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hermes birkinThe Obama administration has full confidence in the top U.S. aviation safety official and his agency following a string of highly publicized lapses by air traffic controllers, including one this week involving a plane carrying first lady Michelle Obama. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Reuters on the sidelines of a transportation conference on Wednesday that he supports Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Randy Babbitt "1,000 percent." He also said he saw no need for an independent review of the FAA's performance beyond the investigations already under way. LaHood said the FAA has started nine investigations into embarrassing disclosures of controllers sleeping on the job and other safety-related incidents and is working as quickly as possible to find out what went wrong in each case. "We are doing a top-to-bottom review," LaHood said. "We think we're looking into this as thoroughly as we possibly can." On the PBS "NewsHour" program, LaHood said the FAA had fired two controllers who had been on suspension --including one who had been sleeping on the job in Knoxville, Tennessee.hermes birkin handbags "A controller actually made a bed in the control tower, brought a pillow, brought blankets, he's been fired," he said. "We're not going to sit by and let that kind of behavior take place in control towers." A second controller, in Miami, was violating procedures by directing a 737 to fly too closely to a smaller plane to monitor it, LaHood said. Hank Krakowski, the FAA official in charge of day-to-day operations involving the nation's 15,000 air traffic controllers, resigned last week over the uproar accompanying disclosures of controllers sleeping on the job in several locations, including Washington. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is also looking into controller errors and fatigue. The board, which is an independent agency, said on Wednesday it would investigate Monday's incident involving Michelle Obama's jet. hermes outletRepresentative John Mica, chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation Committee, told Reuters in a separate interview that he also supported Babbitt, a former airline pilot and financial consultant who took the job in 2009. "He still has my confidence," Mica said. "I think he inherited a mess and he's trying to sort through it." LaHood said he had not spoken with the White House about the latest mishap involving a government jet carrying Mrs. Obama and Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, on a flight from New York. NEW POLICYNike outlet The first lady's plane was ordered to abandon its landing approach to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington after controllers at a Virginia radar center allowed the Boeing 737 to get too close to a military cargo plane flying about 3 miles ahead. There was a concern that the lumbering Air Force C-17 would not clear the runway before Mrs Obama's plane, the next in line on the approach path, was ready to land. hermes birkin 35cm The Boeing jet made a series of subtle maneuvers before making a new approach without incident. Neither plane was ever in any imminent danger and both landed safely, the FAA said. The mistake, called an operational error, is not uncommon and usually they are corrected easily and quickly with little, if any, outside notice. hermes victoria bags hermes belts hermes wallets

hermes birkinAfter spending two years on health care, President Barack Obama is about to take up another Herculean political challenge: taxes. In response to the Republican plans to cut spending, Obama is pushing a proposal of his own, which will include loophole-closing tax reform and increasing taxes on the wealthy. In his speech at George Washington University, the president said: "I say that at a time when the tax burden on the wealthy is at its lowest level in half a century, the most fortunate among us can afford to pay a little more. " By injecting taxes into the mix, Obama enters into perilous territory. For decades, Democrats have mostly tried to avoid any proposals that increase taxes. Ever since Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Walter Mondale admitted that he would raise taxes in the 1984 campaign, his colleagues have avoided that kind of statement. The major exception was President Bill Clinton, who in 1993 proposed increasing taxes to cut the deficit. He persuaded Congress to pass his plan, though Democrats paid a huge political cost for doing so.hermes birkin handbags As Obama moves forward with this plan, he needs to lead the way as the White House tries to frame the debate. One of the keys to the political success of Republicans in the past two years has been their ability to shape public debate. Some commentators have claimed that Republicans have done well because public opinion is on their side. There is some truth to this argument given that polls do continually express an antipathy toward government. Yet this explanation confuses as much as it illuminates. Many polls suggest a different underlying reality. The same public that dislikes government wants their Social Security and Medicare, just as an example. hermes outletSo public opinion is an important factor, but it isn't sufficient to explain how Republicans rebounded and why Obama has encountered political difficulty. Most importantly, Republicans have succeeded in framing how key proposals are discussed in the media. Even when the party was at its lowest point following the 2008 election, Republicans refused to cede ground. When Obama put together a health care package which, by historic comparison, was middle of the road (looking much more like Mitt Romney than Ted Kennedy), Republicans branded it as a socialistic intervention into the economy. They did the same with his economic stimulus plan, even though many moderate and even conservative economists at the time agreed that the spending was necessary. Since the midterm elections, the Republicans have been able to reframe the national debate around deficit reduction. The GOP has succeeded in making deficits rather than creating jobs the issue of the day, and they have pushed the president toward focusing on these questions. Republicans have also proved to be relentless and united in their approach to the media. Despite internal divisions within the party, Republicans stay on the same page. Even when critics point to huge discrepancies between what Republicans are saying and what their plans will do -- such as the fact that Paul Ryan's proposal would actually have a limited impact on the size of the deficit -- the Republicans are not deterred. They keep hammering home the same points in interview after interview.hermes birkin 35cm The party leaders have tended to take proposals that come from the extreme right wing of the party and use those proposals as the basis for their negotiations. During the recent budget debate, they used the House Republican plan to cut $100 billion from spending and worked downward from that. The advantage of this approach, even when it risks allowing Democrats to paint the GOP as extremists, is that it pushes debate rightward so that when a compromise is finally reached, the "center" is farther to the right than when they started. The president has employed a very different style. As many of his liberal critics say, he tends to bargain with himself. Nike outletThe White House separated itself from the base of the Democratic Party at the very beginning and then began the negotiations based on the terms set by the GOP (even when Democrats controlled Congress). While the strategy helped Obama to pass a significant amount of legislation, it did little to obtain Republican support and it has resulted in his moving farther away from core Democratic positions. Now that Obama has entered into the deficit debate with proposals of his own, he will have to figure out how to sell taxes to the public. He could reach back to the arguments of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, who connected tax increases to the sacrifice that citizens must make in difficult times. Or he could use the economic growth that occurred under Clinton after his tax increase as proof for why real deficit reduction is so important. He might also drive home how many Republican presidents, including Ronald Reagan, accepted loophole reform and tax increases. Importantly, the shift of public debate toward deficit reduction offers Obama as much of an opportunity as a danger. The fact is that substantive deficit reduction won't take place unless higher revenue is part of the package. Spending cuts alone won't do the trick.gucci handbags outlet But if Obama does not recalibrate his political strategy, he could weaken his own standing, as well as the standing of congressional Democrats, going into 2012.

cheap hermes birkin bagsThe United Nations atomic agency today confirmed that Japanese authorities had provisionally raised the severity level for the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was damaged in last month’s earthquake to 7, the same level given to the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The plant suffered major damage from the earthquake and tsunami that struck the country on 11 March and has been spewing radioactive contamination into the environment ever since. Denis Flory, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, told a news conference in Vienna that the re-evaluation of the rating on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) resulted from an estimate of the total amount of radioactivity released to the environment from the nuclear plant. The new provisional rating considers the accidents that occurred at Units 1, 2 and 3 of the plant as a single event on INES. Previously, separate INES Level 5 ratings had been applied for Units 1, 2 and 3. The provisional INES Level 3 rating assigned for Unit 4 still applies.hermes birkin “NISA [The Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency] estimates that the release of radioactive material to the atmosphere is approximately 10 per cent of the Chernobyl accident, which is the only other accident to have an INES rating of 7,” he stated. At the same time, he pointed out that “the Fukushima accident and Chernobyl are very different. Chernobyl happened at a reactor at power. It was a huge explosion… then you had a huge graphite fire for a number of days. Also [Chernobyl had] the power to move all this radioactivity in the high atmosphere and then spread it all around the Earth.” hermes birkin handbagsThe INES scale, developed jointly in 1990 by the IAEA and the nuclear energy agency of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is a way to communicate the significance of nuclear and radiological events to the public. Mr. Flory explained that the “below scale” is for events which have no safety significance, while those meeting the criteria for the first three levels are rated as “incidents” and the last four levels as “accidents.” The highest, Level 7, is used to describe an event comprised of “a major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects requiring implementation of planned and extended countermeasures.” hermes outlet He said that, overall, the situation at the plant remains “very serious,” but there are early signs of recovery in some functions such as electrical power and instrumentation. Meanwhile, NISA has confirmed that no changes were observed on the readings at the on-site radiation monitoring posts following the 6.6 magnitude quake that struck Fukushima prefecture yesterday.gucci outlet hermes victoria bags hermes belts hermes wallets

hermes birkinEarly reviews of the PlayBook have been unfavorable, but optimistic, mostly concluding that the tablet was launched half-baked, lacking some basic and promised functions like a native email client and Android app support. RIM’s executives have gone on the defensive, but their statements, reported by Bloomberg, aren’t really convincing. Mike Lazaridis described the form factor and technology as “superior,” and industrial design VP Todd Wood said the design was “iconic,” hearkening back to items like Picasso and Hemingway’s notebooks. Of course, those notebooks had completely different purposes and usage methods, and, for the record, folded up when you were done. And despite the fact that the PlayBook is arguably technically superior to many tablets out there, it’s not superior in many ways the average consumer is likely to notice — yet. Instead, consumers will notice that they have to use the browser to access their email or that the selection of apps isn’t as great as they’d like (though 3000 is nothing to sneeze at, if they’re good).hermes birkin handbags Co-CEO Jim Balsillie said of the allegations that the device is missing key features: “I don’t think that’s fair. A lot of the people that want this want a secure and free extension of their BlackBerry.” If that were true, don’t you think devices like the Folio and Redfly would have taken off? Furthermore, if RIM expects to sell iPad numbers of these devices, they can’t hamstring their ambitions by positioning it as a glorified BlackBerry accessory. The proportion of business to party in the PlayBook has never been clear, and the launch hasn’t helped. hermes outletAfter reading the reviews around the net, I’m pretty convinced that the consistent message is no conspiracy and no accident. RIM felt they needed to put this device on the market, and they put it out leagues short of feature parity with the competition. Any launch will have its faults, and features will be filled in over time, but RIM may not be able to recover in the consumer space if the PlayBook doesn’t come into its own within a couple months. Does it still have legs in enterprise? Trends are still too preliminary to really say too much on that front. Many businesses have integrated iPads, but that could easily be because the competition in the first year was so negligible. Some say tablets themselves won’t ever trickle up. One thing is for sure: BlackBerry is still a big brand in business, though for advantages that are easy enough for Apple and Google to approach. While RIM is busy keeping the lawn in order by appearing to be competitive in the tablet space, one of their competitors might just sneak in the back door and steal their lunch. hermes birkin bags hermes birkin 35cm hermes wallets

hermes birkin 42cmOver the last two days I’ve received dozens of messages from friends asking my opinion about the conversation between Vivek Wadhwa and Sarah Lacy on TechCrunch regarding the now-controversial Thiel Fellowship. So many people have sent me links to these two articles because I am one of the finalists for the Thiel Fellowship. I was unschooled for half my life. For those not familiar with the practice, unschooling is a form of homeschooling wherein the learner directs her own education. Self -directed learning has been my shtick for the last eight years, and I believe that the world is my classroom. Self-directed learning does not mean solitary learning: unschooling never involved learning in my pajamas. To the contrary, unschooling allowed me to learn in the real world—how, where, and when I wanted. I am biased against institutionalized learning. I disagree with Wadhwa’s implied notion that education should only be gained in school. I dropped out of liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas because I’m behind a social movement called UnCollege which supports Mark Twain’s mantra: “I have never let school interfere with my education.” I am not part of the academic binary: I do not believe that college is all bad, nor that college is everything. I believe that learning is everything but should not be limited to academic institutions.hermes birkin UnCollege is about enabling people to value learning that happens anywhere and everywhere — be it inside the classroom or in the world. Universities should not limit how we learn or live. Ultimately, I hope to change the notion that obtaining a college degree is requisite for professional success. Personalization Wadhwa writes that “the best path to success is not to drop out of college; it is to complete it.” I do not think everyone should go to college — nor do I think everyone should drop out of college. Pedagogy should not be applied ubiquitously. hermes birkin handbagsEducation is not the place for generalizations. There is no best path. Everyone learns differently. Individuals should take whatever path to success — irrespective of how you define that term — that suits their learning style. For most people who have come from classically educated backgrounds, college is the accepted path to adulthood, but there should be more to college than putting one foot in front of the other. Life Skills I do not think that universities today are preparing students to face the world, a point that Jim Plummer, the Stanford School of Engineering dean, would debate. A dichotomy has arisen between “college” and “life.” This is not an artificial crevasse I have imposed. I hate drawing this distinction: I think that life and learning should be mutually inclusive. I always operated on this assumption until I went to college and met students who dreaded “life in the real world.” Academia gives students a false sense of security.hermes outlet Laundry, cooking, and paying bills are but three things that most college students do not think about. When we keep students from directing their own education, how can we expect them to direct their lives post-graduation? Plummer says that “if universities … are not providing the kind of life skills that will serve their students well … then universities should change what they are doing.” I hope he’ll be open to listening to my comments as an unschooler. College isn’t Dying Plummer continues that “the students who drop out of college learn many life lessons and move on to either the next venture or in some cases . . . return to school.” School isn’t going away anytime soon. Millions have found success through the school system, and I am the first to acknowledge its virtues. Friends have asked me what I will do if my plans go awry. The worst case scenario? I can always go back to college. It’s not going anywhere. People assume that because I’m leading the UnCollege movement I’m against school. I’m not against school; I’m for learning, and I think that learning happens everywhere — not just in the classroom. hermes walletsThere is value in structured learning: I went to public school through 5th grade. School taught me how to follow directions, meet deadlines, and work in groups. These skills have proved invaluable, but these skills do not take twelve years to master — a few well-taught classes suffice. Skill or Knowledge? You can gain knowledge through many methods: structured learning, individual study, mentorship, service learning, project-based learning, group study. However, the skills you learn from each method are different. Skills do not relate to knowledge but to ability. If I learn through group study I develop leadership skills while if I learn through individual study I develop concentration skills while if I learn in a mentorship relationship I develop interpersonal skills. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of learning, but we should understand which learning styles lead to which skill outcomes. Lifelong Learning Plummer goes on to say that “one should not take Peter Thiel’s advice” because “the value of education is intrinsic and an end in itself rather than a something to be measured by its career financial return.” I agree that we should not assess education in terms of earning potential (even though we as a society continue to do so—see the methodology for any college ranking), but I do not think that learning is an end in itself. I’m a lifelong and lifewide learner. I believe there is no end to learning.cheap hermes kelly 22cm Plummer uses his observation as a reason to pursue education, which he presumes to be narrowly defined in a collegiate context. But if he is arguing that we should learn for the sake of learning, shouldn’t he support people pursuing whatever type of education allows them to learn best, even if that education happens outside academia? Signals Wadhwa ends his post noting that “There is almost no chance you’ll make it past HR” without a college degree. This statement is sad but true. The college degree functions a signal to society. It says, “I’m arbitrarily trainable, can meet deadlines, and follow your directions.” It does not convey information about you or your talents. As we asymptotically approach a point at which everyone has a Ph.D, how are we going to choose between potential employees? hermes beltsRequire everyone to get two Ph.Ds, then three? I hope not. There will come a point when society realizes that our accreditation system is a functioning fallacy. I’m leading UnCollege to hasten that realization and prove that a college degree is not requisite for success. I do not want to burn down classrooms. I do not want to put professors out of work. I do not want to do away with college or university. While going to college is the societally accepted path to professional success, it is not the only path. I want to help others understand that obtaining a college degree is not the only path to professional success. I believe institutionalized higher education limits possibilities, and that if we allowed people to learn from life instead of confining them to academic intuitions we could unleash human potential and allow everybody to change the world.

gucci outletWhen it comes to mowing the lawn, cleaning the kitchen and performing other household chores, Southern European and Asian men are the least likely to take part, according to a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Paris-based think tank surveyed 29 countries to determine how much time people spent doing unpaid work. The results showed that women spent considerably longer than men doing daily chores, a factor that could hinder their ability to take part in paid employment, the study says. Italian and Portuguese men spent under two hours a day helping out at home—the lowest figure among European countries. Men in India, Japan and South Korea spent less than an hour a day performing task such as shopping and looking after children. In the U.S., men spend around three hours a day on household chores outside working hours—about the same as the Polish.hermes birkin The year-long study highlighted a large difference between the time men and women spend doing unpaid tasks. On average, women spend 2.5 hours a day more than men doing chores. "We want to show that if you want to create gender equality in the marketplace, you need to create work equality at home," said the study's author and OECD economist Veerle Miranda. Overall, people spend 3.5 hours a day taking part in unpaid work, according to the OECD study. hermes birkin handbagsThere is a trade-off between the amount of time people spend doing paid work and unpaid work, she added. The OECD estimates that if unpaid work were remunerated it would be equal to one-third of the average GDP in OECD countries. Household chores are an unglamorous way of contributing to the economy. Washing up after a meal, reading to children or coaching a sports team are important ways of giving back to society and "can be enjoyable," the study says. The OECD noted that low male participation in domestic tasks doesn't necessarily equate to a national lack of overall productivity. The study states that the time women spend doing chores is to some degree balanced by paid work undertaken by men. In terms of the breakdown of work, the study concludes that women spend a lot of time cleaning, shopping and caring for children. Men tend to contribute by doing "construction and repair." On average, men spend 13 minutes a day doing do-it-yourself tasks.hermes outlet In the kitchen, women spend nearly four times as long as men cooking meals and washing up afterward. The amount of time spent doing these tasks varies widely from country to country. Americans spend around 30 minutes a day cooking and washing up, compared to nearly 1.5 hours a day in India. The OECD also notes that Americans spend very little time eating and have some of the highest obesity rates in the world. hermes wallets