LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Holmes Harbor Golf Course editorial earns a bogey

Editor,

I found your recent editorial opposing the South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District operating the Holmes Harbor Golf Course narrow minded and rife with anti-golfer sentiment. In addition, you said that operating the golf course isn?t worth pursuing because this ?is too focused toward a single interest group? The logic behind this statement escapes me.

Following this line of thinking to its logical conclusion would mean, it seems to me, that the South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District shouldn?t operate tennis courts, boat launches or ball fields either because they all focus on a ?single interest group.? You said that golfers with money should join Useless Bay Country Club and those without should play at Island Greens, the Gallery or go to the mainland. Following your reasoning, tennis players, another ?single interest group,? with money should join Useless Bay Country Club and use their courts or drive to Oak Harbor or find courts on the mainland. The same would have to be true for other ?single interest? groups such as boaters, ball players and Frisbee flingers. We shouldn?t have our tax dollars supporting any ?single interest group.?

I don?t own a boat, I no longer play tennis and only rarely do I use our parks. However, I happily pay taxes so that our county parks and recreation district can provide recreational facilities for Island County residents. To single out one group, such as golfers, and state that the South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District shouldn?t support them is narrow minded and prejudiced.

Linda Russell

Freeland

Source: http://feeds.soundpublishing.com/~r/swrletters/~3/qS3d5at2xtY/215289861.html

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Blackburn HIVE business network hosts careers workshop (From ...

Blackburn HIVE business network hosts careers workshop

11:24am Friday 19th July 2013 in Blackburn

Young people met employer at the HIVE event

MORE than 100 unemployed young people made their way to Blackburn?s King George?s Hall in the hope of finding work.

The hall?s Windsor Suite was buzzing with smartly dressed 18 to-24-year-olds yesterday , all hoping to get a foot on the career ladder.

Council leader Kate Hollern and Khalid Saifullah, chairman of the Hive network for business leaders, devised the event to allow young people to meet business leaders to improve their employment prospects.

It came after they heard many were struggling not only to find jobs, but even to gain work experience, or receive feedback from interviews.

The young people had coaching beforehand to help them prepare for the day, and were told to turn up in their smartest clothes and with copies of their CV to sell themselves to potential employers.

A total of 29 employers signed up for the day ? each one promising at least one work experience placement, while others had apprenticeships or even jobs on offer.

Blackburn with Darwen Council offered 35 placements, and each young person who attended was guaranteed to find a work experience placement at least, as well as help with interview techniques and CV writing.

Coun Hollern said: ?I?m absolutely over the moon. The event has been much better than I could ever have imagined.

?We spent the last 12 months at venues around the borough talking to people, and their top priorities were jobs and unemployment. They were worried they would never get the chance they need, and employers have said to us that they don?t get to talk to young people, so we brought them together.?

Suzan Alobaidi, 24, from Blackburn, said: ?I?ve been a student and I only finished two months ago. I?ve been at the Job Centre looking for a job but I?ve found it really hard.

?I did an HND in Legal Skills at Blackburn University and I thought I would easily get work experience but I?ve just been ignored. A solicitors? firm gave me a card and told me to apply.?

And 24-year-old Ben Barnes from Blackburn said: ?I?ve been unemployed for seven months. I went because I?d like to find a job or at least get a few interviews or some work experience.?

Source: http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/blackburn/10559882.Blackburn_HIVE_business_network_hosts_careers_workshop/?ref=rss

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'Halo: Spartan Assault' adorable, but in a good way

halo-4

Yannick LeJacq NBC News

July 18, 2013 at 8:04 PM ET

Microsoft

With 'Spartan Assault,' Microsoft brings its celebrated 'Halo' franchise to Windows 8 devices for the first time. But does the new game live up to its own name?

"We're going to study the historical battles in hopes of increasing your tactical skills for the future," an AI tells you in a brief video opening to "Halo: Spartan Assault."

"As a bonus," the AI continues, "it's a pretty fun game you can play in your spare time."

That comment pretty much sums up what it feels like to play "Spartan Assault," a game that's mostly notable for being first appearance of Microsoft's legendary "Halo" video game franchise on the company's new repertoire of sleek Windows 8 devices.

Playing "Spartan Assault" may not "increase your tactical skills for the future." But if you're a diehard "Halo" fan, it will prepare you for "the future" in the sense that it might tide you over for the next installment in the core series Xbox games, which Microsoft says won't be coming until 2014. And for $6.99 on the Windows Store and the Windows Phone Store, it really is a pretty fun game you can play in your spare time.

Just don't expect "Spartan Assault" to feel anything like a fully fleshed-out "Halo" shooter. Indeed, the top-down game feels more like an arcade-y, almost cutesy, romp through hordes of pint-sized little aliens similar to "Diablo 3's" new console version than its soaringly majestic predecessor, last year's "Halo 4."

Halo

The top-down perspective and run-and-gun gameplay of "Spartan Assault" make it feel more like an arcade game like "Contra" than a full-blown "Halo" shooter, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I tested out the game on a Surface tablet at a Microsoft event earlier this week and later on a Nokia Lumia 928 provided by the company. The screen for the Lumia version of the game was uncomfortably small, I'll admit. And it continues to be annoying that for some entirely arbitrary and not particularly user-friendly reason, Microsoft can sync your progress in the game across multiple devices but still requires you to buy two full-priced versions for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 respectively.

But where both versions of "Spartan Assault" truly excelled was in their control scheme. Most shooting games built for mobile devices turn the bottom two corners of the smartphone or tablet's touchscreen into a sort of virtual set of joysticks in a lame attempt to mimic the experience of actually using an Xbox or PlayStation controller. "Spartan Assault" does the same thing, but it actually does it well.

Resting your thumbs on both sides of the screen, you use your left digit to move your character around and the right one to shoot in a particular direction. This run-and-gun gameplay lacks almost all of the tactical precision of the "Halo" shooters, and at times the game's auto-aim is so kind to you that it feels like you don't have to do anything other than keep shooting. The short length of the individual levels only adds to this. But like the core "Halo" series, "Spartan Assault" keeps itself challenging by making ammunition a precious resource, forcing you to keep hunting for new weapons and learning how to use them on the fly.

Story-wise, the new game is set between the events of "Halo 3" and "Halo 4," and doesn't feature the franchise's iconic protagonist Master Chief. But if you don't keep close track of "Halo" lore, you're not missing much here ? you still play as a soldier in a massive suit of high-tech armor who runs around vibrant alien worlds shooting at bad guys. There's not much groundbreaking material here, in other words. It's basically the same "Halo" world gamers know and love, just from a slightly more distant perspective.

Because of that, it's tempting to see "Spartan Assault" as a cheap attempt on "Halo" developer 343 Industries and Microsoft's part to cash in on a blockbuster franchise ? I mean, the game's AI practically admits as much in the opening cinematic. But that was no doubt part of the creative (read: corporate) inspiration for the new game, it doesn't make "Spartan Assault" any less enjoyable.

Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered technology and games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at: Yannick.LeJacq@nbcuni.com.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663301/s/2edc78b1/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Chalo0Espartan0Eassault0Eadorable0Egood0Eway0E6C10A681573/story01.htm

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Pawsitively Pets: Small Pets Overheat Too

I'm sure you have all heard the warnings about dogs overheating during the summer months. I agree that this is something that can't be stressed enough. Leaving a dog in a hot car is a life threatening situation. I wanted to remind pet owners that other types of pets can overheat too. Often called "exotic pets" or "pocket pets", there are many small animals that can very easily overheat.?


The inspiration for this post comes from a couple of different places. First, the guinea pigs over at Hutch a Good Life wrote about something similar on their blog regarding guinea pigs and heat exhaustion. Also, my passion for exotic pets and their health and care is very high. I'm sure many of you have already noticed that though.?

Lastly, during my working interview at the emergency animal hospital the subject of overheated guinea pigs came up. One technician asked "Why would anyone take their guinea pig outside anyways?". I tried to explain that it's actually good for them to go outside and many guinea pig owners have hutches for their pets to enjoy the outdoors in.?

Besides guinea pigs, there are many small mammals that are prone to becoming overheated easily. Here's a list of pets that overheat quickly:

• Ferrets
• Rats
• Guinea Pigs
• Rabbits
• Chinchillas

In general, most small mammals are very sensitive to temperature whether it be cold or hot. I think that rabbits and guinea pigs are the two main types of pets people like to take outside for some fresh air every now and then. This is great exercise for them and is encouraged. When I had a ferret many years ago, he had an outdoor cage as well as his indoor one. He also went out on his harness and leash sometimes.

Here's a list of tips you can follow to make sure your small exotic pets keep cool during the summer months!?

• Don't place your pet's cage or enclosure in direct sunlight. If your pet is outdoors, make sure they aren't kept out in the heat for too long and always provide an area of shade for them.?
• Don't let your small pet walk on hot concrete. Some small pets, such as ferrets, will actually walk on harnesses. Don't allow your small pet to walk on very hot surfaces! Also, try to place their outdoor playpen or hutch in an area where it's grassy or cool.?

• Go swimming for peas! This tip may only apply to rats. One thing I do for my own rat is fill a bowl or pan up with cool water and add a couple of peas to it. Is there anything a rat doesn't love more than peas? Your rat should go swimming and diving for the peas, cooling them off in the process.?
• Place a frozen water bottle in their cage. Freeze a water bottle and wrap it in some sort of fabric. Place it in your pet's cage. This should help cool things down in there. And your pet can lay next to it if they are feeling warm.?
• Use a fan. This can be especially helpful if you don't have air conditioning in your home. Placing a fan in front of your small pet's enclosure can help with the heat.?
• Provide a cool surface to lay on. Surfaces like tile tend to stay cooler than bedding materials. Just like dogs like to lay on tile surfaces to stay cool, small animals may enjoy the same thing. You can even place these surfaces in the freezer so that they'll be even cooler for your pet to lay on.?
• Always provide fresh water! Of course, always make sure your little friends have plenty of nice fresh clean water to stay hydrated.?

Remember - small pets overheat too! If you suspect your small pet may be overheating, you should seek veterinary medical attention quickly. These types of animals are extremely sensitive and will require quick medical attention when they overheat. Heat exhaustion can be fatal, unfortunately.?

Do you have any tips to add to this list? I'd love to hear them!?

Source: http://www.mypawsitivelypets.com/2013/07/small-pets-overheat-too.html

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Bad policies in education reform law | Your Daily Update Blog

From all the pounding of chests and declarations of victory from both sides of the aisle, one would think the 2013 education reform bill passed by the Iowa Legislature and signed into law by the governor was the panacea for Iowa?s education system. The truth is a large portion of the legislation will come back to haunt the Legislature.

The education reform bill was a broad, meandering piece of legislation that included items such as student assessments, teacher compensation guidelines and allowable growth. The bill also included special interest demands, such as decreasing parental accountability by making assessments for home school children optional, limiting the state?s oversight of non-public schools, permitting home school parents to teach driver?s education, and allowing home school parents to teach up to four unrelated students with little oversight by the state.

In separate legislation, increased financial support was provided to non-public schools through direct funding and tax credits. Together, the legislation moves our state further down the road toward privatization and inequity in education, fueled by the misleading notion of ?parental choice.?

As an example, any parent can choose to home school their child. The oversight of the student?s education includes a partnership between the family and the public education system. The partnership supports a parent in teaching the child at home but also ensures the parent successfully fulfills his or her obligation through assessments.

The education reform weakens that partnership. Now, the state has limited oversight and parents have no real accountability. One hopes all home school parents have the capability to fulfill the promise of a good education. However, logic should tell you not all parents can meet that obligation, and now the children in those families will undoubtedly fall through gaping cracks.

Religious conservatives tout parent choice, home schooling, online options, vouchers and charter schools. For-profit businesses have cropped up across the country to fill a niche and make a buck on the backs of children through private schools, charter schools and online learning. It?s a marriage made in heaven.

Progressives fall easily into the trap. What?s the harm? Isn?t choice a good thing? Shouldn?t parents have the final say?

Although to date, Iowa has placed limits on the business side of this equation, legislators continue to chip away at our state?s responsibility in oversight and accountability with home schooling and non-public schools. Each of these strategies alone may appear to do only minimal harm, but together they significantly weaken our educational system.

When the state creates bad public policy by relinquishing oversight and reducing accountability and continues to shift public funds from public education to private entities through allocation or credit, the entire education system is weakened. This negatively affects all students, but the greatest burden is placed on students in public schools.

Iowans believe in our schools and understand that a healthy and vibrant public education system is the greatest equalizer for all students. Legislators can claim a victory, but, in reality, education in Iowa lost this year.

Future legislative sessions should consider reversing course and put state oversight and parental accountability back into the private education part of the equation. In addition, with our country?s long tradition of separating the institutions of religion and government, the state should stop funneling public resources directly or indirectly to non-public schools, most of which are religiously based.

Source:http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20130718/OPINION02/307180026/Bad-policies-education-reform-law?nclick_check=1

Source: http://yourdailyupdateblog.com/archives/42750

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We'll be launching Fantasy Football League for the new Sky Bet Championship seas...

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Cuba calls weapons on North Korean ship 'obsolete'

Military equipment lays in containers aboard a North Korean-flagged ship at the Manzanillo International container terminal on the coast of Colon City, Panama, Tuesday, July 16, 2013. A North Korean ship carrying weapons system parts buried under sacks of sugar was seized as it tried to cross the Panama Canal on its way from Cuba to its home country, which is under a United Nations arms embargo, Panamanian officials said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

Military equipment lays in containers aboard a North Korean-flagged ship at the Manzanillo International container terminal on the coast of Colon City, Panama, Tuesday, July 16, 2013. A North Korean ship carrying weapons system parts buried under sacks of sugar was seized as it tried to cross the Panama Canal on its way from Cuba to its home country, which is under a United Nations arms embargo, Panamanian officials said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

Military equipment lays in containers aboard a North Korean-flagged ship at the Manzanillo International container terminal on the coast of Colon City, Panama, Tuesday, July 16, 2013. A North Korean ship carrying weapons system parts buried under sacks of sugar was seized as it tried to cross the Panama Canal on its way from Cuba to its home country, which is under a United Nations arms embargo, Panamanian officials said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

Panamanian workers stand inside a container aboard a North Korean-flagged ship at the Manzanillo International container terminal on the coast of Colon City, Panama, Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The North Korean ship carrying weapons system parts buried under sacks of sugar was seized as it tried to cross the Panama Canal on its way from Cuba to its home country, which is under a United Nations arms embargo, Panamanian officials said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

Panamanian police officers patrol a deck aboard a North Korean-flagged ship at the Manzanillo International container terminal on the coast of Colon City, Panama, Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The North Korean ship carrying weapons system parts buried under sacks of sugar was seized as it tried to cross the Panama Canal on its way from Cuba to its home country, which is under a United Nations arms embargo, Panamanian officials said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

Military equipment lays in containers aboard a North Korean-flagged ship at the Manzanillo International container terminal on the coast of Colon City, Panama, Tuesday, July 16, 2013. A North Korean ship carrying weapons system parts buried under sacks of sugar was seized as it tried to cross the Panama Canal on its way from Cuba to its home country, which is under a United Nations arms embargo, Panamanian officials said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

PANAMA CITY (AP) ? Cuba said military equipment found buried under sacks of sugar on a North Korean ship seized as it tried to cross the Panama Canal was obsolete weaponry from the mid-20th century that it had sent to be repaired.

Panamanian authorities said it might take a week to search the ship, since so far they have only examined one of its five container sections. They have requested help from United Nations inspectors, along with Colombia and Britain, said Javier Carballo, Panama's top narcotics prosecutor. North Korea is barred by U.N. sanctions from importing sophisticated weapons or missiles.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said Tuesday that the ship identified as the 14,000-ton Chong Chon Gang, which had departed Cuba en route to North Korea, was carrying missiles and other arms "hidden in containers underneath the cargo of sugar."

Martinelli tweeted a photo showing a green tube that appears to be a horizontal antenna for the SNR-75 "Fan Song" radar, which is used to guide missiles fired by the SA-2 air-defense system found in former Warsaw Pact and Soviet-allied nations, said Neil Ashdown, an analyst for IHS Jane's Intelligence.

"It is possible that this could be being sent to North Korea to update its high-altitude air-defense capabilities," Ashdown said. Jane's also said the equipment could be headed to North Korea to be upgraded.

North Korea has not commented on the seizure, during which 35 North Koreans were arrested after resisting police efforts to intercept the ship in Panamanian waters last week, according to Martinelli. He said the captain had a heart attack and also tried to commit suicide.

But Cuba's Foreign Ministry released a statement late Tuesday acknowledging that the military equipment belonged to the Caribbean nation, saying it had been shipped out to be repaired and returned to the island.

"The agreements subscribed by Cuba in this field are supported by the need to maintain our defensive capacity in order to preserve national sovereignty," the statement read.

It said the vessel was bound for North Korea mostly loaded with sugar ? 10,000 tons of it ? but added that the cargo also included 240 metric tons of "obsolete defensive weapons": two Volga and Pechora anti-aircraft missile systems, nine missiles "in parts and spares," two Mig-21 Bis and 15 engines for those airplanes.

It concluded by saying that Havana remains "unwavering" in its commitment to international law, peace and nuclear disarmament.

The U.N. Security Council has imposed four rounds of increasingly tougher sanctions against North Korea since its first nuclear test on Oct. 9, 2006.

Under current sanctions, all U.N. member states are prohibited from directly or indirectly supplying, selling or transferring all arms, missiles or missile systems and the equipment and technology to make them to North Korea, with the exception of small arms and light weapons.

The most recent resolution, approved in March after Pyongyang's latest nuclear test, authorizes all countries to inspect cargo in or transiting through their territory that originated in North Korea, or is destined to North Korea if a state has credible information the cargo could violate Security Council resolutions.

"Panama obviously has an important responsibility to ensure that the Panama Canal is utilized for safe and legal commerce," said Acting U.S. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo, who is the current Security Council president. "Shipments of arms or related material to or from Korea would violate Security Council resolutions, three of them as a matter of fact."

Panamanian authorities believed the ship was returning from Havana on its way to North Korea, Panamanian Public Security Minister Jose Raul Mulino told The Associated Press. Based on unspecified intelligence, authorities suspected it could be carrying contraband and tried to communicate with the crew, who didn't respond. Martinelli said Panama originally suspected drugs could be aboard.

"Panama being a neutral country, a country in peace, that doesn't like war, we feel very worried about this military material," Martinelli said.

In early July, a top North Korean general, Kim Kyok Sik, visited Cuba and met with his island counterparts. The Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma said he was also received by President Raul Castro, and the two had an "exchange about the historical ties that unite the two nations and the common will to continue strengthening them."

The meetings were held behind closed doors, and there has been no detailed account of their discussions.

"After this incident there should be renewed focus on North Korean-Cuban links," said Hugh Griffiths, an arms trafficking expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Griffiths said his institute told the U.N. this year that it had uncovered evidence of a flight from Cuba to North Korea that travelled via central Africa.

"Given the history of North Korea, Cuban military cooperation and now this latest seizure, we find this flight more interesting," he said. "

The Chong Chon Gang has a history of being detained on suspicion of trafficking drugs and ammunition, Griffiths said. Lloyd's List Intelligence said the 34-year-old ship, which is registered to the Pyongyang-based Chongchongang Shipping Company, "has a long history of detentions for safety deficiencies and other undeclared reasons."

Griffiths said the Chong Chon Gang was stopped in 2010 in the Ukraine and was attacked by pirates 400 miles (640 kilometers) off the coast of Somalia in 2009.

Griffiths' institute has also been interested in the ship because of a 2009 stop it made in Tartus ? a Syrian port city hosting a Russian naval base.

____

Follow Michael Weissenstein on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mweissenstein

___

AP writers Michael Weissenstein from Mexico City, Arnulfo Franco in Manzanillo, Panama, Malin Rising in Stockholm, Peter Orsi in Havana, and Edith M. Lederer and Ron DePasquale at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-07-17-LT-Panama-Ship-Seized/id-13bc46e41bac4084a735d51b35993c68

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