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A Snowy Eagrit flies over Belle Isle Marsh Reservation. |
Wild grasses in the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation. |
Wilds flowers growing at Belle Isle Marsh Reservation. |
On the first and third Saturday's of the summer months, the DCR and Mass Audubon give a birding tour of the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation. |
Eagrits fish in the marsh of Belle Isle Marsh Reservation. |
Cathy Paris of Boston scans the phragmites of Belle Isle Marsh Reservation for birds. |
A bird pirches in the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation. |
The series of Britain's most talked-about reality drama continues. Arg changes his image, Gemma gets knocked back and Bobby tries his luck in lederhosen. |
Reality series following the cut throat world of real estate in Atlanta. |
With links from his farm, Martin Clunes reviews his animal travelogues. |
Famous faces and experts cook up their favourite signature dishes. |
Extreme angler, Jeremy Wade, is on the hunt for world's largest and most dangerous fish. |
Today, the food of Ireland is a far cry from the tinned corned beef and processed foods Matty grew up with. Still, when he owned Matt Murphy's Pub in Brookline and later Stone's Public House in Ashland, he offered his version of corned beef on St. Patrick's Day menus, so he's eaten his share of the salty meat. |
But that's not how he cooks when he wants Irish food. At home with our children, and on St. Patrick's Day, we turn to traditional dishes such as lamb stew. Add a hearty brown soda bread and a slice of juicy blackberry pie in a flaky crust, and you have a meal that might have been served a century ago in a more rustic form. Today, it's part of Ireland's new cuisine. Like chefs here, cooks in Ireland use local ingredients with modern cooking techniques, but they haven't forgotten traditional dishes such as lamb stew, bacon and cabbage, spiced beef, and fruit pies. |
When Matty moved to the US from West Cork 20 years ago, he hadn't seen anything like our St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and at home, the day was marked with solemnity: church followed by a traditional family dinner. In fact, up until the late 1970s, bars and pubs were closed in Ireland on March 17 (shocking but true). The holiday as we know it was only recently adopted in Ireland as a way to showcase the culture. |
That's a far cry from the beer-fueled festivities of today's holiday, which went from religious to the biggest sales day in Irish pubs across America. |
The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in Boston in 1737. New York followed several years later; all saw it as a way for Irish immigrants to honor their heritage. Here in America, that heritage was morphing into a new Irish-American culture. |
So was Irish-American cuisine, which focused on foods available here. Beef was a luxury at home; cows were kept for their milk, but steer (known as bullocks in Ireland) were raised mostly for export. The cured meat of choice was bacon, which referred to any cured pork. Irish in America found beef plentiful, so corned beef and cabbage was born. Like St. Patrick's Day, the Irish-Americans made it their own. |
Throughout Ireland today, dependence on processed foods is waning, and the packets of instant white sauce that once filled every cupboard are being replaced with foods grown in the countryside. Artisan cheese makers are spreading out from Cork across Ireland. There's a new appreciation for the foods that were once subsistence. |
Mackerel, for instance, is plentiful around the small West Cork island where Matty grew up (and where his father and five of his siblings still live). So plentiful, in fact, that our 3-year-old son, Declan, caught a dozen his first time out (with a little help from his Uncle Mike). When Matty was a boy, the mackerel was fried into oblivion. Today everyone on the island has a proprietary method. On our last visit, smoked mackerel was all the rage. At the pubs, locals debated the merits of applewood versus hickory like the generation before might have debated the merits of Paddy's or Powers whiskey (Paddy's makes you fight, Powers makes you sing - or so the saying goes). |
Besides mackerel, you can get prawns, lobster, and salmon, all sent to market within hours after they're caught. |
One thing that hasn't changed is the potato, which is still a staple of the diet. When we visit Matty's family every year, we eat lots of potatoes. With every meal. Lots and lots of potatoes. Before the potato famine of the 1840s, the average Irish person ate 10 to 12 pounds daily - and little else. Even today, supermarkets sell potatoes in 25- and 50-pound bags, not the wimpy 5-pounders you get here. In fact, the potato in Ireland is so revered, some compare the much-anticipated appearance of new potatoes in early summer to that of the November release of Beaujolais Nouveau in France. |
The fertile Irish soil is also perfect for growing grains and the grassy countryside a natural fit for cattle, sheep, and pigs. |
Matty has lived in this country longer than he lived in Ireland, and his siblings joke that he's more American than Irish. Our sons, Declan and Ronan, and Matty's daughters, Michela, Ciara, and Snowy, are all Irish-American. Matty hopes they'll embrace their heritage. |
Two decades ago, within a week of arriving here, Matty was asked for an immigrant's view of St. Patrick's Day. In Ireland, he said, "My Da made me go to Mass on St. Patrick's Day and the only corned beef I ate came in a can." |
Maybe he is more American than Irish now. |
ZURICH, Switzerland – One year after posting a record 54 billion franc ($55 billion) profit, the Swiss National Bank swung to a 15 billion franc loss in 2018, as a double whammy of weaker global equity markets and a stronger Swiss franc eroded the value of its massive holdings of foreign stocks and bonds. |
The valuation loss reported on Wednesday by the SNB underscores the interplay between central banks and markets. Usually, it is central bank decisions, or hints of changes in interest rates and other policies, that cause stock and bond markets to fluctuate. But this has worked in reverse for Switzerland’s central bank, whose finances are largely at the mercy of financial markets beyond its borders. |
What sets Switzerland apart is that after years of currency interventions by the SNB – creating francs to purchase foreign stocks and bonds in a bid to weaken the franc – the bank has amassed over 700 billion francs worth of foreign assets, an amount that exceeds the country’s entire gross domestic product. |
This included over $3.5 billion in Apple shares at the end of the third quarter, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, $2.6 billion in Amazon stock and $2.7 billion in Microsoft. The SNB’s equity investments – which comprise 20percent of its foreign assets – replicate broad indexes. The rest of the SNB’s foreign-reserve portfolio is in foreign bonds. Euro assets comprise the largest share, followed by the dollar. |
When equity markers rise, and when bond yields are low, the market value of the SNB’s portfolio rises. A weaker franc amplifies those gains. These forces combined to push the bank’s profit sharply higher in 2017. But they went in reverse in 2018. |
The euro fell 4 percent against the franc last year, as economic and political uncertainties lifted demand for the Swiss currency, which is typically seen as a haven in times of global stress. The dollar was little changed against the franc over 2018, but has weakened in the past month. |
Other central banks like the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank also have amassed large portfolios consisting primarily of bonds. But those assets are denominated in their own currencies, giving them a steady source of interest income without the foreign-exchange risk. |
The good news for the SNB is that it can ride out market volatility, and its loss doesn’t affect its ability to carry out monetary policy. Annual Swiss inflation was just 0.7 percent in December and with the franc still strong by historical measures, the SNB isn’t under pressure to sell its foreign assets to strengthen its currency. It is expected by analysts to keep its key policy rate at minus 0.75 percent at least until late 2019. |
The danger would come if Switzerland faced a sudden inflation shock that forced the SNB to sell its foreign assets at a loss. Repeated valuation losses could also damage the SNB’s reputation at home. |
Despite the 2018 loss, the SNB said it would still disperse two billion francs to the federal government and Swiss states, known as Cantons, under a profit-sharing agreement that runs through 2020. Because the SNB held on to the vast majority of its 2017 profit, it had a significant cushion to absorb last year’s loss. |
Unlike most central banks, the SNB has publicly-listed shares and it pays a small, legally-capped dividend to those shareholders, who have no say in how the bank is run or how it conducts monetary policy. The SNB itself has played down the importance of its shares. |
The bank’s share price attracted global attention in 2017 and 2018 when it rose more than fourfold and approached 10,000 francs a share last April. However, it has retreated since then and one share fetched just over 4,200 francs on Wednesday. |
Kevin Malast made it to the last round of cuts with the Chicago Bears last preseason, and the former Rutgers linebacker was out of work briefly before getting a call-back from the NFC North franchise this past season. |
Malast ended the year contributing to the Bears’ practice squad, and now he fully expects to return to Chicago for an opportunity to compete for a roster spot this summer. |
On Wednesday, Malast took in Rutgers Pro Day festivities, reflecting the season that was and sharing his thoughts on why former Scarlet Knights make it so tough for NFL franchises to cut them once they make it to training camps. |
SCUTTLEBUTT: Do you remember how nervous you were heading into pro day last year? |
Posted in Blog Q&A, RU football on March 10, 2010 by Keith Sargeant. |
It’s safe to say Jamaal Westerman wouldn’t be a key member of the New York Jets without competing at Rutgers Pro Day a year ago. It’s not just that Westerman aced several skills challenges. |
Just by competing less than four months after having torn-biceps surgery, Westerman proved he had the toughness and many of the intangibles it takes to compete in the NFL. |
As an undrafted free agent, the 6-3, 255-pound Westerman played in 14 games and recorded 10 tackles mostly on special teams. Rutgers’ second-leading sack producer is hopeful for an expanded role after serving as a backup linebacker this past season. |
SCUTTLEBUTT: How important is a pro-day event like this? |
PISCATAWAY — Tim Brown spent all of last spring trying to prove himself worthy of being a No. 1 receiver for Rutgers. |
Now, three months after ending his senior campaign as one of the Big East’s most productive receivers, Brown finds himself needing to prove himself all over again. |
Brown appears to be off to a rocky start, running slower than anticipated Wednesday during the Rutgers pro day event inside the practice bubble. |
Brown, who measured a scant 5-foot-6 — and 151 pounds (down more than an inch and 14 pounds from his listed measurements), posted a 40-yard dash time of 4.44 seconds. While that’s certainly not slow, it wasn’t the sub-4.4 many NFL scouts were hoping for coming into the day. |
Brown, who totaled 55 receptions for 1,150 yards and nine touchdowns last fall, attributed his 40-time to the ankle injury he suffered on Nov. 21 at Syracuse. |
Posted in Uncategorized on March 10, 2010 by Keith Sargeant. |
NEW YORK—You could not have scripted a more climactic ending: game tied, clock ticking down, and the Big East’s top two rookies going one on one. |
Lance Stephenson showed everyone why he was named the league’s Rookie of the Year just a few hours earlier, breaking down Rutgers’ Dane Miller and drawing a foul with 1.8 seconds left. He made the first free throw to send the Scarlet Knights’ to a 69-68 defeat in the first round of the Big East Tournament. |
Stephenson and Miller were the only unanimous selections to the Big East’s All-Rookie team. |
Posted in Uncategorized on March 10, 2010 by Jerry Carino. |
The United States claims to be pivoting its martial involvement toward Asia, but one can truly discern the U.S. military’s priorities by looking at where it warehouses military weapons for war. When these stockpiles are examined, it looks like the future will be similar to the 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium. |
In fact, from the Cold War to the present, the United States has always been heavily involved in Asia to contain rival powers. The primary potential enemy has shifted from the now defunct Soviet Union to a rising China, the U.S. naval presence in the region has merely been augmented, and the string of Asia-Pacific alliances — in which the U.S. guarantees other nations’ security — have been incrementally upgraded. One of the most likely sources of conflict in that area is a Chinese dustup with U.S. friends or allies Vietnam, the Philippines, or Japan over disputed island chains, many of which have nearby waters containing oil. In addition, important shipping lanes carrying Persian Gulf oil to U.S. friends and allies run through the region. |
In warehouses in Japan and South Korea, the U.S. Army will stockpile equipment for a heavy combat brigade and a brigade to support and sustain that fighting unit. Troops will be flown in to use such pre-positioned stocks, thus saving the time to transport equipment to any Asian military contingency. |
But even more weapons and equipment will be stockpiled in the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia. In three countries in that region, the U.S. will stockpile equipment for a heavy combat brigade, an infantry brigade, and infantry battalion and sustainment and support units. Despite its pivot toward Asia, the United States will apparently still expend much effort to defend Persian Gulf oil. Also likely defending oil will be pre-positioned stocks remaining in Italy to use to assist local counterinsurgency forces in Africa. |
The Army also has pre-positioned stockpiles afloat, with one ship with weapons assigned to the Asia-Pacific region, one ship assigned to the Middle East, and the other six ships in the United States containing a swing force that can carry equipment for an infantry brigade and a sustainment brigade where needed. |
In the decades after the Cold War ended, the U.S. armed forces were sized to fight two major regional contingencies — one in Asia and one in the Persian Gulf. Those theaters are still being emphasized, and adding a new minor emphasis on Africa, the U.S. military seems more like an oil-protection force than it was even back then. The U.S. completely withdrew forces from Iraq only because the Iraqi government refused to allow American troops immunity from Iraqi laws. Otherwise, the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf would be greater than even the current robust force posture. |
The U.S. military has responded to the national fiscal crisis and (possibly substantial) budget cuts by relying more on such pre-positioned equipment and less on permanent overseas bases. That may be an improvement, but only at the margin. Foreign countries hosting pre-positioned stocks of weapons still demand to be defended as the price for storing the weapons. |
Thus, despite the current financial crisis in Washington, the military’s actions indicate that it still has grandiose ideas about what the future U.S. role in the world will be. However, even this Cold War Lite policy is fiscally unsustainable. |
In my book No War for Oil: U.S. Dependency and the Middle East, I debunk the stated need to militarily defend Persian Gulf oil, which will likely flow into the world market even during a crisis in that region, because oil producers can make much money selling it. It is actually cheaper for the United States to pay the market price for oil than to spend the vast sums needed to keep armed forces and the aforementioned pre-positioned equipment in the region to try to keep the price down (even this effect is in doubt, because wars usually make the oil price go up). In short, as the classical economists of the 19th century noted, empire never pays from a financial standpoint. As for Africa, it has never been strategic to the United States and won’t be even if oil production in a couple of nations there is increasing. |
As for the possible non-oil-related contingencies in Asia, relatively wealthy East Asian nations — such as Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and South Korea — could and should band together as a counterweight to China, relying on the United States only as a last-ditch emergency backup. In short, surprisingly, without endangering U.S. security, the American military could pull back its forward forces and pre-positioned weapons stockpiles allocated for the three primary regions in which the U.S. is still planning for war. |
Published: December 1, 2011 11:00 pm Updated: Dec. 1, 2011 11:46 p.m. |
Elder Richard Hinckley, left, walks with Alan Marty by bales of clothing at the Humanitarian Center, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, in Salt Lake City, Utah. |
We came to Utah to see Welfare Square because it is one of the nation's greatest models of cultivating self-reliance, not only for members of the Mormon faith but for people of all backgrounds. |
They may seem drastically different: a nonprofit that helps children build lemonade stands, an organization that encourages character building through sports and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But they all have the same underlying goal: to promote economic self-reliance. |
The LDS Church Thursday was the last stop on a nationwide tour highlighting best practices in economic self-reliance. During a two day conference sponsored by The Philanthropy Roundtable, representatives from charitable foundations across the country took a tour through Welfare Square, the LDS Humanitarian Center and the Bishop's Central Storehouse. |
"We came to Utah to see Welfare Square because it is one of the nation's greatest models of cultivating self-reliance, not only for members of the Mormon faith but for people of all backgrounds," said Shannon Toronto, COO of The Philanthropy Roundtable, a national network of individual donors, corporate giving officers and foundation trustees. |
Previous stops on The Philanthropy Roundtable's economic opportunity tour included Lemonade Day in Houston, which teaches children business skills, and Florida's Positive Coaching Alliance, a nonprofit that teams up with athletic leagues to teach principles of family and community. |
The Philanthropy Roundtable, which is based in Washington D.C., seeks, among other efforts, to improve charitable outcomes by educating donors, Toronto said. Economic Opportunity, as it relates to self reliance, is one of the organizations major initiatives. |
"We learned from our meeting today that the best programs recognize the dignity of the individual and that the highest quality of life is attained when a person becomes self reliant and can help others within her realm of influence," Toronto said. |
Founded during the Great Depression when unemployment rates reached 50 to 70 percent in many areas, the LDS Church designed Welfare Square to help address both hunger and idleness, said Jim Goodrich, who manages the operation. Welfare Square consists of a storehouse, a bakery, a cannery, a milk processing plant, a thrift store and an employment center. For the most part, the operation is staffed by volunteers. |
In the beginning, men put in a day of work on a farm in exchange for food from a small grocery store called the Bishop's Storehouse, Goodrich said. Today, the work is different: people "pay" for their food by completing a wide range of tasks ranging from canning vegetables to sorting clothes at the church's thrift store. But the principle isn't. |
"We want to help people help themselves," said Terry Oakes, managing director of LDS Welfare Services. "We don't believe in giving handouts. We believe in giving hand ups." |
The LDS Church also centers its international humanitarian aid program around self-reliance, said Sharon Eubank, director of humanitarian services and a member of the General Relief Society General Board. When the church enters a rural community in Guatemala to install a well, for example, villagers are required to contribute to the effort. |
"They can't buy the cement, but they can mix the cement and they can dig the hole," Eubank said. "Involving them in the process allows them to maintain their dignity." |
Several other charities, including Utah Youth Village, American Indian Services and Project HOME, presented during a luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Utah Youth Village encourages self-reliance by teaching children the communication and social skills they need to succeed in school and work, said Eric Bjorkland, president. American Indian Services only offers partial college scholarships so young adults have the opportunity to contribute to their own education. |
"We believe if a student can meet us halfway they are demonstrating a personal commitment to fulfill their own goals," said Yvonne Curley, a board member at American Indian Services. |
After attending the conference, Marcia Argyris, senior program officer for the California-based S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, said she has a "different impression of the Mormon Church." |
"I think this whole idea of asking what a person receiving services can give back is interesting," she said. "Instead of just accepting something and walking away, they are working for it. I think that's very important." |
Stan Swim, who attended the conference, said his organization the GFC Foundation in Pleasant Grove favors programs that support self-reliance when doling out money. |
"We have a responsibility to care for the poor," he said. "We are trying to do it in a way that rebuilds people." |
Elizabeth Stuart Elizabeth writes for the Enterprise Team at the Deseret News. |
Utah 11 hours ago Can organizers keep doing 2 FanX events in Salt Lake City each year? |
Utah 12 hours ago More Utahns are obese, though the state is still one of the most healthy in the U.S. |
Plane crash in South Bay, in western Palm Beach County. |
Two people flying in a small single-engine plane were not injured when it crashed Monday in the western Palm Beach County city of South Bay, rescue officials say. |
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said the plane went down in a cane field near Hacienda Okeelanta on Highway 27. |
The first crews on scene found two people standing outside the wreckage of a single-engine Cessna. |
Local fire rescue said the crash scene is being turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Boardfor investigation. |
YOU CAN’T SURVIVE IF YOU DON’T GET CHECKED! |
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and one Air Force Breast Cancer Survivor, Melanie Moore, tells her story and how her Air Force Family made all the difference in her recovery. She also reminds folks to get checked. It can save your life. |
Just look out your window and you will see pink and white on everything. NFL Football players are wearing pink highlights on their uniforms and sneakers. Community runs are being held in the major communities with everyone wearing pink and white t-shirts. Even at the grocery store you can find products decked out in pink and white containers. It is all being done in an effort to remind you to go get checked for breast cancer. |
But, how many of us really go get checked? I can’t speak for anyone else, but I honestly never thought I would get breast cancer. It had been six years since I went for my annual mammogram. My doctor finally pushed me, and I broke down and went to have it done. It probably saved my life. I was at the early stages of breast cancer. They just saw a very small dot on the X-ray. But when they finally went in to get the cancer, it was four inches longer than suspected. It took three surgeries and several treatments of radiation to get it all. But, I am one of the lucky ones. I am in remission now. |
But, it wasn’t an easy road, and I am writing this editorial today to thank the men and women of the Air Force and Army who supported my recovery. I had many Wingmen who pushed me to survive this challenge and come out a better person on the other side. |
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