News for today's 2018

Europe

6:52 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.activistpost.com/2012/02/nigel-farage-speaks-to-greece-youre.html">Nigel Farage Speaks to Greece: You're Being Destroyed by the "Economic Prison" of the Euro</a></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">English Language Interview starts at 0:58, prior to that they talk Greek</span> </span></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8UsiHn9crVM?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">  <span style="font-size: x-large;"></span> </h3><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Patrick Cockburn: Greece sells its independence to escape the burden of debt</span></b></div><br />  Greeks expect to agree a deal with the Eurozone leaders tomorrow that will cede much of their country’s independence. Greece will become an economic – and to a large extent a political – colony of Germany and its allies. Berlin will have a say in everything from the choice of prime minister to the types of medicines dispensed by pharmacies.<br /><a href="" name="more"><br />In return for €230bn, made up of €130bn in fresh loans and €100bn in write-downs on privately held Greek government bonds, Greece is relieved from its immediate debt burden. But the money does not go to the Greek government, still less to the Greek people. It simply leaves them to live off the money they earn.<br /></a><br />For all the television pictures of rioting protesters, clouds of tear gas and burning buildings in central Athens over the last week, a striking feature of the political landscape is the lack of resistance to the German terms. The Greek political elite sound and look stunned, grudgingly surrendering to the demands of the Troika (EU, IMF and European Central Bank), but bereft of ideas about what else to do.<br /><br />  The two political parties that have dominated Greek politics for 30 years, the centre-left Pasok and the conservative New Democracy, do not come out well from the crisis. Tasos Telloglou, Greece’s top investigative journalist at Skai TV who has exposed many corruption scandals, describes the members of parliament as “fat and lazy [people who] only worry about how to get back to where they were four years ago before the crisis”. He says both ruling parties, which have alternated in power since the fall of the military junta in 1974, have privately agreed to continue their coalition after the next election, which is expected in 10 weeks’ time.<br /><br />  His view of Greek voters is almost equally contemptuous. They too, he says, yearn for a return of the good times when Greece had the same AAA credit rating as Germany. He says: “We wanted to have a European income without having European productivity, so we just borrowed money.” But lenders will avoid Greece for a long time, so there can be no return to the living standards enjoyed before 2008. Mr Telloglou quotes approvingly the Greek saying: “You can turn an aquarium into fish soup, but you cannot turn fish soup into an aquarium.”<br />  The mood of the political leadership is one of fatalism and despair. Simos Kedikoglou, a New Democracy MP, says of the parliamentary vote on the deal a week ago: “We had to choose between the certainty of disaster and the doubt of salvation. You can’t be independent when you have to borrow €20m a day. We’re in an awful shape. We don’t produce anything, not even the meat we eat.”<br /><br />  But there are clearly other motives behind the radical changes now being imposed on Greece. “It is like undiluted Thatcherism forced on the country in a few years,” said one observer in Athens. For instance, the minimum wage is to be reduced by 22 per cent to €522 a month as part of the latest austerity round. The Troika believes this will increase employment, but Greek economists disagree, saying that Chinese or Bulgarian workers will always be paid less. Greeks will not get jobs for the same reason that the Greek merchant navy employs Filipinos below the level of captain and chief engineer. Cutting the pay of poorly paid state employees will also do little for Greece except reduce consumption and increase misery.<br /><br />  Part of the explanation for these measures is probably that German leaders want to prove to German voters that they are giving the Greeks a rough time and not allowing them to guzzle German subsidies. The punitive nature of the Troika’s reforms also reflects a wish to send a message to heavily indebted Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Ireland not to dare take the Greek option of what is effectively a managed default on its debts. Even the rude things said by German and Dutch politicians about Greece last week served the purpose of showing their domestic audience that they were not being taken to the cleaners by the wily but improvident Greeks.<br /><br />  But on the back of the austerity programme rides a neo-liberal vision of how the Greek economy and society should be run. It sounds and looks very much like what was applied in Russia under Boris Yeltsin after 1992. There will be widespread privatisations; cuts in social security, pensions and state health provision; and wholesale deregulation. Many on the right welcome these reforms. Vagelis Agapitos, a financial consultant in Athens, looks forward to the day when houses, hotels, wind farms and fish farms can be built without any troubling regulations or permits. Archaeological surveys would be dropped. “We don’t need another sculpture from [ancient] Greece,” he says. “We need to break the taboo that public employees work for life.”<br /><br />  One reason for the mess Greece is in lies in its recent history. After a ferocious civil war between Communists and their enemies, beginning in 1946, the victorious right was wholly dominant up to the fall of the colonels in 1974. Ship owners and bankers, often products of the Greek diaspora and detached from the home economy, were gently treated. So too were small shops, professionals and businesses, which paid little tax. Greece never enjoyed the sort of post-war social compromise seen in the rest of Europe, where liberal capitalism was balanced by commitments to workers’ rights, social spending and the welfare state.<br /><br />  In the early 1980s, Greece shifted to the left just as Reaganism and Thatcherism were taking hold in the US and UK. Pasok was in power for most of the next 20 years and built up state spending on social welfare and a system of political patronage. Unsackable employees worked in redundant industries.<br /><br />Pasok never reformed the archaic state it had inherited, so professionals and property owners went on paying few taxes. Some 94 per cent of Greeks claimed to earn less than €30,000 a year. It is only over the last year that the Troika forced banks to disclose the real income of their customers, rather than what they were claiming for tax purposes. A list shows a hairdresser who earned €423,000 but declared just €35,000, and a gynaecologist on €1.3m who declared only €877,000.<br />  This welfare state for the rich and the poor could only be sustained by borrowing. It is now being dismantled. But, as one Greek academic said: “In Greece only the weak and the poor get punished.”<br />  <div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

Europe

Nigel Farage Speaks to Greece: You're Being Destroyed by the "Economic Prison" of the Euro English Language Interview starts...

MONSANTO – “GLOBAL MONSTER CORPORATION”?

2:27 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VTaQf3nihBU?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Monsanto El Veneno Del Diablo Soja Argentina</span></b></span><b><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Monsanto Company is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation which is particularly famous for its genetically modified products and herbicides. It is also notable for its involvement in high profile lawsuits, where fines and damages have run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Most of them were related to health damage caused by Monsanto’s products.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Monsanto is one of the most powerful and controversial Agricultural and Biotechnology Corporation on the globe. Monsanto allegedly controls 90% of the world wide food market and is a key promoter of genetic modified food products as well as lead producer of pesticides.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto#Soybean_in_Argentina"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto#Soybean_in_Argentina</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Given the fact that Argentina is a major agricultural producer and exporter, the strong presence of Monsanto in Argentina must raise concerns, for the corporation is known for its lack of moral and controversial use of Biotechnology especially in genetic manipulated food products and chemicals used for pesticides. Most of the lawsuits are related to health problems connected to genetically manipulated food products and side effects of pesticides.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Currently Monsanto is engaged in countless legal battles and controversies around the globe, a frightening fact, given the power and political influence the corporation has. Some of the current controversies and lawsuits involving Monsanto are: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">MONSANTO GUILTY OF CHEMICAL POISONING</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Via Reuters</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A French court ruled that a controversial US biotech company Monsanto is guilty of unintentional chemical poisoning of a French farmer. The verdict sets a French precedent for pesticide-poisoning and more cases are expected to follow.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Grain farmer Paul Francois, says he suffered a number of neurological problems, including memory loss, stammering and headaches, after inhaling Monsanto's Lasso weed killer in 2004. He blamed the company for failing to provide adequate warning labels on its products.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The present case is not the first of its kind. All previous health claims have reportedly failed because of the difficulties with proving the links between health issues and exposure to pesticides and other chemicals. Francois’s claims appeared to be easier to substantiate because he could describe a particular incident – the inhaling of a particular pesticide while cleaning the tank of his crop sprayer. The man was only able to obtain his work invalidity status after a court appeal.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">300K FARMERS HOPE FOR LAWSUIT AGAINST MONSANTO </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Via RT</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;">Around 300,000 organic farmers think that Monsanto, the biotech giant known for genetically modifying Mother Nature’s handwork for profit and pushing over the little guys all the while, is pretty seedy. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Now a judge in New York is debating if Monsanto’s questionable methods will go before a jury.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>FOGGY PATENT CLAIM ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED SEED</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Last year, 270,000 organic farmers from around 60 family farms tried to take Monsanto to court over issues pertaining to a genetically-modified seed masterminded by the corporation. Not only were the smaller farms concerned over how the manufactured seeds had been carried by wind and creature alike onto their own plantations, but the biggest problem perhaps was that Monsanto was filing lawsuits themselves against farmers. Monsanto went after hundreds of farmers for infringing on their patented seed after audits revealed that their farms had contained their product as a result of routine pollination by animals and acts of nature. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>SMALL FARM GRABBING TACTICS BY MONSANTO</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Unable to afford a proper defense, competing small farms have been bought out by the company in droves</b>. As a result, Monsanto saw their profits increase by the hundreds of millions over the last few years as a result. Between 1997 and 2010, <b>Monsanto tackled 144 organic farms with lawsuits and investigated roughly 500 plantations annually during that span with a so-called “seed police.”</b></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUp_lmr7pf68_tcjIj-POQw1Rl_tPc7aB3aa7cf7xhaEz7VNb_tT2a7u12cTUn1KVgdd8ac726TgG1ehBlSw0fS44G06koqj6f1b7nvz8ZyhVHYpDt5fQD4c4PjfHeidiba60gedHDGTel/s1600/monsanto_450_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUp_lmr7pf68_tcjIj-POQw1Rl_tPc7aB3aa7cf7xhaEz7VNb_tT2a7u12cTUn1KVgdd8ac726TgG1ehBlSw0fS44G06koqj6f1b7nvz8ZyhVHYpDt5fQD4c4PjfHeidiba60gedHDGTel/s400/monsanto_450_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>MONSANTO’S INCREASING REIGN OVER THE WORLD’S AGRICULTURE WILL SURPASS ANYTHING IMAGINABLE</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Farmers have been concerned that unless Monsanto is stopped, their reign over the world’s agriculture will surpass anything imaginable</b>. They are seeking pre-emptive protection from those questionable lawsuits and next month Judge Buchwald will weigh in on if the matter should go to trial. Her honor recently listened to oral arguments on Monsanto’s Motion to Dismiss, which the corporation hopes to win to cease the charges being brought by a total of 83 plaintiffs representing now over 300,000 organic farm-affiliated businesses. The legal team for the small-time farmers also offered their arguments. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span lang="EN">ARGENTINA SAYS MONSANTO CONTRACTOR ABUSES WORKERS</span></b></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="strap"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Associated Press</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <span class="date">January 16, 2012</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Argentina's tax agency has raided a Monsanto Co. contractor and found what it calls slave-like conditions among workers in its cornfields.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The AFIP tax agency says Rural Power SA hired all its farmhands illegally, prevented them from leaving the fields and withheld their salaries. They had to de-tassel corn 14 hours a day and buy their food at inflated prices from the company store. AFIP says it will hold the American agro-giant responsible for its contractor's slave-like labor conditions.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Monsanto didn't immediately respond to calls Monday to its headquarters in Buenos Aires and in St. Louis, which was closed for the Martin Luther King holiday. Argentina's congress last month gave farmhands an 8-hour day and other benefits long denied under a dictatorship-era law.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Thursday,July 8<sup>th</sup> 2010 </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">EU COURT RULING FAVOURS ARGENTINA IN DISPUTE WITH MONSANTO OVER SOY-SEED PATENT</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;">United States Monsanto Co., the world’s biggest seed company, can’t use a European patent on its Roundup Ready soybeans to block Argentinean soy meal imports, the European Union’s highest court said Wednesday. MercoPress</span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">MONSANTO’S HARVEST OF FEAR</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Monsanto already dominates America’s food chain with its genetically modified seeds. Now it has targeted milk production. Just as frightening as the corporation’s tactics–ruthless legal battles against small farmers–is its decades-long history of toxic contamination.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN"><a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805">http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805</a></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>MONSANTO VS. CANADA</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">After an 8 year review, Canada rejected Monsanto's request for the approval of their genetically modified milk hormone, rBGH. This drug has been shown to make dairy cows produce 10% more milk than normal. This rejection was a major setback for the GE Giant because it was Monsanto's first GE product, and Monsanto had hoped that it's international exceptance would help lead the way to the approval of their other genetically engineered products, most notably crops like cotton, tomatoes, potatoes, rice, corn , and soybeans.<span lang="EN"></span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Canada dissaproved of the rBGH drug because, as the product label acknowledges, it can cause udder infections, very painful, debilitating foot disorders, and reduced life span in treated cows. There is no doubt that bigger issues of genetic engineering in general also played a big role in the final decision.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://library.thinkquest.org/25365/monsanto.html">http://library.thinkquest.org/25365/monsanto.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-world-according-to-monsanto/">http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-world-according-to-monsanto/</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">ARGENTINA BE WARY OF MONSANTO </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="titrearticle"><b><span lang="FR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">ROUNDUP READY SOYA IN ARGENTINA</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The GM soya, Round Up Ready (“RR”), which is resistant to spraying of Monsanto’s weed killer Round Up, took only a few years to become established in Argentina. This crop swept onto the market as financial crisis hit Argentina in 2001. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">While soya cultivation represented only 3700 hectares in 1971, it had risen to 8.3 million hectares in 2000, 9.3m by 2001, 11.6m by 2002 and by 2007 had reached 16 million hectares or 60% of the land in cultivation, giving rise to the phrase “SOYISATION OF THE COUNTRY”. Of the total, 14 million hectares were sown with GM soya, representing a 37 million tone harvest, of which 90% was exported, mainly to Europe and China.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">ARGENTINE LAND GRABBING - MONSANTO STYLE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Due to the economic crisis in 2001, land prices had shot up in value, encouraging small landowners to sell up and concentrating land ownership. In the course of a decade the average landholding in the Pampas grew from 250 to 538 hectares while the number of farms fell by 30%. What’s more <b><span style="color: red;">16 million hectares of cultivable land were owned by foreign agribusinesses</span></b>. This caused a profound reorganisation from what had been a diverse and self-sufficient agriculture, to a <b>model of virtual monoculture</b>.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Argentina’s leaders preferred to substitute an intensive industrial model of agriculture, open to exploitative practices, for traditional family farms. As Argentina’s Secretary of Agriculture remarked, soya was seen at the time as a lifebelt for an Argentine economy in danger of drowning. The State was raising taxes of 20% on oils and 23% on grains, representing 10 billion dollars a year, or 30% of the national revenue. <b>Another boost to the growing of GM soya was that Argentina had refused to grant Monsanto a patent for the GM seeds, so the small farmers were able to replant RR seeds without having to pay the firm from St Louis to use them</b>. To make sure they grabbed the whole market, Monsanto didn’t hesitate to sell its seed three times cheaper than in the US. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The new seed was seen as a “miracle” by many Argentine farmers allowing them to save on weed killers but also to spare the soil from too frequent spraying. <b>After a few years of using RR soya however many of them were disillusioned by the reality.</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">THE GREAT LET-DOWN: THE HIDDEN FACE OF GM SOYA</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The surge in GM soya, and what experts casually refer to as “<b>the rush for green gold</b>” <b>drove down production of crops that were needed to feed Argentineans</b>. Thus from 1996-7 to 2001-2, the number of dairy holdings dropped by 27% and for the first time in its history <b>Argentina had to import milk from Uruguay</b>. In the same period, Argentina recorded a decline of 44% in rice production, 44% in sunflowers and 36% in pork. <b>This was accompanied by a rise in the price of basic foodstuffs, so that in 2003 flour rose by 162%, lentils by 272% and rice by 130%. The irony of this situation is that Argentinians were being encouraged to substitute soya milk and soya steaks for the traditional milk and meat that had always formed part of the culinary heritage of their country.</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">“VOLUNTEER” SOYA: TOWARDS A STERILE SOIL</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpCCfy8LreUJueMjGSDjMw07nEUWGy9BzeVCam-YYGGhupr84VeqBJanQ7XUr4FvjSClQb4y-iHhTsSw1GyoCyKC1RtTH28aiwNt8N4RogPtxPsbG2DlgxcUiIoAOEvM5hVw5vyYKOS4_U/s1600/GMOx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpCCfy8LreUJueMjGSDjMw07nEUWGy9BzeVCam-YYGGhupr84VeqBJanQ7XUr4FvjSClQb4y-iHhTsSw1GyoCyKC1RtTH28aiwNt8N4RogPtxPsbG2DlgxcUiIoAOEvM5hVw5vyYKOS4_U/s400/GMOx.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Before the advent of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready (“RR”) soya, <b><span style="color: red;">Argentine farmers used four or five different herbicides on the same land, including very toxic ones like 2-4D (an ingredient of “Agent Orange”)</span></b>, atrazine or paraquat (all banned in the European Union). But alternation of the different products stopped the weeds from developing resistance to any one of them.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Now, the exclusive use of Roundup had caused biotypes to appear. At first these were “tolerant” of glyphosate and farmers had to increase the doses of Roundup to get rid of them. But tolerance was followed by resistance and the appearance of “volunteer” soya which became ever more widespread in the Pampas. <b>Before the arrival of RR, Argentina used on average a million litres of glyphosate a year, but by 2005 that had grown to 150 million, with a considerable financial boost in consequence for Monsanto.</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Increasing spraying with Roundup was weakening soils because it destroys the microbial flora that it is essential to their fertility. As the soil becomes progressively more sterile, it becomes less productive, farmers are forced to use more fertilizer and so their costs of production rise. <b>The claim that using GMOs will increase profits is therefore somewhat in doubt.</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">CONSEQUENCES FOR HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Rural populations are the first to be affected by the damage to their environment from massive use of Roundup. <b>Twice a year, crop dusters or “mosquitos” spray the herbicide across the whole countryside right up to people’s doorsteps. No precautions are taken in Argentina to reduce the impact of contamination by glyphosate, which affects the environment, the air and the ground water and in turn the population.</b> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">According to Dario Gianfelici, an Argentine doctor working in the countryside, “Along with several other colleagues in the region, we have recorded a significant increase in birth abnormalities, like miscarriages or early fetal death, </span><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">thyroid dysfunction</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">, respiratory dysfunction - like pulmonary oedema – kidney and endocrine dysfunction, liver and skin diseases and serious sight problems”.1 These are direct observations from the ground and not scientific proof.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Furthermore the increase in land area given over to growing soya has had an associated effect on deforestation which has increased to provide new terrain. The region of SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO has shown one of the <b>highest rates of deforestation in the world</b> with an average of 0.81% of the forest torn away each year, against a global rate of 0.23%. According to Jorge Menendez, Director for Forests with the Environment Ministry, between 1998 and 2002, that represented 800,000 hectares of forest in this region gone up in smoke to make way for soya. In the same period, 118,000 hectares were lost in the CHACO and 170,000 in SALTA. This is a veritable ecological tragedy for the primitive forests which shelter a biodiversity found here and nowhere else on the planet.</span></span></div><div class="spip"><br /></div><div class="spip"><br /></div><div class="spip"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span lang="FR">MONSANTO VERSES ARGENTINA</span></b></span></div><div class="spip"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FxLZvwswr9oTG5AjcwETfFYwjog2qVdunf5kUxGKDY5igfufLbW4hbE9BroWIJjrzalgPvQ9AYwaNKBmynkhynzBkV_BVscyf4L_XINfDbw_hxMCZgW52Z5gIVRTyE-8GJszSMvYESZ6/s1600/genetic7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FxLZvwswr9oTG5AjcwETfFYwjog2qVdunf5kUxGKDY5igfufLbW4hbE9BroWIJjrzalgPvQ9AYwaNKBmynkhynzBkV_BVscyf4L_XINfDbw_hxMCZgW52Z5gIVRTyE-8GJszSMvYESZ6/s400/genetic7.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In order to dominate the market for GM soya, Monsanto hasn’t hesitated to extend a number of privileges in Argentina, like the bargain prices for RR soya seed, the lack of a patent and its undertaking not to sue farmers who replant part of their harvested seed.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">However <b>Monsanto</b> is in dispute with the Argentine government at the moment because the firm is claiming royalties on the sale and export of its GM soya. The firm <b>is demanding three dollars per tonne of soya grain or flour leaving Argentine ports or 15 dollars on arrival of the cargoes in European ports</b>. That represents a potential <b><span style="color: red;">financial boost of 160 million dollars a year for Monsanto</span></b>simply from Argentine soya exports destined for the EU. Currently no agreement has been reached between Monsanto and the Argentine government. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://monsanto.no/index.php/en/environment/gmo/gmo-news/92-monsantos-herbicide-roundup-linked-to-birth-defects-in-argentinas-agricultural-areas"><span lang="FR">http://monsanto.no/index.php/en/environment/gmo/gmo-news/92-monsantos-herbicide-roundup-linked-to-birth-defects-in-argentinas-agricultural-areas</span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">MONSANTO TARGETS LATIN AMERICA FOR SEED BUSINESS GROWTH </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Via Dow Jones Newswires</span></b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">12/22/2011</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Monsanto claims more than 40% of Brazil's GMO seed market and more than half of Argentina's.</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The big farms of Brazil and Argentina have become a key <b>battleground for Monsanto Co. (MON) as the agribusiness heavyweight seeks to maintain its market leadership in genetically modified seeds in Latin America.</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As growth of Monsanto's GMO seeds outside the U.S. is expected to outpace the domestic market for the first time during the upcoming crop season, <b>Latin America has taken on new importance for Monsanto. </b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The momentum is expected to accelerate in 2012 in Latin America. Furthermore it is expected the ramp-up of the corn opportunity in Brazil and Argentina will be one of the single largest sources of new growth in the next few years according to Monsanto.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">While the U.S. has a finite amount of cultivatable crop lands, there are still massive amounts of land available to expand production in Brazil and Argentina</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">. (<a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/01/latam-economic-downgrading-tactics-by.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/01/latam-economic-downgrading-tactics-by.html</a>)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Moreover, the benefits of GMO seeds -- including increased resistance to pests and herbicides -- have won them increased usage by farmers in those nations. <b><span style="color: red;">Monsanto claims more than 40% of Brazil's GMO seed market and more than half of Argentina's</span></b>. Last year, the company's sales to Argentina totaled over $600 million out of Monsanto's overall global seed sales of $10.5 billion.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Brazil and Argentina are primed to boost Monsanto's</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> top line as farmers adopt biotech seeds and trade up to more advanced and higher-margin seeds.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">With 120 million acres of soybeans in South America versus 75 million in the U.S. it is a significant growth opportunity for Monsanto and the next blockbuster product, with a big opportunity for investors in South America</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wvjCE_g2tKM?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>

MONSANTO – “GLOBAL MONSTER CORPORATION”?

Monsanto El Veneno Del Diablo Soja Argentina The Monsanto Company is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation which is parti...

GEOSTRATEGIC DYNAMICS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA

5:44 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcKRAZ7waNXC70LpZEaS3kz-jyxRrQ4P_H7G5R4FaGw2YASN9xD3jUgKAZU2Q_bdJiVLcPDoNPy5EOoyopgMtfVQEblg3pksBsY_Xwg9CU8jpuDBy2C76ojMfCdSWyXR3Et_u2ZkoTIKF/s1600/1-17-2012-8-10-27-AM-3175256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcKRAZ7waNXC70LpZEaS3kz-jyxRrQ4P_H7G5R4FaGw2YASN9xD3jUgKAZU2Q_bdJiVLcPDoNPy5EOoyopgMtfVQEblg3pksBsY_Xwg9CU8jpuDBy2C76ojMfCdSWyXR3Et_u2ZkoTIKF/s400/1-17-2012-8-10-27-AM-3175256.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SABRE RATTLING BETWEEN CYPRUS AND TURKEY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Parallel to current saber rattling in the SOUTHERN ATLANTIC between BRITAIN and ARGENTINA, similar posturing can be observed in the EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA between CYPRUS and TURKEY regarding recent gas and possible oil findings. Adding fuel to the fire is ISRAEL’S Prime Ministers State visit to CYPRUS. This comes at a time when CYPRUS frequently accused TURKEY of using "bullying behaviour" over the division of the island and recent natural gas finds. (See: <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/02/british-multiple-offensive.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/02/british-multiple-offensive.html</a>)<br />Gas production is set to climb in the EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN following the discovery of huge offshore reserves that have sparked competing maritime claims involving TURKEY, CYPRUS, LEBANON and ISRAEL.<br /><br /><div style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TURKEYS SHOW OF FORCE IS AN ATTEMPT TO INTIMIDATE CYPRUS AND ISRAEL </b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuYUoScBG1VNfpA-dzgOm18Q40hMZsfhpDxmJ2AJ242JrwUy3G4ylaT9I38wPRsH5KBRWmWgk0Pgxmx215_o62mWcqCdHuersw6HEANWB7K6dG6xf9PG6iMCETNoElCJf9CNkwvXwFPmU6/s1600/asadi_s20110908214936433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuYUoScBG1VNfpA-dzgOm18Q40hMZsfhpDxmJ2AJ242JrwUy3G4ylaT9I38wPRsH5KBRWmWgk0Pgxmx215_o62mWcqCdHuersw6HEANWB7K6dG6xf9PG6iMCETNoElCJf9CNkwvXwFPmU6/s200/asadi_s20110908214936433.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>CYPRUS politicians told ISRAELI ARMY RADIO in an interview that TURKEY had held numerous and "provocative" military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean over the past few months. The show of force is an attempt to threaten CYPRUS and ISRAEL and try to discourage foreign companies from cooperating with the two countries in gas exploration and production. A totally unacceptable behaviour on the part of TURKEY and something CYPRUS condemns strongly. CYPRUS'S attempts to tap offshore hydrocarbon riches has angered Ankara, which challenges Nicosia's jurisdiction in searching for oil and gas.<br /><br /><div style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">CYPRUS AND ISRAEL TO BECOME MAJOR GAS EXPORTERS IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE </b></div><br />Texas-based NOBLE ENERGY, which is working with both CYPRUS and ISRAEL, reported an offshore gas prospect of between 5 trillion and 8 trillion cubic feet for CYPRUS, a find which could make it self-sufficient in the commodity for decades. Gas production is also set to soar in Israel and it could become a major exporter from finds that could last for the next 40 years.<br />NOBLE is working with ISRAEL'S DELEK ENERGY to develop the "TAMAR" field, with reserves estimated at 9.1 trillion cubic feet, and "LEVIATHAN" which is nearly twice as big.<br />The TURKISH CYPRIOTS and TURKEY, which invaded north CYPRUS in 1974 after a brief GREECE-inspired coup, plan retaliatory exploration in northern CYPRUS.<br />ISRAEL and CYPRUS have agreed their adjoining areas of maritime jurisdiction. TURKEY, which controls northern CYPRUS, disputes its border with CYPRUS and LEBANON, which is in a state of war with ISRAEL and has also not agreed on a joint border between the two.<br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">CYPRUS: GAS LICENCES BID LAUNCHED</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div>At the eve of the first ever ISRAELI State visit to the Island, CYPRUS announced the second licensing round for offshore exploration of hydrocarbons in its EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE (EEZ), less than two months after the discovery of substantial natural gas deposits south of the island.<br />The notice invites licence applications to search for mineral deposits inside the island's 51,000 square kilometre EEZ. Twelve offshore blocks rimming the island's south are on offer for potential exploration and exploitation of oil and gas. Block 12 is currently under concession to Houston-based NOBLE ENERGY, which back in December said it discovered an estimated 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet there. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Block 12 lies close to where neighbouring ISRAEL has reported significant discoveries.</b><br /><br /><div style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE </b></div><br />Meanwhile CYPRUS officials from the ministries of foreign affairs and commerce are currently in the final stages of negotiating a unitization agreement with ISRAEL. This would arrange gas prospects into discrete units, given that some of the CYPRIOT Prospects in the eastern Mediterranean border and/or overlap ISRAELI ones.<br /><br /><div style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ISRAEL TO STATION MILITARY JETS IN CYPRUS?</b></div><br />ISRAEL allegedly will use the first ever state visit to CYPRUS to sounding out the government over a request to station military jets at the ANDREAS PAPANDREOU airbase in PAPHOS, CYPRUS.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglB-KTbGwIQDzqBaHKehIfxOYK-iNBJ879McRZMR0oiKZROlOOSJ4CvCMyQWnt0_OSiyxfUKMY1bcD6E2jyG7PCZeoLiYzZ8xBDR7d2rtbGtRuAzTHzhEgH8GGwfgdu8YhZOLwhlwuddbL/s1600/andreas-papandreou-ab-paphos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglB-KTbGwIQDzqBaHKehIfxOYK-iNBJ879McRZMR0oiKZROlOOSJ4CvCMyQWnt0_OSiyxfUKMY1bcD6E2jyG7PCZeoLiYzZ8xBDR7d2rtbGtRuAzTHzhEgH8GGwfgdu8YhZOLwhlwuddbL/s320/andreas-papandreou-ab-paphos.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">ANDREAS PAPANDREOU airbase in PAPHOS, CYPRUS</span></td></tr></tbody></table> If these allegations prove accurate, the visit of ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to CYPRUS may coincide with a ground-breaking shake up of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">geostrategic dynamics</b> in the region.  It was not clear though if ISRAEL will request a permanent presence on the island or establishing a base that can provide logistical support to the ISRAELI AIR FORCE (IAF) during operations in the region.<br />As mentioned in previous postings, ISRAEL needs to search for alternative external bases in order to compensate for recent loss of military cooperation and strongholds in TURKEY because of TURKEYS sudden change of attitude towards ISRAEL. (See: <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/09/warmongerning-between-israel-and-turkey.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/09/warmongerning-between-israel-and-turkey.html</a> ) <br />Apparently ISRAEL and CYPRUS are seeking to strengthen defence ties as part of efforts to protect offshore oil and gas interests. CYPRUS and ISRAEL already signed two defence agreements in recent past.<br />CYPRUS seems keen to monitor the air space above its gas fields and increase navy patrols in its EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE with the help of ISRAEL and GREECE as it lacks an efficient air force of its own. ISRAEL on the other hand will be looking to find ways to counter potential threats from SYRIA and HEZBOLLAH against its offshore infrastructure.<br /><br /><div style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DIPLOMATIC DOORS NOT ENTIRELY CLOSED BETWEEN ISRAEL AND TURKEY</b></div><br />Interesting to note however is that at the same time diplomatic  relations between TURKEY and ISRAEL at an all times low, ISRAEL remains open to thawing its frosty relations with former military ally TURKEY and thus will likely invite TURKEY to participate in a large-scale international aerial drill to be hosted in ISRAEL in 2013. Economic relations between the two countries seems not have been effected by the dispute, as recent trade figures indicate. See: <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/01/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/01/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil.html</a> <br />Furthermore TURKEY permitted the installation of a NATO anti missile radar on its border with Iran, the information of which will be made also available to the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Thus it will be interesting to see what impact the current geopolitical and strategic shift among key players in the region will have on friends and foes alike.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Parts of above article have been adopted from the Cyprus Mail </i></span>

GEOSTRATEGIC DYNAMICS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SABRE RATTLING BETWEEN CYPRUS AND TURKEY Parallel to current saber rattling in the SOUTHERN ATLANTIC between BRITAIN a...

Focus on yourself first to find your federal job fit

2:56 PM Anonymous 0

<br /><div class="ArticleHeadline" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -30px; text-align: left;"><div class="cbmsnArticleImage" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/9g/ar5l4c7702bwrnb6b99g.gif?time=1/17/2012%204:40:38%20pm" /></div><div class="hdr_org_bld" style="color: #ff6600; font: normal normal bold 18px/normal arial, helvetica;"><h1 id="articleHeadline" style="color: #ff7700; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span id="cbArticle_lblHeadline">Focus on yourself first to find your federal job fit</span></h1></div></div><div class="ArticleContent" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><b><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine">Lori Michelle Ryan, JIST Publishing</span></b></div><div class="ArticleContent" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="ArticleContent" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Applying for a job with the federal <a href="http://msn.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/government/" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">government</a> can be a difficult and maddening ordeal that involves a long application process and a complex organizational structure. Federal job seekers are often told to take any federal position just to get their foot in the door. However, this advice is outdated and misleading.<br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">In their book, "<a href="http://www.bing.com/search?q=Find+Your+Federal+Job+Fit&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=msns07" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">Find Your Federal Job Fit</a>," Janet M. Ruck and Karol Taylor describe how to develop a career identity through a planning process that is designed to help individuals find the federal position that suits them best.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">To better understand your career identity, Ruck and Taylor say you must figure out why you work and what meaningful work is for you.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">"Work is an extension of your place in the world, and ideally it expresses who you are," Ruck and Taylor say. "Can you identify what you are called to do in life? Usually characterized by a passion or a great yearning to pursue a field, discipline or venture, meaningful work and activities can sometimes make themselves known to you before you are aware of or identify them."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">After identifying your meaningful work, the authors suggest creating a personal mission statement and identifying your life purpose using some simple questions:</div><ul type="disc"><br /><li>What do you consider to be your best characteristics?</li><br /><li>How do you reveal these characteristics to others?</li><br /><li>What are some ways in which you would like to use these characteristics in your life and your work?</li></ul><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">The next step to generating a career identity is to develop a personal brand, which can help you stand out from other federal job applicants. The personal brand, the <a href="http://msn.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/writing/" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">authors</a> say, "reflects who you are and shows through your actions what you stand for. ... A personal brand is authentic and organic and emanates from who you are in reality. It is not contrived, forced or created, yet it must be cultivated, reinforced and nurtured."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Using your personal brand, create a statement that succinctly summarizes the qualities you possess that would be desirable for a federal position. Ruck and Taylor recommend these steps:</div><ul type="disc"><br /><li>Focus on a unique self-description.</li><br /><li>Describe what you do.</li><br /><li>Explain how you are unique.</li><br /><li>Describe your goal.</li></ul><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">When you've completed these exercises, you can consider them together to develop your career goal, which could point you toward your future federal career. Create a vision of where you want to work, what you want to do and how you can contribute to the job.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Finding a federal job doesn't have to be daunting; you can simplify the process by first focusing on yourself and developing your career identity.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><i>Lori Michelle Ryan is the Marketing Communications Specialist at JIST Publishing, America's Career Publisher. In this role, she helps job seekers, career changers, students and working professionals develop the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the job market and world of work.</i></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />

Focus on yourself first to find your federal job fit

Focus on yourself first to find your federal job fit Lori Michelle Ryan, JIST Publishing Applying for a job with the federal government ca...

Network Services Assistant - Wilton Library

2:09 PM Anonymous 0

<strong>Network Services Assistant</strong> - <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Wilton Library</strong></span> seeks a part-time Network Services Assistant (two Sundays per month:  1-5 pm) to manage its Intranet, update website, cover help desk  functions, set up audio/visual presentations and maintain equipment.  Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010  (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook), web browsers, web-based email, and  photo editing software. Duties include updating of Intranet and website,  setting up/operating audio/visual equipment (computers, projectors,  microphones, movies, etc.); providing exceptional help desk support for  patrons and staff; updating and maintaining computers, iPads, Nooks, and  Kindles; rebuilding computers and replacing/repairing peripherals as  directed; and other assignments as required. Successful applicant will  be eager to learn, flexible, creative, a team player, and have proven  interpersonal and teaching skills, along with problem solving abilities.  Position available immediately.  Email resume and cover letter by <span style="color: red;">March 2, 2012</span>, to Mary Anne Mendola Franco, Head of Network Services, at <a href="mailto:mamfranco@wiltonlibrary.org">mamfranco@wiltonlibrary.org</a>. Wilton Library Association is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Network Services Assistant - Wilton Library

Network Services Assistant - Wilton Library seeks a part-time Network Services Assistant (two Sundays per month: 1-5 pm) to manage its In...

Webmaster/Network Services Assistant - Wilton Library

2:08 PM Anonymous 0

<strong>Webmaster/Network Services Assistant</strong> - <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Wilton Library</strong></span> seeks a full-time Webmaster/Network Services Assistant (Tues-Sat  afternoon/evenings with full benefits) to manage its website, cover help  desk functions, set up audio/visual presentations and maintain  equipment. Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Office 2007  and 2010 (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook), web browsers, web-based  email, and photo editing software. Duties include daily updating of  website, setting up/operating audio/visual equipment (computers,  projectors, microphones, movies, etc.); providing exceptional help desk  support for patrons and staff; updating and maintaining computers,  iPads, Nooks, and Kindles; rebuilding computers and replacing/repairing  peripherals as directed; and other assignments as required. Successful  applicant will be eager to learn, flexible, creative, a team player, and  have proven interpersonal and teaching skills, along with problem  solving abilities. Position available immediately.  Email resume and  cover letter by <span style="color: red;">March 2, 2012</span>, to Mary Anne Mendola Franco, Head of Network Services, at <a href="mailto:mamfranco@wiltonlibrary.org">mamfranco@wiltonlibrary.org</a>. Wilton Library Association is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Webmaster/Network Services Assistant - Wilton Library

Webmaster/Network Services Assistant - Wilton Library seeks a full-time Webmaster/Network Services Assistant (Tues-Sat afternoon/evenings...

Library Assistant - West Haven Public Library

2:05 PM Anonymous 0

Library Assistant - West Haven Public Library

Library Assistant - The Ora Mason Branch of the West Haven Public Library seeks a part-time circulation assistant (16 hours per week) even...

Children’s Services Coordinator - Minor Memorial Library/Roxbury

2:04 PM Anonymous 0

Children’s Services Coordinator - Minor Memorial Library/Roxbury

Children’s Services Coordinator - The Minor Memorial Library in Roxbury seeks an enthusiastic self-starter with college degree and experi...

Library Reference Assistant - Plainville Public Library

2:03 PM Anonymous 0

<strong>Library Reference Assistant</strong> - The Town of Plainville is searching for a Library Reference Assistant in our <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Plainville Public Library</strong></span>.  This position is accountable for assisting the Library Director in  providing reference and inter-library loan services to patrons. The  position is a 35 hour work week with a starting salary $18.59 per hour  plus benefits. Applicants need a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts, the  humanities or other related field; minimum of two years experience in  relevant library work. Applications are available on the <a href="http://www.plainvillect.com/pages/page_content/town_departments_human%20resources.aspx" target="_blank">Town of Plainville website</a> and should be mailed to: The Town of Plainville, c/o Human Resources,  One Central Square, Plainville, CT 06062. The position requires a  knowledge of library science procedures and library classification  systems. Considerable interpersonal skills, general clerical skills  including typing; written and oral communication skills, and computer  skills. Also, the ability to conduct and teach library research  techniques, ability to organize, prioritize, and schedule work, and  multi-task. Some other tasks will include: Representing the library at  meetings regarding the development of regional library policies; reading  book reviews and making recommendations on the purchase of new books;  teaching groups and individuals how to use various library resources;  covering the circulation desk as needed; general clerical duties; and  related duties as necessary. The position will remain open until filled.  EOE / M-F

Library Reference Assistant - Plainville Public Library

Library Reference Assistant - The Town of Plainville is searching for a Library Reference Assistant in our Plainville Public Library . Thi...

Love Endures All Things

7:57 AM Tukiyooo 0

Dear Hilary,<br /><br />I am writing this letter to you to let you know that you <i>will </i>be okay.  I know right now it is hard to see that.  Trust me, it will get better.<br /><br />I know your heart has been broken by someone you least expected to break it.  You loved Joel with all of your heart and because of that, it hurts you so deeply right now to imagine a life without him. <br /><br />But Hilary, listen to me when I say this: <i>God has a plan for you.</i>  That plan is what is best for you, with or without Joel in your life.  Someday, your path will cross with someone else's again, and the two of you will walk together as one, and he will be the man for you.      <br /><br />I know that you're thinking, "But I don't want someone else. I only want Joel."  You might feel this way right now Hilary, but whatever is meant to be will be. <br /><br />Right now, you need to trust in God and His plan for you.  Sing His praises every day, because you do have a lot in your life to be thankful for.  Know that he is walking by your side every step of the way.  You might feel all alone, but trust me, that could not be further from the truth.  God is there with you every second of the day, through every tear you cry and every breath you take.  He is there holding you and telling you that you will be okay. <br /><br />Love never fails, Hilary.  So please, go love yourself in every way that you know how.  Love God and all He has done for you and will continue to do for you.  Hilary, the best is yet to come!<br /><br />Love,<br />Your future self

Love Endures All Things

Dear Hilary, I am writing this letter to you to let you know that you will be okay. I know right now it is hard to see that. Trust me, it ...

green for very little green

7:50 PM Anonymous 0

Hey there! First things first, I want to thank everyone for their great comments, especially about the lampshades. I think they just might deserve different bases so I'm going to keep my eyes open. I'll keep you posted.<br /><br />With a 1st birthday party this weekend, our house is full of glue guns and pink. Everywhere pink. So, many things have fallen off my radar, but I did manage to finish one project on my list. A kick off project of sorts. But first a little background. I know what you're thinking, 'Oh great, another one of her stories.' I'll keep it brief, promise.<br /><br />We have the classic neglected master bedroom - full of left overs, after thoughts and general laziness. Finally the other day I decided I'd had enough. I'm sick and tired of it and I'm not gonna take it anymore! (imagine me doing my best Norma Ray) Its time to start the patching, painting, moving, reorganizing, and of course, shopping. But as this room is (supposed to be) my sanctuary, the thought of the upheaval makes me want to avoid it altogether.<br /><br />So I'm going with the 'What About Bob?' theory. Its all about the baby steps.<br /><br />Baby step 1 - empty the room. As we've established, it drives me bonkers to live in an 'empty' space, so nothing is more encouraging than seeing blank walls first thing every day. Mission accomplished. It is driving me nuts and I am <strike>annoyed</strike> encouraged.<br /><br />Baby step 2 - bring in some inspiration. I been dying for some kelly green...somewhere. Enter this mirror I picked up off the side of the road when I nabbed my now <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/p/before-after.html" target="_blank">yellow table</a>.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDCIK_iD7dMMJL9bEVL5UgrcJVxmpSmIAwNT3pkQ6PvHnHdkOQ9dCfCV1MUr-zMTfseuURIHqiC6ordi7Xvrq154oup2Mf0YYrcyjJa9yBVNXWtXcldfK4EFa5CEyONqJhX04DBsMu2Dtc/s1600/P1283477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDCIK_iD7dMMJL9bEVL5UgrcJVxmpSmIAwNT3pkQ6PvHnHdkOQ9dCfCV1MUr-zMTfseuURIHqiC6ordi7Xvrq154oup2Mf0YYrcyjJa9yBVNXWtXcldfK4EFa5CEyONqJhX04DBsMu2Dtc/s640/P1283477.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>It used to sit on top of the table, ala vanity, which is why there is that big honkin' bolt sticking out of the bottom. Luckily that screwed right out. A bit of sanding and paper to protect the mirror and it was ready for a can of love.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-15S62LPUKDLWzrP8iywUBu2cW3RKgRiSZArKbsIMzcMH-l0uxiMjtMpSOctTFH9E_AibPIG9ooNkjFW9hw-dhyphenhyphensshH891D6zvhtx4XXCn3-RSNQLqAa0GHFrPJ9GScFKhXz8jMzlfeZ/s1600/P2093715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-15S62LPUKDLWzrP8iywUBu2cW3RKgRiSZArKbsIMzcMH-l0uxiMjtMpSOctTFH9E_AibPIG9ooNkjFW9hw-dhyphenhyphensshH891D6zvhtx4XXCn3-RSNQLqAa0GHFrPJ9GScFKhXz8jMzlfeZ/s640/P2093715.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><br />After several light and even coats (a shout out to <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2012/01/a-giant-rooster-who-does-that/" target="_blank">Sherry</a>) I have a nice pop of inspiration.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsq-E2nBmXCmhjnYuIn1OdDfmtpeVASjHklJfq9q9nZn1GJs4hkKCzBpwdNBOBS2o1xYho9Gu4ODTiJHKyt0saC_FDUkgEZ4ofg7TrGgwSuJ9aI8NjDhgl3AsLU8hyphenhyphendut38mLuWe3_M4xc/s1600/P2093706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsq-E2nBmXCmhjnYuIn1OdDfmtpeVASjHklJfq9q9nZn1GJs4hkKCzBpwdNBOBS2o1xYho9Gu4ODTiJHKyt0saC_FDUkgEZ4ofg7TrGgwSuJ9aI8NjDhgl3AsLU8hyphenhyphendut38mLuWe3_M4xc/s640/P2093706.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgX1raB_GAp7dO2O-AcSCFDaxFElvtdcBINRp4SWVx63hhV9l7nBqop_J7eSowKZZYAIavH27xFInTrkUpCd0Feftxp59ALP0FEX83GZFUPXcws52JpGyo_r1CEqe35aqMkxy8M_jrMOtc/s1600/P2294925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgX1raB_GAp7dO2O-AcSCFDaxFElvtdcBINRp4SWVx63hhV9l7nBqop_J7eSowKZZYAIavH27xFInTrkUpCd0Feftxp59ALP0FEX83GZFUPXcws52JpGyo_r1CEqe35aqMkxy8M_jrMOtc/s640/P2294925.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJh0hh7zdvxKI3IXeJl2siJEt-T-r1k_eN_PlLjbfhdtCvfVwIN6Zs2baCYXBmT2Uo_k3VONYWjJPFFWh8vbQpGGBTJ_4UNLrLUms46eFkhbcMQt3sxQaZrs7YFsO1Gwh-uuGKkCUmGuxQ/s1600/P2154080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJh0hh7zdvxKI3IXeJl2siJEt-T-r1k_eN_PlLjbfhdtCvfVwIN6Zs2baCYXBmT2Uo_k3VONYWjJPFFWh8vbQpGGBTJ_4UNLrLUms46eFkhbcMQt3sxQaZrs7YFsO1Gwh-uuGKkCUmGuxQ/s640/P2154080.JPG" width="426" /></a></div> Notice the blank walls. And curtains already pulled down. And no, I'm not channeling Laura Ashley's green and lavender. That wall color is the next thing to go!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXrS53xEQRLVFboUgXRJLWio_YKNPGRYfZ5-9Zpo308bZNYvZT7N9CE3TzGI2qrl_gkg4RMcL_06wXNY1y7X11v-rZ256r73wB3eANkS9N7-0Qu7AuUNlHtxOLpf2-1HJfd9-M1N8sxKXt/s1600/P2154086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXrS53xEQRLVFboUgXRJLWio_YKNPGRYfZ5-9Zpo308bZNYvZT7N9CE3TzGI2qrl_gkg4RMcL_06wXNY1y7X11v-rZ256r73wB3eANkS9N7-0Qu7AuUNlHtxOLpf2-1HJfd9-M1N8sxKXt/s640/P2154086.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Next up baby step 3 - paint the walls.<br /><br />Then create curtains, get new bedding, recycle some lamps, get stuff for the walls, figure out a bedskirt, find a rug...oy. I'll stop there. I need a cocktail.<br /><br />For now this bit of change will have to do. Its all about the baby steps.<br /><br />Have you started any major projects lately? Have any project anxiety? Something you've wanted to get started but can't bring yourself to pull the trigger on?

green for very little green

Hey there! First things first, I want to thank everyone for their great comments, especially about the lampshades. I think they just might d...

A Plan

6:13 PM Tukiyooo 0

<p align="left">I’m sure you’ve all seen this quote. It’s an oldie…but SO true! I wanted to fill you in on how I plan to meet my goals this month!</p> <p align="right"><img alt="Pinned Image" height="357" src="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/280771357988357425_BRZ1DOhG_c.jpg" style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" width="250"></p> <p align="right"><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/280771357988357425/">(source)</a></p> <p align="left">To recap here is a list of my goals for February. </p> <ol> <li>workout 4 days/week  <li>attend every WW meeting (no excuses)  <li>track daily  <li>limit TV time to 1 hr/day  <li>weigh 174 by 2.29.12 {lose 4lbs}</li></ol> <p>And here’s how I plan to meet those goals:</p> <p>I plan to workout on my lunch hour 2 days per week and then the other 2 days get in a workout after Adelyn is in bed in the evening. To workout on my lunch will require that I pack my workout bag and my lunch the night before. </p> <p>Attending my weekly Weight Watcher meeting is pretty self explanatory…but it’s easy to let meetings & other things fill in that time slot. Attending those weekly meetings is so important!</p> <p>Tracking is an area I struggle with…but I want to get better! My plan to keep my tracker out on the counter when I’m at home and on my desk when I’m at work. This will ensure it will always be on my mind when I go to eat something. </p> <p>Limiting TV time will be hard, I will admit. I like to sit on the couch and vegg. And yes I do believe we all need some time to do that. But…I can let it fill up too much of my time. I plan to make a list for the week of things I want to accomplish around the house and this will help me limit my TV time, but seeing those things that I need/want to get done. </p> <p>And finally to meet that weight loss goal for the month will be easy…if I can just stay on track with my first 4 goals!</p> <p><strong><em>What strategies to put into place to ensure that you will meet your goals?</em></strong></p>

A Plan

I’m sure you’ve all seen this quote. It’s an oldie…but SO true! I wanted to fill you in on how I plan to meet my goals this month! (source...

My Take On Congregational Development: What I Said To The Diocese Of Idaho Convention

1:52 PM Tukiyooo 0

It is a sweeter thing for me to be here with you<br /> than most of you would imagine.<br />I may appear to be an alien visitor <br /> from that surrealistic din of iniquity, Las Vegas.<br />And so today I am -- but I was not always the prelate of depravity,<br /> the bishop of Sin City.<br /><br />In the late 70’s, I was a young lawyer who found his way to Boise.<br />It was around the time when Carol King was moving to Idaho City<br /> and the Braun Brothers were first singing Yankee Fork and Mass. Woman.<br />In those days, I was a lapsed Buddhist who didn’t believe in much of anything.<br />I had just wrapped a mantle of cynical despair around my heart<br />  as a way to get through life.<br /><br />But several things happened to break my dark philosophy.<br />One of the spiritual catalysts was a case I was defending.<br />It was a contract murder in small city in Western Idaho.<br />The state’s version of the facts included about half the town<br /> in a dark conspiracy.<br />My version of the case suspected the other half of the town<br /> in  an even darker conspiracy. <br />I sometimes wondered if we were both right.<br />The pervasiveness of cruelty and corruption <br /> exceeded anything my cynicism had suspected.<br />Under the weight of that discovery, I needed something.<br />I didn’t know what it was but I knew I didn’t have it.<br />Today, I would say my life had entered into a grim chapter.<br />What I needed was a story big enough to contain such a chapter<br /> and still be, on the whole, beautiful.<br />I was to find that story in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.<br /><br />I found it at St. Michael’s Cathedral, corner of State and  8th street, Boise.<br />It wasn’t a quick or easy conversion.<br />I didn’t believe what I was hearing and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.<br />But I gave it a chance.<br /><br />I received the sacrament with not so much belief <br /> as a willingness to doubt my disbelief, to entertain a possibility.<br />Much that I heard rankled me.<br />But each day, I said the Prayer Book devotions.<br /> “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ<br /> for by his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope . . . .”<br />Like a scalpel, the words cut my mantle and I bled and I bled until I believed.<br /><br />Jim Dwyer was the Dean in those days.<br />Herb Runner was the resident good hearted sage.<br />Allen Dingell was the chancellor.<br />Judge Bail taught adult Sunday School.<br />Tudor Cushman instructed our children.<br />Each summer we sang campfire songs with the Zimlikas, the Manns, and others<br /> at Paradise Point.<br />.<br />The Episcopal Church in Idaho saved my life.<br />I was born here – through an at risk spiritual pregnancy,<br /> and an arduous labor.<br />So it is good for me to be in Pocatello with you.<br />Thank you for inviting me to come home this weekend.<br />Thank you for inviting me 30 years ago to come home to Christ.<br /><br />It has been 21 years since I was ordained in this diocese.<br />So perhaps I have come of age.<br />Perhaps I can offer some small lessons about Congregational Development.<br />The first is: when you think about Congregational Development,<br /> remember my story.<br />I don’t know who I would have become if you had not been here for me.<br />But you were here.<br />You were here because people loved the Church and served her.<br />They did not just love seeing the same faces every Sunday.<br />They loved the openness of the church doors.<br />They loved the porch light burning for lost souls.<br />They loved the witness for justice and the heart for mercy.<br />When I couldn’t see God, I saw them.<br />Congregational Development is a fancy term for loving the church.<br />We love her for the sake of the people who are here<br /> and the people who need to be, but don’t know it.<br /><br />The second thing I offer is more of a strategy for vitality.<br />Nevada elected me as bishop because <br /> I had been priest to a little church in Georgia<br /> that had about declined to the point of failure;<br /> but during my time there, they doubled in size, tripled in budget,<br />  and quadrupled in mission.<br />I didn’t make that happen, but I watched it up close<br /> and I can tell you the key.<br /><br /><br />So let me tell you what I learned in Georgia.<br />There is a sociological axiom about churches.<br />You’ve all heard it.<br />20% of the people do 80% of the work.<br /><br />In our passion for Baptismal Ministry we sometimes try to tinker with that.<br />We think we need 100% participation in everything.<br />For awhile I forgot the 20%/80% rule.<br />We have a congregation of 10 people <br /> in a small mining town in the Humboldt Mountains of Nevada.<br />I had all sorts of plans and programs to pump life into the place.<br />First they all had to take a basic discipleship class.<br />Then we were going to discern all their gifts and talents.<br /><br />Well, it didn’t happen.<br />They stayed stuck, and I got frustrated.<br />Then I counted the number of people in the congregation <br /> who had rolled up their sleeves to do the work of the church.<br />Can you guess? It was 2. They were doing just fine.<br />That’s when I remembered what I had learned in my little Georgia parish.<br /><br />Once the 20% / 80% balance is struck, it is impossible <br /> to add people to the outer edges of the congregation.<br />In the mystical physics of the church, <br /> we cannot extend the circumference too far beyond the central core.<br />The foundation will not bear it.<br />So the 20%/ 80% rule constrains us.<br /><br />But we can make it work for us.<br />This is precisely how we halted the decline of the church in Georgia<br /> and set it on a course toward vitality and growth.<br />Instead of doing all the work themselves, <br /> the inner core can gradually draw someone else into it.<br /><br />We have to be intentional and strategic to pull this off.<br />People in the 80% will not volunteer. They have to be invited, <br />  yea coaxed and lured, into the center.<br />There are two important things to remember <br /> as you invite people to the inner circle.<br /><br /><br /><br />First, you cannot draw in people who are on the outer edge <br /> – not the Christmas and Easter people.<br />Find the folks nearest to the core and bring them in just a little closer.<br /><br />The second point is tricky and paradoxical.<br />The people we want to recruit into the center<br />  will feel welcome there only<br /> if you can discover the actual need for their help.<br />But you have to invite them to do the things that give them joy,<br /> not the jobs you are trying to get out of.<br />We need people doing the ministries that feel authentic for them.<br />If we drive them like square pegs into round holes,<br /> both the church and member get hurt.<br />So first figure out what they enjoy doing or would enjoy doing;<br /> then figure out why your congregation needs it.<br /><br />When David Birney was here interviewing for the Bishop job,<br /> Becky Dwyer picked him up at the airport.<br />He asked her, “What can I do for the Diocese of Idaho.”<br />Becky replied, “I’m sure anything would be appreciated.”<br />That’s a good attitude to have toward whatever someone offers.<br />So we entice, we cajole, we beg to get another person or two <br /> to join the faithful 20%.<br />What happens next is not rational in a cause and effect way.<br />You may call it miracle or even magic.<br />I call it the mystical physics of the church.<br />If we can grow the core of the congregation, if in my church with 10 people <br /> – 2 of whom do all the work <br /> – if we could bring a 3rd person into the core <br /> -- the circumference will expand to preserve the 20% / 80% balance.<br />New members will come. I don’t know how or where from.<br />But they will come. <br />If we can draw a 3rd person into the core of our 10 person congregation,<br /> it will become a 15 person congregation.<br /><br />If you have 20 people doing the work in a 100 person congregation,<br /> add 2 to the core, it will become a 110 person congregation.<br />I can’t explain it; but God as my witness, I have seen it.<br />And once it starts, it tends to snowball.<br /><br />Now to do this effectively, we have to get our heads straight <br /> about the 80% of the congregation who don’t do much in the church.<br />They are not spiritual slackers.<br />Most of them have authentic Christian ministries in daily life and work.<br />If we guilt and pressure them into doing too much church work, <br /> we pull them away from their Godly calling <br />  and do them more harm than good.<br />So draw the folks who are already near the core just a few steps closer.<br />Let the people in the outer circles orbit as God calls them.<br /><br />Now two more vitally important footnotes:<br />First, if a church wants to thrive, not just survive, <br /> it has to be engaged in its community.<br />The town has to know you are there<br /> and that you are serving them.<br /><br />So adopt a highway, be tutors in a public school,<br /> host the meals on wheels program.<br />Do something visible for your town <br /> and sign the church’s name to it.<br />It is not enough that individual church members are good citizens.<br />The congregation needs to be a good citizen in its own name.<br /><br />Second, when you think of people outside the church walls,<br /> don’t look at them as sheep to be fleeced.<br />Don’t see a Sunday School teacher, a building and grounds chair,<br /> or a pledge unit.<br />See a person who needs Jesus and be Jesus for that person.<br /><br />If you love the Church – and I know you do –<br /> then you will tend and nurture her.<br />These a few pointers on how to do that well.<br /> <br />Thank you again. I am blessed to be with you.

My Take On Congregational Development: What I Said To The Diocese Of Idaho Convention

It is a sweeter thing for me to be here with you than most of you would imagine. I may appear to be an alien visitor from that surrealisti...