning it cost just less than $3 per pair to make them.
Officials said there were enough of those red soles to add up to a suggested retail value of $18 million, an unbelievable profit.
“The original [Christian Louboutin] shoe is made in Italy,” said chief CBP officer Guillermina Escobar. “Once we saw it was coming in from China, we knew there was a problem with the shipment.”
Officials took pictures of the shoes and consulted with the trademark holder to authenticate the shoe. Once they learned they were counterfeit, the hot commodities were taken off the black market and placed into the border patrol’s possession.
Had the shoes slipped through the cracks, Escobar said, they would likely have been sold on illegitimate websites and underground outlets, some of which may fail to mention the shoes are counterfeits.
The CBP said it will destroy the more than 20,000 pairs of high-fashion shoes, likely by burning them.
Escobar said a total of three different importers shipped the counterfeits on July 27 and Aug. 14 of this year.
The incident is still under investigation but the importers will likely be charged with a trademark violation.
CBP officials said there were 24,792 seizures of counterfeit and pirated goods in the 2011 fiscal year.
One thousand twenty of those trade seizures had a domestic value exceeding $37 million and all took place in the greater Los Angeles area.
“This represents an 18 percent increase in the number of seizures from fiscal year 2010,” said Escobar.
The CBP said it knows what hot commodities are coming in to the United States and will make sure to keep an eye out for any more counterfeits.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confiscated 20,457 pairs of counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport.
“They label the shipments as generic shoes when, in fact, they’re bringing over contraband,” said Jaime Ruiz, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
According to the CBP, the knock-off shoes that were transported in five different shipments on a cargo ship in large boxes from China had a domestic value of more than $57,000, meaning it cost just less than $3 per pair to make them.
Officials said there were enough of those red soles to add up to a suggested retail value of $18 million, an unbelievable profit.
“The original [Christian Louboutin] shoe is made in Italy,” said chief CBP officer Guillermina Escobar. “Once we saw it was coming in from China, we knew there was a problem with the shipment.”
Officials took pictures of the shoes and consulted with the trademark holder to authenticate the shoe. Once they learned they were counterfeit, the hot commodities were taken off the black market and placed into the border patrol’s possession.
Had the shoes slipped through the cracks, Escobar said, they would likely have been sold on illegitimate websites and underground outlets, some of which may fail to mention the shoes are counterfeits.
The CBP said it will destroy the more than 20,000 pairs of high-fashion shoes, likely by burning them.
Escobar said a total of three different importers shipped the counterfeits on July 27 and Aug. 14 of this year.
The incident is still under investigation but the importers will likely be charged with a trademark violation.
CBP officials said there were 24,792 seizures of counterfeit and pirated goods in the 2011 fiscal year.
One thousand twenty of those trade seizures had a domestic value exceeding $37 million and all took place in the greater Los Angeles area.
“This represents an 18 percent increase in the number of seizures from fiscal year 2010,” said Escobar.
The CBP said it knows what hot commodities are coming in to the United States and will make sure to keep an eye out for any more counterfeits.
2012年8月15日星期三
Take a walk in their shoes
Some she'll always remember. One she'd already like to forget.
Before Kayla only had to cross one street, her own, to get to the bus stop, but Kayla fell right on the dividing line of Dayton Public Schools new policy of not busing students within a mile and a half of schools.
So as 2 NEWS told you earlier this week, even though her classmates one and three houses down can still go to the bus stop, Kayla has to hit the streets before hitting the books.
"At least it's not completely dark yet," says Brandy Fisher, Kayla's mom, about the trip.
The sun was about the only thing up when we started out from Kayla's Lombard Avenue home around 7 a. m.
We decided to time our trip, which wound its way through intersections both big and small, but those intersections weren't the only places you had to watch your step.
On at least two sidewalks were shards of broken glass.
Other obstacles were dogs. At least two Kayla passed were not on leashes. Others barked at her from the porch.
About halfway through Kayla's backpack got too heavy for her to carry, and her mom took it for her, but eventually we made it to Wright Brothers Elementary.
The time from first step to final goodbye was just more than 40 minutes.
"I don't know how long she'll be able to keep it up," Brandy says. "This is just the first day."
Just for fun we wanted to see how long it would take to walk to Kayla's old bus stop, where her neighbors are still being picked up.
The time was one and a half minutes.
"I'm hoping they can find room for her because this is going to be difficult," Brandy says.
Before Kayla only had to cross one street, her own, to get to the bus stop, but Kayla fell right on the dividing line of Dayton Public Schools new policy of not busing students within a mile and a half of schools.
So as 2 NEWS told you earlier this week, even though her classmates one and three houses down can still go to the bus stop, Kayla has to hit the streets before hitting the books.
"At least it's not completely dark yet," says Brandy Fisher, Kayla's mom, about the trip.
The sun was about the only thing up when we started out from Kayla's Lombard Avenue home around 7 a. m.
We decided to time our trip, which wound its way through intersections both big and small, but those intersections weren't the only places you had to watch your step.
On at least two sidewalks were shards of broken glass.
Other obstacles were dogs. At least two Kayla passed were not on leashes. Others barked at her from the porch.
About halfway through Kayla's backpack got too heavy for her to carry, and her mom took it for her, but eventually we made it to Wright Brothers Elementary.
The time from first step to final goodbye was just more than 40 minutes.
"I don't know how long she'll be able to keep it up," Brandy says. "This is just the first day."
Just for fun we wanted to see how long it would take to walk to Kayla's old bus stop, where her neighbors are still being picked up.
The time was one and a half minutes.
"I'm hoping they can find room for her because this is going to be difficult," Brandy says.
2012年8月14日星期二
Shoe auction aims to give YWCA a leg up
Piercing zebra print stiletto platforms, strappy red pumps, baby blue go-go boots and a pair of low cheetah print boots.
These are just some of the treasures tucked away in the basement of the YWCA office building in downtown Bremerton awaiting a public debut.
The shoes will be the centerpiece of the nonprofit organization's upcoming "Take a Walk in Her Shoes" auction fundraiser, which aims to raise awareness and funding for its domestic violence programs.
"We're a giving community but our challenge is how do you build more support?" YWCA executive director Linda Joyce said. "You do that by doing something new."
In the past year, the agency has focused on raising more awareness about its services. The nonprofit has been in the community since 1948, but it was time to remind the community about everything the YWCA does, Joyce said.
That included creating new ways to raise awareness that will translate to more financial donations. That's how the agency came up with the shoe auction.
"What woman doesn't like shoes?" Joyce said.
The event, planned for Saturday, Sept. 8, starts with a walk from the Amy Burnett Gallery at 408 Pacific Ave. to the Admiral Theatre at the corner of Fifth Street.
But the walk isn't just any walk. Participants are encouraged to have fun, create teams to raise money and go all out with costumes and a focus on the shoes that will adorn their feet. It's hoped that includes men in high heels or other creative footwear.
"We hope it's an evening just of fun," Tracy McConaughy of the YWCA said.
The fundraiser is a first for the YWCA and the hope is it will raise awareness about what survivors of domestic violence endure.
"We want to reach the folks that don't know so much about it," Joyce said. "The awareness piece is the really important piece."
Joyce hopes people will be able to empathize with domestic violence survivors and learn about the many programs the YWCA offers to help women and children escape abusive situations and become self-sufficient.
Event organizers also hope the walk and following auction will bring in more donations to the nonprofit that has seen its funding cut by roughly 20 percent in recent years. The decline is largely attributed to cuts in federal and state funding and a decrease in public donations as people tighten their budgets because of the poor economy.
The YWCA is accepting shoe donations that will be auctioned to raise money. Roughly 100 shoes have been donated already, but event organizers are hoping to have closer to 250. Any and all donations of new or barely worn shoes will be accepted through Sept. 4 at the YWCA office at 905 Pacific Ave. in Bremerton.
Some of the shoes ready for auction include labels like Dolce & Gabbana, Dana Buchman, Anne Klein, Bellini, Guess, Steve Madden, Sam Edelman, Carlos Santana, Liz Claiborne and Puma. A Seattle department store also has promised a donation of shoe samples for the auction, but asked its name not be mentioned before the auction to limit request from other nonprofits, McConaughy said.
"We need people to come out," Joyce said. "We've tried to make it an event that's affordable and festive and fun."
These are just some of the treasures tucked away in the basement of the YWCA office building in downtown Bremerton awaiting a public debut.
The shoes will be the centerpiece of the nonprofit organization's upcoming "Take a Walk in Her Shoes" auction fundraiser, which aims to raise awareness and funding for its domestic violence programs.
"We're a giving community but our challenge is how do you build more support?" YWCA executive director Linda Joyce said. "You do that by doing something new."
In the past year, the agency has focused on raising more awareness about its services. The nonprofit has been in the community since 1948, but it was time to remind the community about everything the YWCA does, Joyce said.
That included creating new ways to raise awareness that will translate to more financial donations. That's how the agency came up with the shoe auction.
"What woman doesn't like shoes?" Joyce said.
The event, planned for Saturday, Sept. 8, starts with a walk from the Amy Burnett Gallery at 408 Pacific Ave. to the Admiral Theatre at the corner of Fifth Street.
But the walk isn't just any walk. Participants are encouraged to have fun, create teams to raise money and go all out with costumes and a focus on the shoes that will adorn their feet. It's hoped that includes men in high heels or other creative footwear.
"We hope it's an evening just of fun," Tracy McConaughy of the YWCA said.
The fundraiser is a first for the YWCA and the hope is it will raise awareness about what survivors of domestic violence endure.
"We want to reach the folks that don't know so much about it," Joyce said. "The awareness piece is the really important piece."
Joyce hopes people will be able to empathize with domestic violence survivors and learn about the many programs the YWCA offers to help women and children escape abusive situations and become self-sufficient.
Event organizers also hope the walk and following auction will bring in more donations to the nonprofit that has seen its funding cut by roughly 20 percent in recent years. The decline is largely attributed to cuts in federal and state funding and a decrease in public donations as people tighten their budgets because of the poor economy.
The YWCA is accepting shoe donations that will be auctioned to raise money. Roughly 100 shoes have been donated already, but event organizers are hoping to have closer to 250. Any and all donations of new or barely worn shoes will be accepted through Sept. 4 at the YWCA office at 905 Pacific Ave. in Bremerton.
Some of the shoes ready for auction include labels like Dolce & Gabbana, Dana Buchman, Anne Klein, Bellini, Guess, Steve Madden, Sam Edelman, Carlos Santana, Liz Claiborne and Puma. A Seattle department store also has promised a donation of shoe samples for the auction, but asked its name not be mentioned before the auction to limit request from other nonprofits, McConaughy said.
"We need people to come out," Joyce said. "We've tried to make it an event that's affordable and festive and fun."
2012年8月13日星期一
Back-to-school shopping like Christmas in August
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. After twelve months of saving, planning and anticipating this special day, it’s finally time to pay off those lay-a-ways and cash out those savings to bring big smiles to bright little faces.
In your family, this probably sounds a lot like Christmas, in mine, this is how we do back-to-school.
I’m sure it goes back to our childhoods -- my husband’s and mine. We didn’t have much growing up. Both from single-parent households, we made due with a lot of hand-me-downs and thrift-store items. Two pairs of shoes and a handful of pants had better get you through the year, because money was too tight for growth spurts and grass stains.
I remember joining the basketball team in high school just because everyone on the team got a new pair of sneakers and I always felt guilty asking my mom to buy me stuff -- she was working two jobs and going to grad school, it just didn’t feel right.
So I’m sure that because of our humble beginnings, our daughter’s appearance on the first day of school means a lot more to us than it does to her.
For my husband it’s all about the shoes: Three pairs of sneakers, two or three pairs of “girly girl” shoes and a true dress shoe. For me it’s more about the basics. Being able to dress in layers when it’s cold (this wasn’t always an option for me), having more than just two sets of uniforms, having hair accessories that match.
It’s important that she always has a fresh pair of socks, that her underwear isn’t worn and that if she gets a horrible stain on her uniform shirt, there are more to turn to.
After a lifetime of not having the little things that everyone else had, there’s a certain level of comfort in our daughter not having to sweat the small stuff.
She doesn’t have to worry about taking her shoes off for some crazy activity -- her socks are clean and hole free! She won’t cry when she spills paint all over her white tennis shoes. And she won’t feel the need to avoid eye contact when she accidentally loses her sweater on a field trip. These are just things, and while money is tight, Collette knows that we love her more than the money we have to spend on her.
For now, back-to-school shopping is the most meaningful shopping event of the year. Collette gets the latest fashions and we get to be the proud parents who can afford to get them for her.
In your family, this probably sounds a lot like Christmas, in mine, this is how we do back-to-school.
I’m sure it goes back to our childhoods -- my husband’s and mine. We didn’t have much growing up. Both from single-parent households, we made due with a lot of hand-me-downs and thrift-store items. Two pairs of shoes and a handful of pants had better get you through the year, because money was too tight for growth spurts and grass stains.
I remember joining the basketball team in high school just because everyone on the team got a new pair of sneakers and I always felt guilty asking my mom to buy me stuff -- she was working two jobs and going to grad school, it just didn’t feel right.
So I’m sure that because of our humble beginnings, our daughter’s appearance on the first day of school means a lot more to us than it does to her.
For my husband it’s all about the shoes: Three pairs of sneakers, two or three pairs of “girly girl” shoes and a true dress shoe. For me it’s more about the basics. Being able to dress in layers when it’s cold (this wasn’t always an option for me), having more than just two sets of uniforms, having hair accessories that match.
It’s important that she always has a fresh pair of socks, that her underwear isn’t worn and that if she gets a horrible stain on her uniform shirt, there are more to turn to.
After a lifetime of not having the little things that everyone else had, there’s a certain level of comfort in our daughter not having to sweat the small stuff.
She doesn’t have to worry about taking her shoes off for some crazy activity -- her socks are clean and hole free! She won’t cry when she spills paint all over her white tennis shoes. And she won’t feel the need to avoid eye contact when she accidentally loses her sweater on a field trip. These are just things, and while money is tight, Collette knows that we love her more than the money we have to spend on her.
For now, back-to-school shopping is the most meaningful shopping event of the year. Collette gets the latest fashions and we get to be the proud parents who can afford to get them for her.
2012年8月12日星期日
Cows drop a solution to Punjab's gas woes
Having only read on the subject, I do not know what to expect to see. Hamza, a recent graduate from the University of London and my guide on this assignment, briefs me about the Orange Processing Factory and the farm we are to visit. He himself has only visited Kot Momin once or twice, and is unsure of our exact destination. Jamal, our driver, a humble man of northern descent, has only a faint inkling.
We are headed for Pakistan’s largest citrus producing areas in the Sargodha District. Having never visited a farming community, I am eager. These are exciting times for farmers, I am told; their cows are quite literally keeping their stoves burning!
As we turn for the Kot Momin interchange, I wonder if these docile beasts ‘hold’ the answer to our gas problems. The Pipal trees grow thick, and a faint tang of citrus scents the air. The locals are obliging, and we are soon pointed in the right direction. A narrow road leads us to The Orange Processing Plant. An attendant greets us and invites us in. “Here, we process and package oranges and mandarins for export,” he explains as he ushers us to the main building. Inside, lofty conveyer belts and heavy machinery slumber away in a corner.
“If it wasn’t for the factory’s bio-gas plant, these machines wouldn’t be able to operate,” Hamza explains. “Methane produced by the plant is used in the generators that power the factory.”
Curious to see learn more I ask to be shown the plant. “It’s all faecal matter,” says the attendant casually, as he points towards the main gas tank. “Cow dung is scooped into the inlet tank and mixed with water.”
‘Sounds lovely,’ I think to myself. In a concrete tank, dung and water are mixed to a slurry; using what looks like a massive egg beater. The muck flows to an airtight underground tank, where, in the absence of oxygen, chemicals in the dung react – creating gas. The gas obviously has to be pumped, purified and pressurised before it can be used, but it’s a fairly simple process which requires minimal human interference. Once the purified methane is extracted, it can be used as a renewable substitute for CNG. In hindsight, this factory, like many others, is rationing a cow’s intestinal gases and turning them into free energy.
Impressed by this stroke of genius, we bid the attendant farewell and head out to another location: Sarfaraz Ranjha’s farm.
Once there, Khuram Shehzad, a young worker, gives us a walkthrough. “My job is the shovel manure from the cow shed into the inlet tank.” With a cringed nose, he adds: “We have 30 animals – you can imagine the workload.”
His might not be the most enriching of careers, but Khuram is nevertheless a part of a farming revolution in the country. Farms using similar systems are not only producing their own methane, they also end up with 100% natural, chemical free fertiliser that’s great for crops.
Initially, the manure needs to sit for eight days before methane is released, Khuram explains. “Any longer than eight days and the methane explodes!” he jests.
“Life’s easier, now that we don’t have to pay for our gas needs. Where the rest of the country suffers from gas shortages, our farm enjoys a surplus,” says Ranjha, our host. Our host’s voice has the authority, and his waist the measurement, of several men.
Ranjha invites us in for a demonstration of his home-brewed bio-gas. He explains that after an initial investment of around Rs400,000, his house and farm has enjoyed free gas (with adequate pressure) for a year without fail.
Ranjha even shows us his cooking utensils: “Bio-gas is environmentally friendly,” he explains as he points our attention to the spotless bottoms of his pots. They have no carbon deposits.
Over plates of succulent mangos and tart jamuns, the conversation steers towards the potentials of bio-gas as replacement for CNG.
“Bio-gas has the potential to completely replace CNG,” Hamza informs the gathering. “And many clients come to the Alternative Energy Development Board, seeking advice on the matter. It is definitely a great business opportunity.”
We are headed for Pakistan’s largest citrus producing areas in the Sargodha District. Having never visited a farming community, I am eager. These are exciting times for farmers, I am told; their cows are quite literally keeping their stoves burning!
As we turn for the Kot Momin interchange, I wonder if these docile beasts ‘hold’ the answer to our gas problems. The Pipal trees grow thick, and a faint tang of citrus scents the air. The locals are obliging, and we are soon pointed in the right direction. A narrow road leads us to The Orange Processing Plant. An attendant greets us and invites us in. “Here, we process and package oranges and mandarins for export,” he explains as he ushers us to the main building. Inside, lofty conveyer belts and heavy machinery slumber away in a corner.
“If it wasn’t for the factory’s bio-gas plant, these machines wouldn’t be able to operate,” Hamza explains. “Methane produced by the plant is used in the generators that power the factory.”
Curious to see learn more I ask to be shown the plant. “It’s all faecal matter,” says the attendant casually, as he points towards the main gas tank. “Cow dung is scooped into the inlet tank and mixed with water.”
‘Sounds lovely,’ I think to myself. In a concrete tank, dung and water are mixed to a slurry; using what looks like a massive egg beater. The muck flows to an airtight underground tank, where, in the absence of oxygen, chemicals in the dung react – creating gas. The gas obviously has to be pumped, purified and pressurised before it can be used, but it’s a fairly simple process which requires minimal human interference. Once the purified methane is extracted, it can be used as a renewable substitute for CNG. In hindsight, this factory, like many others, is rationing a cow’s intestinal gases and turning them into free energy.
Impressed by this stroke of genius, we bid the attendant farewell and head out to another location: Sarfaraz Ranjha’s farm.
Once there, Khuram Shehzad, a young worker, gives us a walkthrough. “My job is the shovel manure from the cow shed into the inlet tank.” With a cringed nose, he adds: “We have 30 animals – you can imagine the workload.”
His might not be the most enriching of careers, but Khuram is nevertheless a part of a farming revolution in the country. Farms using similar systems are not only producing their own methane, they also end up with 100% natural, chemical free fertiliser that’s great for crops.
Initially, the manure needs to sit for eight days before methane is released, Khuram explains. “Any longer than eight days and the methane explodes!” he jests.
“Life’s easier, now that we don’t have to pay for our gas needs. Where the rest of the country suffers from gas shortages, our farm enjoys a surplus,” says Ranjha, our host. Our host’s voice has the authority, and his waist the measurement, of several men.
Ranjha invites us in for a demonstration of his home-brewed bio-gas. He explains that after an initial investment of around Rs400,000, his house and farm has enjoyed free gas (with adequate pressure) for a year without fail.
Ranjha even shows us his cooking utensils: “Bio-gas is environmentally friendly,” he explains as he points our attention to the spotless bottoms of his pots. They have no carbon deposits.
Over plates of succulent mangos and tart jamuns, the conversation steers towards the potentials of bio-gas as replacement for CNG.
“Bio-gas has the potential to completely replace CNG,” Hamza informs the gathering. “And many clients come to the Alternative Energy Development Board, seeking advice on the matter. It is definitely a great business opportunity.”
2012年8月9日星期四
In a City Known for Its Shoes Water Up to Its Knees
Marikina is famed for its cobblers, whose handmade shoes are a source of local pride. Its Shoe Museum is home to a pair of shoes from each president of the Philippines, including 800 of the more than 3,000 pairs in the collection of Imelda R. Marcos. A barge in the Marikina River sports statues of two giant shoes, and what the city fathers claim is the world’s largest functional shoe — more than 15 feet long — is on display in a local mall.
During the dry season, visitors can stroll a river promenade. But at times like these, when it rains and rains until it seems it will never stop, Marikina becomes famous for its floods.
For days now, parts of Manila and surrounding provincial areas have been submerged after a series of storms intensified the usual strong monsoon rains. An estimated two million people have been affected by the flooding in the capital and 15 surrounding provincial areas. At least 72 people have been killed since the deluge began in late July.
Lying on the eastern edge of Manila, Marikina sits in a valley that is crisscrossed by a major river and several creeks, all of which makes it one of the most flood-prone areas in the region. Traveling on the commuter train that runs above the Marikina River, the scale of the inundation is clear.
The banks of the river have disappeared, and in many places any semblance of a river is gone. Where a clearly defined riverbed once zigzagged under the elevated train, now all that can be seen is a vast waterscape of churning, fast-flowing brown currents dotted with debris. In some areas, landmarks like the top of a basketball hoop give indications of what was previously dry land. In other areas, the waters have engulfed entire neighborhoods, which appear to have been built in the middle of a river.
A row of cobbler shops could be seen unattended, with about two feet of brown water covering their floors. The shoe barge sat in the middle of the river and, much like the city itself, was badly damaged and covered with mud. The river promenade was underwater and surrounded by evacuees receiving shelter in schools, churches and government buildings.
Not far from the swollen Marikina River, a police officer, Fernando Frayre, looked haggard on Thursday as he stood outside the Shoe Museum, where Mrs. Marcos’s shoes are displayed along one entire wall. Mr. Frayre said he and a few volunteers spent a nerve-racking evening watching the floodwater approach the museum. The water crested about 70 feet from the museum, but the officer said he had been prepared for the worst.
“We were ready to rescue the shoes,” Mr. Frayre said.
One of the roads leading to the Marikina River is now a waist-deep canal where an eerie line of slow-moving evacuees could be seen on Thursday afternoon making their way from a submerged neighborhood to higher ground. In one large, colorful inflatable beach raft sat a 12-year-old boy playing a PlayStation Portable as his 10-year-old sister carried an infant dressed in immaculate white footie pajamas.
Having been stranded for days on the second floor of their home near the river, their parents decided that it was time to move in with relatives until the water subsided. Surrounded by inundated shacks and grinding poverty, the clean, well-dressed children were completely dry in the large toy raft, which was pulled by six shirtless men with grim expressions. Beside them were neatly packed designer suitcases and backpacks.
Waiting at the edge of the water was their father, in a late-model Toyota Land Cruiser, to take them to their relatives’ home on higher ground. The father, who did not want to give his name, said he and a teenage son would continue to sleep on the second floor of the flooded house to guard it.
On Thursday, the sun was shining in Manila for the first time in nearly two weeks, and the water was subsiding in some parts of the city, though an estimated 300,000 people remained in hundreds of evacuation centers.
A senior government official on Wednesday echoed what many of the beleaguered evacuees — most of them victims as well of the floods of 2009 — have been saying: that cataclysmic flooding is becoming routine for Manila. In 2009, the typhoons Ketsana (called Ondoy locally) and Parma struck within a week, causing flooding that affected more than 9 million people and killed 929, according to the government disaster relief agency.
“The only way we can be prepared for the impact of climate change is to accept that these recent developments in our country like intense weather disturbances, heavy rainfall, as well as long dry season, are the ‘new normal’ ” said Ramon Paje, the environment and natural resources secretary.
For Eleanor Ropero and her family, whose home near the overflowing banks of the Marikina River is still under three feet of water, fleeing the floodwater has become an uncomfortable routine, she said. As she languished on Thursday in a sweltering evacuation center with her three children and two grandchildren, she said that they had all been evacuated before, in 2009, but that this time was worse — it was their second evacuation this week.
During the dry season, visitors can stroll a river promenade. But at times like these, when it rains and rains until it seems it will never stop, Marikina becomes famous for its floods.
For days now, parts of Manila and surrounding provincial areas have been submerged after a series of storms intensified the usual strong monsoon rains. An estimated two million people have been affected by the flooding in the capital and 15 surrounding provincial areas. At least 72 people have been killed since the deluge began in late July.
Lying on the eastern edge of Manila, Marikina sits in a valley that is crisscrossed by a major river and several creeks, all of which makes it one of the most flood-prone areas in the region. Traveling on the commuter train that runs above the Marikina River, the scale of the inundation is clear.
The banks of the river have disappeared, and in many places any semblance of a river is gone. Where a clearly defined riverbed once zigzagged under the elevated train, now all that can be seen is a vast waterscape of churning, fast-flowing brown currents dotted with debris. In some areas, landmarks like the top of a basketball hoop give indications of what was previously dry land. In other areas, the waters have engulfed entire neighborhoods, which appear to have been built in the middle of a river.
A row of cobbler shops could be seen unattended, with about two feet of brown water covering their floors. The shoe barge sat in the middle of the river and, much like the city itself, was badly damaged and covered with mud. The river promenade was underwater and surrounded by evacuees receiving shelter in schools, churches and government buildings.
Not far from the swollen Marikina River, a police officer, Fernando Frayre, looked haggard on Thursday as he stood outside the Shoe Museum, where Mrs. Marcos’s shoes are displayed along one entire wall. Mr. Frayre said he and a few volunteers spent a nerve-racking evening watching the floodwater approach the museum. The water crested about 70 feet from the museum, but the officer said he had been prepared for the worst.
“We were ready to rescue the shoes,” Mr. Frayre said.
One of the roads leading to the Marikina River is now a waist-deep canal where an eerie line of slow-moving evacuees could be seen on Thursday afternoon making their way from a submerged neighborhood to higher ground. In one large, colorful inflatable beach raft sat a 12-year-old boy playing a PlayStation Portable as his 10-year-old sister carried an infant dressed in immaculate white footie pajamas.
Having been stranded for days on the second floor of their home near the river, their parents decided that it was time to move in with relatives until the water subsided. Surrounded by inundated shacks and grinding poverty, the clean, well-dressed children were completely dry in the large toy raft, which was pulled by six shirtless men with grim expressions. Beside them were neatly packed designer suitcases and backpacks.
Waiting at the edge of the water was their father, in a late-model Toyota Land Cruiser, to take them to their relatives’ home on higher ground. The father, who did not want to give his name, said he and a teenage son would continue to sleep on the second floor of the flooded house to guard it.
On Thursday, the sun was shining in Manila for the first time in nearly two weeks, and the water was subsiding in some parts of the city, though an estimated 300,000 people remained in hundreds of evacuation centers.
A senior government official on Wednesday echoed what many of the beleaguered evacuees — most of them victims as well of the floods of 2009 — have been saying: that cataclysmic flooding is becoming routine for Manila. In 2009, the typhoons Ketsana (called Ondoy locally) and Parma struck within a week, causing flooding that affected more than 9 million people and killed 929, according to the government disaster relief agency.
“The only way we can be prepared for the impact of climate change is to accept that these recent developments in our country like intense weather disturbances, heavy rainfall, as well as long dry season, are the ‘new normal’ ” said Ramon Paje, the environment and natural resources secretary.
For Eleanor Ropero and her family, whose home near the overflowing banks of the Marikina River is still under three feet of water, fleeing the floodwater has become an uncomfortable routine, she said. As she languished on Thursday in a sweltering evacuation center with her three children and two grandchildren, she said that they had all been evacuated before, in 2009, but that this time was worse — it was their second evacuation this week.
2012年8月8日星期三
Tattoos are OK but hear these words of wisdom
OK, kids, sit down and let’s talk. I’ve changed my mind about tattoos. What? No, I’m not kidding. I accept that they’re an important fashion statement for your generation, no less than bell-bottom jeans and platform shoes were for mine. Of course, you can change clothes a lot easier than change — you’re right, I digress.
Let me offer some advice. If you survive your rebel-without-a-clue years, you’ll have decades of get-togethers with extended family who’ll remind you of all the stupid things you did when you were younger. Don’t make it worse by indelibly stamping stupid on your skin. This won’t happen if you follow some simple guidelines about what kind of tattoo you get and where on your body you put it.
First of all, forget tattoos that involve a boyfriend or girlfriend. He or she may seem like “the one and only,” but odds are he or she will become “the one of many.” Just ask Angelina and Billy Bob. Have I mentioned that tattoos don’t come off as easily as platform shoes? Oh, that many times, eh?
The only safe tattoo with a named individual is immediate family. You can count on your mom and me, but that’s about it.
Beware of tattoos involving popular culture. Robert Pattinson and Katy Perry will get wrinkled and unpopular, but your tastes will change long before that. I once thought “Billy Jack” was the greatest movie ever made, and Robert Palmer and Eddie Money were cooler than Elvis. Now one is dead and the other has a dead career. The movie? Cliche wasn’t a word before “Billy Jack.”
Eventually, a Grateful Dead skull starts looking like a regular skull, and you don’t want to spend a lifetime explaining you don’t have a thing for pirates. As my tastes evolved, shelving my vinyl discs was easier than having a tattoo removed, which is not so easy. What’s that you say? Oh, sorry, I’ll stop mentioning that.
Steer clear of the latest rage in tattoos. Trust me on this: In twenty years, there will be millions of middle-aged, balding, potbellied American men, their biceps tattooed with barbed wire that looks as fashionable as a mullet.
Let me offer some advice. If you survive your rebel-without-a-clue years, you’ll have decades of get-togethers with extended family who’ll remind you of all the stupid things you did when you were younger. Don’t make it worse by indelibly stamping stupid on your skin. This won’t happen if you follow some simple guidelines about what kind of tattoo you get and where on your body you put it.
First of all, forget tattoos that involve a boyfriend or girlfriend. He or she may seem like “the one and only,” but odds are he or she will become “the one of many.” Just ask Angelina and Billy Bob. Have I mentioned that tattoos don’t come off as easily as platform shoes? Oh, that many times, eh?
The only safe tattoo with a named individual is immediate family. You can count on your mom and me, but that’s about it.
Beware of tattoos involving popular culture. Robert Pattinson and Katy Perry will get wrinkled and unpopular, but your tastes will change long before that. I once thought “Billy Jack” was the greatest movie ever made, and Robert Palmer and Eddie Money were cooler than Elvis. Now one is dead and the other has a dead career. The movie? Cliche wasn’t a word before “Billy Jack.”
Eventually, a Grateful Dead skull starts looking like a regular skull, and you don’t want to spend a lifetime explaining you don’t have a thing for pirates. As my tastes evolved, shelving my vinyl discs was easier than having a tattoo removed, which is not so easy. What’s that you say? Oh, sorry, I’ll stop mentioning that.
Steer clear of the latest rage in tattoos. Trust me on this: In twenty years, there will be millions of middle-aged, balding, potbellied American men, their biceps tattooed with barbed wire that looks as fashionable as a mullet.
2012年8月7日星期二
It is taking this approach as retailers gear up for the important
The popular purveyor of clothing classics, is rolling out a broad new advertising campaign aimed at galvanizing its customers — some of whom call themselves “jcrewaholics” — and also making them smile.
The campaign ads use the line, “We know you are out there,” to appeal to its aficionados along with close-ups of fashion-forward artists, editors and others who, J. Crew says, wear its clothing not only in the ads but also in their daily lives.
“We are speaking to people who appreciate our style, quality and design, and the ads do so in a quirky and clever way,” said Diego Scotti, the company’s chief marketing officer.
One ad, for example, says, “You speak softly and carry a loud bag,” with a crouching young woman carrying a bright persimmon-colored purse and wearing a vividly patterned J. Crew silk blouse and capri pants. Another ad says, “You notice the lapel before the label,” and shows a young man lounging against a wall. He is clad in J. Crew’s ready-made Ludlow suit and wearing its navy suede Alden shoes (no socks).
The campaign will span major print outlets as well as digital and social media, and will be the first time the company, officially known as the J. Crew Group Inc., has embarked on such a wide multimedia marketing initiative.
It is taking this approach as retailers gear up for the important back-to-school season, which brings in the year’s second-largest revenue after the end-of-year and post-holiday sales. But some retailers are struggling as shoppers try to balance the need for new items for the fall and for school with what is in their pocketbooks.
With healthy sales, J. Crew is benefiting from its positioning as a brand that combines “style, fabrics and flattering imagery, and the need for appropriate office clothes,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NPD Group, the market research firm.
At J. Crew, which has five Madison Avenue stores, store sales rose 26 percent, to $354 million, for the three months ending April 28. Last year, store sales dropped 3 percent in the same period. Direct sales rose 19 percent in the period this year, up from a 5 percent rise in the first quarter of 2011.
“Young adults between ages 25 and 34 are in the career-building stage,” said Mr. Cohen. “They can’t go to work too casually dressed any more. So it’s become more about ‘dress for success,’ which we haven’t seen since the 1980s.”
Yet, like all retailers, J. Crew knows it only takes an economic dip, or a style slip, for sales to decline.
“We are in a moment when we need to tell our story louder,” explained Mr. Scotti. “We are on a mission to elevate our product and customer demand. We have not done much advertising in the past, other than niche magazines.”
The company’s stepped-up effort will expand its presence in publications including Vanity Fair, Vogue, Fast Company and the Sunday New York Times Magazine as well as in social media and online. There are no television commercials.
The company, which has 300 stores in North America, worked with the New York City creative firm, Partners & Spade, on the campaign concept. J. Crew’s in-house marketing team handled execution. The company does not use celebrities in its marketing, but it has basked in the fashion spotlight when its cardigans and other clothing have been worn by the first lady, Michelle Obama. There are also a number of blogs,where loyalists closely follow the company’s apparel and accessories.
The specialty retailer said its advertising budget doubled this year over 2011, but declined to provide a specific figure. Kantar Media, a unit of WPP, said that J. Crew’s outlay was $4.2 million for the three months ending April 28, a major uptick from $524,000 spent in the same period last year. Over all in 2011, according to Kantar figures, the company spent $6.7 million on advertising.
J. Crew still relies on the traditional staple, the paper catalog — now called the Style Guide — to reach customers. Last year, it sent out some 40 million copies.
Its catalogs, which began in 1983, showcased its popular classic clothing styles like the rollneck sweater, created by Emily Cinader Woods, a daughter of the company’s founder and the person most responsible for what became the J. Crew look. Six years later, the company opened its first retail store, at New York’s South Street Seaport. In 1996, it started its Web site and a year later the company was sold to the Texas Pacific Group.
J. Crew’s chief, Millard Drexler, took the company public again in 2006, introducing new lines like Crewcuts for children and the limited edition J. Crew Collection. Last year, the company was again acquired by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners.
As its new campaign unfurls, J. Crew is continuing to expand its selection of handbags and shoes, emphasizing the quality and origin of the materials it uses. The Ludlow ad, for example, explains that the men’s suit is made from “worsted wool, woven in hand-selected yarn spun in Italy at the Lanificio di Tollegno Mill (est. 1862)” — details, Mr. Scotti said, that underscore the “authenticity and integrity” of J. Crew’s offerings.
The campaign ads use the line, “We know you are out there,” to appeal to its aficionados along with close-ups of fashion-forward artists, editors and others who, J. Crew says, wear its clothing not only in the ads but also in their daily lives.
“We are speaking to people who appreciate our style, quality and design, and the ads do so in a quirky and clever way,” said Diego Scotti, the company’s chief marketing officer.
One ad, for example, says, “You speak softly and carry a loud bag,” with a crouching young woman carrying a bright persimmon-colored purse and wearing a vividly patterned J. Crew silk blouse and capri pants. Another ad says, “You notice the lapel before the label,” and shows a young man lounging against a wall. He is clad in J. Crew’s ready-made Ludlow suit and wearing its navy suede Alden shoes (no socks).
The campaign will span major print outlets as well as digital and social media, and will be the first time the company, officially known as the J. Crew Group Inc., has embarked on such a wide multimedia marketing initiative.
It is taking this approach as retailers gear up for the important back-to-school season, which brings in the year’s second-largest revenue after the end-of-year and post-holiday sales. But some retailers are struggling as shoppers try to balance the need for new items for the fall and for school with what is in their pocketbooks.
With healthy sales, J. Crew is benefiting from its positioning as a brand that combines “style, fabrics and flattering imagery, and the need for appropriate office clothes,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NPD Group, the market research firm.
At J. Crew, which has five Madison Avenue stores, store sales rose 26 percent, to $354 million, for the three months ending April 28. Last year, store sales dropped 3 percent in the same period. Direct sales rose 19 percent in the period this year, up from a 5 percent rise in the first quarter of 2011.
“Young adults between ages 25 and 34 are in the career-building stage,” said Mr. Cohen. “They can’t go to work too casually dressed any more. So it’s become more about ‘dress for success,’ which we haven’t seen since the 1980s.”
Yet, like all retailers, J. Crew knows it only takes an economic dip, or a style slip, for sales to decline.
“We are in a moment when we need to tell our story louder,” explained Mr. Scotti. “We are on a mission to elevate our product and customer demand. We have not done much advertising in the past, other than niche magazines.”
The company’s stepped-up effort will expand its presence in publications including Vanity Fair, Vogue, Fast Company and the Sunday New York Times Magazine as well as in social media and online. There are no television commercials.
The company, which has 300 stores in North America, worked with the New York City creative firm, Partners & Spade, on the campaign concept. J. Crew’s in-house marketing team handled execution. The company does not use celebrities in its marketing, but it has basked in the fashion spotlight when its cardigans and other clothing have been worn by the first lady, Michelle Obama. There are also a number of blogs,where loyalists closely follow the company’s apparel and accessories.
The specialty retailer said its advertising budget doubled this year over 2011, but declined to provide a specific figure. Kantar Media, a unit of WPP, said that J. Crew’s outlay was $4.2 million for the three months ending April 28, a major uptick from $524,000 spent in the same period last year. Over all in 2011, according to Kantar figures, the company spent $6.7 million on advertising.
J. Crew still relies on the traditional staple, the paper catalog — now called the Style Guide — to reach customers. Last year, it sent out some 40 million copies.
Its catalogs, which began in 1983, showcased its popular classic clothing styles like the rollneck sweater, created by Emily Cinader Woods, a daughter of the company’s founder and the person most responsible for what became the J. Crew look. Six years later, the company opened its first retail store, at New York’s South Street Seaport. In 1996, it started its Web site and a year later the company was sold to the Texas Pacific Group.
J. Crew’s chief, Millard Drexler, took the company public again in 2006, introducing new lines like Crewcuts for children and the limited edition J. Crew Collection. Last year, the company was again acquired by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners.
As its new campaign unfurls, J. Crew is continuing to expand its selection of handbags and shoes, emphasizing the quality and origin of the materials it uses. The Ludlow ad, for example, explains that the men’s suit is made from “worsted wool, woven in hand-selected yarn spun in Italy at the Lanificio di Tollegno Mill (est. 1862)” — details, Mr. Scotti said, that underscore the “authenticity and integrity” of J. Crew’s offerings.
2012年8月6日星期一
Is Cosmetic Surgery for Your Feet the Solution for Shoe Lovers?
Charmaine Gumbs is a self-proclaimed high heel shoe fanatic with everything in her shoe collection from Jimmy Choos to the same ’40s-style pair of heels once worn by Madonna.
“A beautiful pair of shoes can suck me in,” Gumbs, from Brooklyn, N.Y., told “Good Morning America.”
But for Gumbs, her love of high heels came with a price: living with pain in the ball of her foot when she wore her favored shoes.
“It burns and it’s like fire,” she said. “I have my New Year’s Eve Jimmy Choos that I have not put on my foot yet because I am afraid of them…that heel.”
Gumbs chose to take action to fix her pain, becoming one of a number of women across the country choosing to fix their toes instead of giving up their favorite pumps, or even their sandals.
When Jennifer Pyron, a 27-year-old from New York City had to stop wearing her favorite summer shoes because they were being ruined by sweat from her toes, she decided to have a cosmetic procedure.
“A lot of people have the problem, especially women that want to wear great shoes,” said Dr. Suzanne Levine, a podiatrist at the Institute Beaute in New York City who treated both Pyron and Gumbs. “They [women] don’t want their shoes ruined. It really is quite a problem.”
Dr. Levine injected Pyron’s feet with Botox to lessen the sweating. She treated high heel shoe-lover Gumbs’s pain by injecting a biodegradable cushioning into her foot, a filler similar to what people have injected into their smile lines.
The cushioning, which replaces the natural cushioning in the foot, will last about nine months, according to Dr. Levine.
The patient, Gumbs, said she realizes that the procedure may seem crazy to others, but it is worth it to her.
“Not when you love shoes,” she said of the other option, to not wear high heels.
One week after the treatment, Gumbs found herself pain-free.
“I feel not so frightened by my shoes anymore because I love them,” she said. “I look forward to wearing them in comfort, not in agony.”
Pyron also found relief in her feet after her Botox injection.
“Once it kicked in I totally noticed a difference,” she said.
Not all doctors agree, however, that operating on one’s feet to be able to wear a certain type or pair of shoes is a good idea.
“I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with plastic surgery,” said Dr. David Levine, Assistant Attending Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City (and no relation to Dr. Suzanne Levine). “I have no problem if someone wants to change their nose, or change their boobs. But you don’t walk on your boobs.”
“A beautiful pair of shoes can suck me in,” Gumbs, from Brooklyn, N.Y., told “Good Morning America.”
But for Gumbs, her love of high heels came with a price: living with pain in the ball of her foot when she wore her favored shoes.
“It burns and it’s like fire,” she said. “I have my New Year’s Eve Jimmy Choos that I have not put on my foot yet because I am afraid of them…that heel.”
Gumbs chose to take action to fix her pain, becoming one of a number of women across the country choosing to fix their toes instead of giving up their favorite pumps, or even their sandals.
When Jennifer Pyron, a 27-year-old from New York City had to stop wearing her favorite summer shoes because they were being ruined by sweat from her toes, she decided to have a cosmetic procedure.
“A lot of people have the problem, especially women that want to wear great shoes,” said Dr. Suzanne Levine, a podiatrist at the Institute Beaute in New York City who treated both Pyron and Gumbs. “They [women] don’t want their shoes ruined. It really is quite a problem.”
Dr. Levine injected Pyron’s feet with Botox to lessen the sweating. She treated high heel shoe-lover Gumbs’s pain by injecting a biodegradable cushioning into her foot, a filler similar to what people have injected into their smile lines.
The cushioning, which replaces the natural cushioning in the foot, will last about nine months, according to Dr. Levine.
The patient, Gumbs, said she realizes that the procedure may seem crazy to others, but it is worth it to her.
“Not when you love shoes,” she said of the other option, to not wear high heels.
One week after the treatment, Gumbs found herself pain-free.
“I feel not so frightened by my shoes anymore because I love them,” she said. “I look forward to wearing them in comfort, not in agony.”
Pyron also found relief in her feet after her Botox injection.
“Once it kicked in I totally noticed a difference,” she said.
Not all doctors agree, however, that operating on one’s feet to be able to wear a certain type or pair of shoes is a good idea.
“I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with plastic surgery,” said Dr. David Levine, Assistant Attending Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City (and no relation to Dr. Suzanne Levine). “I have no problem if someone wants to change their nose, or change their boobs. But you don’t walk on your boobs.”
2012年8月5日星期日
Experts task NBC on community radio digital migration
They also canvassed the need to avail stakeholders with the copies of the White Paper on Digital Migration, which the government claimed it had released since last April.
Akinfeleye decried inability of the airwaves’ regulatory agency translating the presidential announcement of granting the NBC permission to commence licensing of community radio stations into reality almost two years after.
The communication scholar was referring to the submission made by President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at the 8th International Conference of African Broadcasters (AFRICAST) held at Ladi Kwali Hall, Abuja Sheraton Hotel and Towers.
“We are aware of the need to expand the broadcast space and give more voice to the people. Consequently, the Federal Executive Council has considered and approved the guidelines proposed by the National Broadcasting Commission for the licensing of Community Radio in Nigeria. Further, we have devolved to the Commission, the power to consider and issue the licences without further recourse to the Presidency, provided such applicants have met all the conditions stipulated by law,” the president had said at the occasion.
Prof. Akinfeleye recalled an interface he had recently with the Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku at a conference in South Africa, where he enquired why Nigeria is yet to licence the establishment of the community radio in spite of this public announcement made by the president even with presence of participants from all over Africa as well as in Europe and America.
According to Akinfeleye, the Minister blamed the NBC for the delay, saying, what was needed to do was for the commission to forward a memo through the ministry to the presidency in order for the public pronouncement to be backed with a written memo, which NBC claimed, had stalled the execution of the order.
“Those foreign guests will never take us serious. Can you imagine that almost two years after the statement, no community radio has been licensed,” stated the university don, who wonders what excuse would be tendered at the forthcoming 9th AFRICAST in October this year.
The same delay tactics, he insisted, is affecting Nigeria’s march to digitisation. He could not fathom why the White Paper on Digitisation remains a secret document almost four months when the Federal Executive Council announced that it had been released. “Nobody has seen that document. I have asked the commission severally, I am not sure they even have a copy. It is embarrassing!”
On whether president’s advisers could be held responsible for these delays, Akinfeleye diasagrees, although, he said, “ they have never advised him well.”
He explained, “Take the issue of UNILAG’s attempted change of name, can somebody sit down and on a Democracy Day say you want to change the name of a university when you have all kinds of problems facing Nigeria, including Boko Haram. And this is a president who told us, he had no shoes when he was young during his campaigns. Now, he has shoes and the shoe is not oversize, the shoe is new, well polished by the votes we cast for him, so he should use that shoe to kick out Boko Haram, use it to kick out poverty and corruption. In the same vein, use the shoe to bring about peace and tranquility including security of life and properties.”
To Akinfeleye, it is glaring that “the so-called advisers are misadvising him and if care is not taken, they will push him into confusion. I think if I were him, I will sack all the advisers and bring another set of people or do like the former president Obasanjo, ‘you are my advisers but I may not take your advice.’
Certainly, “his advisers are misleading him and it is time for him to take full control. If he fails, it is going to be very sad for Nigeria, because this is the first time in the history that we would have an educated person, who has a doctorate degree from a recognised university as President. It has never happened. Before then, we had been having generals, who never fought and won any wars. But this is the time we metamorphose from general to university people, that is Yar ‘Adua with a Masters Degree; now a Ph.D holder as president and his deputy with MSc certificate. This is an opportunity to explore and be seen to have passed through the university and the university passed through them. The leadership has a lot to do and the advisers should better shape up or shape out.”
The grouse of another Journalism teacher at the Lagos State University, Mr. Tunde Akanni with the NBC is that it has never distinguished itself. “Ironically, it has been led by distinguished persons like erudite Tom Adaba, and even the incumbent, Yomi Bolarinwa, a most versatile professional.”
Statutorily, Akanni insisted that the agency is handcuffed. “It can set standard but cannot conclude the same process it is mandated to oversee. I mean the licensing of broadcast stations. Why won’t NBC be given same measure of power as Nigerian Communication Commission NCC?.
“Good news however is that technology is smarter than the mischievous law and policy makers we are unlucky to have here. They only need to find out how powerless they are now with the inception of new media technology. In Brazil today, several radio stations simply choose to broadcast from Net without bothering to seek any licence from government. Can you imagine any government toying with the idea of proscribing any newspaper like Abacha did years back? One certain thing is that Orosanye or no Orosanye, NBC has limited time to leave given the weakening effect technology keeps impacting on it” Akanni declared.
Media critic and Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of Media Review, Mr. Lanre Idowu, scored the agency high in area of serving as a credible monitor, promoting the quest for sanity on the airwaves. Idowu however canvassed more autonomy for the agency for it to bark and bite appropriately in the effort to raise the bar for swifter response to ethical and regulatory infractions.
“The good work that the NBC has done in the area of providing guidelines for community broadcasting has remained mere intentions because it lacks the policy muscle to execute without awaiting the approval of government, Idowu reasoned. He said further that, “at a time that the country is talking of amending the Constitution, the time has come for an amendment that allows a levy on radio and television receivers to be collected by the NBC as part of the move to build a fairly independent regulatory body that is not beholden to the government of the day.”
Akinfeleye decried inability of the airwaves’ regulatory agency translating the presidential announcement of granting the NBC permission to commence licensing of community radio stations into reality almost two years after.
The communication scholar was referring to the submission made by President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at the 8th International Conference of African Broadcasters (AFRICAST) held at Ladi Kwali Hall, Abuja Sheraton Hotel and Towers.
“We are aware of the need to expand the broadcast space and give more voice to the people. Consequently, the Federal Executive Council has considered and approved the guidelines proposed by the National Broadcasting Commission for the licensing of Community Radio in Nigeria. Further, we have devolved to the Commission, the power to consider and issue the licences without further recourse to the Presidency, provided such applicants have met all the conditions stipulated by law,” the president had said at the occasion.
Prof. Akinfeleye recalled an interface he had recently with the Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku at a conference in South Africa, where he enquired why Nigeria is yet to licence the establishment of the community radio in spite of this public announcement made by the president even with presence of participants from all over Africa as well as in Europe and America.
According to Akinfeleye, the Minister blamed the NBC for the delay, saying, what was needed to do was for the commission to forward a memo through the ministry to the presidency in order for the public pronouncement to be backed with a written memo, which NBC claimed, had stalled the execution of the order.
“Those foreign guests will never take us serious. Can you imagine that almost two years after the statement, no community radio has been licensed,” stated the university don, who wonders what excuse would be tendered at the forthcoming 9th AFRICAST in October this year.
The same delay tactics, he insisted, is affecting Nigeria’s march to digitisation. He could not fathom why the White Paper on Digitisation remains a secret document almost four months when the Federal Executive Council announced that it had been released. “Nobody has seen that document. I have asked the commission severally, I am not sure they even have a copy. It is embarrassing!”
On whether president’s advisers could be held responsible for these delays, Akinfeleye diasagrees, although, he said, “ they have never advised him well.”
He explained, “Take the issue of UNILAG’s attempted change of name, can somebody sit down and on a Democracy Day say you want to change the name of a university when you have all kinds of problems facing Nigeria, including Boko Haram. And this is a president who told us, he had no shoes when he was young during his campaigns. Now, he has shoes and the shoe is not oversize, the shoe is new, well polished by the votes we cast for him, so he should use that shoe to kick out Boko Haram, use it to kick out poverty and corruption. In the same vein, use the shoe to bring about peace and tranquility including security of life and properties.”
To Akinfeleye, it is glaring that “the so-called advisers are misadvising him and if care is not taken, they will push him into confusion. I think if I were him, I will sack all the advisers and bring another set of people or do like the former president Obasanjo, ‘you are my advisers but I may not take your advice.’
Certainly, “his advisers are misleading him and it is time for him to take full control. If he fails, it is going to be very sad for Nigeria, because this is the first time in the history that we would have an educated person, who has a doctorate degree from a recognised university as President. It has never happened. Before then, we had been having generals, who never fought and won any wars. But this is the time we metamorphose from general to university people, that is Yar ‘Adua with a Masters Degree; now a Ph.D holder as president and his deputy with MSc certificate. This is an opportunity to explore and be seen to have passed through the university and the university passed through them. The leadership has a lot to do and the advisers should better shape up or shape out.”
The grouse of another Journalism teacher at the Lagos State University, Mr. Tunde Akanni with the NBC is that it has never distinguished itself. “Ironically, it has been led by distinguished persons like erudite Tom Adaba, and even the incumbent, Yomi Bolarinwa, a most versatile professional.”
Statutorily, Akanni insisted that the agency is handcuffed. “It can set standard but cannot conclude the same process it is mandated to oversee. I mean the licensing of broadcast stations. Why won’t NBC be given same measure of power as Nigerian Communication Commission NCC?.
“Good news however is that technology is smarter than the mischievous law and policy makers we are unlucky to have here. They only need to find out how powerless they are now with the inception of new media technology. In Brazil today, several radio stations simply choose to broadcast from Net without bothering to seek any licence from government. Can you imagine any government toying with the idea of proscribing any newspaper like Abacha did years back? One certain thing is that Orosanye or no Orosanye, NBC has limited time to leave given the weakening effect technology keeps impacting on it” Akanni declared.
Media critic and Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of Media Review, Mr. Lanre Idowu, scored the agency high in area of serving as a credible monitor, promoting the quest for sanity on the airwaves. Idowu however canvassed more autonomy for the agency for it to bark and bite appropriately in the effort to raise the bar for swifter response to ethical and regulatory infractions.
“The good work that the NBC has done in the area of providing guidelines for community broadcasting has remained mere intentions because it lacks the policy muscle to execute without awaiting the approval of government, Idowu reasoned. He said further that, “at a time that the country is talking of amending the Constitution, the time has come for an amendment that allows a levy on radio and television receivers to be collected by the NBC as part of the move to build a fairly independent regulatory body that is not beholden to the government of the day.”
2012年8月2日星期四
Her family always waits until the long shopping
George and Tasha Willson have a family tradition on the first weekend of August — they go shopping.
The Broken Arrow family is among thousands of Oklahomans who are expected to crowd retail stores and shopping malls during the state's three-day back-to-school sales tax holiday that kicks off Friday.
Tasha Willson said Thursday her family always waits until the long shopping weekend to buy new clothes and shoes for their three children, ages 13, 10 and 5. The reason, she said, is simple.
"Saves money. Three children. You've got to save money somewhere," she said.
The sales tax holiday has been in effect since 2007 and is similar to events in 17 other states, including Texas, Arkansas and Missouri, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators in Washington, D.C.
Paula Ross, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Tax Commission, said Oklahomans saved almost $7 million in sales taxes during last year's holiday weekend.
In Oklahoma, any article of clothing or footwear priced less than $100 is exempt from state and local sales taxes, a tax break the Willsons said could save them as much as $40 on back-to-school purchases.
Tasha Willson estimated her family will spend up to $500 on school apparel over the weekend. Her husband said they'll likely save in other ways as well, as retailers mark down prices on summer apparel and introduce their fall lines with deep discounts.
"They always have sales," he said.
The sales tax holiday begins at one minute after midnight Friday and ends at midnight Sunday.
Oklahoma excludes school supplies, computers and other products from the tax exemption. Matt Robison, director of Oklahoma Retail Council, said he'd like to see it go further.
"The state chamber and the retail council supports expanding this," Robison said. State lawmakers have been reluctant because of the loss of revenue expanding the tax break would cause in a sluggish economy, he said.
Oklahoma retailers say the event traditionally has been a boon to their bottom line.
"We definitely see a boost in sales," said Mis Gaston, director of marketing and business development for Penn Square Mall in northwest Oklahoma City.
Gaston said business is so brisk during the sales tax holiday that the mall's dozens of retailers equate it to the unofficial kickoff of the holiday season — almost five months before Christmas.
"Lots of shoppers. Lots of bags. Definitely a full parking lot," Gaston said. "There is an increase for the month just from those three days."
Last year's holiday coincided with the opening of The Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City, a collection of brand-name outlet stores on the far western edge of the city.
"It was one of the top openings of outlet centers in the United States," said Gina Slechta, vice president of marketing. She said officials are expecting another big turnout this weekend and have partnered with a nearby hotel to offer a package for out-of-town shoppers.
Retailers have expressed concern that triple-digit temperatures forecast for the weekend might discourage shoppers from leaving their homes. But George Willson said the heat won't affect his family's plans.
"Not as long as the air conditioning keeps working," he said.
The Broken Arrow family is among thousands of Oklahomans who are expected to crowd retail stores and shopping malls during the state's three-day back-to-school sales tax holiday that kicks off Friday.
Tasha Willson said Thursday her family always waits until the long shopping weekend to buy new clothes and shoes for their three children, ages 13, 10 and 5. The reason, she said, is simple.
"Saves money. Three children. You've got to save money somewhere," she said.
The sales tax holiday has been in effect since 2007 and is similar to events in 17 other states, including Texas, Arkansas and Missouri, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators in Washington, D.C.
Paula Ross, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Tax Commission, said Oklahomans saved almost $7 million in sales taxes during last year's holiday weekend.
In Oklahoma, any article of clothing or footwear priced less than $100 is exempt from state and local sales taxes, a tax break the Willsons said could save them as much as $40 on back-to-school purchases.
Tasha Willson estimated her family will spend up to $500 on school apparel over the weekend. Her husband said they'll likely save in other ways as well, as retailers mark down prices on summer apparel and introduce their fall lines with deep discounts.
"They always have sales," he said.
The sales tax holiday begins at one minute after midnight Friday and ends at midnight Sunday.
Oklahoma excludes school supplies, computers and other products from the tax exemption. Matt Robison, director of Oklahoma Retail Council, said he'd like to see it go further.
"The state chamber and the retail council supports expanding this," Robison said. State lawmakers have been reluctant because of the loss of revenue expanding the tax break would cause in a sluggish economy, he said.
Oklahoma retailers say the event traditionally has been a boon to their bottom line.
"We definitely see a boost in sales," said Mis Gaston, director of marketing and business development for Penn Square Mall in northwest Oklahoma City.
Gaston said business is so brisk during the sales tax holiday that the mall's dozens of retailers equate it to the unofficial kickoff of the holiday season — almost five months before Christmas.
"Lots of shoppers. Lots of bags. Definitely a full parking lot," Gaston said. "There is an increase for the month just from those three days."
Last year's holiday coincided with the opening of The Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City, a collection of brand-name outlet stores on the far western edge of the city.
"It was one of the top openings of outlet centers in the United States," said Gina Slechta, vice president of marketing. She said officials are expecting another big turnout this weekend and have partnered with a nearby hotel to offer a package for out-of-town shoppers.
Retailers have expressed concern that triple-digit temperatures forecast for the weekend might discourage shoppers from leaving their homes. But George Willson said the heat won't affect his family's plans.
"Not as long as the air conditioning keeps working," he said.
2012年8月1日星期三
The Funky Zebras has some merchandise
Parents of schoolchildren aren’t the only ones taking advantage of the tax-free holiday Friday and Saturday in Iowa. Shoppers looking to save a few dollars on clothes and other eligible items will be heading to malls and stores in search of bargains.
Iowa drops its 6 percent sales tax (and local-option taxes, where they apply) for two days each year on clothing, shoes and other select items costing less than $100. That means consumers will save $6 on every $100 they spend. The Legislature approved the tax break in 2000 to help boost the economy and give consumers a break on school shopping.
Since then, a growing number of people are buying during the busy weekend. “Shoes and clothing that are less than $100 will be tax free. And it doesn’t matter if it’s back-to-school items or not,” said Victoria Daniels, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Revenue.
The tax-free holiday is held in August, as it is in most of the 16 other states that allow them, to target shoppers loading up on new clothing, shoes and accessories for children returning to classes. But those in households without students get the tax break, too.
“Who doesn’t like to save money?” Daniels said. Last year, retailers reported sales of $14.6 million during the two-day event. Shoppers saved an estimated $877,462 in sales tax during that time, according to revenue department reports.
Mahlon White’s extended family travels from a small farming community in central Nebraska to Des Moines to shop during the tax-free holiday for just that reason. The sales tax savings aren’t huge, but when combined with store sales, it’s enough of an incentive to bring White’s family to the local malls.
“It adds up,” said White, of Altoona. They shop for some back-to-school items but also look for other deals. “They don’t have an opportunity to shop like this” in Nebraska, he said.
Cheryl Hayes has advertised her women’s boutique, the Funky Zebras, as a destination during the tax-free weekend even though her Ankeny and Urbandale shops don’t sell what most parents would consider back-to-school items.
“You don’t have to have kids to get the tax break,” Hayes said. “I am just hoping that people will come in and see what we do have.”
The Funky Zebras has some merchandise that could be considered school wear for teenage girls, including jeans, tops and shoes that would be exempt from state sales tax Friday and Saturday. But mostly, Hayes is hoping other shoppers visit the store to stock up on clothes, jewelry and purses.
Daryl Dell’Anno, manager of the J.C. Penney store at Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, said back-to-school shopping started a couple of weeks ago. He expects the store to be busy Friday and Saturday in part because of the tax break and also because Penney’s is offering free haircuts for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
“We’ll see people shopping for other things, but it will be mostly for kids like the jeans, casual tops and athletic shoes,” he said.
Iowa drops its 6 percent sales tax (and local-option taxes, where they apply) for two days each year on clothing, shoes and other select items costing less than $100. That means consumers will save $6 on every $100 they spend. The Legislature approved the tax break in 2000 to help boost the economy and give consumers a break on school shopping.
Since then, a growing number of people are buying during the busy weekend. “Shoes and clothing that are less than $100 will be tax free. And it doesn’t matter if it’s back-to-school items or not,” said Victoria Daniels, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Revenue.
The tax-free holiday is held in August, as it is in most of the 16 other states that allow them, to target shoppers loading up on new clothing, shoes and accessories for children returning to classes. But those in households without students get the tax break, too.
“Who doesn’t like to save money?” Daniels said. Last year, retailers reported sales of $14.6 million during the two-day event. Shoppers saved an estimated $877,462 in sales tax during that time, according to revenue department reports.
Mahlon White’s extended family travels from a small farming community in central Nebraska to Des Moines to shop during the tax-free holiday for just that reason. The sales tax savings aren’t huge, but when combined with store sales, it’s enough of an incentive to bring White’s family to the local malls.
“It adds up,” said White, of Altoona. They shop for some back-to-school items but also look for other deals. “They don’t have an opportunity to shop like this” in Nebraska, he said.
Cheryl Hayes has advertised her women’s boutique, the Funky Zebras, as a destination during the tax-free weekend even though her Ankeny and Urbandale shops don’t sell what most parents would consider back-to-school items.
“You don’t have to have kids to get the tax break,” Hayes said. “I am just hoping that people will come in and see what we do have.”
The Funky Zebras has some merchandise that could be considered school wear for teenage girls, including jeans, tops and shoes that would be exempt from state sales tax Friday and Saturday. But mostly, Hayes is hoping other shoppers visit the store to stock up on clothes, jewelry and purses.
Daryl Dell’Anno, manager of the J.C. Penney store at Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, said back-to-school shopping started a couple of weeks ago. He expects the store to be busy Friday and Saturday in part because of the tax break and also because Penney’s is offering free haircuts for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
“We’ll see people shopping for other things, but it will be mostly for kids like the jeans, casual tops and athletic shoes,” he said.
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