Eller International Experience ? Getting down to business

My previous post dealt with the lifestyle here in Spain, specifically how lax it is compared to America. That laidback lifestyle doesn?t just exist during people?s freetime either. After having worked roughly a month already in a small, downtown apartment converted into an office, I can tell you that that lifestyle is apparent even in the workplace.

I am working for Expat Financial Advice Spain, a company that offers financial advice for foreigners living in Spain, as well as a smaller company called Barcelona Flats, which allows travelers to rent out apartments throughout the city. I work everyday for 4 hours, mostly doing little IT tasks that my employer assigns me. There are a few Spainards in the office and their work habits differ tremendously from everyone else?s. For example, they love to converse all the time during work, sometimes in Spanish and sometimes in broken English. Also, they are out of the office by 2 on the dot, no questions asked. Given the time they take for lunch and smoking breaks, I say they work a total of about 3 hours a day.

I know it?s unfair to generalize all of Barcelona?s working culture based on one month?s experience with a few Spainards, but from what I?ve heard from others on this program, it?s fairly accurate. Is this business culture the best thing for the country, given it?s current economic state? Probably not. Hell, it might even be a significant reason for Spain?s recession in the first place. The Spainards that I?ve had the pleasure working with don?t work much, but when they do, they get what?s needed to be done, done.

Source: http://blogs.eller.arizona.edu/international/2012/07/getting-down-to-business/

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Paper: Brad Pitt's mom wrote anti-Obama letter

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By Natalie Finn, E! Online

Brad Pitt's probably glad he's out of the country for this one. Two days after the Springfield, Mo., News-Leader printed a letter to the editor penned by one Jane Pitt, LGBT activist group ThinkProgress identified the author of the Mitt Romney-supporting, gay-marriage-opposing missive as Brad's mother.

Gregg Deguire / FilmMagic file

Jane Pitt, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

You know, Jane Pitt.

But after word spread like wildfire, provoking its fair share of ire along the way, the News-Leader's op-ed page editor backtracked on that confirmation, telling ThinkProgress that the letter was, in fact, not written by the actor's mom after all.

Um, ready for another backtrack?

MORE: Jon Voight "excited" and "happy" for daughter Angelina Jolie's upcoming wedding to Brad Pitt

"To clear up earlier confusion, the News-Leader has verified the letter writer is the mother of actor Brad Pitt and local businessman Doug Pitt," reads the latest editor's note affixed to the original letter, which was posted Tuesday with the headline "Election-Casting ballot deserves prayerful consideration."

What's with all the back and forth?!?

Well, who didn't have a hard time believing that "Jane Pitt" -- whose letter advised her fellow Christians to "spend much time in prayer before refusing to vote for a family man (Romney) with high morals, business experience, who is against abortion, and shares Christian conviction concerning homosexuality" -- was the same woman whose son once said that he and his girlfriend wouldn't marry until everyone could legally tie the knot?

MORE: Did Brad Pitt reveal his wedding date?!

The paper ultimately reiterated what it had already confirmed in the first place, perhaps spurred on the second time by a healthy dose of skepticism from the blogosphere and the pressure that unfortunately comes from dealing (even indirectly) with a major celebrity.

So, once again, letter-writer Jane Pitt and Brad's mom are one in the same -- for sure this time.

A.J. Brokelman, director of LGBT advocacy group PROMO, told ThinkProgress, upon hearing of the reconfirmation: "It's great that Brad Pitt has been able to learn and grow from his experiences once he left the area, but for folks still living in Southwest Missouri, this sends a message that we still must do more to create acceptance for LGBT people and their families."

GALLERY: Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie: Romance recap?

Jane Pitt had written to the News-Leader that, in her opinion, anyone who doesn't vote for Romney for president or writes in a name is therefore supporting President Barack Obama, "a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage."

Brad Pitt's rep has not returned requests for comment.?

Related content:

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Source: http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/06/12596168-missouri-paper-yes-brad-pitts-mom-did-write-anti-gay-letter?lite

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AMA: The Strongest Trade Union in the U.S.A.

As a follow-up to the post below on Milton Friedman's Mayo Clinic talk on the "economics of medical care," I present the two charts above. ?

The top chart shows the number of annual graduates from U.S. medical schools (AMA data here) per 100,000 U.S. population, from 1962 to 2011. Between about 1970 and 1984, there was a significant increase in medical school graduates that pushed the number of new physicians from 4 per 100,000 Americans in 1970 to almost 7 per 100,000 by 1984.? Since 1984, the number of medical school graduates has been relatively flat (see red line in bottom chart), while the population has continued to grow, causing the number of new physicians per 100,000 population to decline to only 5.3 per 100,000 by 2008, the same ratio as back in 1974.? Over the last few years the number of medical school graduates has increased slightly, and the ratio of graduates per 100,000 increased to 5.56 last year, the highest in a decade.

The bottom chart compares the actual number of medical school graduates (red line) to the projected number of graduates if the number of new physicians had keep pace with U.S.? population increases, i.e. the ratio of graduates per 100,000 Americans had stayed at the 1984 level of 6.91.? In that case, we would now be graduating close to 22,000 new doctors annually, and the cumulative increase in medical school graduates from a rate of 6.91 per 100,000 population over the last 27 years would mean that we would have 84,000 additional physicians today. ???

In most professions, as the population grows and the demand for those occupations increase, we would expect to see an increase in the number of people employed in those professions.? Over the last 25 years, the U.S. population has both increased in size, and gotten significantly older on average due to increasing life expectancy, which would both put upward pressure on the demand for physicians.? But in the case of medicine, the supply of students entering medical schools has been restricted relative to the growing population, leading to an insufficient supply of doctors, and higher-than-market wages. ? This restriction on the supply of doctors relative to a growing population is one example of the "power of organized medicine" that Milton Friedman talks about in his lecture at the Mayo Clinic. ?

Also, in his classic 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom, Dr. Friedman describes the American Medical Association (AMA) as the "strongest trade union in the United States" and documents the ways in which the AMA vigorously restricts competition. For example, the "Council on Medical Education and Hospitals" of the AMA approves both medical schools and hospitals. By restricting the number of approved medical schools and the number of applicants to those schools, the AMA effectively limits the supply of physicians, which increases their wages, and raises the overall cost of medical care.

Source: http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2012/07/ama-strongest-trade-union-in-usa.html

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Photos: Your Fourth of July

Yahoo! News asked Twitter users all over the country to share their Fourth of July plans with us. From cupcakes to cookouts, here are some of our favorite highlights.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/food-flags-and-fun-users-celebrate-july-4th-slideshow/

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ACs out from 'derecho' storm, Washington preps for swelter (+video)

A powerful line of thunderstorms knocked out power to nearly 2 million homes ? and perhaps as many air conditioners ? in the middle of a historic June heat wave across the Eastern Seaboard.

By Patrik Jonsson,?Staff writer / June 30, 2012

People survey storm damage in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington Saturday. Wind gusts clocked at speeds of up to 79 mph were reported in and around the U.S. capital, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes in the area.

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Enlarge

Authorities in Washington, D.C., urged residents on Saturday to look out for each other, and especially the elderly, after a deadly thunderstorm system knocked out power ? and therefore air conditioning ? to 1.2 million capital region homes already broiling in a historic June heat wave.

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The East Coast continued to sear on Saturday, as temperatures began inching once again into the low 100s from Atlanta to New York. But the crash of a rare storm system featuring hurricane-force winds into the Washington, D.C. area caused one electric company spokesman to make comparisons to the aftermath of hurricane Isabel in 2003, where 1.2 million suburban Washingtonians went without power for days.

?Devastating,? is what PepCo?s Clay Anderson called Friday?s storm and its looming aftermath, including what officials are calling a ?multi-day? outage.

The hot June weather has already broken thousands of records across the US.

On Friday, a stifling blanket of humidity and asphalt-softening heat covering the Mississippi Valley, the South, and the mid-Atlantic helped spark in the D.C. area a thunderstorm species more regularly seen in the Midwest. It?s called a ?derecho? storm, which can combine heavy, intense lightning and rain with hurricane-force winds. Five people, including two boys camping in a tent, died due to falling trees.

?Whipped by the wind, rain fell sideways in Georgetown,? the Washington Post reported. ?An opera was halted in the middle of Act II at the Wolf Trap.?

On Saturday, the heat, though slightly tempered by the storm, is still expected to rise into the 100s, a situation millions of Washingtonians ? bureaucrats and lobbyists among them ? accustomed to air conditioning now have to face without the relief of chilled sanctuaries.

?With more than 1.5 million Maryland and Virginia homes and businesses losing power in last night?s severe weather, the one thing we don?t want is another super hot day filled with a significant storm threat,? Washington Post meteorologist Ian Livingston wrote Saturday. ?Unfortunately, we?ve got it.?

Emergency rooms in northern Virginia and Maryland braced for a spike in heat-related complaints. While heat wave-related deaths have been trending down in the US, that?s most likely the result of growing access to air conditioning, which is now suddenly lacking for millions of people in northern Virginia and Maryland.

Concerns about the heat dominated the official agenda across the East Coast on Saturday.

In Montgomery County, Maryland, and other storm-struck parts of the mid-Atlantic and D.C. areas, officials scrambled on Saturday to open schools as cooling centers to give overheated residents a reprieve.

Expecting 110 degrees on Saturday, Atlanta, facing a rare ?Code Purple? air quality emergency, also opened cooling centers for the heat-struck. In Decatur, Ga., the Salvation Army is quickly running out of a donated batch of 2,000 fans.

In Memphis, Tenn., Mayor A.C. Wharton, Jr. pleaded, "Please, if you know of someone who doesn't have air conditioning or who might be struggling with the heat, just stop by and see how they are doing.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Q-Q_yP5m3pU/ACs-out-from-derecho-storm-Washington-preps-for-swelter-video

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The End of the Elements

The world is ending. However before it all goes down the drain Mother Nature has selected a few of the human race to keep her favorite species alive.

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?The End of the Elements?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
"The End of the Elements"

Feel free to post whatever you like here. Suggestions, character ideas, or the like. I won't, and don't mind. I'm hoping to get this show on the road once we get all the elements filled!

Protection and power are overrated. I think you are very wise to choose happiness and love.

Uncle_Iroh

Member for 0 years

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Could you reserve the Time/Space role for me? I'll come up with the character sheet soon. :)

TnevdaNai

Member for 0 years

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May I reserve for Dark/Light?

The people shouldn't be afraid of their government.
The government should be afraid of their people.

LuminousKing

Member for 0 years

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Awww this RP is a clear mirror of what's happening now! I wantto join this! Now....I think I'll be...Water!

TRUE-ASSASSIN

Member for 1 years

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This reminds me of Clive Barker's 'Weaveworld'.

joness

Member for 0 years

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i'd like to reserve Sound if ya don't mind

nltniko

Member for 1 years

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I'd like to reserve fire please, i'll have char sheet up soon.

StefanLF

Member for 0 years

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I'd like to reserve Air please.

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave." ~ Jareth from Labyrinth

Syn_Maxwell

Member for 3 years

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Ok, so let me get all this straight! I've never had so many replies so fast! :P
Tnevda- Time/Space
Luminous-Light/Dark
Assassin- Water
NltNiko- Sound
SteFan- Fire
Syn- Air

I'll reserve/look at the characters. I might be a little tough on the character sheets, just so you know. I'll PM you if there's a problem though.

Joness I've never heard of that, if it is like my story then I apologize. I assure you that this is my own story.

Uncle_Iroh

Member for 0 years

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Ok, so there is already someone who has sent me a character for Time. However their character wasn't completely up to my standards.

So whoever can send one in that fits my standards best wins! Good luck!

Uncle_Iroh

Member for 0 years

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Jennifer Mahin, 17, Rescues Girl Hours After Becoming Lifeguard

camppendleton.patch.com:

Jennifer Mahin, 17, heard some telling words at her graduation from the California State lifeguard academy in Carlsbad Friday.

?You might save a life today,? she remembers an instructor saying.

At about 8:30 that night a group her friends and family walked on Oceanside?s north jetty near the harbor and saw some frantic teenagers asking them to call 911.

Read the whole story at camppendleton.patch.com

Contribute to this Story:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/30/jennifer-mahin-17-rescues_n_1640488.html

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