Whaddya mean, a drink too many? Haven't started yet. Three bottles of champagne. Pronto! That's not a brand we stock, sir.
Pronto? It means chop chop. Rattle your dags. A into G. I'm afraid I can't serve you any more wine, sir. Now, look here, sport. You know who I am?
''Bugger. Wrong card. Well, forget cards. I'll tell you who who I am face to face. I'm a member of Parliament. And here's my ID. The genuine plastic card on a chain. There's not too many of those around, sonny. I can get better grub at half the price you charge here by just flashing this at Bellamy's.
And I can use the members' dunnies in the House at any time. Night or day. Night or day
Congratulations, sir. Our prices are a bit dearer than Bellamy's, but then we are not subsidised by the taxpayer. The voters in your electorate will be pleased to know you are eating well, sir. '
At the polytech, sir. It's part of the paper on handling difficult customers. If the customer is made to feel inferior he may quieten down and do as he is asked. We need that training as the temptation to assault the customer can become irresistible.
Don't try that with me, cobber. No MP is gonna feel inferior to a waiter poncing around with a ring in his ear. Let's have more champagne and less posh talk.
I'm sorry, sir. You have already had far too much to drink and I'm afraid you are upsetting the other indoor Tracking.
Look here, sunshine. I'll be the thudge of jat. Champagne. Now!
No, sir. And please stop shouting. The lady at table 6 is having a fit at all this noise. She was sent here by her specialist with her nerves. She had hoped to be going home tomorrow. I'm afraid I will have to ask you to leave.
I'm not sure that Mr Key looks after the staffing at the hotel, sir. Certainly it was Monsieur Alphonse who offered me my present position and he said nothing about having to ring Wellington. And I imagine Mr Key has more than enough on his plate running the country and visiting tourist resorts overseas. The staffing of a country hotel is unlikely to concern him.
It soon will concern him, my lad. When he hears about one of his members being given the runaround in a public place. He'll have you out of here before you can say, ''and chips with that''. Rubbish, if you don't mind me saying so, sir.
He also explained just how sophisticated some identity theft operations can be. One of thieves' most preferred methods is skimming ATMs. The criminals will insert card readers onto the ATM and install tiny cameras somewhere on the machine to record the black magnetic strip information from the back of the card and watch someone enter their PIN. The criminals can then buy blank plastic credit cards and encode them with magnetic strips containing the same information, creating a duplicate credit card.
The best way to prevent against this is to keep your hand low over the key pad when you're typing in your PIN, Solomon said. He added that many companies have made newer machines which make it harder to install skimming devices, but that these machines are expensive and banks have been slow to replace old machines due to cost.
Another way of gaining information for criminals is by asking for it directly. Solomon recalled a "jury duty" story in which a person pretending to be from the government calls and said you've missed jury duty. To avoid being held in contempt, they tell you they are now recording the conversation and that you must identify yourself and pledge to come on a certain future date. They ask for your Social Security number, birth date, etc., and you've just given a criminal all they need.
"How many people like eBay?" Solomon asked. "The criminals have their own versions, as well. A carding website will have auctions, like `I'll sell you 100 IDs for $2,000.' You can even rate the seller. `Johnny Jones gave me some great cards.' "
Other tips Solomon offered were never to click on links from unusual emails, as they might install a virus on your computer, and to consider changing passwords every 60 to 90 days.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Truth About Diversity and Discrimination
As a young manager in a big company, I volunteered to be the college recruiting liaison for my department. That meant coordinating between hiring managers and recruiters, reading hundreds of resumes, setting up interviews, and reviewing feedback to help determine who to hire.
It was a lot of work but a great experience until one day the department head threw me a real curve ball. He said that the human resource folks were coming down on him, that we had to hire two black engineers that year. No kidding; it was that cut and dried. Welcome to the real world.
That may have been 30 years ago, but I will never forget how wrong it felt. Call me strange, but I was always pretty much colorblind when it came to race, not to mention gender, religion, nationality, sexuality, whatever. For whatever reason, it never meant that much to me. And I wasn’t raised in a protected environment, that’s for indoor Tracking.
I actually grew up in racially segregated Brooklyn, New York. My friends and I were bussed into an all black and Hispanic junior high school in the middle of a slum. It was a real war zone. People were killed there every year. Still, none of that made a difference. I’ve always thought of people as unique individuals. Period.
Of course, that’s how it should be. And I’ve no doubt that it will be. But not if we stay on the path we’re on. Ironically, the legislation that’s designed to reduce discrimination and promote diversity oftentimes reinforces the opposite behavior. The same is true of racially exclusive organizations and cultural norms like political correctness.
They promote resentment, poor work ethic, victim mentality, entitlement behavior, and yes, even racism. They undermine personal responsibility and accountability. They reduce organizational productivity and effectiveness. And they’re slowly eroding the foundation of our nation and our competitiveness in an increasingly global marketplace.
Don’t get me wrong. Civil rights, women’s rights, equal opportunity, it’s all good. It’s sad that they didn’t happen sooner. But things change. Organizations change. Cultures change. And when that happens, even the most altruistic goals and strategies can have unintended consequences that reinforce the wrong behavior.
When smart business leaders find themselves in that situation, the first thing they do is be completely honest with themselves about their situation. Then they come up with a common goal and figure out what kind of cultural change they need to achieve it. Then they make sure that everything they do reinforces the behavior needed to bring about that change.
First of all, I don’t think I’m going out on too long a limb by suggesting that we’re all looking for a colorblind society, and I mean that in the broad sense: race, gender, religion, nationality, and sexuality should play no role in the decisions we make in business, politics, or society. Period.
I’m sure that’s a goal we can all agree on. Now, let’s see if our current laws, our politics, and our cultural norms reinforce that behavior or not.
Take affirmative action, for example. Maybe there was a time when it was needed, but today, affirmative action is basically institutionalized racism. It provides advantages to certain select groups while discriminating against others. It doesn’t make us colorblind. It specifically forces us to look at and make decisions based on race.
Moreover, when people are hired, promoted, or admitted into schools based on anything but their merits, that changes their behavior. They either feel like they’re special when they’re or like perpetual victims who can’t achieve things on their own.
In either case, it doesn’t teach them personal accountability and self-reliance. It teaches them to expect things they didn’t work for, to want things they don’t deserve.
Affirmative action also creates resentment in those who are passed over in favor of special minority groups. It teaches them that good grades and hard work aren’t as important as race. That, in turn, erodes their personal accountability and self-reliance. And you know what else it does? It actually reinforces racism. That’s just common sense.
It’s interesting to note that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor once said that she was a “perfect affirmative action baby” because she was admitted into Princeton and Yale despite test scores that “were not comparable” to those of her colleagues. She said that “cultural biases built into testing” makes it harder for minorities to perform well.
It was a lot of work but a great experience until one day the department head threw me a real curve ball. He said that the human resource folks were coming down on him, that we had to hire two black engineers that year. No kidding; it was that cut and dried. Welcome to the real world.
That may have been 30 years ago, but I will never forget how wrong it felt. Call me strange, but I was always pretty much colorblind when it came to race, not to mention gender, religion, nationality, sexuality, whatever. For whatever reason, it never meant that much to me. And I wasn’t raised in a protected environment, that’s for indoor Tracking.
I actually grew up in racially segregated Brooklyn, New York. My friends and I were bussed into an all black and Hispanic junior high school in the middle of a slum. It was a real war zone. People were killed there every year. Still, none of that made a difference. I’ve always thought of people as unique individuals. Period.
Of course, that’s how it should be. And I’ve no doubt that it will be. But not if we stay on the path we’re on. Ironically, the legislation that’s designed to reduce discrimination and promote diversity oftentimes reinforces the opposite behavior. The same is true of racially exclusive organizations and cultural norms like political correctness.
They promote resentment, poor work ethic, victim mentality, entitlement behavior, and yes, even racism. They undermine personal responsibility and accountability. They reduce organizational productivity and effectiveness. And they’re slowly eroding the foundation of our nation and our competitiveness in an increasingly global marketplace.
Don’t get me wrong. Civil rights, women’s rights, equal opportunity, it’s all good. It’s sad that they didn’t happen sooner. But things change. Organizations change. Cultures change. And when that happens, even the most altruistic goals and strategies can have unintended consequences that reinforce the wrong behavior.
When smart business leaders find themselves in that situation, the first thing they do is be completely honest with themselves about their situation. Then they come up with a common goal and figure out what kind of cultural change they need to achieve it. Then they make sure that everything they do reinforces the behavior needed to bring about that change.
First of all, I don’t think I’m going out on too long a limb by suggesting that we’re all looking for a colorblind society, and I mean that in the broad sense: race, gender, religion, nationality, and sexuality should play no role in the decisions we make in business, politics, or society. Period.
I’m sure that’s a goal we can all agree on. Now, let’s see if our current laws, our politics, and our cultural norms reinforce that behavior or not.
Take affirmative action, for example. Maybe there was a time when it was needed, but today, affirmative action is basically institutionalized racism. It provides advantages to certain select groups while discriminating against others. It doesn’t make us colorblind. It specifically forces us to look at and make decisions based on race.
Moreover, when people are hired, promoted, or admitted into schools based on anything but their merits, that changes their behavior. They either feel like they’re special when they’re or like perpetual victims who can’t achieve things on their own.
In either case, it doesn’t teach them personal accountability and self-reliance. It teaches them to expect things they didn’t work for, to want things they don’t deserve.
Affirmative action also creates resentment in those who are passed over in favor of special minority groups. It teaches them that good grades and hard work aren’t as important as race. That, in turn, erodes their personal accountability and self-reliance. And you know what else it does? It actually reinforces racism. That’s just common sense.
It’s interesting to note that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor once said that she was a “perfect affirmative action baby” because she was admitted into Princeton and Yale despite test scores that “were not comparable” to those of her colleagues. She said that “cultural biases built into testing” makes it harder for minorities to perform well.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Jonathan’s policies are driven by sentiments
Weeks after his controversial book, The Accidental Public Servant, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory under President Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration, Mr. Nasir El-Rufai, in this online interview, tells LEKE BAIYEWU the roles he played while in office and his disposition to Umaru Yar’ Adua and Goodluck Jonathan-led administrations
As regards the solution to Boko Haram insurgency, you once said the Federal Government knew what to do and should do it. Does it mean the government is not getting it right by proposing an amnesty for members of the sect?
I have always insisted that the Federal Government knows what to do about the nation’s insecurity and should just do it. It is the principal duty of the government to ensure peace and security of the people. It is a responsibility that cannot be outsourced. The state has certain prerogatives to enable it to discharge this function, including enormous intelligence assets, the law and a constitutional monopoly of the means of coercion. Preserving order, ensuring peace and promoting harmony are among the highest objectives of statecraft, and they are too serious to be left to the caprice of politics or the destructive allure of ethnic and indoor Tracking.
Many of the policies of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration are driven by these unhelpful attitudes and sentiments, including the so-called amnesty programmes. As far back as June 2011, the Jonathan administration knew what it needed to do from the Galtimari Committee report and the resultant White Paper to nip the Boko Haram insurgency in the bud. What did he do? He puts the report, recommendations and White Paper in the drawer and watched, while some 4,000 Nigerians were killed by Boko Haram and the military. Why is it so hard to implement the recommendations of all the committees set up by the government on the insurgency?
How would you describe that rate of corruption in the National Assembly? You once accused two senators of demanding bribes from you to ease your ministerial appointment confirmation?
Corruption is a national challenge, and the country has to summon the will to combat it in all sectors. It is not only in the National Assembly but everywhere within other arms and tiers of government. We simply must elect people of integrity that can begin to attack this national scourge from the top down.
As the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Secretary of the National Council of Privatisation from November 1999 to July 2003, how would you describe the perceived failure in the sale of public corporations?
Perception can sometimes be miles apart from reality. The BPE under my leadership successfully privatised many companies through transparent and open bids. For example, Unipetrol is now Oando; National Oil is now Conoil; and both companies are thriving. Where we were obstructed by personal and political interests from concluding their privatisation, the companies concerned were either eventually liquidated – like Nigeria Airways – or have lost value and market share to nimbler competitors – like NITEL.
There were no irregularities in privatisation under my watch. And the Senate committee that conducted investigations into privatisation found nothing. The findings also showed that more than 80 per cent of privatised companies were either doing very well or not worse off than being under the control of the government. There is nowhere in the world where an 80 per cent success rate equals failure.
How much have the recommendations by the Presidential Committee on Power Supply Improvement been implemented and do you think the cabal in the sector will ever allow stable power supply?
The Presidential Committee on Power Supply was set up by President Obasanjo, not ‘formed’ by me. It operated for some three months only and succeeded in raising our generation capacity from 1,500 to 3,200 megawatts. We made far reaching recommendations to accelerate the completion of the National Independent Power Project, but the (Umaru) Yar’adua-Jonathan administrations did not focus on implementing them. The Economic Team in the Obasanjo years based a lot of the reform ideas on applying market forces within a well-structured and properly regulated system. Every government policy has potential winners and losers, and the interests that may be affected could deploy resources to entrench their advantage. It is the duty of government to develop and implement policy within this minefield.
Power supply is an area that will continue to require substantial investments, close monitoring and effective regulation. That is where attention should be focussed, not on celebrating minuscule additions to the paltry total generation capacity of 3,200MW the Obasanjo administration left behind in April 2007.
After the fiasco of the SAGEM identity card project and the scandal associated with it, the Obasanjo government decided on a new approach. What we suggested was a new identification system that was sufficiently rigorous and technologically advanced to be integrated across all the government agencies that collected personal information. And that could be accessed by banks and other companies to verify identity. Each enrolled citizen was to be given a smartcard, which could also be a payment card.
We designed a private sector-led project for the new identity scheme and we selected the team to deliver the project, led by the current Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission shortly before we left office.
It is disappointing that the team has not delivered the project as envisaged and that the NIMC leadership has made it a project depending on the government treasury, rather than the initial vision of a private sector led investment.
In the course enforcing the master plan of the Federal Capital Territory, many structures, including a house belonging to the then Peoples Democratic Party chairman, were demolished. You’ve said you have no regrets but your critics maintain that the exercise was to witch-hunt some people.
I did my duty in Abuja without fear or favour and President Obasanjo gave me the support I needed to do the job. Which of the demolitions has been reversed? Tell me if you know of any house that was removed that should not have been.
If you have read my book, ‘The Accidental Public Servant,’ you will see that my prominence in the Obasanjo government was because of the many assignments I was asked to handle, rather than any ambition. I have never had any ambition for any public office.
It was widely believed that you went on self-exile at the end of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration because you stepped on toes while in office. Whose toes did you step on and have you been forgiven?
The Obasanjo government ended in May 2007 and I remained in Nigeria until June 2008, when I went abroad for further studies. Subsequent events compelled me to remain outside my country, upon completion of my studies. Umaru Yar’Adua was after me and I took prudent measures against presidential mischief. As for stepping on toes, I know I did my job to the best of my ability and ensured that people did not violate rules the way they were accustomed to.
You were appointed member of the National Energy Council in September 2007 by the late Yar’Adua’s administration but you resigned your appointment in June 2008. What caused this?
I attended only one meeting of the Energy Council – that was the inaugural meeting in September 2007. By June 2008, there was no illusion that I would attend another one. I resigned membership of the council and left Nigeria in June 2008 to be a Mason Fellow at Harvard University. There was no point being member of a moribund council that, in any case, I would have no time for.
Under same administration, you, along with Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Alhaji Lawal Batagarawa, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, and Chief Andy Uba were reportedly accused of committing treason by encouraging military insurrection. Why would you have done that?
I am hearing this for the first time and I am sure some of the people you named will also be similarly surprised at your revelation. It is unfortunate that President Umaru Yar’Adua collected around himself some of the most insecure people around. Like the many featherweights that have blighted Africa, Yar’adua and his gang tried to criminalise all opposition, to conflate dissent and treason always. Elected to lead democratic systems, they approached the job with the mind-sets of absolute rulers. They never learn the lessons of history.
As regards the solution to Boko Haram insurgency, you once said the Federal Government knew what to do and should do it. Does it mean the government is not getting it right by proposing an amnesty for members of the sect?
I have always insisted that the Federal Government knows what to do about the nation’s insecurity and should just do it. It is the principal duty of the government to ensure peace and security of the people. It is a responsibility that cannot be outsourced. The state has certain prerogatives to enable it to discharge this function, including enormous intelligence assets, the law and a constitutional monopoly of the means of coercion. Preserving order, ensuring peace and promoting harmony are among the highest objectives of statecraft, and they are too serious to be left to the caprice of politics or the destructive allure of ethnic and indoor Tracking.
Many of the policies of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration are driven by these unhelpful attitudes and sentiments, including the so-called amnesty programmes. As far back as June 2011, the Jonathan administration knew what it needed to do from the Galtimari Committee report and the resultant White Paper to nip the Boko Haram insurgency in the bud. What did he do? He puts the report, recommendations and White Paper in the drawer and watched, while some 4,000 Nigerians were killed by Boko Haram and the military. Why is it so hard to implement the recommendations of all the committees set up by the government on the insurgency?
How would you describe that rate of corruption in the National Assembly? You once accused two senators of demanding bribes from you to ease your ministerial appointment confirmation?
Corruption is a national challenge, and the country has to summon the will to combat it in all sectors. It is not only in the National Assembly but everywhere within other arms and tiers of government. We simply must elect people of integrity that can begin to attack this national scourge from the top down.
As the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Secretary of the National Council of Privatisation from November 1999 to July 2003, how would you describe the perceived failure in the sale of public corporations?
Perception can sometimes be miles apart from reality. The BPE under my leadership successfully privatised many companies through transparent and open bids. For example, Unipetrol is now Oando; National Oil is now Conoil; and both companies are thriving. Where we were obstructed by personal and political interests from concluding their privatisation, the companies concerned were either eventually liquidated – like Nigeria Airways – or have lost value and market share to nimbler competitors – like NITEL.
There were no irregularities in privatisation under my watch. And the Senate committee that conducted investigations into privatisation found nothing. The findings also showed that more than 80 per cent of privatised companies were either doing very well or not worse off than being under the control of the government. There is nowhere in the world where an 80 per cent success rate equals failure.
How much have the recommendations by the Presidential Committee on Power Supply Improvement been implemented and do you think the cabal in the sector will ever allow stable power supply?
The Presidential Committee on Power Supply was set up by President Obasanjo, not ‘formed’ by me. It operated for some three months only and succeeded in raising our generation capacity from 1,500 to 3,200 megawatts. We made far reaching recommendations to accelerate the completion of the National Independent Power Project, but the (Umaru) Yar’adua-Jonathan administrations did not focus on implementing them. The Economic Team in the Obasanjo years based a lot of the reform ideas on applying market forces within a well-structured and properly regulated system. Every government policy has potential winners and losers, and the interests that may be affected could deploy resources to entrench their advantage. It is the duty of government to develop and implement policy within this minefield.
Power supply is an area that will continue to require substantial investments, close monitoring and effective regulation. That is where attention should be focussed, not on celebrating minuscule additions to the paltry total generation capacity of 3,200MW the Obasanjo administration left behind in April 2007.
After the fiasco of the SAGEM identity card project and the scandal associated with it, the Obasanjo government decided on a new approach. What we suggested was a new identification system that was sufficiently rigorous and technologically advanced to be integrated across all the government agencies that collected personal information. And that could be accessed by banks and other companies to verify identity. Each enrolled citizen was to be given a smartcard, which could also be a payment card.
We designed a private sector-led project for the new identity scheme and we selected the team to deliver the project, led by the current Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission shortly before we left office.
It is disappointing that the team has not delivered the project as envisaged and that the NIMC leadership has made it a project depending on the government treasury, rather than the initial vision of a private sector led investment.
In the course enforcing the master plan of the Federal Capital Territory, many structures, including a house belonging to the then Peoples Democratic Party chairman, were demolished. You’ve said you have no regrets but your critics maintain that the exercise was to witch-hunt some people.
I did my duty in Abuja without fear or favour and President Obasanjo gave me the support I needed to do the job. Which of the demolitions has been reversed? Tell me if you know of any house that was removed that should not have been.
If you have read my book, ‘The Accidental Public Servant,’ you will see that my prominence in the Obasanjo government was because of the many assignments I was asked to handle, rather than any ambition. I have never had any ambition for any public office.
It was widely believed that you went on self-exile at the end of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration because you stepped on toes while in office. Whose toes did you step on and have you been forgiven?
The Obasanjo government ended in May 2007 and I remained in Nigeria until June 2008, when I went abroad for further studies. Subsequent events compelled me to remain outside my country, upon completion of my studies. Umaru Yar’Adua was after me and I took prudent measures against presidential mischief. As for stepping on toes, I know I did my job to the best of my ability and ensured that people did not violate rules the way they were accustomed to.
You were appointed member of the National Energy Council in September 2007 by the late Yar’Adua’s administration but you resigned your appointment in June 2008. What caused this?
I attended only one meeting of the Energy Council – that was the inaugural meeting in September 2007. By June 2008, there was no illusion that I would attend another one. I resigned membership of the council and left Nigeria in June 2008 to be a Mason Fellow at Harvard University. There was no point being member of a moribund council that, in any case, I would have no time for.
Under same administration, you, along with Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Alhaji Lawal Batagarawa, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, and Chief Andy Uba were reportedly accused of committing treason by encouraging military insurrection. Why would you have done that?
I am hearing this for the first time and I am sure some of the people you named will also be similarly surprised at your revelation. It is unfortunate that President Umaru Yar’Adua collected around himself some of the most insecure people around. Like the many featherweights that have blighted Africa, Yar’adua and his gang tried to criminalise all opposition, to conflate dissent and treason always. Elected to lead democratic systems, they approached the job with the mind-sets of absolute rulers. They never learn the lessons of history.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Texas poker players hope for a winning hand
Hayden Sneed travels more than 120 miles round trip from Plano to play the game he loves. Sneed, 23, said it is a hassle to make the trek across the Red River just for a game of poker. But there may be some good news on the horizon for poker lovers like Sneed.
With the help of State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez and the Poker Gaming Act of 2013, poker players in Texas might finally find Texas Hold ‘Em and other forms of poker legal inside Texas borders. If the legislation passes before the end of regular session on May 27, poker would be legal to play online, in bingo halls or inside of special clubs.
“It would be ultimately convenient because I’m already expending gas and time for a game,” Sneed said. “Over half of the parking lot [at Winstar Casino] in Oklahoma is full of Texas license plates.”
The poker gaming act and online poker acts of 2013 would legalize and regulate poker within certain areas of Texas, while also boosting Texas’ economy by providing upwards of $10 million dollars in extra revenue, according to Nate Walker, Rodriguez’s chief of rtls.
Sneed said that he wouldn’t mind playing in bingo halls around Dallas, even though there would probably be fewer players at the table than in the much larger poker rooms in the casinos in Oklahoma. He said he would still be more apt to attend a game a few miles away versus the 60 it takes to get to a legal table now.
“Even at a $60 buy-in, it’s still much more appealing,” Sneed said. “Around here, I think there’s no way it couldn’t be popular.”
Currently in Texas, games at personal residences are legal, but only if the winnings are distributed among the players, and the house does not take a cut.
This bill would help to regulate illegal games now being played throughout the state, including in homes and warehouses that illegally take a cut. Instead, games would be played in establishments that would be regulated and taxed by the state.
“In Dallas there are warehouses where you need to know a secret knock or password just to get in,” Walker said. “We’ve seen articles in newspapers about robberies and gunfights at these types of meetings.”
Rob Kohler, representative of the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, is against the legislation. He does not believe Texas should rely on legal gambling to increase its tax revenues.
“The most important thing that people on both sides of the argument agree on is that someone is going to get hurt,” Kohler said. “It’s just a matter of how many that’s disputed.”
Saket Soni, executive director of the New Orleans-based National Guestworker Alliance, points out that existing guest-worker programs tie the foreigners to their employer. “If they complain about working conditions or organize, there is a readymade retaliation button,” Soni said. “Employers can simply terminate a worker and deport their problem because, once they’re fired, those workers are deportable.”
The groups behind the W Visa say the program would be different. They point to a “portability” provision that would allow the foreigners to switch employers. “Portability is, really, the foundation of all labor rights,” said Tamar Jacoby, president and CEO of a pro-business group called ImmigrationWorks USA. “If you want to ask for better wages or better conditions or better anything, your leverage comes from being able to say, ‘I’m leaving.’ ”
But there’s some fine print. The Senate bill, as it stands, would require unemployed W Visa holders to find a job within 60 days. And they could not apply just anywhere. They would have to work for another employer registered in the program.
The search for such an employer could be daunting. Few of the workers would speak English well and know their way around. “Sixty days to find a job these days is pretty challenging,” Soni said, even for workers born and raised in the United States.
For portability to be most meaningful, jobless W Visa holders would have protections against blacklisting, and the registered employers would have incentives to hire unemployed W Visa holders instead of bringing in new foreigners for openings, Soni said. Jobless W Visa holders could also benefit from coordination and support programs.
Supporters of a proposed visa for low-skilled, nonseasonal laborers say it would break the mold for U.S. guest-worker programs. They point out that the visa, part of a sweeping immigration bill that a Senate committee took up Thursday, would allow foreigners to switch employers and would provide a path to citizenship.
But a WBEZ examination of the legislation suggests that the W Visa could, in practice, tether the foreigners to potentially abusive bosses and would not provide any guarantee of a future in the country.
The program, developed in talks between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, would set up a legal mechanism for bringing in as many as 200,000 foreigners a year to worksites ranging from meatpacking plants to nursing homes. Business groups behind the plan say it would help address a “future flow” of workers into positions that Americans don’t want.
With the help of State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez and the Poker Gaming Act of 2013, poker players in Texas might finally find Texas Hold ‘Em and other forms of poker legal inside Texas borders. If the legislation passes before the end of regular session on May 27, poker would be legal to play online, in bingo halls or inside of special clubs.
“It would be ultimately convenient because I’m already expending gas and time for a game,” Sneed said. “Over half of the parking lot [at Winstar Casino] in Oklahoma is full of Texas license plates.”
The poker gaming act and online poker acts of 2013 would legalize and regulate poker within certain areas of Texas, while also boosting Texas’ economy by providing upwards of $10 million dollars in extra revenue, according to Nate Walker, Rodriguez’s chief of rtls.
Sneed said that he wouldn’t mind playing in bingo halls around Dallas, even though there would probably be fewer players at the table than in the much larger poker rooms in the casinos in Oklahoma. He said he would still be more apt to attend a game a few miles away versus the 60 it takes to get to a legal table now.
“Even at a $60 buy-in, it’s still much more appealing,” Sneed said. “Around here, I think there’s no way it couldn’t be popular.”
Currently in Texas, games at personal residences are legal, but only if the winnings are distributed among the players, and the house does not take a cut.
This bill would help to regulate illegal games now being played throughout the state, including in homes and warehouses that illegally take a cut. Instead, games would be played in establishments that would be regulated and taxed by the state.
“In Dallas there are warehouses where you need to know a secret knock or password just to get in,” Walker said. “We’ve seen articles in newspapers about robberies and gunfights at these types of meetings.”
Rob Kohler, representative of the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, is against the legislation. He does not believe Texas should rely on legal gambling to increase its tax revenues.
“The most important thing that people on both sides of the argument agree on is that someone is going to get hurt,” Kohler said. “It’s just a matter of how many that’s disputed.”
Saket Soni, executive director of the New Orleans-based National Guestworker Alliance, points out that existing guest-worker programs tie the foreigners to their employer. “If they complain about working conditions or organize, there is a readymade retaliation button,” Soni said. “Employers can simply terminate a worker and deport their problem because, once they’re fired, those workers are deportable.”
The groups behind the W Visa say the program would be different. They point to a “portability” provision that would allow the foreigners to switch employers. “Portability is, really, the foundation of all labor rights,” said Tamar Jacoby, president and CEO of a pro-business group called ImmigrationWorks USA. “If you want to ask for better wages or better conditions or better anything, your leverage comes from being able to say, ‘I’m leaving.’ ”
But there’s some fine print. The Senate bill, as it stands, would require unemployed W Visa holders to find a job within 60 days. And they could not apply just anywhere. They would have to work for another employer registered in the program.
The search for such an employer could be daunting. Few of the workers would speak English well and know their way around. “Sixty days to find a job these days is pretty challenging,” Soni said, even for workers born and raised in the United States.
For portability to be most meaningful, jobless W Visa holders would have protections against blacklisting, and the registered employers would have incentives to hire unemployed W Visa holders instead of bringing in new foreigners for openings, Soni said. Jobless W Visa holders could also benefit from coordination and support programs.
Supporters of a proposed visa for low-skilled, nonseasonal laborers say it would break the mold for U.S. guest-worker programs. They point out that the visa, part of a sweeping immigration bill that a Senate committee took up Thursday, would allow foreigners to switch employers and would provide a path to citizenship.
But a WBEZ examination of the legislation suggests that the W Visa could, in practice, tether the foreigners to potentially abusive bosses and would not provide any guarantee of a future in the country.
The program, developed in talks between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, would set up a legal mechanism for bringing in as many as 200,000 foreigners a year to worksites ranging from meatpacking plants to nursing homes. Business groups behind the plan say it would help address a “future flow” of workers into positions that Americans don’t want.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Cheerful and cheap, with pizzazz
Reporters got a sneak preview Monday of what’s in store at the Coquitlam location and Target Canada president Tony Fisher was the tour guide.
With clean, airy surroundings, the store’s sight lines are unobstructed and the aisles wide enough to drive a truck through. Staff friendliness is a key ingredient, as is a curious offering of cheap chic items next to designer items.
A native of Minnesota, Fisher admitted he is still learning about Canadian consumer tastes after opening 24 Target stores in Ontario in March. Minneapolis-based Target has 1,784 American stores.
Fisher — who moved to the Toronto area in 2011 to lay the groundwork for this year’s rollout — gets the impression that Canadians like to travel from store to store to get what they want. “We want to offer a one-stop shopping experience,” said the upbeat executive.
The U.S. retailer has shovelled out $10 million to $12 million to upgrade every former Zellers location with new lighting and new flooring. Some of the retail clerks are former Zellers employees.
The Coquitlam Centre Target store, which at 120,000 square feet is larger than the average Canadian Target store, has a large beauty section, a substantial grocery section, Canucks hockey and B.C. Lions football apparel, a wide smattering of indoor Tracking, household goods and a big pet aisle catering to that growing market.
Nestled in a big-box neighbourhood of Coquitlam, there is no doubt who this new kid on the Canadian retailing block is targeting — think the smart, savvy mothers who do most of the shopping in the family and know how to find a bargain. The store is also happy, of course, to welcome the dads who shop once in a while and the “young independents” looking for “room essentials.”
To promote customer loyalty, Canadian shoppers will be able to save five per cent when using a REDcard debit card or a Target RBC MasterCard — allowing the store to track consumer preferences and pitch to them directly with in-store promotions.
In the baby section, Fisher stopped to show that everything from soothers to baby food and disposable diapers are in one handy location, so a mother with a fussing infant doesn’t have to comb through the store to find everything she needs.
The Bulls are also an example of a team that built a functional NBA offense despite lacking a single big man with any reliable range outside of 18 feet.4 Playing two big men close to the basket crowds the lane and brings spacing issues, and those spacing issues, plus the emergence of ace 3-point shooting power forwards (Ryan Anderson, for instance), has created the impression that it's just too difficult for teams to score with two traditional interior players — especially if neither brings a Zach Randolph–style post game.
Boozer has a bit of a post game, but his go-to post move is a face-up fading jump shot. The Bulls, when Derrick Rose was around, built a top-10 offense around Rose's brilliance and the ability of both Boozer and Noah to work in very sophisticated ways, and in tandem, south of the foul line — as screeners, passers, and occasional shooters/drivers. And that offense, sans Rose, was still good enough to squeeze out a league-average number of points against the Nets' very average defense in the first round. They did so again last night, keenly using Noah's passing and the threat of Boozer's jump shot to beat Miami's trapping defense on just enough occasions to wring out their average scoring output. (There are times, against elite defenses like Miami's, when it almost feels as if Noah's passing skills are as important an asset as his all-world defense. What a brilliant player.) There are a bunch of lottery teams ready to follow this same pattern of building an above-average offense around two interior bangers, including Detroit (Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond) and Toronto (Amir Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas). If the skill sets are right and varied, it's possible.
Miami, of course, is the league's premier small-ball team, the pied piper everyone is allegedly following. Nonsense. The Heat can play this way because they have James, an unprecedented NBA physical specimen, plus a wing player in Battier willing to do whatever it takes to win titles — even if it means guarding Boozer, David West, and Randolph in succession.
The most intriguing potential big-versus-small matchup on the board, mostly because of Oklahoma City's adaptability and the added intrigue of Russell Westbrook's season-ending injury.5 The Grizz have built around the Zach Randolph–Marc Gasol pairing, reasoning they could build at least an average offense around two post-up brutes — a duo that includes the best passing big man in the game in Gasol. Teams can contend with an average offense and a top-three defense, and the Grizz have had the latter half of that equation covered all season.
Only Utah and Indiana finished a larger share of offensive possessions via post-up plays, and Memphis is leaning on post-ups even more so far in the playoffs, per Synergy Sports.6 Like the Bulls, Memphis stands as proof that teams can create their own version of floor spacing in an inside-out fashion, with interior bangers drawing attention toward the rim and moving the ball in smart ways from there.
But the Thunder have the trump card in this series: small-ball lineups with Kevin Durant at power forward. Those lineups over multiple seasons have been frighteningly explosive offensively, even if they can be hit-and-miss on defense — as is typical for smaller lineups. Scott Brooks has been a bit reluctant to break these bad boys out against the brutish Grizz, and when he has, Memphis has generally responded by downsizing and shifting either Tayshaun Prince or Quincy Pondexter to power forward. Oklahoma City played small for only about 26 minutes over three regular-season games against Memphis, and followed the same pattern in Game 1; Brooks didn't go to Durant at power forward until late in the third quarter, eventually staying with that setup for about 8:30 of continuous play in which the Thunder were plus-10.7 Memphis shifted into small-ball mode for almost the entirety of that duration, save for a brief stretch in which Darrell Arthur, the team's third big man, tried and failed to defend Durant.
With clean, airy surroundings, the store’s sight lines are unobstructed and the aisles wide enough to drive a truck through. Staff friendliness is a key ingredient, as is a curious offering of cheap chic items next to designer items.
A native of Minnesota, Fisher admitted he is still learning about Canadian consumer tastes after opening 24 Target stores in Ontario in March. Minneapolis-based Target has 1,784 American stores.
Fisher — who moved to the Toronto area in 2011 to lay the groundwork for this year’s rollout — gets the impression that Canadians like to travel from store to store to get what they want. “We want to offer a one-stop shopping experience,” said the upbeat executive.
The U.S. retailer has shovelled out $10 million to $12 million to upgrade every former Zellers location with new lighting and new flooring. Some of the retail clerks are former Zellers employees.
The Coquitlam Centre Target store, which at 120,000 square feet is larger than the average Canadian Target store, has a large beauty section, a substantial grocery section, Canucks hockey and B.C. Lions football apparel, a wide smattering of indoor Tracking, household goods and a big pet aisle catering to that growing market.
Nestled in a big-box neighbourhood of Coquitlam, there is no doubt who this new kid on the Canadian retailing block is targeting — think the smart, savvy mothers who do most of the shopping in the family and know how to find a bargain. The store is also happy, of course, to welcome the dads who shop once in a while and the “young independents” looking for “room essentials.”
To promote customer loyalty, Canadian shoppers will be able to save five per cent when using a REDcard debit card or a Target RBC MasterCard — allowing the store to track consumer preferences and pitch to them directly with in-store promotions.
In the baby section, Fisher stopped to show that everything from soothers to baby food and disposable diapers are in one handy location, so a mother with a fussing infant doesn’t have to comb through the store to find everything she needs.
The Bulls are also an example of a team that built a functional NBA offense despite lacking a single big man with any reliable range outside of 18 feet.4 Playing two big men close to the basket crowds the lane and brings spacing issues, and those spacing issues, plus the emergence of ace 3-point shooting power forwards (Ryan Anderson, for instance), has created the impression that it's just too difficult for teams to score with two traditional interior players — especially if neither brings a Zach Randolph–style post game.
Boozer has a bit of a post game, but his go-to post move is a face-up fading jump shot. The Bulls, when Derrick Rose was around, built a top-10 offense around Rose's brilliance and the ability of both Boozer and Noah to work in very sophisticated ways, and in tandem, south of the foul line — as screeners, passers, and occasional shooters/drivers. And that offense, sans Rose, was still good enough to squeeze out a league-average number of points against the Nets' very average defense in the first round. They did so again last night, keenly using Noah's passing and the threat of Boozer's jump shot to beat Miami's trapping defense on just enough occasions to wring out their average scoring output. (There are times, against elite defenses like Miami's, when it almost feels as if Noah's passing skills are as important an asset as his all-world defense. What a brilliant player.) There are a bunch of lottery teams ready to follow this same pattern of building an above-average offense around two interior bangers, including Detroit (Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond) and Toronto (Amir Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas). If the skill sets are right and varied, it's possible.
Miami, of course, is the league's premier small-ball team, the pied piper everyone is allegedly following. Nonsense. The Heat can play this way because they have James, an unprecedented NBA physical specimen, plus a wing player in Battier willing to do whatever it takes to win titles — even if it means guarding Boozer, David West, and Randolph in succession.
The most intriguing potential big-versus-small matchup on the board, mostly because of Oklahoma City's adaptability and the added intrigue of Russell Westbrook's season-ending injury.5 The Grizz have built around the Zach Randolph–Marc Gasol pairing, reasoning they could build at least an average offense around two post-up brutes — a duo that includes the best passing big man in the game in Gasol. Teams can contend with an average offense and a top-three defense, and the Grizz have had the latter half of that equation covered all season.
Only Utah and Indiana finished a larger share of offensive possessions via post-up plays, and Memphis is leaning on post-ups even more so far in the playoffs, per Synergy Sports.6 Like the Bulls, Memphis stands as proof that teams can create their own version of floor spacing in an inside-out fashion, with interior bangers drawing attention toward the rim and moving the ball in smart ways from there.
But the Thunder have the trump card in this series: small-ball lineups with Kevin Durant at power forward. Those lineups over multiple seasons have been frighteningly explosive offensively, even if they can be hit-and-miss on defense — as is typical for smaller lineups. Scott Brooks has been a bit reluctant to break these bad boys out against the brutish Grizz, and when he has, Memphis has generally responded by downsizing and shifting either Tayshaun Prince or Quincy Pondexter to power forward. Oklahoma City played small for only about 26 minutes over three regular-season games against Memphis, and followed the same pattern in Game 1; Brooks didn't go to Durant at power forward until late in the third quarter, eventually staying with that setup for about 8:30 of continuous play in which the Thunder were plus-10.7 Memphis shifted into small-ball mode for almost the entirety of that duration, save for a brief stretch in which Darrell Arthur, the team's third big man, tried and failed to defend Durant.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
ISU's Bowman looks back on tenure
As Al Bowman nears the end of his 10 years as president of Illinois State University, he sat down for an interview with The Pantagraph about his years of service and what’s ahead for him, the university and higher education in general.
The ISU Board of Trustees discussed the final four presidential candidates during a closed session on Saturday. The board could name Bowman’s successor at its regular quarterly meeting on Friday, although a definite timeline has not been announced.
“It’s been an interesting run because in many ways the deck was stacked against us. When I took office, the state had budget problems and public higher education was being cut. Of course, the demographic changes. So there’s been lots of financial challenges. But I think the key to the success of this institution is that we developed a plan that was right for Illinois State and that made sense in the marketplace.
“You know, like any business you try to find a niche that allows you to exploit your strengths. And in the case of Illinois State, when we were having a debate in the mid-1990s about what direction the institution should go, we coalesced behind a plan that made undergraduate education the center of everything we do. And so we invested in the undergraduate experience. And I think we incorporated a number of key elements that one sees in private universities into our undergraduate experience. And in doing that it brought us more capable students. It certainly excited donors who were interested in getting involved in the campus. Faculty have been very happy with the quality of students we’ve been enrolling over the last 10 years.
“I also think that we’ve hired very, very capable people around campus. Senior leadership is very good at what they do. Our middle managers are deeply committed to the institution and doing a good job. And then when you get down to the department level, the department chairs, which is where I came from, department chairs are passionate about the academic experience and building our indoor Tracking.
“So, at the end of the day what you’ve seen over the last 15 years of so is an institution that I think got almost everything right. … Almost. You’re never perfect. But we developed a plan that I think resonated with the public and, consequently, people were willing to send their children here. The institutional progress, of course, I think is the best evidence that the plan worked. Because when you look at the last 10 years and the change in our institutional ranking, it’s clear that the prominence of Illinois State has really risen.
“This is the first time in our history where for the last 2 years we’ve been in the top 100 among public universities in US News & World Report. And now we have a number of programs across campus that have national rankings and that allows us to attract good solid faculty. Those good faculty are very competitive in the grants arena. More evidence that we’ve gotten hiring right is seeing the amount of grants and the number of grants and sponsored programs that have been funded. In the last 10 years, faculty and staff have been awarded a quarter-billion dollars in grants and contracts. And now we have over 100 faculty members who have accumulated more than a million dollars in individual awards.”
“There are some facility goals that I thought I could get accomplished but the severe recession made it difficult for the state to fund the academic projects that were on the table. I’m very happy that the governor has approved the fine arts project. But I thought I could get the library project done before I retired. We’ve outgrown the library. It really needs to be doubled in space. I know it will happen eventually. But that was a project that was near and dear to my heart.
“There are some academic buildings that need attention. DeGarmo. Williams Hall, we’d like to remodel. That building has lots of potential. Metcalf lab school — I’d like nothing more than to snap my fingers and build a new building for Metcalf out on the Gregory Street property. And I think that will happen eventually as well.”
“So, at the end of the day what you’ve seen over the last 15 years of so is an institution that I think got almost everything right. … Almost. You’re never perfect. But we developed a plan that I think resonated with the public and, consequently, people were willing to send their children here. The institutional progress, of course, I think is the best evidence that the plan worked. Because when you look at the last 10 years and the change in our institutional ranking, it’s clear that the prominence of Illinois State has really risen.
“This is the first time in our history where for the last 2 years we’ve been in the top 100 among public universities in US News & World Report. And now we have a number of programs across campus that have national rankings and that allows us to attract good solid faculty. Those good faculty are very competitive in the grants arena. More evidence that we’ve gotten hiring right is seeing the amount of grants and the number of grants and sponsored programs that have been funded. In the last 10 years, faculty and staff have been awarded a quarter-billion dollars in grants and contracts. And now we have over 100 faculty members who have accumulated more than a million dollars in individual awards.”
“My happiest memory is learning that the state was releasing the capital dollars for the Schroeder Hall project. In part that one was personal because I was a new president and that was my first major building project.
“It was also important because the campus desperately needed that project to get done. The building was in terrible shape and lots and lots of complaints from faculty and staff. We had constant problems with the roof leaking; heating and cooling was a challenge. And so it brought be a great deal of personal satisfaction. And then, professionally, it was important because it showed the campus that Illinois State could get big things done even in a challenging financial environment.
“The biggest disappointment is the accumulated erosion of state support for public higher education. Public universities educate the majority of students in this country. Illinois has had a pretty good reputation of supporting public higher education. But it’s clear that those priorities have shifted. Now in part the priorities have shifted because there are greater demands on the state budget. But it’s also very disappointing that at a time in our country’s history when educating citizens with advanced training is important to our economic development we’re pulling our investment away from public higher education and I think we’ll pay a price for that down the road, if we haven’t already.”
The ISU Board of Trustees discussed the final four presidential candidates during a closed session on Saturday. The board could name Bowman’s successor at its regular quarterly meeting on Friday, although a definite timeline has not been announced.
“It’s been an interesting run because in many ways the deck was stacked against us. When I took office, the state had budget problems and public higher education was being cut. Of course, the demographic changes. So there’s been lots of financial challenges. But I think the key to the success of this institution is that we developed a plan that was right for Illinois State and that made sense in the marketplace.
“You know, like any business you try to find a niche that allows you to exploit your strengths. And in the case of Illinois State, when we were having a debate in the mid-1990s about what direction the institution should go, we coalesced behind a plan that made undergraduate education the center of everything we do. And so we invested in the undergraduate experience. And I think we incorporated a number of key elements that one sees in private universities into our undergraduate experience. And in doing that it brought us more capable students. It certainly excited donors who were interested in getting involved in the campus. Faculty have been very happy with the quality of students we’ve been enrolling over the last 10 years.
“I also think that we’ve hired very, very capable people around campus. Senior leadership is very good at what they do. Our middle managers are deeply committed to the institution and doing a good job. And then when you get down to the department level, the department chairs, which is where I came from, department chairs are passionate about the academic experience and building our indoor Tracking.
“So, at the end of the day what you’ve seen over the last 15 years of so is an institution that I think got almost everything right. … Almost. You’re never perfect. But we developed a plan that I think resonated with the public and, consequently, people were willing to send their children here. The institutional progress, of course, I think is the best evidence that the plan worked. Because when you look at the last 10 years and the change in our institutional ranking, it’s clear that the prominence of Illinois State has really risen.
“This is the first time in our history where for the last 2 years we’ve been in the top 100 among public universities in US News & World Report. And now we have a number of programs across campus that have national rankings and that allows us to attract good solid faculty. Those good faculty are very competitive in the grants arena. More evidence that we’ve gotten hiring right is seeing the amount of grants and the number of grants and sponsored programs that have been funded. In the last 10 years, faculty and staff have been awarded a quarter-billion dollars in grants and contracts. And now we have over 100 faculty members who have accumulated more than a million dollars in individual awards.”
“There are some facility goals that I thought I could get accomplished but the severe recession made it difficult for the state to fund the academic projects that were on the table. I’m very happy that the governor has approved the fine arts project. But I thought I could get the library project done before I retired. We’ve outgrown the library. It really needs to be doubled in space. I know it will happen eventually. But that was a project that was near and dear to my heart.
“There are some academic buildings that need attention. DeGarmo. Williams Hall, we’d like to remodel. That building has lots of potential. Metcalf lab school — I’d like nothing more than to snap my fingers and build a new building for Metcalf out on the Gregory Street property. And I think that will happen eventually as well.”
“So, at the end of the day what you’ve seen over the last 15 years of so is an institution that I think got almost everything right. … Almost. You’re never perfect. But we developed a plan that I think resonated with the public and, consequently, people were willing to send their children here. The institutional progress, of course, I think is the best evidence that the plan worked. Because when you look at the last 10 years and the change in our institutional ranking, it’s clear that the prominence of Illinois State has really risen.
“This is the first time in our history where for the last 2 years we’ve been in the top 100 among public universities in US News & World Report. And now we have a number of programs across campus that have national rankings and that allows us to attract good solid faculty. Those good faculty are very competitive in the grants arena. More evidence that we’ve gotten hiring right is seeing the amount of grants and the number of grants and sponsored programs that have been funded. In the last 10 years, faculty and staff have been awarded a quarter-billion dollars in grants and contracts. And now we have over 100 faculty members who have accumulated more than a million dollars in individual awards.”
“My happiest memory is learning that the state was releasing the capital dollars for the Schroeder Hall project. In part that one was personal because I was a new president and that was my first major building project.
“It was also important because the campus desperately needed that project to get done. The building was in terrible shape and lots and lots of complaints from faculty and staff. We had constant problems with the roof leaking; heating and cooling was a challenge. And so it brought be a great deal of personal satisfaction. And then, professionally, it was important because it showed the campus that Illinois State could get big things done even in a challenging financial environment.
“The biggest disappointment is the accumulated erosion of state support for public higher education. Public universities educate the majority of students in this country. Illinois has had a pretty good reputation of supporting public higher education. But it’s clear that those priorities have shifted. Now in part the priorities have shifted because there are greater demands on the state budget. But it’s also very disappointing that at a time in our country’s history when educating citizens with advanced training is important to our economic development we’re pulling our investment away from public higher education and I think we’ll pay a price for that down the road, if we haven’t already.”
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Book sale insiders reveal dust jacket treasures
Every day is Christmas for the volunteers sorting donations to the annual Times Colonist book sale. Open a box, they never know what might be inside.
Sometimes an old love letter, $2 bill or pressed flower will slip out of a dust jacket. Sometimes the box will hold a bigger, weirder surprise.
Among the nuggets mined in the past week are a cigar box full of collector pins, an original Mulroney-era Raeside cartoon and a series of autographed, mounted photos of yesterday’s TV stars: Susan Lucci, Piper Laurie, Patty Duke, Mulder and Scully from the X-Files.
Yes, there were jump boots, size 12 from the looks of them. A Playboy bunny logo was mounted on the brass knuckles, which must have left some interesting scars. No passports, marijuana or urns of cat ashes this year, though.
The FBI fingerprint kit came in a hard plastic container sealed within a clear evidence bag. We hoped/ feared that the container would hold a severed hand, but when Sgt. Mike Yeager of the Victoria police forensics section cracked it open he found a brand-new brush, powder and lifting tapes, along with a how-to instructional DVD — your basic G-man field kit. Maybe it belonged to Mulder and Scully.
Sometimes the unboxed items are personal in nature, making you wonder if someone, somewhere wants them back. Nicco Collins, wherever you are, we have photos of every team — rugby, soccer, hockey,indoor Tracking, football — for which you ever played as a kid.
Victoria’s Karen McLeod has been holding on to one such gem for years, hoping to return it to its rightful home. It’s a handmade Father’s Day card that fell out of a book — she can’t remember which one — that she bought at the TC sale maybe a decade ago.
What makes this card so compelling is the earnestness of its author, who might have loved his father, but was absolutely passionate about his desire to play hockey. Judging from the names printed in a laboured boyhood (or girlhood) hand, it was probably written around 1972.
The cover features a pencilled rendering of a goaltender in a No. 30 Boston Bruins sweater. (Had to be Gerry Cheevers.) “Happy Father’s Day,” the message begins, but after that it’s pretty much a heartfelt plea to pull on the blades: “dear dad can i join hockey this year, I will help you with the boat and wash the car, set the breakfast table in the morning and bring in your breakfast for you on Sunday and Saturday and take empty beer bottle cases down to the basement every night you ask me to.
“Hockey is the best,” it continues. “Join now you can be an All Star just like Bobby Orr, and Bobby Hull, Denise Hull, Gordie Howe, Tony Esposito, Phil Esposito, Ken Driden.”
Having misplaced the card when moving house, McLeod recently rediscovered it in a box of old photographs. Too bad it bore no name. She hopes someone will recognize it as a missing family treasure. “It’s a long shot, I suppose, but…”
Anyway, you’ll have your own chance to unearth treasures of the printed kind at the annual two-day Times Colonist book sale this weekend. It runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday at the Victoria Curling Club at 1952 Quadra St. As usual, the money raised will go to literacy-related projects on Vancouver Island.
Incoming waves: tablets, e-books, movies online. Outgoing waves: Desktop PCs, landline phones, anything on disc, tape or paper.
It’s fascinating to watch outgoing industries struggle to remain relevant. Take, for example, the outgoing wave known as pocket cameras. No wonder nobody is buying them anymore. Your phone takes pictures nearly as well and is far more convenient.
First, it emphasizes the features that a smartphone can’t match, like a zoom lens. Second, it imitates the workings and design features of a smartphone. Third, it can transmit new photos to your phone for immediate sending or posting online. The result, the Canon N ($300), is half pocket camera, half photo-taking accessory for your phone.
In the category of features a phone camera lacks, the Canon N starts by offering a powerful zoom lens — 8X, compared with zero X on a smartphone. Digital zoom, where the camera just enlarges a photo to make it seem as if you’re closer, doesn’t count.
The N also has a much bigger, more sensitive sensor and lens. Now, the N’s sensor isn’t very big for a camera — it measures 0.4 inches diagonally — but it’s much better than what’s in a typical phone. Finally, the N’s screen flips out 90 degrees, so you can take photos at interesting angles.
The second category, imitating a phone’s design and operation, is more intriguing. The Canon N is one of the weirdest-looking cameras you’ve ever seen. It’s a nearly square, nearly featureless block, in black or white.
It has only three physical buttons, all tiny: Power, Play and Connect to Phone. As on a phone, the rest of the controls are all on the touch screen.
Now, you might have noticed that that list does not include “shutter button”; this camera doesn’t have one. Instead, you take a picture by pressing up or down on the silver plastic ring around the lens, which budges slightly and clicks.
And what, you may ask, is the point of that design? Simple: This camera works equally well upside down or at 90 degrees. Like a phone, it detects which way you’re holding it and flips the screen image accordingly. Thanks to this ring-shutter system, you can take a shot no matter how you’re holding the camera.
There are other cellphone similarities. There is no external battery charger; you charge the battery in the camera, by connecting a USB cable to your computer or a wall adapter. The battery itself looks like a squared-off AA battery; it’s tiny. Canon says it’ll give you about 200 shots on a charge, which is very low.
This camera takes the same kind of memory card used on many cellphones, a microSD card, rather than the SD cards used in most cameras. That’s unfortunate, because it means you can’t copy the pictures to your computer by popping out the card and inserting it into your laptop. You’ll have to use the USB cable or a wireless connection.
On the side, a tiny switch moves between Automatic mode and Creative mode, which would be better named Instagram mode. When you press the shutter button — sorry, shutter ring — the camera takes six pictures instead of one. It applies a different filter to each one, of the sort created by the popular Instagram phone app. That is, it degrades each with various degrees of exposure adjustment, color saturation, tints and even oddball cropping. The results are never the same twice, and sometimes they’re interesting.
In Automatic mode, the camera is a basic point-and-shoot, with almost no photographic controls. With a tap on the Menu button, however, you can gain access to a Program mode that lets you make manual adjustments of exposure (brightness), white balance, ISO (light sensitivity) and so on.
Sometimes an old love letter, $2 bill or pressed flower will slip out of a dust jacket. Sometimes the box will hold a bigger, weirder surprise.
Among the nuggets mined in the past week are a cigar box full of collector pins, an original Mulroney-era Raeside cartoon and a series of autographed, mounted photos of yesterday’s TV stars: Susan Lucci, Piper Laurie, Patty Duke, Mulder and Scully from the X-Files.
Yes, there were jump boots, size 12 from the looks of them. A Playboy bunny logo was mounted on the brass knuckles, which must have left some interesting scars. No passports, marijuana or urns of cat ashes this year, though.
The FBI fingerprint kit came in a hard plastic container sealed within a clear evidence bag. We hoped/ feared that the container would hold a severed hand, but when Sgt. Mike Yeager of the Victoria police forensics section cracked it open he found a brand-new brush, powder and lifting tapes, along with a how-to instructional DVD — your basic G-man field kit. Maybe it belonged to Mulder and Scully.
Sometimes the unboxed items are personal in nature, making you wonder if someone, somewhere wants them back. Nicco Collins, wherever you are, we have photos of every team — rugby, soccer, hockey,indoor Tracking, football — for which you ever played as a kid.
Victoria’s Karen McLeod has been holding on to one such gem for years, hoping to return it to its rightful home. It’s a handmade Father’s Day card that fell out of a book — she can’t remember which one — that she bought at the TC sale maybe a decade ago.
What makes this card so compelling is the earnestness of its author, who might have loved his father, but was absolutely passionate about his desire to play hockey. Judging from the names printed in a laboured boyhood (or girlhood) hand, it was probably written around 1972.
The cover features a pencilled rendering of a goaltender in a No. 30 Boston Bruins sweater. (Had to be Gerry Cheevers.) “Happy Father’s Day,” the message begins, but after that it’s pretty much a heartfelt plea to pull on the blades: “dear dad can i join hockey this year, I will help you with the boat and wash the car, set the breakfast table in the morning and bring in your breakfast for you on Sunday and Saturday and take empty beer bottle cases down to the basement every night you ask me to.
“Hockey is the best,” it continues. “Join now you can be an All Star just like Bobby Orr, and Bobby Hull, Denise Hull, Gordie Howe, Tony Esposito, Phil Esposito, Ken Driden.”
Having misplaced the card when moving house, McLeod recently rediscovered it in a box of old photographs. Too bad it bore no name. She hopes someone will recognize it as a missing family treasure. “It’s a long shot, I suppose, but…”
Anyway, you’ll have your own chance to unearth treasures of the printed kind at the annual two-day Times Colonist book sale this weekend. It runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday at the Victoria Curling Club at 1952 Quadra St. As usual, the money raised will go to literacy-related projects on Vancouver Island.
Incoming waves: tablets, e-books, movies online. Outgoing waves: Desktop PCs, landline phones, anything on disc, tape or paper.
It’s fascinating to watch outgoing industries struggle to remain relevant. Take, for example, the outgoing wave known as pocket cameras. No wonder nobody is buying them anymore. Your phone takes pictures nearly as well and is far more convenient.
First, it emphasizes the features that a smartphone can’t match, like a zoom lens. Second, it imitates the workings and design features of a smartphone. Third, it can transmit new photos to your phone for immediate sending or posting online. The result, the Canon N ($300), is half pocket camera, half photo-taking accessory for your phone.
In the category of features a phone camera lacks, the Canon N starts by offering a powerful zoom lens — 8X, compared with zero X on a smartphone. Digital zoom, where the camera just enlarges a photo to make it seem as if you’re closer, doesn’t count.
The N also has a much bigger, more sensitive sensor and lens. Now, the N’s sensor isn’t very big for a camera — it measures 0.4 inches diagonally — but it’s much better than what’s in a typical phone. Finally, the N’s screen flips out 90 degrees, so you can take photos at interesting angles.
The second category, imitating a phone’s design and operation, is more intriguing. The Canon N is one of the weirdest-looking cameras you’ve ever seen. It’s a nearly square, nearly featureless block, in black or white.
It has only three physical buttons, all tiny: Power, Play and Connect to Phone. As on a phone, the rest of the controls are all on the touch screen.
Now, you might have noticed that that list does not include “shutter button”; this camera doesn’t have one. Instead, you take a picture by pressing up or down on the silver plastic ring around the lens, which budges slightly and clicks.
And what, you may ask, is the point of that design? Simple: This camera works equally well upside down or at 90 degrees. Like a phone, it detects which way you’re holding it and flips the screen image accordingly. Thanks to this ring-shutter system, you can take a shot no matter how you’re holding the camera.
There are other cellphone similarities. There is no external battery charger; you charge the battery in the camera, by connecting a USB cable to your computer or a wall adapter. The battery itself looks like a squared-off AA battery; it’s tiny. Canon says it’ll give you about 200 shots on a charge, which is very low.
This camera takes the same kind of memory card used on many cellphones, a microSD card, rather than the SD cards used in most cameras. That’s unfortunate, because it means you can’t copy the pictures to your computer by popping out the card and inserting it into your laptop. You’ll have to use the USB cable or a wireless connection.
On the side, a tiny switch moves between Automatic mode and Creative mode, which would be better named Instagram mode. When you press the shutter button — sorry, shutter ring — the camera takes six pictures instead of one. It applies a different filter to each one, of the sort created by the popular Instagram phone app. That is, it degrades each with various degrees of exposure adjustment, color saturation, tints and even oddball cropping. The results are never the same twice, and sometimes they’re interesting.
In Automatic mode, the camera is a basic point-and-shoot, with almost no photographic controls. With a tap on the Menu button, however, you can gain access to a Program mode that lets you make manual adjustments of exposure (brightness), white balance, ISO (light sensitivity) and so on.
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