initiative

Green Technology is a non-profit initiative designed to inform government efforts toward sustainability, providing a forum in which government officials can communicate with those in the private sector who are developing and distributing green technologies. Green Technology is an initiative...

You may have noticed some of your Messenger buddies with a little “i’m” icon next to their name in your buddy list. If you do, you’ll know that your friend is participating in the i’m Initiative and raising money for social causes. Here on the Hotmail team, most of our office signed up right away when the i’m Initiative launched in 2007 – we use Messenger so much to communicate at work that we figured we should put all of that typing to good use. Now, we’re going to have to sign up all of our Hotmail accounts! What is the i’m Initiative? The i’m Initiative is a Microsoft program where Microsoft shares a portion of their advertising revenue for everyday activities – sending IMs and emails. Hotmail and Messenger have ads, li

Microsoft's I’m Initiative donates a portion of ad proceeds from chat and email clients to charity. You can choose any of this good causes to support. The more email and messages users send, the more money Microsoft donates to the charities of those users’ choices.The I'm Initiative campaign has donated about $1.4 million to charity since the program was created in March 2007.

Microsoft's I’m Initiative donates a portion of ad proceeds from chat and email clients to charity. You can choose any of this good causes to support. The more email and messages users send, the more money Microsoft donates to the charities of those users’ choices. The I'm Initiative campaign has donated about $1.4 million to charity since the program was created in March 2007.

The Medicare recovery audit contractor (RAC) initiative is moving from pilot phase to national implementation, in stages. See my earlier post on the RAC initiative, the CMS report on RACs issued in February, other CMS materials on RACs, and also...

Renewable energy best practices to provide guidance and inspire others in the travel and tourism industry Tourism, the world’s largest industry, has a powerful impact on, and is greatly impacted by, the ecological health of its destinations across the globe. One of tourism’s largest economic and environmental costs is the massive amount of energy required for the transportation of travelers and maintenance of facilities like hotels and attractions. Thus, many businesses are eager to minimize their consumption of non-renewable energy, but are often uncertain on how to make it happen due to the technological complexity and rapid rate of innovation in field of renewable energy. The Renewable Energy in Tourism Initiative (RETI) has recently developed a set of Best Practices in Renewa

The LCD TV Association, a global non-profit, marketing trade association ‘formed to help the entire LCD supply chain, retail channel and consumers’ has announced its new GreenTV initiative which, it hopes, will serve to reduce the power consumption of LCD TV units by at least 30% and result in LCD TVs carrying their GreenTV Certified Logo – allowing consumers to make a more carbon footprint aware choice at the point of purchase.

In chess, there are two basic principles that must be respected:1.Removing blunders: Only the attacker can win the game. A game is always won by an attack. As long as your opponent is attacking you are occupied by parrying that attack. 2.Only the player with the initiative can successfully attack! The player that does not have the initiative can often bring forth a sortie, but in order to gin up a successful attack the player must have the initiative.Couple this thinking with the fact that white has an initiative by virtue of the first move. Thus, white is favored to win. He will win if he can hold the initiative. He can lose if he loses the initiative. In many games the initiative changes hands, sometimes it changes often: perhaps because it is not respected; or because both play

April 29th, 2008. The i'm Initiative, where every time someone who has chosen to participate in the i’m Initiative has a conversation using Messenger, Microsoft shares a portion of our advertising revenue with the organization selected by the customer, is happy to report that thanks to the support of many great Windows Live Messenger customers, Microsoft has donated $1.3 million to ten of the world’s most effective social cause organizations. Source: MessengerSays. The organizations currently involved in the i’m Initiative are: American Red Cross Boys & Girls Clubs of America The Humane Society of the United States National AIDS Fund National MS Society ninemillion.org Sierra Club StopGlobalWarming.org Susan G. Komen for the Cure U

The i'm Initiative, where every time someone who has chosen to participate in the i’m Initiative has a conversation using Messenger, Microsoft shares a portion of our advertising revenue with the organization selected by the customer, is happy to report that thanks to the support of many great Windows Live Messenger customers, Microsoft has donated $1.3 million to ten of the world’s most effective social cause organizations.

Boutique property firm proves initiative works  - Singapore SUCCESS STORY: Dr Wong, who set up his company Genesis-Alliance with Contact Singapore’s help, was cited as one of the programme’s early successes. — PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO   AN EARLY success story in Contact Singapore’s 11-year history is Genesis-Alliance. The boutique property and lifestyle company is now building 31 ‘ultra high-end’ [...]

Micronutrient Initiative (MI) Pakistan is looking for a suitable candidate to fill the full time position of Program Assistant based at Country Office Islamabad. S/he would work closely with the admin/ program staff under the direct supervision of National Program Manager. S/he will be responsible for day-to-day administration, logistics, travel arrangements, contracts documentation, updating contracts database, maintaining disbursement, preparing payment requests and handling petty cash. S/he will also be responsible for all secretarial services including reception duties, supervising support staff, correspondence with MI partners, maintaining filing system and inventory of MI assets and their maintenance.Qualifications and Experience: University degree from a recognized university with 5

World’s Largest Internet Consulting Firm offers its “Bolt–On” Internet Marketing Solution to the Printing Community Mississauga, Canada– WSI (We Simplify the Internet), a global leader in delivering the highest level Internet Marketing Consulting Solutions to businesses of all sizes, is taking its expertise to the Printing Community. WSI is taking the [...]

WASHINGTON, PRNewswire (April 18 2008) - As part of its ongoing commitment to support Ethiopia's educational system, and an example of the extraordinary collaboration between educators in the United States and Ethiopia, the American people donated over one and half million English language textbooks to Ethiopia. The donation is part of President George W. Bush's Africa Education Initiative, which increases access to quality, basic educational opportunities in Africa. The English language textbooks were developed specifically for Ethiopia and are for use in primary schools for grade 5, 6, 7 and 8.Speaking at the handover ceremony held at Sefere Selam Primary School in Addis Ababa, Dr. Sarah Moten, President Bush's Coordinator for the Africa Education Initiative said, "Education is the ke

Partnerships and Refugee & Asylum Seekers Initiative AdministratorThe Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial FundLocation: London, UKLast Date: May 12, 2008Email: ann.rowles@memfund.org.ukWe are an independent grant giving charity established in 1997. Our vision is to help secure sustainable improvements in the lives of the most marginalised people in the UK and around the world.Partnerships and Refugee & Asylum Seekers Initiative Administrator(£25,238 – £30,848)Reporting to both the Head of Partnerships and to the Head of Refugee & Asylum Seekers Initiative. Providing PA and administrative support to Partnerships and RASI. Tasks will include assisting with the processing and management of grants, assisting with the organisation of meetings and events, and developing and maintaining databas

Although some builders are partnering with local builder's associations to brand their green building efforts, Beazer Homes has announced their own, called eSmart. The first Top 10 builder to do so, it comes right on the heels of a national branding campaign announced by the NAHB in February at the Int'l Builder's Show. I'd certainly look for other large builders to follow suit. From the press release:Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH), one of the nation’s top 10 homebuilders, today launched eSMART by Beazer Homes™, the first comprehensive program of its size designed to increase energy and water efficiency, and improve indoor air quality, for every home it builds. The innovative program combines high-performance products from GE, Honeywell, Moen and others with industry-ap

The extent of the community need for treatment of mental health problems has been clearly demonstrated by the high uptake of the Better Access to Mental Health Care Medicare items, according to the Australian Psychological Society, accounting for the larger than expected costs. "However, surprisingly less than half the costs associated with the initiative involve treatment items by allied health professionals, mainly psychologists," said APS Executive Director, Prof Lyn Littlefield, "while GP Mental Health Care Plan and Review Medicare item number costs reflect almost as much as the treatment items, with a much smaller amount going to psychiatrists." In March 2008 the Australian Psychological Society (APS) conducted a survey to investigate use of the items among psychologists. Over 2000 p

 I can’t even begin to describe how disappointing this is from the Bush administration. President Bush appears ready to give in to the whole global warming hoax. President Bush is poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out [...]

Slashdot Linux Aron Schatz writes "VIA has announced that they will start a new site http linux.via.com.tw amp amp mdash doesn't exist yet specifically for the development of open source drivers. From their press release 'Over the following months VIA will work with the community to enable 2D 3D and video playback acceleration to ensure the best possible Open Source experience on VIA Processor Platforms. 'To further improve cooperation with the community VIA will also adhere to a regular quarterly release schedule that is aligned with kernel changes and release of major Linux distributions. In addition beta releases will be issued on the site as needed and a bug report and tracking feature will also be integrated.' Nvidia should be next." amp lt p amp gt amp lt a href "http linux.slashdot.

Today at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit, VIA Technologies, Inc., a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, announced a new initiative to improve support for the Open Source development community. As the first step in this initiative, VIA will open its official VIA Linux website at this month.

SMMT welcomes the announcement that business minister Shriti Vadera has today launched an initiative to support and develop the UK automotive industry and is delighted at the appointment of Richard Parry-Jones CBE as leader of the New Automotive Innovation and Growth Team (NAIGT).Read more...

National Jean Company and Earnest Sewn Team up for Make an Earnest Difference: A Fashion Show and Denim Drive Benefiting COTTON. FROM BLUE TO GREEN.™ Janna Meyrowitz, CEO of Stylehouse PR explains: We are really excited to be partnering with Earnest Sewn and Cotton Inc. for this event on behalf of National Jean Company. Style House PR has [...]

Reagan’s speech instilled a sense of nationalistic pride and healthy patriotism that, apart form a temporary surge following the September 2001 attacks, has been faltering since. His words engendered hope and belief in a way that crossed party lines; he made Americans feel, American.This past week saw the silver anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” speech pass without as much as a whisper. I found this mildly surprising in light of the $120 billion already spent and given that the White House has a current request, for a further $12 billion for 2009. The development of a ballistic missile shield remains a contentious and expensive task even after 25 years.I will refrain from lending to the pro and against arguments for continued research and testing in relation to the SDI pro

Rhett A. Butler mongabay.com - March 5, 2008 Original URL   Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) has been widely lauded as a mechanism that could fund forest conservation and poverty alleviation efforts while fighting climate change. At the December U.N. climate meeting in Bali, delegates agreed to include REDD in future discussions on a new global warming treaty — a move that could eventually lead to the transfer of billions of dollars from industrialized countries to tropical nations for the purpose of slowing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing deforestation rates. Conservationists and scientists applauded the decision. Yet when the European Commission met in January, it proposed to exclude forestry credits from the E. U.'s Emission Tra

Welche Massnahmen Ulla Schmidt (Bundesgesundheitsministerin), Ursula von der Leyen (Bundesjugendministerin) und Anette Schavan (Bundesforschungsministerin) ergreifen wollen, um ihre Initiative “Leben hat Gewicht” durchzuführen, schreibt Gesundheitswirtschaft.info. Unter anderem wird von Aufklärungsarbeit über Essstörungen an den Schulen gesprochen. Aus meiner eigenen Erinnerung weiss ich, wie gelangweilt ich als Jugendliche irgendwelche Vorträge über Aufklärung verfolgt habe. Egal ob es [...]für den vollständigen Beitrag bitte auf den Titel klicken

Darkside Initiative is what was formerly Nort/Recon over in North Beach.  They still have the same quickstrike and tier 0 Nike accounts and switched up the clothing lines that they carry a tad bit.  Also new is their own in-house brand and they just dropped these two new tees that have agressive designs and are [...]

ARLINGTON HTS., Ill. – Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT), a major contributor to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard, has joined the LTE/System Architecture Evolution (SAE) Trial Initiative (LSTI). This industry group is driving the acceleration of commercial

Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies and data solutions, announced today it is working to improve access to education tools and resources through the provision of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO wireless broadband services at the Community Technology and Learning Center (CTLC) in Dong Anh, Viet Nam. The CTLC is part of the Training Online

DONG ANH, VIETNAM — March 24, 2008 — Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies and data solutions, announced today it is working to improve access to education tools and resources through the provision of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO

Missional initiatives are all about incarnating the message of the cross together in community to those in the culture around us. That's the "Missional Challenge" - to exegete the culture in order to communicate the gospel effectively.On Sunday night, I drove to Viento y Agua (a coffee house in Long Beach). I was amazed by the murder jesus project - a collaborative effort presented by nine individuals who believe that they contributed to the murder of Jesus Christ. This was a genuine missional initiative.Each person told their story in a creative and meaningful way using a variety of media: art, music, drama, dance, video, poetry, and story.Here's what Jon presented: The Ocean SighedJon told me the story describes the pain and loss of relationship, yet the hope of redemption and peace. Yo

The Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC) seeks to facilitate a process whereby key public decision-makers in South Eastern and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus are able to motivate action to advance and protect peace and the environment at...

Struggling mortgage lender Countrywide Financial found time to launch an initiative that will provide homeowners who buy “green” with a slight interest rate reduction on their new home loan. The program, initially launched in thirteen states including Alaska, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, and Utah, among others, will give borrowers a .125 percent interest rate reduction if [...]

FUSE: collaboation - a cadre/montalvo research residency initiative: "The Climate Clock Global Initiative is seeking ideas from artist-led teams to create a major artwork entitled Climate Clock, which will measure changes in greenhouse gas levels and be the first in a series of global projects calling attention to climate change. Climate Clock will be an instrument of long-term measurement and

Nicholas Piramal, now rechristened Piramal Healthcare, has launched an e-swasthya campaign in Rajasthan. Where a nurse helps communicate ailments of local people to doctors, who diagnose the illness and prescribe medicines that are delivered back to the people. Still at a preliminary stage, if it takes off, the plan is to cover 100,000 villages in five years.: Nicholas Piramal rechristened Piramal HealthcareTags: health care, wellness, Pune health care and wellness blog, e-swasthya - rural health care,

At first, news that Ireland’s recent Sperm For Tickets initiative was overwhelmed by donors painted quite a gruesome picture, one involving thousands of tiny cups and many, many “wet floor” signs. That is, until it was made clear that it was only the number of applications that overwhelmed the project, not the actual number of submissions. Thank God

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner,I know that times are tough and some of you may have mortgages that seem to eat most of your paychecks and savings.  Maybe a job loss, divorce or a loan you signed for was a good choice at the time but a bad decision in the long run..these chain of events could lead into major financial crisis. Not sure if you are aware that there is help out there and thanks to President Bush, His Hope Now Initiative can in fact get you on the road to financial recovery.Part of the initiative is that if you have obtained a subprime adjustable rate loan some lenders, loan servicer and mortgage investors may allow a freeze on your rate which might help to keep homeowners in their homes.This program is not suitable for all but may in fact help you thr

Is the Texas High School Completion and Success Initiative Council trying to backdoor school vouchers into the landscape of public school education in Texas? It would appear that such an attempt was made, but has now been nixed (although the door may not be completely shut on the idea): A special state committee on high school dropouts on Tuesday appeared to nix the idea of a private school voucher program for those students, but left open the possibility of the state contracting with private firms to help dropouts complete their education. Before adopting its long-range plan to reduce the dropout rate and improve the college and workforce readiness of high school graduates in Texas, the nine-member state panel reacted to widespread criticism from education groups that it was opening the

Here is a very interesting article written by Patrick Klepek over at the Multi Player Blog at MTV.com that asks if the Microsoft Live Anywhere Initiative is dead? For those of you who do not know what the Live Anywhere Initiative is take a look back at the Wikipedia page for more details. In a [...]

In medium-sized and large companies, corporate life is very often punctuated by a series of continuous ‘initiatives’ that are launched to provide the workforce with frameworks, guidance, rules, strict dictation on what is possible or not, acceptable or not, new directions, new focus, new emphasis or new requirements. They all come on top of more [...]

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital Ltd Monday joined hands with microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Maharashtra and Gujarat to deepen the penetration of microfinance at the grassroots level. Anil... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it is accepting quality measure suggestions for possible inclusion in the proposed set of quality measures to be published in the 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Proposed Rule for the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). CMS expects to publish the 2009 MPFS Proposed Rule no later than August 15, 2008. According to CMS, individuals and organizations interested in...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has an initiative called E-Race, which works to identify and implement new strategies that will strengthen its enforcement of Title VII and advance the statutory right to a workplace free of race and color discrimination.Specifically, the EEOC will identify issues, criteria and barriers that contribute to race and color discrimination, explore strategies to improve the administrative processing and the litigation of race and color discrimination claims, and enhance public awareness of race and color discrimination in employment.Why did the EEOC come up with the E-Race program? Well, according to their website:Color discrimination in employment appears to be on the rise. In Fiscal Year 1992, EEOC received 374 charges alleging color-based di

Chinese cities Shanghai and Baoding have joined a new WWF initiative promoting low carbon development in China’s urban areas. The Low Carbon City Initiative will focus on increasing the energy efficiency of buildings, renewable energy and manufacturing more efficient products. WWF aims to break the link between rapid economic growth and increasing carbon emissions. “Cities are an important segment of China’s economic development but many face the challenges of low energy efficiency and degraded environmental quality,” said Dr. Li Lin, Head of Conservation Strategies at WWF-China. “The Low Carbon City Initiative is about finding a sustainable development mode for China’s urban areas - through studying current energy production and utilisation patterns and developing new economic

Chinese cities Shanghai and Baoding have joined a new WWF initiative promoting low carbon development in China’s urban areas. The Low Carbon City Initiative will focus on increasing the energy efficiency of buildings, renewable energy and manufacturing more efficient products. WWF aims to break the link between rapid economic growth and increasing carbon emissions. “Cities are an important segment of China’s economic development but many face the challenges of low energy efficiency and degraded environmental quality,” said Dr. Li Lin, Head of Conservation Strategies at WWF-China. “The Low Carbon City Initiative is about finding a sustainable development mode for China’s urban areas - through studying current energy production and utilisation patterns and developing new economic

A few days earlier I had blogged about how an increasing number of American soldiers are buckling under pressure of war and loneliness and committing suicide. Today I came across this wonderful... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Hunde spielen nicht nur eine sehr wichtige Rolle in unserem Leben, sie sind auch ein bedeutender Wirtschaftsfaktor an dem allein in Deutschland 100 000 Arbeitsplätze hängen, wie eine Studie der Universität Göttingen belegt. Das bringt auch eine durchaus beachtenswerte wirtschaftliche Bedeutung des Faktors Hund. Deutschlands Hundehaltung bewirkt einen jährlichen Umsatz von ca. 5 Mrd. Euro. Dennoch haben Hunde bzw. Hundehalter keine organisierte Interessenvertretung. Zwar gibt es zahlreiche Verbände und Vereine, doch die vertreten die Interessen der Züchter. Der Kunde, der Hundehalter, und die Hunde selbst haben keine Interessenvertretung. Dies will Petwatch - eine Initiative gegründet von einigen engagierten und besorgten Hundehaltern - jetzt ändern. Ziel ist der Aufbau einer Lobby für Hund und Halter."Hunde und ihre Halter brauchen das, was es in jedem anderen Bereich der Gesellschaft gibt - eine Interessenvertretung der "Verbraucher". Eine Lobby, die nur den Hunden und ihren

As I have previously posted about here and here, the backers of the controversial GOP plan to steal California electoral votes has failed, yet again, to find enough fundraising to qualify for the June ballot. It looks like this sneaky move may not affect the 2008 race at all.From the LA Times, emphasis mine;A proposed initiative that drew national attention for its potential to affect next year's presidential election will not appear on the June ballot, organizers said Thursday.Republican backers of the measure, which could have tilted the presidential contest toward the GOP nominee by changing how California awards electoral votes, conceded that they were unable to raise sufficient funds.Sacramento consultant Dave Gilliard, the campaign manager, said that even if a financial angel were to shower the campaign with $1 million, there was not enough time to qualify the measure for June."I was surprised that more people that finance these types of efforts didn't step forward," Gilliard

Kentucky will announce an initiative Monday aimed at helping working adults with a large number of college credits -- but no diploma -- finish their bachelor's degrees.Project Graduate, which will target 11,000 adults age 25 to 50 with 90 or more credit hours, is being led by the state's Council on Postsecondary Education. A typical bachelor's degree requires 120 to 125 college credits."They're awfully close to being able to complete a degree," said Brad Cowgill, the council's interim president. "We want to find out who they are and say, 'Welcome back.' "As part of the effort, the state's eight public universities have developed plans to reach out to former students, and the state's independent colleges are developing similar plans. The Kentucky Community and Technical College System also is participating...This from the Courier-Journal.

Nuffnang is paving the way for its bloggers to band together and give back to the community. It has partnered with Nike and is currently supporting the Nike+(plus) Charity Run '07. This is also Nuffnang's first charity initiative.The Nike+ Charity Run '07 is in aid of the kids at Make-A-Wish Foundation Singapore. Nike is pledging SGD5 worth Nike products for every kilometre you run. The further you run, the more you're giving to these kids. So hit the JOIN CHALLENGE now to make a difference. Your participation is sure to make some wishes come true for the kids.For Nuffnangers, you can help spread the news by blogging about the event. If you intend to run, put on your Nike + shoes, plug in your Sport Kit, upload your runs and make underprivileged kids happy! If you don't have a Sport Kit, Nuffnang has 20 kits to be given away. If you don't have a Nike+ shoes, then you better get one soon. You do have an iPod, right?I'm blogging and running! Hope Nuffnang will give me one of the

The United Religions Initiative Thanksgiving Dinner and celebration of cultural diversity is tonight in Johnson City at the Johnson City Senior Center (607 E. Myrtle). The potluck is at 6 p.m. We will also do dances of universal peace. Here is the info. No need to RSVP. Just come!

Le petit fils de Melville, gourou de l’ambient-pop-électro qui a commencé sa carrière au début des années 90, se propose aujourd’hui de livrer gratuitement aux cinéastes indépendants ou encore sur les bancs de l’école de cinématographie des musiques toutes faites et libres d’exploitation pour tous leurs longs ou courts métrages, sans contrepartie, si ce n’est une demande par le biais de son site. Moby s’explique par le fait que ses amis branchés des quartiers végétariens de Manhattan (où Moby possède une dînette) avaient tout le mal du monde à se faire rappeler par les maisons de disques ou pouvoir se payer des droits exorbitants pour illustrer leur projet. Moby, qui de son propre aveu possède des centaines de chansons dans son sac à malice, qu’il ne compte pas vendre intégralement dans les bacs se retrouve dans des eaux déjà connues puisque c’est en autorisant les publicitaires utiliser ses musiques à l’aube de l’an 2000 (contre monnaie ce

The Berkeley City Council has given the green light on a new green initiative: a solar power loan program that would be the first of its kind in the nation.   Last night the city council unanimously approved the bill that would loan current homeowners the up-front cost of installing solar panels on their home.    The average cost to install these amazing energy conservers is $20,000-30,000 depending on how large the home is.  During the next 8 months the city staffers will completely work out all the financial, legal, and tax details in order to submit the proposal for final approval by the council next summer. It states in the approval that, “The initiative calls for the city to facilitate a 20-year loan with a small interest - perhaps as low as 2 percent - to individual homeowners. Homeowners would pay back the loan every month along with property tax bills.” Since going solar usually means a zero dollar electric bill, it could end up costing homeowners nothing. Som

Silicon Alley Insider Apple And Its iPhone Not Part Of Google Handset InitiativeCNNMoney.com - 3 hours agoApple recently demonstrated this mindset when it refused to release tools so developers could create applications for its iPhone. …Google is Bizarro Apple. Will Android Take Down iPhone? iPhone MattersThe GPhone: So Open It Could Be Closed New York Times‘GooglePhone’ Launch Leaves More Questions Than Answers Wired News MacDailyNews  - Gizmodo.com all 27 news articles Read the entire original post via

First Presbyterian of Elizabethton is a proud participant in the United Religions Initiative (URI). Our chapter is having its 7th annual Thanksgiving Celebration on November 17th! You are invited to celebrate religious and cultural diversity in our area. Here is the announcement:The Northeast Tennessee chapter of the United Religions Initiative (NETN-URI) 7th Annual Thanksgiving Celebration of Religious and Cultural Diversity Date: Saturday, November 17, 2007 6:00 pm – 8:15 pm Place: Johnson City Seniors’ Center (607 East Myrtle Ave.) Bring: Potluck dish for every two people in your party indigenous to your culture. A small donation is most appreciated. Canned food to benefit: Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee. Types of food needed are assorted canned food items, dried beans, cereal, peanut butter, rice and pasta. Please no glass, baby food or home-canned items. Join in our movement and dance activities following dinner. RSVP

Dexigner Design Portal Leading architects designers engineers local governments and community organizations are launching an ambitious initiative to help the Gulf region address one of the pressing needs still faced in many communities two years after the devastation wr - Bali based Web Design, Development and SEO Services

Phoenix Symphony and Grant Park Symphony bassist Jonathan Imsande outlined a really outstanding project idea to me this summer, and I've spent the last several weeks pondering exactly how this sort of thing would work.  I know that is has enormous philanthropic potential, and I've held my blog tongue until I could mentally hash out some possible scenarios for its implementation. Here's the project in a nutshell: Professional bassists experiment with many different varieties of strings, often buying many sets per year. Professional-quality double bass strings are quite expensive, usually costing $100-200 (or even more) per set. Although most professional bassists change strings every 6-12 months, in reality these strings have usually not reached the end of their playing life. Over time, most professional bassists accumulate a small heap of old but still quite playable strings. These accumulated strings have a negligible resale value and are usually of little

Tech industry launches initiative to boost software security - VNUNet.com Tech industry launches initiative to boost softwaresecurityVNUNet.com, UK -11 hours agoA major new industry initiative has been launched at this year s RSA Conference Europe, designed to improve the quality andsecurityof software by…Industry bands together on SAFEcodeVNUNet.comIT majors forge SAFECode allianceRegisterIT industry creates secure coding advocacy groupGCN.comSearchSecurity.comall 22 news articles Proteas scrutinise security in Karachi - The Times Yahoo! Eurosport Proteas scrutinisesecurityin KarachiThe Times, South Africa -2 hours agoThe team will send asecurityexpert to assess the situation at Karachi in the wake of last week s suicide bombing in the city during the homecoming…South Africasecurityofficial to assess situation in KarachiThe Canadian PressSA demand KarachisecurityguarenteesIndependent OnlineCricket-South Africa to sendsecurityofficial to K

Dennis Kucinich was moved to take action, he said, in part because of Bush's recent suggestion to reporters that a world war with Iran might be imminent, leading Kucinich to wonder "whether he's playing with Armageddon or he's not well."read more | digg story

Ever wondered if the cafe, pub or restaurant that you eat in is safe, clean and well managed? Well, the Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council has published its inspection results in the form of a star system. Zero, one, two or three stars for three key areas: a) Confidence in Management; b) Food Hygiene and Safety Procedures; c) Structural Condition of the premises. Some of the scores might please you, some will frighten you! Check 'em out... latest scores. Some premises don't seem to appear, unless they have changed trading names. For example, the Ruby (Chinese and English takeaway) on the junction of West Street and Ford Lane isn't (at the time of writing) on the list. Check out your favourite haunt...

An extraordinary cross-section of mainstream Muslim clerics, theologians and academics have acted in a way that Sai Baba and his mega wealthy worldwide cult have profoundly failed to act. This failure needs to be made very clear within the interfaith movement. The members of the Sathya Sai Organization which has attempted to interact with it, can be challenged to disclose their real agendas, which are similarly kept from tightly controlled public meetings in very costly, high-prestige venues around the world (See my article, Will World Accept Sai Baba? He Says Yes. Very Soon) Virtually Sai Baba’s whole evangel and program have long been to establish unity between the faiths. Where, if anywhere, is Sai Baba in the interfaith equation? What, if any, distinctive contribution to interfaith conferences have Sai Baba and his Sathya Sai Organization made? Are there any sign of the 138 Muslim leaders from all the major Islamic branches (Sunni, Shia, Ibadi, Sufi, Ismali, Jafari), 

RxHub Supports New Hampshire ePrescribing InitiativeRxHub National Patient Health Information Network provides critical decision support data for medication therapy management and electronic prescribing at the point of careOctober 10, 2007 - ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RxHub® today announced support for New Hampshire's new initiative to provide health care clinicians with the ability to ePrescribe statewide, which was unveiled at a press conference today by Governor John Lynch and Dr. Philip Boulter of the New Hampshire Citizens Health Initiative."Moving to electronic prescriptions is an important step forward in improving health care efficiency, controlling costs, reducing medical errors and increasing patient safety." Gov. Lynch said. "New Hampshire is making real progress in ensuring all of our health care providers have the capability of prescribing medication electronically."The NH Citizens Health Initiative is a health care collaborative effort that seeks to

While trying to set up a new business for you, a bad credit history may act as an impediment in getting the resources for the same. Small Business Loans do not require much of capital so the borrower can take up money through bad credit small business loans to set up a new business.Bad Credit Small Business Loans are provided to the borrower for fulfilling any needs that the borrower has in relation to his business. These needs can be purchase of raw material, paying the labor, buying machinery, setting up a site for the business, registration of the business, making franchises for the business etc.Bad Credit Small Business Loans: Take an Initiative in BusinessThe borrower can take up the bad credit small business loans in two forms of secured and unsecured loan. For the secured option, the borrower is required to pledge an asset as collateral. The borrower gives a higher loan amount in return at a lower rate. If much money is not required, then the borrower is suggested to take up uns

The Bush Administration launched a new mortgage coalition today to help educate homeowners and stem the rise in foreclosures. The new initiative, referred to as “Hope Now”, brings together mortgage lenders, service companies, counseling agencies, investors, and large trade organizations. The program aims to help homeowners retain their homes, through a direct mail campaign which will begin [...]

IBM and Google on Monday released details on their “academic cluster computing initiative” to provide data centers for remote computer programming. The centers would allow a larger number of students and programmers to have access and processing power for writing software code involving massive amounts of data over the Internet, a practice known as “cloud computing.” The [...]

Jessica Biel and Shakira, unlike 99% of the useless celebrity idiots we write about on this site, have done things positive and actually worth mentioning at this year’s Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Jessica, along with her father Jon Biel, founded the Make the Difference Network which aims to donate $30 million in its first year (growing to $60 million in year two!) to various non-profit groups: Jessica Biel and her father Jon Biel founded the Make the Difference Network to allow everyone to be a “grassroots philanthropist” by creating a social networking site that brings thousands of small- to medium-sized non-profits together with millions of potential donors. Users will be able to search a list of specific “wishes” posted by non-profits and then fund those wishes. After the first year, $30 million will be donated to 5,000 non-profits at an average of $500 per month. The second year should see those numbers rise to 10,000 non-profits and $60 million

Kabar dari Fatwa-Online. Ikhwah kita di Tasjilat Ibnu Rajab di Madinah An-Nabawiyah telah bekerjasama dengan penyalur (supplier) mereka untuk mengatur proyek 1 juta kaset kosong agar mereka dapat merekamnya dengan berbagai macam ilmu dari beberapa ulama’ besar pada zaman kita sekarang ini dan selanjutnya untuk dibagi-bagikan (didistribusikan). Mari bantu proyek mulia ini dengan membeli kaset kosong [...]

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at a meeting with World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick on Tuesday agreed that World Bank and United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNDOC) personel will visit Indonesia to further develop technical assistanceunder the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative.The meeting took place in the UN Headquarters on the sidelines of the United Nations' 62nd General Assembly, said a joint statement issued after the meeting.Indonesia News Blog: http://indosnesos.blogspot.com

Community College Summit Initiative Program (AMINEF) This new international educational exchange program enables individuals from Indonesia to study at a community college in the United States to develop professional skills. Eligible fileds are Agriculture, Applied Engineering, Business Management and Administration; Health Professions, including Nursing; Information Technology, Media, and Tourism and Hospitality Management. Share This

Initiative from Richard Buckminster Fuller"The things to do are the things that need doing that you see need to be done and that no one else sees need to be done.Then you will conceive your own way of doing that which needs to be done that no one else as told you to do or how to do it. This will bring out the real you that often gets buried inside a character that has acquired a superficial array of behaviours that are induced or imposed by others on the individual.Try making experiments of anything you conceive and are intenselyinterested in. Don't be disappointed if something doesn't work.That is what you want to know – the truth about everything and the truth about combinations of things. Some combinations have such logic and integrity that they can work coherently despite non-working elements embraced by their systems.Whenever you come to a word with which you are not familiar, find it in the dictionary and write a sentence which uses that new word. Words are tool

The cost for switching sides and acting on the need and the call for expertise will usually draw both positive and negative reactions. For environmentalist Adam Werbach, it has been a bumpy ride and decision-making process but the ultimate purpose for switching sides and helping the one of the world’s largest companies is a decision based on the call for his specialty; the green initiative needed for business existence. The outside reactions will surely be varied. Some may tag a person as selling out or blindsided by monetary gains. But for some people there is more to life and career than just money. It is the need to help out and prove that you are worthy of that personal tag. But in career moves, there will always be a problem trying to please everyone. This also includes the drive to go green with big companies such as Wal-Mart. Read the article here: An Environmentalist Switches Sides to Help Wal-Mart Go Green adam werbach, blindsided, career moves, Environmental Careers, En

Going green does not really have to be forced. The benefits from heeding the green advice as oriented and enumerated by the environmentalists of today will surely be something that will be of big help even to the simplest household we know of today. Such was the intent of the Kaua‘i Green Business Initiative awards, which aims to recognize people who have gone green and have benefited as well. There is no better way to realize the benefits of green living other than hearing testimonies from people who have given it a shot. Here are some of the recipients for their efforts of living green: Aloha We Deliver, Home Business category award for its biodegradable products. Chino Godinez of Kayak Kaua‘i, Visitor Activity category for converting its fleet of vans to 100 percent diesel. Ray Maki of Permaculture Kaua‘i, Grower category award for his efforts at restoring native species and soil. Chipper Wichman of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens, Nonprofit category award for NTBG’

While I was doing my Bachelors in Education, I had a discussion with some fellow teachers regarding Internet usage in the classroom. One thing we agreed was dangerous about the Internet was not only the amount of inappropriate material, but also the amount of misinformation out there. I took it upon myself to create an “educational directory”. This has been done before but I decided to spice it up with a little AJAX and give it a more Web 2.0 feel. The result: tagedu - a tag based educational directory for teachers and students. What sets it apart The directory is focused entirely on tags. When users submit a site, they must tag it with keywords. Upon searching, you can place tags you are interested in into your “tag basket” which will then filter out non-relevant sites. Sites are also rated by users in terms of their usefulness so they can be sorted from best to worse. The goal here is to let students and researchers quickly find the most appropriate an

10 August 2007 Alliance for Natural Health’s initiative opens the door to natural sources of vitamins and minerals Since the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in July 2005, the ANH, seemingly a lone voice in the crowd, has firmly upheld that natural sources of vitamins and minerals were outside the scope of the Food Supplements Directive (FSD).  Almost exactly two years to the day since the ruling, this has now been confirmed by the European Commission, in what promises to be a critical victory for natural health. The ANH has received a letter this week, jointly signed by two heads of unit at the European Commission, which indicates clearly that all natural sources of vitamins and minerals, which could have been subject to a ban EU-wide, will escape the draconian EU Food Supplements Directive, and will now be regulated as foods. The European Commission’s letter confirms the broadest possible interpretation of an opinion given by advisory committee, The Standing Committee on t

Social networks and fashion bloggers are the new black in PR? from the release Ketchum, a leading marketing and corporate communications firm, announced today a new apparel marketing initiative, Fashion Interactive 2.0. Led by fashion marketing innovators Roy Edmondson and Jeff Danzer, this offering provides a unique combination of traditional and nontraditional marketing tools to the apparel business. Taking its cue from Web 2.0, Fashion Interactive 2.0 combines traditional marketing communications with new media tactics that harness the power of social networks, blogging, online relationships, word-of-mouth and experiential marketing. Using Ketchum’s newly developed proprietary program that proactively harnesses the power of social networks, such as MySpace and Facebook, the group will provide a completely measurable communications platform that encourages consumers to become brand evangelists as never before. Fashion Interactive 2.0 also will utilize the powers of the agency&r

Se trata de una iniciativa que intenta construir una serie de herramientas que sirvan como base para sistemas expertos o inteligencias artificiales. El secreto del posible éxito de Open Mind Initiative se encuentra en el carácter “abierto” y colaborativo del proyecto.» ver notaTechnorati: Open+Mind+Initiative Common+Sense robot+ Sentido+Común Inteligencia+ArtificialBlogalaxia: Open+Mind+Initiative Common+Sense robot+ Sentido+Común Inteligencia+Artificial

Advertiser demand for quick and dirty online studies and a dearth of participants has corrupted the quality of some online research, a problem the Advertising Research Foundation is hoping to change with its newly launched Online Research Quality Council. As calls for transparency in online measurement increase, the goal of the new ARF committee is to create standards for research firms and their clients when it comes to Web panel-based research studies. "The biggest issue that is perplexing advertisers….is the inability to replicate the studies," said ARF President and CEO Robert Barocci. What researchers and their advertiser clients are finding, said Barocci, is it's been difficult to duplicate the results from one panel "so that people in the business can have confidence that the results they're getting are valid and predictable." There are a couple factors contributing to this dilemma that the ARF aims to understand through the council's work. One is over-participation by surv

On August 6, Richard Becker (Copywrite, Ink.) and I will launch a weekly discussion of the best and worst of blogging content practices. Our hope is to use BlogStraightTalk help newer bloggers quickly grasp best practices, and accelerate valued participation within the communities. BlogStraightTalk is also a great forum for experienced bloggers to add their two cents, and help newer community members become more effective. It should be pretty fun. Rich and I do go back and forth on some issues, so it could have a nice Pardon the Interruption “dueling pundits” feel to it. Come check it out!

Dubai Industrial City (DI), also a Tatweer member, has organized a meeting with more than hundred real estate agents operating in the emirate as participants, with an intention to introduce the agents to the land lease regulations of the city and to introduce them to the new property developments that are taking shape in the major industrial destination.The DI's CEO, Rashed Al Ansari, informed the agents that the developments of the city has picked up pace over the past six months, and more than ninety five percent of the industrial land has been leased out to over four hundred investors. He re-iterated that the DI was formed with an intention of establishing an industrial base in Dubai, and the city is more than willing to extend its full support to serious investors. Al Ansari explained that the industrial land, however, could not be sub-leased to third parties and the investors would risk their land in case they fail to abide by the project plans approved by DI previously.Pointing

THE HABERMAN INTERNATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE IN EDUCATION have found a problem and they're out to correct it: WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE OF THE HABERMAN INTERNATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE IN EDUCATION Problem: Employers throughout the United States and the developing world have one thing in common: the need for entry-level workers with decent basic skills, a solid work ethic, personal responsibility, computer savvy, and the ability to function effectively on teams. And schools, particularly in large cities, are failing to produce enough of these kinds of workers. 1. A kid can go through twelve years of basic education and not have "decent" basic skills. If they can't get them in twelve years, HIPIE will do it in one? 2. A solid work ethic? How do you teach pre-teens a solid work ethic? Singing "work is good" songs. Really, how? 3. Personal responsibility. Again, unless imbued with such an ethic from an early age or forced to by need-like hunger- this is a tough sell. In fact,

Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, the company which has recently bagged status of being the largest real estate service firm, has come up with a three pronged strategy for Indian realty. The firm is preparing itself to offer significant services covering the crucial segments of real estate – commercial, residential, retail and hospitality to developers in tier II and tier III cities. However, JLL Meghraj has already carved out a significant niche in the emerging cities like Coimbatore, Kochi, and Chandigarh. Having offices in ten cities and more than 2,800 employees in India, the firm is also pondering upon to bring in international mall management business into the country to professionalize malls. Also, the company will bring in the Jones Lang LaSalle hotel divisions from US to India to offer hospitality services to prominent hotel developers in India, apart from those chains that are considering making BIG in Indian hospitality sector, informs Anuj Puri, chairman and country head, JLL-