“Machu Picchu, Barcelona church and Connecticut's Merritt Parkway ... - Norwalk Hour” plus 4 more |
- Machu Picchu, Barcelona church and Connecticut's Merritt Parkway ... - Norwalk Hour
- French captain joins Team Moody - Valdosta Daily Times
- California’s Zigzag on Welfare Rules Worries Experts - New York Times
- FSU Students Compete for Best Cultural Cuisine and Custom - The State Journal
- Deeds points finger at D.C. - Politico.com
| Machu Picchu, Barcelona church and Connecticut's Merritt Parkway ... - Norwalk Hour Posted: 06 Oct 2009 11:51 AM PDT Copy and paste below into your page: (close this pane) NORWALK By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press The World Monuments Fund's watch list for 2010 includes 93 sites in 47 countries, ranging from Phajoding, a remote monastery in Bhutan, to the bridges along Connecticut's scenic Merritt Parkway. "The 2010 watch makes it clear that cultural heritage efforts in the 21st century must recognize the critical importance of sustainable stewardship and that we must work closely with local partners to create viable and appropriate opportunities to advance this," World Monuments Fund President Bonnie Burnham said. The monuments fund, dedicated to saving important landmarks around the world, said a new underground rail line in Barcelona will run perilously close to Gaudi's masterpiece, which was designed as an 18-tower church telling the tale of the Holy Family and has been under construction since the 1880s. Also threatened by new development are traditional townhouses in Kyoto, Japan, called machiya, which date from the early 1600s and are considered models of their type throughout the country. The monuments fund said the townhouses are being torn down, diminishing Kyoto's cultural history. Machu Picchu, an important Inca site and Peru's main tourist attraction, is threatened by its high volume of visitors. The fund said two sites in New Orleans, St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 and the Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, face continuing challenges following Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the area in 2005. U.S. sites on the watch list also include architect Frank Lloyd Wright's home Taliesin in Spring Green, Wis., and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz. Anne Maley, interim CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which operates both sites, said she could not comment on their inclusion on the watch list. The New York-based World Monuments Fund issues its watch list every two years. The list was initiated in the mid-1990s to call attention to sites that are threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict or disaster. It's assembled by a panel of experts in archaeology, architecture, art history and preservation. The last list, in 2007, was the first to add global warming to the roster of forces the monuments fund says are threatening humanity's architectural and cultural heritage.
Argentina: Buenos Aires Historic Center, Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires Armenia: Aghjots Monastery, Garni Village Austria: Wiener Werkbundsiedlung, Vienna Bahrain: Suq al-Qaysariya, Muharraq Belgium: Sanatorium Joseph Lemaire, Tombeek Bhutan: Phajoding, Thimphu Bolivia: Santa Teresa Convent Museum, Cochabamba Chile: Churches of Arica Parinacota Colombia: San Fernando and San Jose Fortresses, Cartagena; Historic Center, Santa Fe de Antioquia. Comoros: Ujumbe Palace, Mutsamudu Cyprus: Historic Walled City of Famagusta Ecuador: Todos Santos Complex, Cuenca Egypt: New Gourna Village, Luxor, West Bank; Old Mosque of Shali Fortress, Siwa Oasis France: Hotel de Monnaies, Villemagne l'Argentiere; Parish Church of Saint-Martin-des-Puits Greece: Churches of Lesvos Guatemala: Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala City Haiti: Gingerbread Houses, Port-au-Prince India: Chiktan Castle, Kargil; Dechen Namgyal Gonpa, Nyoma; Historic Civic Center of Shimla; Kothi, Qila Mahmudabad Iraq: Al-Hadba' Minaret, Mosul Ireland: Russborough, Blessington, County Wicklow Israel: Old City of Lod; Cathedral of St. James, Old City of Jerusalem Italy: Historic Center of Craco; Ponte Lucano, Tivoli; Villa of San Gilio, Oppido Lucano Japan: Kyoto machiya townhouses Jordan: Damiya Dolmen Field, Jordan Valley Kazakhstan: Vernacular Architecture of the Kazakh Steppe, Sary-Arka Laos: Hintang Archaeological Landscape, Houameuang District; Tam Ting, Nam Kong River at Ban Pak Ou Mexico: Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque, Zempoala to Otumba; Las Pozas, Xilitla; Temple of San Bartolo Soyaltepec; Temple of San Felipe Tindaco, Tlaxiaco; Temple and Convent of Los Santos Reyes, Convent of La Communidad, Metztitlan Moldova: Assumption of Our Lady Church, Causeni Morocco: Lixus, Larache Pakistan: Petroglyphs in the Diamer-Basha Dam Area, Northern Areas; Shikarpoor Historic City Center Panama: Colon Historic Center; Corozal Cemetery, Panama City; Mount Hope Cemetery, Colon Paraguay: La Santisima Trinidad del Parana, Trinidad Peru: San Rafael District, Chankillo; Jesuit Churches of San Jose and San Javier, Nazca; Pachacamac Sanctuary, Lurin; Pikillaqta, Cuzco; Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, Cuzco; Tambo Colorado, Humay; San Francisco de Asis de Marcapata; Santa Cruz de Jerusalen de Juli Philippines: Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Municipality of Santa Maria; Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, Ifugao; San Sebastian Basilica, Manila Romania: Fortified Churches of Southern Transylvania, Sibiu Russia: Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, Podolsk District Slovakia: Lietava Castle South Africa: Wonderwerk Cave, Ga-Segonyana/Kuruman Spain: Historic Landscape of Seville; Historic Landscape of Toledo; Numancia, Soria and Garray; Old Town of Avila; Route of Santiago de Compostela; Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Sri Lanka:Dutch Fort in Batticaloa Tanzania: Pangani Historic Town Uganda: Wamala King's Tombs, Nansana, Wakiso District United Kingdom: Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church, Belfast; Edinburgh Historic Graveyards; Sheerness Dockyard; St. John the Evangelist Parish Church, Shobdon; Tecton Buildings at Dudley Zoological Gardens United States: Atlanta-Fulton Central Public Library, Atlanta; Bridges of the Merritt Parkway, Connecticut; Cultural Landscape of Hadley, Mass.; Miami Marine Stadium, Florida; Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, New Orleans; St. Louis Cemetery No. 2, New Orleans; Taliesin, Spring Green, Wis.; Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Taos Pueblo, N.M. Uzbekistan: Desert Castles of Ancient Khorezm, Republic of Karakalpakstan Venezuela: School of Architecture and Urbanism, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas; East Park, Caracas |
| French captain joins Team Moody - Valdosta Daily Times Posted: 06 Oct 2009 08:12 PM PDT Published October 06, 2009 11:09 pm - French captain joins Team Moody
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE — As part of a three-year officer exchange program, a French pilot recently joined the Flying Tiger family. Capt. Yann Malard has trained to be able to work with the United States Air Force throughout his career. His hard work and dedication has paid off as he joins the 75th Fighter Squadron as an A-10C Thunderbolt II pilot. "I'm really excited to be here," said Captain Malard. "It's a dream come true to be able to fly the A-10 and a great opportunity to work with U.S. forces as well as share tactics and techniques. My family and I are also looking forward to learning about the American culture." Malard is one of two foreign exchange pilots at Moody. They are the first to work in an operational unit in the A-10 community. He was previously assigned to the Escadron de Chasse 1/3 Navarre flying the Mirage 2000D. The squadron is part of the French Air Force and is located at Nancy-Ochey Air Base, France. The captain graduated from the French Air Force Academy (Ecole de l'Air) at Salon-de-Provence Air Base, France, in 1998. As part of the familiarization phase of the exchange program, Captain Malard will spend three months at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., to learn about the A-10. "The A-10's weapon system is known worldwide as the premier technology," said Malard. "It is more advanced compared to the Mirage, which has an older airframe." Even though this is the first time the captain has been to Moody, he's no stranger to the United States or working with Airmen. "I have traveled to the U.S. for exercises at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and for Red Flag at Elieson Air Force Base, Alaska," said Captain Malard. "No matter where I go, the Airmen are always friendly and willing to help." Upon graduation from his course at Davis-Monthan AFB, Malard will return to Moody around January 2010 and continue training in becoming a combat-ready A-10 pilot. "I want to learn as many things as possible because I would like to deploy in the future," he said. "There will be many challenges, such as the language barrier, but I hope to overcome all of them and become a better pilot." |
| California’s Zigzag on Welfare Rules Worries Experts - New York Times Posted: 06 Oct 2009 08:19 PM PDT FRESNO, Calif. — As he pressed state lawmakers over the summer to close a record budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lathered scorn on the state's welfare-to-work program. He called it too lenient on the work requirement and overly generous in its benefits. At one point, he proposed eliminating it, then compromised to make it tougher. Skip to next paragraph  Anna Zendejas, 20, with her son, Jesus, who was sick at home in Firebaugh, Calif.  Lashe Baldwin, 22, of Fresno, Calif., started Calworks in January, and has chosen to stay in the program. She has two children. So Anna Zendejas, a welfare recipient in a farm town 50 miles west of here, was more than a little surprised to get a letter recently saying that she did not need to work to collect her check — in effect, a return to the much-derided welfare approach that existed before a national overhaul in the 1990s. It was no fluke. This fall, tens of thousands of Californians will be given a similar choice as the state embraces a startling reversal in some of its welfare policies for the next two years. It is a route that few are happy with, but that reflects the intersection of a recession, the worst fiscal crisis in the state's modern history, a governor determined to slash social services and the unplanned effects of federal stimulus money. Mr. Schwarzenegger did wring savings out of the state's welfare-to-work program, known as CalWorks, and achieved a future tightening of the rules. But those changes do not start until July 1, 2011. In the interim, to save $375 million a year, the state is trimming the employment assistance programs at the heart of the welfare-to-work approach, especially subsidized child care, and suspending work requirements for a large share of recipients. Those programs were selected, in large part, because they were not eligible for extra federal money under the stimulus act. Though state officials emphasize that the change is temporary, some people inside and outside of state government worry that the abrupt reversal may encourage a return to habits that could be difficult to undo. "We spent 10 years changing the culture, from just getting a check," said Frank Mecca, executive director of the County Welfare Directors Association of California "We think this will send a confusing message and do lasting damage." The recession has put welfare programs in many states in a bind: revenues are down, more people are in need and jobs are more scarce. The two-year stimulus money has helped many states avoid trimming the rolls, but each is working out its own service cuts, and some, including California and New York, are using the federal money to provide wage subsidies to some recipients trying to enter the tough job market. Donna Pavetti, a welfare expert at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research group in Washington, said it was unclear whether other states might follow California's lead in relaxing work requirements; some states might be doing so already, she said, just less overtly. Still, what California does often takes on outsized significance because the state's welfare rolls are outsized. In July, while looking for budget cuts, Mr. Schwarzenegger complained that California had 12 percent of the nation's population but 30 percent of the people on welfare. As elsewhere, California's welfare roles plummeted after the 1996 national overhaul of welfare, from 921,000 families in 1995 to 466,000 families in 2008, but they did not fall as much as in most states. In the recession, rolls have climbed and are projected to reach 557,000 families in 2010, or about 1.3 million individuals. Parents with special hardships or the youngest babies have always been exempt from work requirements in California, but now two large groups making up one-third or more of all applicants can also opt out: single parents with a child age 1 to 2, or those with two children under 6. Ms. Zendejas, 20, is the mother of two boys under 6. She has worked part time as a supermarket cashier, but under the old work-to-welfare rules she was supposed to spend an additional 15 hours in vocational training or searching for a more stable job, an effort that she found too hard to juggle, resulting in a financial penalty. Now she needs to do none of that to get her check, and the penalty of more than $120 a month is ending, too. "It's a relief," she said. John Wagner, director of the California Department of Social Services, said the backpedaling on job aid was "a function of the tough decisions required by this fiscal crisis." With the caseload rising in the recession — and jobs scarce anyway — the state did not increase spending for CalWorks, and while stimulus money helped, the $375 million gap remained. "I think there's still a strong message, in the short term and the long term, that CalWorks needs to incentivise work," Mr. Wagner said. |
| FSU Students Compete for Best Cultural Cuisine and Custom - The State Journal Posted: 06 Oct 2009 07:36 PM PDT FAIRMONT -- This is homecoming week at Fairmont State University and students celebrated today with an Expedition Around the World. The university held an International Expo and a Cuisines and Customs Contest at the Falcon Center this evening. About 15 student groups presented projects on countries and tastes of local cuisine. Student organizers say experiencing other cultures is a breath of fresh air. "Every day is a different country and a different event," says Student Government Vice President Jane Ryan. "So, Monday we went to China and Asia. Today we're touching on all countries, tomorrow will be Africa, and so forth." Proceeds from the event will benefit Global Links, a non-profit organization that provides medical supplies to third world countries. Winners are as follows:
1st Place - Baptist Campus Ministries (featured Russia) |
| Deeds points finger at D.C. - Politico.com Posted: 06 Oct 2009 06:46 PM PDT Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds said in an interview that he was lagging in the polls entering the final weeks of the campaign in part because of voter concerns over his national party's agenda.
"Frankly, a lot of what's going on in Washington has made it very tough," Deeds said in a "Battleground Virginia" interview sponsored by ABC 7/WJLA-TV, POLITICO, Google and YouTube. "We had a very tough August because people were just uncomfortable with the spending; they were uncomfortable with a lot of what was going on, a lot of the noise that was coming out of Washington, D.C."
As one of two off-year governor's races — the other is New Jersey — that are being closely watched for signals about the 2010 midterm election landscape, the factors behind Deeds's struggles to date are being studied closely in both parties.
If the ambitious agenda being pushed by President Barack Obama is what's dragging down the Deeds campaign — rather than the candidate's own deficiencies, as some top Democrats believe — then the Virginia race could be a troubling harbinger for the national party.
In Virginia, this year's contest will test how deeply a new politics has taken root in the Old Dominion. Democrats have won the governor's race in this traditionally conservative-tilting state twice in a row, and Obama last year became the first Democrat in 44 years to carry the commonwealth in a presidential election.
But while the race seems to have tightened in recent weeks, Republican Bob McDonnell has never trailed in any poll — despite a drumbeat of hard-hitting Deeds ads portraying him as a conservative extremist hostile to working women.
Both Deeds, a state senator, and McDonnell, a former state attorney general, discussed the race with WJLA anchor Leon Harris and POLITICO Editor-in-Chief John F. Harris in separate interviews that were broadcast Tuesday night on the ABC affiliate in Washington. The candidates also took questions from Virginians ranging from a Leesburg City Council member to a George Mason University student, via Google Moderator and YouTube.
Deeds said he was now "reframing" the race in an effort to shift the focus more toward state issues and away from a broader national debate that is perilous for a Democrat running in a slightly right-of-center state.
But even while confidently laying out a path to victory, Deeds conceded that McDonnell had staked out a lead over the summer, thanks to the absence of a GOP primary and the Republican's ability to spend much of the year introducing himself to voters in a fashion that downplayed his roots as a social conservative.
"I came out of the primary, and a lot of people didn't expect me to win," he said. "I had to spend a couple of months hunkering down, raising money. Bob could build up his fundraising advantage to run soft and fuzzy ads and build up a lead over me."
Deeds defeated two other Democrats in a costly June primary that depleted his war chest. He has trailed McDonnell in every poll since then, but public and private surveys have indicated the race has tightened.
That's in part because of the disclosure of a controversial graduate school thesis McDonnell penned in 1989, when the then-34-year-old Republican outlined a series of far-right stances on cultural issues, including a claim that working women were a detriment to society.
The document, Deeds said, puts McDonnell's record "in context." The Democrat has saturated the airwaves with ads informing voters about his rival's writings.
Before he narrowly defeated Deeds in 2005 to become attorney general, McDonnell served for 14 years as a state delegate, carving out a reputation in the General Assembly as a go-to man for cultural conservatives.
The Republican denied, however, that he had been animated by issues such as abortion in his years in the Legislature. |
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