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Source: http://twitter.com/creativeamerica/statuses/230045295457746944
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Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Court releases wife of notorious Belgian pedophile
MONS, Belgium (AP) ? The ex-wife of a pedophile who aided her husband has been released from prison early, triggering immediate protests.
Michelle Martin, 52, received a 30-year prison term in 2004 for not freeing girls who her then-husband, Marc Dutroux, kept imprisoned in their cellar.
Dutroux, 55, is serving a life term for kidnapping, torturing and sexually abusing six girls in 1995 and 1996.
In that period he spent four months in jail for theft, leaving it to his wife to feed two young girls. She did not and they died.
Tuesday, a court in the city of Mons granted Martin's release request. A Belgian convent has offered to take her in.
The parents of the two murdered girls expressed outrage at the court's decision, saying Martin was as bad as her husband.
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Do Online Reviews Help Gain Local Business and Search Engine ...
Posted on: July 30th, 2012 by Local SEO Sites
Marketing locally is important for any small business with the desire to grow. Local online marketing has set the standard in small business marketing with a cost effective method that yields targeted clients. Many companies focus on search engine optimization (SEO) to be found locally on the top of Google and other search engines. Being found locally helps many companies flourish but receiving high search engine rankings relies on many other factors.
Word of mouth has always been one of the most powerful parts of marketing. It comes in many forms and recently has taken a place in online reviews. Potential clients use local business reviews to find out what others are saying about a company online. Online reviews not only have a powerful impact on local business, they can also help a company gain search engine rankings. As search engines continue to change their algorithm, especially locally, local business reviews made online could have more of an impact on SEO.
Benefits of Online Reviews
?Local Search Engine Rankings
?More Citations
?More Customers
There are many ways to encourage online reviews while receiving more SEO benefit from them. If you want to gain more local business and search engine rankings from your online reviews, you should focus on these following 4 tips.
4 Tips that Impact Online Reviews Positively
1) Be listed on as many local business review websites as possible. If your company is not already placed on local business listing websites then you have more work to do than others. You should create them or have them created by a local online marketing company if you have not already done so. Websites like Google+ Local, Yelp, Bing Local and Yahoo Local should all have local business listings for your company. There are plenty more other websites but these are some of the most prominent for any industry. Not only should you have a listing on these websites, it should be optimized to encourage participation from visitors.
Reviews made on these local business listings will be seen by many potential clients. They will also make an impact on your companies search engine rankings. The reviews on these websites count as citations of your company, the more the better for your web presence. Also, with local search changing almost monthly, online reviews could become more important to the search engines at any time. A notable example of this could be the new acquisition of Zagat.com by Google.
Small businesses should also be placed on specific industry related business listing websites. Many industries have their own specific business listings websites. Restaurants have Urban Spoon and many others, while hotels have Trip Advisor and more. There are plenty available for each industry, be sure to take advantage of this option. Having your company placed on newly created local business listing websites is also a good way to stay ahead of the competition and be found by customers.
Although being found by customers is one of the most important parts of utilizing online reviews, it is not the only thing a business needs to focus on. Next week we will be releasing the last 3 tips to help you gain local business and search engine rankings from your online reviews. Be sure to check back, sign up for our newsletter or follow us on any social network.
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Monday, July 30, 2012
Cqwebs.org ? Glass Pool Fencing ? Protect Your Pool Perfectly
Are you 100 percent confident with the security and safety of one?s pool?
People who have swimming pools in their homes typically must take care of standard pool security troubles. The safety measures will not be only to ensure a safe and trouble-free swimming knowledge every time, but in addition to avoid any unwanted circumstances or accidents, for example, animals or persons falling in the pool accidentally. When you are facing any such difficulties, then perhaps there?s a really effective remedy for you personally now ? glass pool fencing.
Why Glass Fencing?
It is actually rather understood that the location about the pool is generally moist and wet specifically if the pool is regularly used for swimming. Hence, any other material except for glass is not ideal to get a pool fence. Traditionally, individuals also used wooden pool fencing Melbourne, but they had been not extended lasting and durable due to the fact moisture causes the wood to rot. Men and women also turned to rock fencing that actually turned out to become aesthetically pleasing but is not a great deal recommended since rocks normally develop molds, appear dirty, and come to be slippery.
Thankfully, landscape artists and designers soon turned their focus towards using glass as an excellent material for pool fencing. Glass is indeed extremely durable and excellent for pool fencing due to the fact it isn?t affected by moisture. Also, glass pool fencing gives an incredibly elegant appear for your outdoor pool side area.
Sorts of Glass Fencing
Glass fencing may be utilized anywhere in your outdoor space. It is important to discover about distinct glass fencing kinds if you are looking to modify the d?cor of your outdoor space. Glass fencing comes in frameless, semi-framed, framed glass.
Framed glass ? the glass is framed with metal and has metal posts in among.
Semi-framed glass ? whilst the installation demands utilizing metal posts, these fencing will not be surrounded by any metal frame.
Frameless glass ? only some metal bolts are employed for the installation other than glass and there?s no other metal involved within the fencing.
It?s easy to decide the kind of frame you wish to use for your glass pool fencing. Contemplate the maintenance factor to decide your choice. A lot of the time, people opt for frameless glass fence considering the fact that they are easy to clean and demand less polishing because of no metal installations.
You may solve all your pool security difficulties together with the blink of an eye only if you pick to?click here your pool with household glass fencing.
Source: http://www.cqwebs.org/home-improvement/191/
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Steve's Stat's - August 2012 | Jalex Homes Blog
Posted on July 30, 2012 by JA/LEX Real Estate in Shippensburg real estate Steve's Shippensburg Stat's
STEVE?S?STAT?S -?August 2012
Brought to you by: JALEX Real Estate Services
August?2012
Number of Active Listings in the Shippensburg school district area (per MRIS MLS system): 179
Number of Homes Sold in the period (3 months): 43
Absorption rate = # of homes sold / period (3 months): 14.33
Month?s supply of homes = Total active listings / Absorption rate: 12.49
(6 is considered balanced market conditions, 6 is a seller?s market and above 6 is a buyer?s market)
Total homes sold on the past 30 days, Shippensburg school district: 13
Median sales price: $119,000
High sales price: $260,000
Low sales price: $12,000
Median days on the market for all sold homes in the past 30 days: 90
August is upon us in the Shippensburg area as the Shippensburg fair is now behind.? Did you see JALEX?at the fair this year?? The Shippensburg real estate market is active.? Houses are being listed for sale every day.? Prices have continued to fall as new homes have hit the market for sale.? Other homes that have been listed have fallen in price a lot.? Interest rates also continue to get lower.? The number of Shippensburg homes for sale, combined with low interest?rates and prices further reinforce the theme that NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY!
Through the summer we have witnessed homes being listed at lower and lower prices.? News around the country is that the real estate market is beginning to rebound as many think that we have reached the bottom for home values.? In the Shippensburg market it appears that the market still really favors the buyer as the absorption rate is still hovering around 12.5.? the absorption rate is the number of month?s it will take to sell through the current inventory given the current sales pace which is measured over a 3 month spread.? When that rate reaches 6 months then that is considered a ?normal? market.
It is rather interesting to comment regarding the number of homes that are currently market under contract or pending in the local MLS system.? That number is 38.? That is almost 3 times the number of homes that sold in the past 30 days.? That is a good indication of just how active the Shippensburg real estate market is right now.? Some of those houses will not make it to settlement as we continue to deal with low appraisals, tight lending requirements and other issues.? However, this is a great indication that the local real estate market is beginning to boom!
If you are selling your home or have a house that you are thinking about selling then this news is very encouraging as it appears demand is high for Shippensburg real estate.? If you are buying you should think about locating that home and making a fair offer and doing so now as the potential for higher prices is now a reality.? The only unknown is how long this market activity will remain into the Fall and winter.
As always, all real estate is local.? If you have questions, comments or are looking to buy a home or sell a home in the Central Pa area then give me a call at JALEX.? 717-477-9326 office.
Steve Coover
Associate Broker, Owner
JALEX Real Estate Services
717-477-9326 Office ? Shippensburg
717-496-8405 Office ? Chambersburg
Source: http://shippensburgrealestate.com/steves-stats-august-2012/
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Newton 15s reach semis of EMass. Babe Ruth baseball tournament
A baseball team that won a New England championship as 14-year-olds and made it all the way to the semifinals of the Babe Ruth World Series in Virginia last summer may have been one or two hits away from a similar run as 15-year-olds this year.
But after a 9-0 victory against Winchester last Tuesday put Newton in the Eastern Mass. semifinals, Newton stranded the bases loaded in both the sixth and seventh innings of a 4-0 loss to Plymouth on Friday that ended its tournament run.
?They really went deep last year so expectations were high this year,? Newton coach Elliott Loew said. ?But we said to them at the beginning that all these teams are a year older, and bigger, stronger with more experience under their belts. We knew it was going to take a combination of skills and good fortune to get back (to New Englands). The skills were there and the fortune was until our last game.?
Newton had two chances to rally against Plymouth late despite only getting one hit and striking out 12 times.
In the sixth, Dylan Sbordone and Spencer Anderson both walked before Christian Cox coaxed an eight-pitch walk to load the bases with two outs. But Plymouth starter Brian Christopher bore down and got the strikeout to end the inning.
Mikey Barbieri led off the seventh with a two-strike infield hit to break up the no-hitter. Kevin Alexy and Doug Friedberg followed with walks that brought the tying run to the play when Christopher closed it out with a called strike three and a pop out to end the game.
?We had a shot,? Loew said. ?We were hoping he would get a little wild and that would give us a chance. Every guy on our bench was hopping around, making noise, and doing everything he could to get us going.?
Benny Wanger pitched a complete game in defeat in the final game with three straight shutout innings to keep Newton in contention.
Wanger and Alexy both homered in Newton?s 9-0 victory against Winchester on Tuesday to earn the spot in the semifinals.
Tommy Hodgson pitched a complete game in the victory and Newton turned four double plays. Cox sparked three of the twin-killings at shortstop and Theo Resnick doubled a Winchester runner off first after making a grab in right field.
?Our defense was superb,? Loew said. ?Our outfield defense was terrific and our infield defense ? especially Christian Cox ? was great as well.?
Tuesday?s game was scoreless into the third when Cox singled and Curtis Beatrice singled him home.
Newton then scored three times in the fourth inning. Wanger homered leading off the inning for a 2-0 lead. Alexy, James Pati, Sbordone and Hodgson then followed with singles that made it 4-0.
In the fifth, Wanger singled and Alexy made it 6-0 with a home run. In the sixth, Joe DeNucci singled, stole two bases and scored on a Beatrice single after Hodgson walked. Hodgson then scored on Barbieri?s sacrifice fly. Wanger completed the scoring when he doubled in Beatrice.
(Scott Souza can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@wickedlocal.com.)
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Sunday, July 29, 2012
Black couple says racism forced wedding relocation
In this image taken from video and provided by WLBT TV, shows Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson in their home in Crystal Springs, Miss. Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson, a Jackson couple says the church where they planned to get married turned them away because they are black.
In this image taken from video and provided by WLBT TV, shows Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson in their home in Crystal Springs, Miss. Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson, a Jackson couple says the church where they planned to get married turned them away because they are black.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) ? A Mississippi couple says the church where they planned to get married turned them away because they are black.
Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson say they had set the date and mailed invitations, but the day before their wedding they say they got bad news from the pastor of predominantly white First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs: Some members of the church complained about the black couple having a wedding there.
The Wilsons, who live in nearby Jackson, said they attend the church regularly although they are not members.
Pastor Stan Weatherford told WLBT TV (http://bit.ly/QSNlf8 ) he was surprised when a small number of church members opposed holding the wedding at the church.
"This had never been done before here, so it was setting a new precedent, and there are those who reacted to that because of that," said Weatherford.
Weatherford performed the July 21 ceremony at another church.
"I didn't want to have a controversy within the church, and I didn't want a controversy to affect the wedding of Charles and Te'Andrea. I wanted to make sure their wedding day was a special day," said Weatherford.
WLBT reported that church officials now say they welcome any race. They plan to hold internal meetings on how to move forward.
Church member Casey Kitchens said she and other members of the congregation are outraged by the church's refusal to marry a black couple, a decision she says most of the congregation knew nothing about.
"This is a small, small group of people who made a terrible decision," Kitchens told The Clarion-Ledger (http://on.thec-l.com/QSRyQa). "I'm just ashamed right now that my church would do that. I can't fathom why. How unfair. How unjust. It's just wrong."
"I blame the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, I blame those members who knew and call themselves Christians and didn't stand up," said Charles Wilson.
Wilson told the newspaper that he understands Weatherford was caught in a difficult position and he still likes the pastor, but he also thinks the pastor should have stood up to the members who didn't want the couple to marry in the church.
"It's not reflective of the spirit of the Lord and Mississippi Baptists," the Mississippi Baptist Convention executive director, the Rev. Jim Futral, said. "It's just a step backward. ... It's a sad thing."
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EYES ON LONDON: Swimmers remember a champion
Natalie Cook from Australia dives for a ball during the Beach Volleyball match against USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 28, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Natalie Cook from Australia dives for a ball during the Beach Volleyball match against USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 28, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Kerri Walsh, left, of the United States reacts with teammate Misty May-Treanor react after beating Australia during a beach volleyball match at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 28, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
Queen Elizabeth II meets one of the taller members of the Great Britain team, as she tours the Athletes Village at the Olympic Park in London, Saturday July 28, 2012. (AP Photo/John Stillwell, Pool)
Queen Elizabeth II meets athlete Nick Willis and other members of the New Zealand Olympic team, as she tours the Athletes Village dining hall at the Olympic Park, in London, Saturday July 28, 2012. (AP Photo/John Stillwell, Pool)
Queen Elizabeth II is shown the Olympic Stadium by London Mayor Boris Johnson from the top of the Orbit, during a short tour of the Olympic site in Stratford east London, Saturday July 28, 2012. (AP Photo/John Stillwell, Pool)
LONDON (AP) ? Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:
___
REMEMBERING A CHAMPION
The memory of a late swimming champion looms large at the Olympic pool, especially as his best event ? the 100-meter breaststroke ? approaches Sunday.
Alexander Dale Oen of Norway died in April at age 26 from heart disease ? months before he was to be the leading hope for Norwegian swimming gold in London. He won the world championship in the 100-meter breaststroke last July.
Some swimmers said they were dedicating their swims to Dale Oen.
"We're carrying him with us all the time," countrywoman Sara Nordenstam said following her heat in the 400-meter individual medley. She said the swimmers will honor him by "swimming fast and remembering him and remember everything that he taught us and go for the goals that we set together."
? Janie McCauley ? Twitter http://twitter.com/JanieMcCAP
___
THE REVIEWS ARE IN
The opening ceremony, particularly the queen's debut as a Bond girl, earned several positive reviews.
"I was worried that there was too much self-parody, that the world might be laughing at us," wrote columnist Giles Coren in The Times of London. "But they were laughing with us. They were silently awed."
He wasn't wrong.
"Often seen as reserved and unapproachable, the Queen changed all that alongside James Bond," wrote German newspaper Die Welt.
The 86-year-old Elizabeth greeted Bond actor Daniel Craig at Buckingham Palace and then appeared to fly to the stadium before parachuting to the ground. Moments later, the real Elizabeth appeared with husband Prince Philip to be greeted by the crowd.
The sequence has already provided the defining images of the games, according to Sydney's Daily Telegraph in Australia, where the queen also reigns.
"A few hundred years ago director Danny Boyle could have been sent to the Tower for even suggesting such treason," the newspaper said. "But as if to show how far England and the monarchy have come in that time, Her Majesty not only let Boyle get away with it. She was actually in on the joke."
? Rob Harris ? Twitter http://twitter.com/RobHarris
___
BYE-BYE BIKINIS
It's a cover-up. The cool London evening forced beach volleyball stars to forgo the traditional bikini attire for warmer clothes.
Two-time defending gold medalists Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor of the United States wore long-sleeved shirts on top of bikini bottoms for their 21-18, 21-19 victory over Natalie Cook and Tasmin Hinchley, a match that started at 11 p.m. Saturday when the temperature was 63 degrees. The Australians wore long pants, with T-shirts under their bikini tops.
"It's cold," Walsh Jennings said, with a "what do you expect" look on her face. "It's 11 p.m. in London."
? Jimmy Golen ? Twitter: http://twitter.com/jgolen
___
QUEEN'S ENCORE
Queen Elizabeth II returned to Olympic Park for an encore performance after her film debut as the latest Bond Girl, riding to the top of the 377-foot (115-meter) Orbit tower and visiting with fawning British Olympians in the athletes village.
Dressed in a royal blue silk dress, crepe coat and matching hat, the queen could be heard remarking at the views of the London skyline and countryside. She wore a brooch given to her in 1948 ? the last time London hosted the Olympics and four years before her accession to the throne.
"For her to come through and meet the athletes, and see where we're living, it was amazing," said Rose Anderson, 24, a member of the women's basketball team.
"She went inside one of the athletes' bedrooms and chatted to us. It was just awesome, especially after last night," she said.
? Shawn Pogatchnik ? Twitter http://twitter.com/ShawnPogatchnik
___
SOLO TWITTER SPAT
Outspoken U.S. goaltender Hope Solo isn't happy about former player Brandi Chastain's commentary on NBC, and she's tweeting about it.
At one point, Chastain pointed out that a defender's responsibilities are: "Defend. Win the ball. And then keep possession. And that's something that (U.S. defender) Rachel Buehler actually needs to, I think, improve on in this tournament."
After the game, Solo rattled off four tweets about Chastain. She told Chastain to "lay off commentating about defending" and goalkeeping "until you get more educated" and "the game has changed from a decade ago."
"I feel bad 4 our fans that have 2 push mute," tweeted Solo, adding that she likes NBC soccer announcer Arlo White.
Chastain is one of the top all-time defenders for the U.S. team. A spokesman for NBC said the network would have no comment and that Chastain was unavailable for comment.
? Joseph White ? Twitter http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP
___
SPARKLING SMILE
Those aren't pearly whites sparkling when U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte breaks out a smile. They're diamonds.
Lochte popped in his grillz ? diamond-studded mouth jewelry ? for the victory ceremony after winning a gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley.
And Lochte is hoping to win some more medals to go with his precious stones.
"This is my year," Lochte said. "I know it and I feel it, because I've put in hard work. I've trained my butt off for four years ... and there's no better way to start this Olympics off than getting gold."
? Paul Newberry ? Twitter www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963
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EDITED FOR TELEVISION
A choreographer is unhappy that his somber opening-ceremony segment was bypassed by NBC, which instead showed American viewers an interview with swimmer Michael Phelps.
The segment was described as an "honest expression of the fear of approaching death." But some in the British press have interpreted it as being a tribute to victims of bomb attacks in July 2005 that killed 52 commuters and four suicide bombers on London's transit network. During the BBC live coverage of the ceremony, commentator Hazel Irvine made the connection while the dance was taking place: "The excitement of that moment in Singapore seven years ago when London won the games was tempered with great sorrow the very next day," when the terror attacks took place.
NBC said it had no indication that the segment was a reference to the terrorist attacks. Said choreographer Akram Khan, a Londoner: "I am really sad that I couldn't show the work in America, and that really upsets me, because I don't think it's any more or less than the other pieces. It brings to mind the question ... that maybe it's too truthful."
NBC aired the ceremony on a tape-delayed basis and made editing changes.
? David Bauder ? Twitter http://twitter.com/dbauder
___
WIN BY WALKOVER
Algerian boxer Mohamed Ouadahi won his opening Olympic bout without throwing a punch when his Georgian opponent, Merab Turkadze, couldn't make weight this morning.
The thing is, amateur boxers are still required to climb into the ring to get their hands raised even when they win by walkover. Ouadahi wore a grin when the ExCeL crowd ? not knowing this weird tradition ? booed the Georgian's unexplained absence and then sarcastically roared for Ouadahi's easiest victory.
Ouadahi laughed and flexed his right bicep in appreciation.
? Greg Beacham ? Twitter http://twitter.com/gregbeacham
___
AND FROM THE TV END ...
This from AP Television Writer David Bauder just now:
"An opening ceremony from the mother country with a Beatle, a queen and Mr. Bean proved irresistible for viewers in the United States, with a record-setting 40.7 million people watching NBC's first night of summer Olympics coverage. The Nielsen company said Saturday that London's opener was the most-watched opening ceremony of any summer or winter Olympics. It topped the previous mark of 39.8 million people who watched the 1996 Atlanta Olympics begin, and the 34.9 million who watched the colorful first night from Beijing four years ago."
? David Bauder ? Twitter http://twitter.com/dbauder
___
RING TONE
Everyone's warned to silence mobile phones at press conferences with medal winners. So where was that rap tune coming from at Ryan Lochte's news conference after he won gold in the men's 400 meter individual medley?
From Lochte's mobile.
The ringtone? "I have a lot of them," Lochte said. "Probably something from Lil Wayne."
Steve Futterman of CBS, whose question was interrupted, cracked, "If you win a gold, you get to leave your phone on."
? Warren Levinson ? Twitter http://twitter.com/warrenlevinson
___
PHELPS: MOVIN' ON
Perhaps the most stunning outcome of the day was Olympic golden boy Michael Phelps finishing fourth and out of the medal hunt in the 400 IM.
Phelps is trying to turn the page, and do it quickly because he has a busy slate at these London games.
He tweets: "Not pleased with my race tonight at all... But tom is a new day! And a new race!!"
? Jon Krawczynski ? Twitter http://www.twitter.com/APKrawczynski
___
EDITOR'S NOTE ? "Eyes on London" shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item, and get even more AP updates from the Games here: http://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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The Paradox Of VC Seed Investing | TechCrunch
Editor?s note: Brian Singerman is a partner at Founders Fund. He?previously worked at Google and There.?
This is the first in a series of articles I am writing to bring more transparency and honesty to the field of venture capital. While many of the themes may be contrarian or controversial, I have two primary goals: First, I want to help entrepreneurs and startup enthusiasts understand what motivates investors. Second, I hope to draw attention to some of the fallacies venture capitalists use in their negotiations with entrepreneurs. Aligning the incentives of entrepreneurs and VCs will lead to much stronger relationships and innovation.
Entrepreneurs regularly come to Founders Fund asking us to lead or participate in their seed/angel round. They are often confused or shocked when I try to convince them that with very few exceptions, it is not in entrepreneurs? best interest to raise seed capital from large venture firms and neither is it beneficial for large firms to invest in seed stage companies. Among the reasons: the structure of VC economics and unavoidable perception issues. Since this conversation happens frequently, I?d like to share my honest thoughts on why large funds should avoid angel investing -?? and also why Founders Fund nevertheless does so through its wholly owned FF Angel funds.
The economics of VC explain a lot about why large funds should not do seed investing, so let?s start with a quick review of those dynamics. VCs raise money from a pool of capital known as limited partners (the fund is the general partner), which include accredited individuals and large financial institutions . The VCs usually charge 2% of this capital annually for operating expenses (the management fee) and 20% of the profits (the carry). This is known in the industry as a 2-??and-??20 structure but varies from fund to fund. While the management fees from a large fund can be an important source of revenue, the real incentive is (or anyway, should be) the carry. For of every dollar committed to a fund, the firm will take home approximately $.15-?20 of management fees (which ratchet down over the life of a fund), but $.40 in carry if the fund triples. And good VC managers aim to get a return of at least 3-?5x committed capital. Established firms have been raising more capital lately and this has important consequences for the kinds of investments they make. For the remainder of this article, when I refer to ?VCs,? I am referring top tier funds in the range of $400 million to $1 billion+. As I am a partner at Founders Fund, I will use our latest $625 million fund as the example.
There are many reasons to work in venture capital. Founders Fund, for instance, has remained steadfast in its mission to transform our world for the better, as presented in our manifesto. At the same time, venture capitalists are capitalists, with a duty to provide returns. With a 2-??and-??20 structure, we and every other VC in the world are incentivized to make money for LPs and ourselves. In order to achieve meaningful carry, we need to return several multiples of the fund, or multiples of $625 million in our case. Consider the basic implications here: we make a traditional seed investment in a company of $250k, and that investment returns.?20x, which by anyone?s standards is a home run. The problem is that it only returns $5 million and we need to make another 124 ?home-??run? seed investments to return our fund. In a more extreme example, take Andreessen Horowitz?s $250K seed investment in Instagram. This was one of the most successful seed investments of all time and netted its fund $78 million. In our case, we would need eight Instagrams to get to $625 million?a feat that no single fund has ever achieved in the history of venture capital. The case would be very different if we were a smaller early-??stage firm where the Instagram investment may have returned its fund multiple times over.
This begs the question: why do VCs do seed investing at all? The standard reason is ?option value?, or the ability to put in more money later as the company scales and gains traction. That?s a terrible answer.. Example: You are the founder of Acme Computing Technologies (ACT), and raise $250K in your seed round from a moderately successful venture firm. That firm has not been bad to you in any way, and may have even been helpful. Six months later, ACT is doing well so you are thinking about a $5 million Series A to scale the business. Your original VC would love to do this deal, but you get a call one day from a legendary Silicon Valley firm. Are you really not going to take that call? Of course you will! And if she offers you competitive terms, are you not going to strongly consider taking the money? Of course you will! Top tier firms almost ALWAYS have an option on a company, even if they did not participate in the seed round. Firms with great reputations bring many benefits, from branding and signaling to good advice and great connections. For good companies, this scenario happens frequently.
On the flip side, entrepreneurs should be cautious of taking seed money from top tier VCs because of this ?option value.? Let?s change the story and say that a top tier made a seed investment in ACT from the start. We will ignore the subset of companies that die or ?crush it? and focus on the large majority of companies in the grey area. If the top tier fund skips the next round for whatever reason, ACT would have a serious problem on its hand. The most common question other firms will ask is ?Why didn?t the fund take this round?? Passing sends a negative signal to the market, and in some cases, may actually kill the company. The perceived option value comes at a potential huge cost to company, and is the main reason entrepreneurs need to strongly consider this downside.
Those are the structural problems with VCs doing seed investing ? it?s challenging for a seed investment to have an impact on the fund?s total returns and there can be all sorts of signaling problems. So why would an entrepreneur take money from a top VC, and why would the VC itself ever make seed investments?
A potential reason to take money from large VCs is because of their size and ability to move quickly on a small seed investment. In general, if any $400mm+ fund VC takes more than 24 hours to decide on a $250k seed investment, the entrepreneur should run away, fast. Rapid access to capital allows entrepreneurs to waste less time fundraising and spend more time on product or business?development. Furthermore, since the fund is so large, and the investment a small fraction of committed capital, the VC will likely leave the entrepreneur alone to run her company with no interference. VC meddling is potentially very detrimental to a company?s early success. Convenience and autonomy seem like great reasons to take money from a large fund, but the negative signaling potential to kill the company in the future outweighs these.
Despite these reasons, there are some cases where it does make sense for us (and indeed, any VC firm) to invest in seed stage companies. First, we invest in very high risk tech companies that otherwise would have a difficult time raising funds. We do this because we believe that IF these companies achieve their technical milestones, they open up huge new markets. This is usually a big IF, and also mitigates any signaling risk since other firms might not be willing to invest in the first place. Second, we invest in our network, who are typically amazing entrepreneurs or visionaries (e.g., the PayPal mafia, Facebook mafia, etc.). Investing in our network means we do not need to exert much incremental effort sourcing and helping out on deals because we already know the entrepreneurs and what they are working on. That kind of investing is a process that is almost infinitely scalable and thus incredibly efficient. These companies often do not fall under our manifesto criteria which we apply to our large main fund investments, so there is very little signaling risk if we do not participate in the Series A round. At Founders Fund, we do these seed investments through FF Angel to signal one of these cases, both to other VC firms as well as our own investors.
At the end of the day, we are venture capitalists. We strongly believe in stimulating innovation through capitalism. We are in this profession not simply to make money, but to help fund some of the most important technology the world has ever seen. Making our industry more transparent is an important part of what we do, as it can help cut through all the myths of venture capital, and empower founders to focus on the most important thing: progress.
[Image via Pfeuffer.com.]
Brian Singerman is a Partner at Founders Fund. He came to Founders Fund from Google, where he founded the iGoogle team in 2004, after serving in a variety of development and executive positions. Before joining Google, Brian was an engineer for There, an online, virtual world startup. At Founders Fund, Brian seeks out new investment opportunities such as Discovery Engine, a revolutionary search technology, and Azumio, a smartphone-based biometrics firm. Before joining the Founders Fund team, Brian was...
Learn moreSource: http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/29/the-paradox-of-vc-seed-investing/
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Saturday, July 28, 2012
Fred Willard tells Fallon: 'I did nothing wrong'
Lloyd Bishop / NBC via AP
Fred Willard tells "Late Night" host Jimmy Fallon his side of his recent adult theater arrest.
By Ree Hines
Actor-comedian Fred Willard wants to set the record straight following his July 18 arrest for suspicion of engaging in a lewd act at an adult movie theater. According to the "Best in Show" star, it?s all a big misunderstanding.
Willard visited "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" on Thursday night and started with an ice-breaker before moving on to the serious stuff.
"You know, let me say this: It's the last time I'm going to listen to my wife when she says, 'Why don't you go out and see a movie?' " Willard joked.
As for the movie in question, well, Willard insists he didn?t exactly plan that excursion.
"The whole adult theater thing -- I thought they were gone!" he said. "And I see this one, it has such a Polynesian, exotic look to it. I said, 'Maybe there?s hula dancers in here. Maybe there?s mai tais.' I went in, and I realized I was the only one awake and sober and conscious. ... It was like a trip down Alice in Wonderland -- down the rabbit hole."
And just as innocent, as far as he?s concerned.
"It?s embarrassing as hell, but let me say this: Nothing happened," Willard explained. "I did nothing wrong. Everything?s being sorted out as we speak."
The actor admitted that though he?s ?tried to laugh it off,? it?s been a painful ordeal for him. And from his recollection of the outing, it definitely wasn?t worth it.
"My summary of the whole evening was: It?s an interesting theater, a boring movie and a great place to take a nap."
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2 Purpose Low-calorie Meals Are faulty | CarsA-Z.blogspot.com
Are you planning to follow a low calorie diet program to be able to slim down body fat! Prior to deciding to do this, see this article to discover the reason why low calorie diet programs fail. SizeGenetics.
I can't inform you the number of folks have emailed me personally stating that these people followed particular popular low calorie diet programs for a couple months only to discover that they haven't lost many pounds. As a result they deemed which weight loss doesn't seem possible and for that reason, these people quit the diet plan plan completely. SizeGenetics Reviews.
The top reason why low-calorie diet programs fail is: when you eat low-calorie foods, the body basically continues to be undernourished. You're feeling tired constantly. Ignore workouts, you don't have adequate vitality to finish actually your family activities. Each one of these things happen since your metabolic rate is low!
If you wish to slim down efficiently, you have to retain both of these points at heart:
1. Calories from fat are not the enemies: Calories from fat are not what you should prevent; calories from fat have to supply the body using the essential diet as well as. As soon as your body gets adequate meals, it's going to improve your metabolic rate, that will instantly lead to weight loss. http://myproductjournal.com/sizegenetics-reviews.php.
The unhealthy calories from fat are those that are available within junk foods. Therefore when you won't build up body fat when you eat 10 apples daily (despite the fact that just one apple contains nearly A hundred calories from fat), you will for sure get body fat when you eat 10 hamburgers!
That's the simple difference! You need to prevent bare calories from fat (that's, junk foods) and also take hold of unfavorable caloric foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Now unfavorable caloric does not imply that there are simply no caloric during these foods; this only means that to be able to absorb by themselves, simply because will drive the body to lose much more calories from fat compared to what they supply! This brings about caloric shortage that will eventually lead to weight loss!
2. Muscle development is essential: Have you any idea which to be able to sustain by themselves, muscle tissue burn plenty of the calories from fat? This in effect means that the more trim muscle tissue you've got, the actual faster it is possible to shed weight! Consuming protein-rich foods is an excellent way of building trim muscle tissue; training frequently during a workout session is yet another. There's one more yet good thing about consuming protein-rich foods: you will not experience hunger many times; as a result, the possibility of overindulging is practically non-existent.
When you eat low-calorie foods, you're not capable of build muscle tissue; instead a person Drop muscle tissue. As soon as your body does not have adequate trim muscle tissue, it is not capable of burn off fat since your metabolic rate continues to be in an abnormally low-level. To ensure that is one much more reason why low calorie diet programs fail!
These types of low calorie diet programs will only assist you to drop drinking water and also muscle tissue; when you perhaps misled into thinking that you have really lost numerous a large number of lbs, you've not lost the one most critical factor that's keeping you from turning into slender: which is Excess fat! If you don't lose weight, no one is able you can become match!
Source: http://carsa-z.blogspot.com/2012/07/2-purpose-low-calorie-meals-are-faulty.html
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Dates for Leukemia fundraiser | Cancer Kick
JACKSON, MS (WLBT) -
So, who?s the most eligible bachelor and bachelorette in the city of Jackson?
That?s what the bidding competition will determine, but it?s more about raising money for the battle against the blood cancers, leukemia and lymphoma.
This is the 12th Annual ?Dates for Leukemia? fundraiser and the event has raised about $25,000 each year since it started.
Twenty-eight men and women participated this year and there was plenty of good food and music.
Copyright 2012 WLBT. All rights reserved.
Article source: http://www.wlbt.com/story/19132765/dates-for-leukemia-fundraiser
Source: http://cancerkick.com/2012/07/27/dates-for-leukemia-fundraiser/
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Friday, July 27, 2012
What is with all the real estate developers? | Save Green Village
We have noticed an interesting trend of types of supporters for Green Path?s push to mandate commercial farming on not just the Green Villagers, but on all of Chatham. This article will showcase the types of supporters we have seen come and go to their cause. It will also highlight a disturbing trend: the emergence of the real estate business developers.
Initially, their supporters were compromised of Green Path?s client base and their friends from the Green Village Fire Company. Two of the company owners became volunteer fireman and appear to have successfully used that relationship to gain some very vocal and quite annoying. Some of the Firefighters made it a point to find reasons to blare their sirens, honk their horns, and yell profanities at our homes at 2 a.m. in the morning. Actions by the neighbors put an end to that pretty quickly.
The next group of supporters is a group we have termed the Greentards. After it became apparent that Green Path?s activities were in fact illegal under a towns zoning. Their political supporters completed a brilliant rebranding of their story. They were no longer the poor landscaper/farmers pursuiing their constitutional freedoms to use their property as they saw fit. They just needed a warm, fuzzy story to tug at the heart strings. That was when we noticed the emergence of the environmentalists. If you opposed this Ordinance, you were now branded a hater of Mother Earth. After all opposing a Green company is like stabbing Mother Earth in the womb and bringing about the death of all humanity! Yeah right!?
Currently most of these supporters have fallen off the radar screen. However, the new brand of supporters are the business interests. Anyone that can make money off this Ordinance seems to be coming out of the wood work. We have seen it before with the local Green Villages businesses. Clearly, Green Village Garage makes no secret that Green Path pays them good money to operate out of their parking lot. Lets face it that is small change compared with what the real estate developers can do with this Ordinance.
So far, we have noticed two companies actively pushing this Ordinance that are in the business of land development.
The first rather benign example we saw of this interest was from a person claiming himself to be Brian Rutter who posted this comment on the local Chatham Patch online newspaper.
?In watching this issue, I have seen a tremendous amount of emotionalism without any basis to support it. We see a web site called Save Green Village, and we are told that this is a ?big risk?. Okay, fine. Just what is the threat that is so dire that it actually threatens Green Village? That some guy with 8 acres of land on two parcels wants to grow fruit and vegetables and sell them? Seriously? What is the ?big risk?? That this might encourage someone else to do the same down the road? What is the big deal here? We are not talking about ConAgra or Tyson coming in and plopping down some corporate farm on a thousand acres.
Let?s look at this from the other side. Why should the anti-farming folks have the right to tell this person ?you cannot do with your land what you want to do with it, because we don?t like it?? We all give up a degree of freedom for the benefits of living in society, but this is ridiculous. There is simply no compelling public interest to justify denying this person the use of his land.
There is a principle that the Supreme Court has developed in free speech cases, called the Clear and Present Danger test. This principle holds that the state may only place prior restraint on speech when it can demonstrate a clear and present danger of a substantive evil which the state has a legitimate interest in preventing. I think we need to consider a test of this nature any time the government proposes to restrict the actions of the citizens.?
We in Green Village have learned when they describe us as ?anti-farming? than something bad is coming next about us. However, in this case the guy tries to make pseudo intellectual argument for why property rights trump everyone?s civil liberties. Since discussing that will lead to us falling asleep, we will just move on.
The next appearance of Brian Rutter on the farm issue was oddly enough in a story about sidewalks in Chatham. Here in response to an unamed poster comments:
I hope her intentions are good, because this is a very good thing. However, the last ordinance pushed by Abbott was so her personal landscaper (Green Path Landcare) could move their business into a residential area. Perhaps, we should ask the question whether any of her friends are concrete contractors?
Brian Rutter?s rather passionate retort was as follows:
To Anonymous:
If you are going to accuse a committee member of ethical violations such as these, you should at least have the courage to sign your name.
In addition to being a cowardly ad-hominem attack, you have not gotten your facts straight. While this is not the place to debate the farm ordinance, Green Path had already purchased the Green Village Property, and the question was not whether they could operate their landscaping business from that property, but whether they could, with an adjoining property owner, raise produce there to sell at farm markets elsewhere.
Cowardly attacks which anonymously impugn the motives of those with whom you disagree, and which offer no supporting evidence for the attack, do nothing but poison the atmosphere for debate.
Brian Rutter
Clearly this level of anxiety is nothing new to us in Green Village, but it honestly seemed a little misplaced in Chatham as a whole. It is also one thing to call out an Anonymous poster, but to argue details of the Green Path stance seemed odd. A little internet search brought a lot of interesting news to light on this Brian Rutter.
His Linkedin profile describes him as follows: Accomplished Real Estate Executive with proven track record of success in acquisitions, dispositions, and asset/portfolio management. Results oriented leader combining strategic, operational, and project management skills to achieve superior risk adjusted returns for investors. Hands-on experience with foreclosures, workouts, and redevelopment/repositioning of underperforming assets across all property types. Expertise in market analysis and selection, as well as development of acquisition and portfolio strategy. Proven ability to create and develop teams, and inspire them to superior performance. Licensed New York Broker.
There he is listed as a Chief Executive Officer at Chatham Realty Advisors LLC and you can follow that link here. Nothing in his public foot print gives any indication of support for farming or organic farming in particular.
In response, one of our members, Rich Templin, posted this retort to Brian Rutter.
Brian,
Something didn?t seem right about this post. So I looked up the real Brian Rutter and I don?t you are him. See this link: http://chathamrealtyadvisors.com/principals.html
Brian Rutter is a real estate developer and former real estate agent. He is also apparently a father and former Boy Scout Scoutmaster.
I don?t you are him for a number of reasons. First, I don?t think Brian is going to put his name behind a scheme that could be used by real estate developers to make money. Second, as a former real estate agent, I don?t think Brian is going to put his name behind a classic ?break a neighborhood? scheme. Finally, Brian Rutter is a former Boy Scout Scoutmaster. As an Eagle Scout, I can tell you without even knowing the man that he would not point out a ?conflict of interest? while implicating himself in one.
Whoever, you are?stop the impersonations! This guy seems like a good man, with a good business, and doesn?t need you ruining his name. And a note to Team Brower/Sullivan get your people under control! This behavior is not fitting of people in Chatham.
Now we have seen the Green Path members and supporters using fake aliases before, so it is very reasonable to suspect this isn?t the real Brian Rutter. However, if it is, why does a real estate developer with no apparent enjoyment of farming seem so passionate about this issue?
The next public appearance of a real estate developer was at the final adoption. A individual identifying himself as Ronal Gunn who owned property adjacent to the Green Path property on Green Village Road. Much like the Green Path property, the property cannot be developed due to the presence of wetlands, location adjacent to a public park, and the fact that it is on a restricted, protected waterway. Mr. Gunn passionate speech was recorded on the Chatham Patch and can be linked from here.
A review of public records revealed that Ron Gunn is in fact an owner of a real estate development company. He is a resident of Madison and has multiple projects going on in Chatham. He also shows no footprint of supporting farming in any capacity other than the Market Garden Ordinance. Here are a couple stories he was featured in:
Twp. Developer Promises No Road Closures
Township Developer Promises Responsibility for Maintenance
Now if we are right at Save Green Village, under the Right to Farm these real estate developers could make a lot of money using provisions of the law. For instance, the owners would receive tax benefits which improves the saleabililty of existing homes and would support premium pricing on the market. Additionally, the Township has allowed Green Path to make substantial changes to their property which includes the filling in of wetlands and terraforming of the property without the need for DEP or Township approvals. Finally, the Right to Farm ironically provides incentives for owners to actually subdivide farmlands to be created as housing developments.
Whether these individuals intend on profiting from this Ordinance is yet to be seen. It is definitely interesting to not their level of support and watch for their future actions related to this Ordinance.
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Can You Lose Weight Fast And Still Remain Healthy? | How Can ...
?
When you lose weight too fast you can actually become ill if you are not careful. Just as importantly, though, you may also gain back all the weight you lost within a very short space of time. It is not safe or reliable to shed weight too quickly, particularly if you are using a gimmicky fad diet that involves starving yourself of calories.
If you are trying to lose weight, you should try to lose just two or three pounds a week. This should be your goal because that is the healthy amount to lose and trying to get rid of more weight than that can be dangerous. Losing one or two pounds a week will actually add up surprisingly quickly. Before you know it you will be at your ideal weight. Instead of trying to lose weight fast, try to do it the smart way and keep it off for good. By exercising to burn calories and by eating smart you will be able to get rid of fat efficiently.
Eating Healthy Food
There are different ways you can go about eating that will help you in your weight loss efforts. One way is to count calories so that you know exactly how many you are consuming. The counting calories approach can involve something as simple as cutting out certain things from your diet. There are certain foods and drinks that are high in calories. By removing high calorie foods and drinks from your diet you can begin to lose weight fast. If you are afraid you will be left hungry then you can substitute low calorie foods for the high calorie ones. Eating fresh fruits in place of desserts such as cakes and cookies will aid you in your weight loss battle.
Something else you can do in place of counting calories is to incorporate slimming recipes in your meal planning. You can find a great deal of wonderful slimming recipes online and they cost you absolutely nothing. By taking away regular meals and preparing slimming meals you can really cut back on calories. You can add slimming meals into your diet quite gradually. By adding the meals one at a time you can slowly bring about permanent changes in your diet and you will find this approach easier to adjust to.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise happens to be very important in your battle with your waistline. There are many exercises you can do that will aid you in losing excess weight. It is important that you burn more calories than you take in and this is where exercise comes into its own. The more exercise you do, the more calories you burn off and the faster your weight drops off.
Exercise can come in the form of brisk walking. By taking a brisk walk every day you can lose weight fast. Swinging your arms as you brisk walk will burn even more calories. If walking is something you are not interested in you may want to consider bike riding, aerobics, swimming or even dancing. The important thing is that you stick to the exercise. You must exercise daily and you must plan on sticking to it for good. In order to shed weight and keep it off permanently, you will be undergoing a lifestyle change.
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Sandusky shower abuse victim to sue Penn State
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ? For months, the identity of the boy who was sexually assaulted in the locker-room showers by Jerry Sandusky was one of the biggest mysteries of the Penn State scandal. Now, for the first time, a man has come forward publicly to claim he was that boy, and is threatening to sue the university.
The man's lawyers said Thursday they have done an extensive investigation and gathered "overwhelming evidence" on details of the abuse by Sandusky, the former assistant football coach convicted of using his position at Penn State and as head of a youth charity to molest boys over a period of 15 years.
Jurors convicted Sandusky last month of offenses related to so-called Victim 2 largely on the testimony of Mike McQueary, who was a team graduate assistant at the time and described seeing the attack.
"Our client has to live the rest of his life not only dealing with the effects of Sandusky's childhood sexual abuse, but also with the knowledge that many powerful adults, including those at the highest levels of Penn State, put their own interests and the interests of a child predator above their legal obligations to protect him," the lawyers said in a news release.
They did not name their client, and The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of sex crimes without their consent.
The university said it was taking the case seriously but would not comment on pending litigation.
University President Rodney Erickson and the board of trustees, a school spokesman said, "have publicly emphasized that their goal is to find solutions that rest on the principle of justice for the victims."
The statement from the man's attorneys said Victim 2 suffered "extensive sexual abuse over many years both before and after the 2001 incident Michael McQueary witnessed."
McQueary testified in December at a hearing that he had seen Sandusky and a boy, both naked, in a team shower after hearing skin-on-skin slapping sounds.
"I would have described that it was extremely sexual and I thought that some kind of intercourse was going on," McQueary said.
McQueary reported the abuse to school officials, including Paterno, but none of them told police. In a recent report conducted by former FBI Director Louis Freeh and commissioned by Penn State, the investigators excoriated Paterno and the other administrators for not attempting to identify Victim 2, saying it showed "a striking lack of empathy."
Trustees fired Paterno, who has since died, because he failed to do more about claims against Sandusky, and the scathing independent review said several top school officials looked the other way because they were afraid of bad publicity. The NCAA has vacated 112 Penn State wins.
In a pair of voicemails recorded last year, released with the statement and posted online by the lawyers, a voice that's purportedly Sandusky's expresses his love and says he wants to express his feelings "up front."
The voicemails are dated Sept. 12 and Sept. 19, less than two months before the former Penn State coach was arrested on child sex abuse charges. Sandusky was convicted in June of 45 sex abuse counts and awaits sentencing.
The second voicemail asks whether Victim 2 would like to attend Penn State's next game.
Sandusky left "numerous" voicemails for their client that fall, the attorneys said.
Before the trial, defense attorney Joe Amendola said he had met with a man he believed he might be Victim 2 and the man told him he had not been abused by Sandusky. Amendola said he was not convinced and did not intend to subpoena him, but also said Sandusky himself was insistent they had the right person.
The statement from Victim 2's lawyers leaves many questions unanswered, including whether he had been in contact with prosecutors before or during the trial, whether he remembers McQueary, and whether he is the same person who met with Amendola.
"Jerry Sandusky's abuse of Victim 2 and other children is a direct result of a conspiracy to conceal Sandusky's conduct and the decisions by top Penn State officials that facilitated and enabled his access to victims," the statement read. "We intend to file a civil lawsuit against Penn State University and others and to hold them accountable for the egregious and reckless conduct that facilitated the horrific abuse our client suffered."
The statement did not say when the lawsuit would be filed or contain details on what redress the plaintiff is seeking. The lawyers said they would not have further comment, and messages left for their spokesman were not immediately returned.
Several messages seeking comment from Amendola and Sandusky's other lawyer, Karl Rominger, were not immediately returned.
Prosecutors had said on several occasions they did not know the identity of the boy, and they offered no reaction to the lawyers' announcement Thursday.
"We can't comment, given both our ongoing criminal prosecutions and our ongoing investigation," said Nils Frederiksen, spokesman for the attorney general's office.
The attorneys who released the statement include several based in Philadelphia and in State College, home to Penn State's main campus ? where the shower assault took place.
___
Online:
Lawyers' statement and voicemails: http://bit.ly/NYmGvl
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sandusky-shower-abuse-victim-sue-penn-state-180908112--spt.html
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Thursday, July 26, 2012
Vivekananda International Foundation: Political - Civil - Military ...
Vice Admiral (Retd.) Barry Barathan
Distinguished Fellow, VIF Analysis of India's approach towards it's national security reveals an unacceptable hiatus between the Political -Civil- Military systems. We perhaps were lucky enough to get away thus far even despite the 1962 China debacle. New security realities, an assertive China, a highly probable Sino-Pak collusion, the emergence of non state actors, possible implosion in Pakistan, the Af-Pak mess all call for India to review and revamp its management of national security. Our bureaucracy has the sagacity, expertise and eclectic experience to optimise civil control mechanisms under political guidance. Our military and security forces have the commitment and wisdom to perpetuate democracy and secularism. Ours is a democracy wherein civil control of the military is absolute. We have mechanisms in place to optimally approach ?national security and military readiness". This of course has to be politically understood, accepted, absorbed and be top down with sense of ownership, accountability and authority. This paper looks at the quantum and quality of civil- military participation, the higher defence decision making, the structures within the military and the way ahead. Current Status of Political ? Civil - Military Participation Indian political -civil- military relationship needs to be seen in the context of the critical dichotomy between "Authority and Responsibility" resulting in the absence of ownership for military and security. The whole discussion often misses the forest for the trees. In the fog of this debate, the political leadership virtually goes unnoticed and hence never answers for this grave omission. Should our political leadership not take onus of ownership or at least assign responsibility for military and security readiness to an accountable entity. Six decades post independence has not seen any effective viable change. Civil and military martnership needs to be seen in wider contours of nation?s Management, national security, foreign policy, technology self reliance, budgeting: in the frame work of sovereignty, sustainability and survivability as a nation state. It should also include internal security concerns. Intelligence and policing are inherent in this. Who is Responsible for Readiness? The Government of India rules of business are distinctly vague on responsibility, accountability of military preparation and readiness. Extracts from the rules of business and MOD website reproduced below, clearly highlight this: ?Defence of India and every part thereof including preparation for defence and all such acts as may be conducive in times of war to its prosecution and after its termination to effective demobilisation?. ?The Defence Secretary functions as head of the Department of Defence and is additionally responsible for co-coordinating the activities of the four Departments in the Ministry.? The above extract does not mention "preparedness or readiness" even in passing not to speak about the much needed deliberation. It is silent on "Accountability and Answerability" Responsibility of Military Readiness Security, Sovereignty, Stability of a Nation is clearly a leadership mandate- how it chooses to exercise and execute this, is, its prerogative. Why it remains passive has not been questioned either by the establishment or by the people. The Army, Navy, Air Force are engaged individually in terms of turf protection. There is neither integration nor coordination between the Ministries of Defence, Home, Finance, External affairs with the army, paramilitary and intelligence forces, even as a concept, let alone in practice. Guarding the turf is a solemn obsession. What started as a practice became a habit and is now an addiction. The divide on the concept and role of the Chief of Defense Staff within the three services is sharp enough for the polity to justify its passivity. The IDS Headquarters under the CISC- Chief of Integrated Staff committee is gamely trying to pull the services together and over the last 7 years or so has been proved to be useful. This vindicates the need for a CDS. However, the Naresh Chandra Task Force has recently recommended a permanent Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff which is a climb down from the CDS. It is also not very clear as to what powers would CJCS have to enforce/enable integration and jointness. Higher Defense Decision Making The collateral, attendant impact on the Military and Security scenario is dependent upon the quality, quantity of ownership by the Political- Civil- Military combine in Higher Defense Decision Making. This has direct correlation with India's security calculus, effective military preparation, and readiness. Internal security strategies too, are contingent on the construct of Civilian - Military- Security equations and equity. Our bad neighbourhood is slipping into a vortex of visceral anarchy beyond reason and control. In the North East, China makes us nervous by its rapid and robust build up. Sino- Pak collusion is on the cards. Both may decide to make a play together, to stir the already simmering South Asian Security pot. The Afghan-Pakistan region is also fraught with various probabilities of dysfunctional anarchy. A Taliban take over is most likely, no sooner than the withdrawal of the American led NATO military. The fall out has serious implications in the region. Civil and Military participation in synergy must come into play sooner than later. "Power relationships between Nations are constantly changing, and unless a country understands and adjusts itself to the changes that are taking place around it, its own Security will be seriously endangered" An extract from Sardar K M Panikkar?s Annual Day address to the Indian School of International Studies on 13 February 1961 Examination of our Higher Defense Decision Making Organisation, readily reveals a witting "Six decade status quo syndrome" perpetuated by the way we are as Indians; fatalistic about our Indian-ness and independence. The implications of this on our sovereignty, security, stability, status as a secular Democracy can be understood, absorbed and be acted upon only if the top leadership grasps this with firmness and dynamism. Key CCS -cabinet committee on Security
NSA- National Security Advisor
MOD - Ministry of Defense
CDS - Chief of Defense Staff
SFC - Strategic Forces Command
ANC- Andaman and Nicobar Command
LIC- Low Intensity Conflict
LIMO- Low Intensity Maritime Operations
INTL SEC- Internal Security
TRG - Training Higher Direction Schematic and Actuality The above schematic is the writer?s imagination. In practice the circles exist but are mostly in separate orbit. At best there are some committees of secretaries and the CCS who deliberate upon important issues on a need based continuum. The military may or may not be called in all deliberations. The origin lies squarely in the Nehruvian mind set at the time of Independence. The Political leadership felt uncomfortable with the British model of command and control. The Bureaucracy too perceived that its primacy was sacrosanct in a democracy. Hence in the euphoria of independence, the Commander in Chief of the military was sectioned into the three chiefs of the three services. The promise of concurrent reorganisation of the Ministry of Defence is yet to be realised. Military Obtuseness or Obedience The naivet? of the British cloned, Army dominated Indian military leadership was perhaps an unwitting factor. Ensconced in the cantonment and surrounded by the splendour of fife and drum beat, it did not understand the obvious, apparent difference between being "apolitical and politically obtuse" The senior Indian Army hierarchy understandably behaved more like proper soldiers than statesmen. They believed in their leadership to do the right thing. What the former laid down then, continues even today. It's approach to civil relations is always confined to a very narrow swathe of the defence ministry. Personnel of the armed forces are conditioned to be indifferent and sometimes with apathy towards the political class. Somehow, that they are people and citizens too, and not a class apart is overlooked in their education. In turn, the polity is comfortable with managing military affairs through the proxy of bureaucracy. Who should educate who, and on what, of the mutual, political & military education remains ignored. Leadership & Civilian Bureaucracy Sans Military Our leadership and bureaucracy adopted the whole works of the erstwhile English Raj through the aegis of the civil services without any consultation with the military. Both believed that the British model was suitable with minor modifications, excepting the military aspect. The euphoria of independence, the challenges of ruling a geo politically united India, infatuation with an English way of life, and dealing with the real politick of governance ensured that the rules of business on national management precepts were not properly thought through. Great Britain left behind a robust system that made lot of sense gave order and form with a strong legal base. Yet it was designed to take away wealth from us and hence in principle not compatible to our culture, tradition and age old valid systems. This has been adequately proved time and again in the way the land has been sub optimally governed. The system is "INDIA" dyslexic, people unfriendly and not result oriented. Government profligacy and inefficiency are in tandem in the maze of complicated red tape. Lack of political direction and a loose limbed hands off approach, queers the pitch of military readiness. Consequently civil military bureaucratic relations exist under best conditions of polite detached, " Us versus Them? and diffused accountability. The first warning that all was not well in this arrangement, was during the ill fated 1962 Sino-India conflict. Despite the lasting trauma of that battle, The Indian establishment continues in the same ilk. Despite all the conflicts with Pakistan and the imposing Chinese posture , the whole Political- Bureaucratic-Diplomatic- Military- Intelligence- Technology-Industrial community has not been able to get its act together! Working in watertight silos is both style and form today. The quality and value of our Civil- Military bureaucratic relationship reflects; our inability to internalise India in terms of national perspectives. Consequently our externalisation tends to be tentative and confusing to us and outsiders. Drifting along with events as they occur seems to be our preferred option" Paradox of The Pen & Sword Both the Civilian Decision maker and the Military executor of the Country are committed to Sovereignty, Security, of a Democratic India. Hence there is neither a threatening crisis, nor even an impasse in the Civil- Military construct. This is the good news. The bad news however is: it is muddled, disjointed, indecisive, frustrating, and cost prohibitive, by default and design. Trust deficit and misperceptions militate against working together. The absence of mandated directives from the political leadership is the root cause of this avoidable morass. The Pen and the Sword can and have to join forces to ensure that files create capable combat effectiveness. Both bureaucracies are pseudo go betweens with each other. All dialogue is on a dated filing system with a conundrum of file processing. In the Services, the file follows a hierarchical path from downwards to upwards and reaches Ministry of Defence at the level of Defence Secretary/ Additional Secretary. From that level it plunges straight down to the desk officer and is processed upwards through every layer. Unless this is changed inordinate delays in decision making would continue. In effect the silent strangler of the system is the file. Our File Process The System Strangler India, compelled to adopt the White Hall filing system as part of its legacy of freedom, continues with this archaic practice of file based decisions. The Civil and Military bureaucracy grew with this paper trail. Today despite the obvious advantages of the information highway, presence of useful decision supporting Management Information Systems; files still do the rounds at snail's pace. In practice, the whole process precludes collegiate decision making. The underlying working principle is to ensure that the file notes do not ever implicate any decision makers or subordinates on both sides. File Noting hence is defensive, tentative and tend to be open ended. It is no exaggeration to state that diffused accountability through obfuscation is the norm; fear of CVC/CAG (Central Vigilance Commission and Comptroller Auditor General) too is another catalyst for playing safe. This file process is the silent strangler, impervious to other dynamic changes brought in force through revised procurement policies. File work must be minimal and supported by IT based decision processes. Information archiving, retrieval is the need of the day. Collegiate decision making is the answer in a networked set up. Secure LAN/WAN arrangements and software processes must become policy sooner than later. Absence of Direct Communication Flow Direct, institutionalised, formalised communication between National Leadership, Parliament and the executors of the country's Defence and Security policies and processes is more in absentia. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on DefenCe is notional, ineffective and powerless by design and organisation. Even in this, the armed forces only tag along with their civilian counterparts. The time, attention and energy devoted to the whole exercise is adhoc, cursory and a mere formality. Culture of Working in Compartments It is the norm for the MEA to take foreign policy decisions without any institutionalised consultation with MOD. The Latter has no formalised relationship with MEA Similarly the MOH and MOD have no mandated Rules of Business on Internal security supervision. One important facet of bureaucratic relationships is the complete impersonal imprint and a mindset to only dialogue on file and keep records. Time delay is a given, devoid of any emotional involvement. Military Uniform to Uniform Pride of service, in uniform is a primal facet of the military. This is needed, understandable and acceptable. Modern warfare however requires a mindset acceptance that, unified operations are a mandate. A mandate that needs doctrine, policy, procedures, training, debrief, remediation, re training and operational practice. The paradoxes of the military profession need to be part of the war fighter's DNA. Senior military leadership must undergo continuing education on involuntary conundrums, intrinsic in a fighting force, those are: Preparing for an exam while hoping that it never takes place Maintaining a Combat ready entity in a 95% plus peace time continuum? This calls for an "Us with Us" approach. Dealing with Internal security Issues on the concept of an " an iron fist in a velvet glove" Managing; the promotion pyramid, the career construct, the significant superseded strata and rising expectations of a better educated, evolving military society! Handling technology obsolescence in the face of ever present imminent combat and security threats in incipient conditions of uncertainty.
Learning to meld and blend combat culture with corporate practices to optimally organise the entire establishment needs, through serious, deliberate planning, money, in terms of intention, effort and determination. Funding determination as part of the military budget for resettling families and transitioning veterans into civilian careers. Can India live on its ancient glory, and its recent success of sorts? Is there room for complacency in a rapidly changing and deteriorating security scenario in the neighbourhood. Radical Islam, rapidity of information spread, increasing awareness on rights, rising expectations, inequitable economic weaknesses, poverty spread, malnutrition; all cause social unrest and desperation. Who is responsible, accountable for combat and security readiness? Is the present civil -military arrangement able and workable across the span of governance, administration, nation?s management, diplomacy, defence, security and poverty alleviation? Does India have overall national capability to handle both the neighbourhood as well as internal security issues and complexities? Does defence budgeting require a different dynamism to make military management and acquisition cost effective? What are fault lines within the Military that need speedy remediation? Why has India not set up a defence Industrial base to strategically reduce Import costs? How Should India Go About This The military will always fight with what it has- (COAS, Gen VP Malik during OP Vijay in Kargill) . Lack of " Ownership of Readiness" is behind this soldierly lament. Fixing Ownership of Readiness is the first step. It should be the Defence Minister who should be made answerable for military readiness and sovereign security. Similarly the Home Minister should be responsible for Internal security. Once ownership is defined with authority, the whole chain would be galvanised into a channelised process of achieving stated objectives. Able and Workable Systems Process and authority in capability based capital acquisition is paramount. It has to rest and vest on a single point authority along with an empowered Organism. A pre audited collegiate decision matrix with autonomy and assurance that "Ghosts of Inquiry" do not unwittingly haunt the decision makers. Only then can the system become Nationally able and capable to handle Combat and Security management. Military Fault Lines Repair Concept of unified operations is an operational imperative. Training and learning to fight together should become part of our blood stream. This can and must be done with retention of individual service identity. From unified operations will stem Joint Operations and Individual service missions. This will strengthen our combat capability in synergy. Creation of a Chief of Defence Staff with attendant revision of roles in Chiefs of Staff has to be through an act of Parliament. Creation of theatre commands must be also mandated. Cost benefits and operational effectiveness study of the American example shows significant salutary effects on combined combat readiness. Integration of Military with MOD, DRDO, DPSUS and institutionalized relations with Intelligence agencies, private industry will go a long way towards self reliance Personnel management, selection of Commanders in Chief and Heads of Services must be done on an informed, participative basis that includes the politico- bureaucratic setup. Serving Military- Bureaucratic- Diplomatic, Intelligence, senior leadership from joint secretary upwards must attend regular participative workshops of short durations. It hasto be formalised, structured on the determinants of national management and consequent military matrices. The CCS Ministers and National Defence Council members must address these gatherings and gain critical inputs. It must become a regular feature that would bring synergy in civil- military participation. Appointing Joint/Additional Secretaries from MEA/MHA to all critical commands that contend with sensitive issues must become policy. Similarly having service officers and MOD representatives in MEA/MHA must be mandated. Creation of a common information highway should be taken up as the first dynamic. Informed collegiate decision processes must follow suit. This revamp is a top priority. The New management strategy introduced in the late nineties has to be further revised. Budget roll over, getting rid of the year ending frenzy of deadlines, assured funding of money and no return of unspent money have to be considered by a council of military expenditure appointed by the CCS. Only then can the acquisition become cost and operationally effective Military Industrial Complex We are no where near becoming ?Indian? in terms of becoming reasonably self reliant across the spectrum of Indian battle order needs. Civilian and military participation has to enable creation of a Military Industrial Commission. This could be set up from existing entities like CII, FICCI, DRDO, DPSUs, Armed forces, Private and Public sector companies. Oversight could be by the Defence Acquisition Council. The Military Industrial Commission charter could be created from the findings and recommendations of the various committees set up by the Government within the last two decades. The Political-Civil-Military combine also needs to institutionally focus on the critical aspect of self reliance and reduce rising import costs. Higher Defence and Security Decision Making Robustness can be achieved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). It must mandate institutionalised mechanisms between the National Security Advisor (NSA), the Ministries of Defence, Home, External affairs. Civil control of the military is a given. Integrated, inclusiveness of the armed forces through proactive participation will optimise combat and security preparedness. Creation of a Chief of Defence Staff and defining Unified Commands like SFC, ANC should be carried out immediately by legislation. Unified Areas of operations, defining, national interests, military & security threats, have to be on priority in the reporting and preparation mechanisms. The Standing Parliamentary Committee on Defence needs to be elevated to A National Defense Council (NDC). It should have leaders of the ruling and opposition. It must be empowered and organised to monitor military readiness formally, in camera. Joint review by CCS to validate this must be mandated. The CDS/the Chiefs of Services must annually report the state of military readiness to NDC regularly. Civil control over the military in a democracy is a sanctified given in India. Ownership of military, its preparedness, readiness are integral, inherent and sacrosanct to national Interests. They are intrinsic in nation?s management. Our 5000 years DNA in many ways is a genetic gift of being flexible and yet forged to withstand tsunamis, and tectonic shifts of global geo- political movement and collateral combat, and security situations. India has all organisations and systems in place. Our political leadership has to be given the comfort of the changes proposed in this paper. Their acceptance would germinate a renewed, refreshed political civil military relationship in the national interest of security in sovereignty. This would enable the political leadership to take well informed sound decisions in an inclusive manner India is poised at the tipping point on the international ledge of global geo politics- It can be a model to the world as a successful stable democracy. The centre of gravity is the silos of the political-civil and military becoming a sacred granary of security in synergy for our lasting sovereignty. Optimal civil and military participation will make India reach its ordained destiny.
Distinguished Fellow, VIF Analysis of India's approach towards it's national security reveals an unacceptable hiatus between the Political -Civil- Military systems. We perhaps were lucky enough to get away thus far even despite the 1962 China debacle. New security realities, an assertive China, a highly probable Sino-Pak collusion, the emergence of non state actors, possible implosion in Pakistan, the Af-Pak mess all call for India to review and revamp its management of national security. Our bureaucracy has the sagacity, expertise and eclectic experience to optimise civil control mechanisms under political guidance. Our military and security forces have the commitment and wisdom to perpetuate democracy and secularism. Ours is a democracy wherein civil control of the military is absolute. We have mechanisms in place to optimally approach ?national security and military readiness". This of course has to be politically understood, accepted, absorbed and be top down with sense of ownership, accountability and authority. This paper looks at the quantum and quality of civil- military participation, the higher defence decision making, the structures within the military and the way ahead. Current Status of Political ? Civil - Military Participation Indian political -civil- military relationship needs to be seen in the context of the critical dichotomy between "Authority and Responsibility" resulting in the absence of ownership for military and security. The whole discussion often misses the forest for the trees. In the fog of this debate, the political leadership virtually goes unnoticed and hence never answers for this grave omission. Should our political leadership not take onus of ownership or at least assign responsibility for military and security readiness to an accountable entity. Six decades post independence has not seen any effective viable change. Civil and military martnership needs to be seen in wider contours of nation?s Management, national security, foreign policy, technology self reliance, budgeting: in the frame work of sovereignty, sustainability and survivability as a nation state. It should also include internal security concerns. Intelligence and policing are inherent in this. Who is Responsible for Readiness? The Government of India rules of business are distinctly vague on responsibility, accountability of military preparation and readiness. Extracts from the rules of business and MOD website reproduced below, clearly highlight this: ?Defence of India and every part thereof including preparation for defence and all such acts as may be conducive in times of war to its prosecution and after its termination to effective demobilisation?. ?The Defence Secretary functions as head of the Department of Defence and is additionally responsible for co-coordinating the activities of the four Departments in the Ministry.? The above extract does not mention "preparedness or readiness" even in passing not to speak about the much needed deliberation. It is silent on "Accountability and Answerability" Responsibility of Military Readiness Security, Sovereignty, Stability of a Nation is clearly a leadership mandate- how it chooses to exercise and execute this, is, its prerogative. Why it remains passive has not been questioned either by the establishment or by the people. The Army, Navy, Air Force are engaged individually in terms of turf protection. There is neither integration nor coordination between the Ministries of Defence, Home, Finance, External affairs with the army, paramilitary and intelligence forces, even as a concept, let alone in practice. Guarding the turf is a solemn obsession. What started as a practice became a habit and is now an addiction. The divide on the concept and role of the Chief of Defense Staff within the three services is sharp enough for the polity to justify its passivity. The IDS Headquarters under the CISC- Chief of Integrated Staff committee is gamely trying to pull the services together and over the last 7 years or so has been proved to be useful. This vindicates the need for a CDS. However, the Naresh Chandra Task Force has recently recommended a permanent Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff which is a climb down from the CDS. It is also not very clear as to what powers would CJCS have to enforce/enable integration and jointness. Higher Defense Decision Making The collateral, attendant impact on the Military and Security scenario is dependent upon the quality, quantity of ownership by the Political- Civil- Military combine in Higher Defense Decision Making. This has direct correlation with India's security calculus, effective military preparation, and readiness. Internal security strategies too, are contingent on the construct of Civilian - Military- Security equations and equity. Our bad neighbourhood is slipping into a vortex of visceral anarchy beyond reason and control. In the North East, China makes us nervous by its rapid and robust build up. Sino- Pak collusion is on the cards. Both may decide to make a play together, to stir the already simmering South Asian Security pot. The Afghan-Pakistan region is also fraught with various probabilities of dysfunctional anarchy. A Taliban take over is most likely, no sooner than the withdrawal of the American led NATO military. The fall out has serious implications in the region. Civil and Military participation in synergy must come into play sooner than later. "Power relationships between Nations are constantly changing, and unless a country understands and adjusts itself to the changes that are taking place around it, its own Security will be seriously endangered" An extract from Sardar K M Panikkar?s Annual Day address to the Indian School of International Studies on 13 February 1961 Examination of our Higher Defense Decision Making Organisation, readily reveals a witting "Six decade status quo syndrome" perpetuated by the way we are as Indians; fatalistic about our Indian-ness and independence. The implications of this on our sovereignty, security, stability, status as a secular Democracy can be understood, absorbed and be acted upon only if the top leadership grasps this with firmness and dynamism. Key CCS -cabinet committee on Security
NSA- National Security Advisor
MOD - Ministry of Defense
CDS - Chief of Defense Staff
SFC - Strategic Forces Command
ANC- Andaman and Nicobar Command
LIC- Low Intensity Conflict
LIMO- Low Intensity Maritime Operations
INTL SEC- Internal Security
TRG - Training Higher Direction Schematic and Actuality The above schematic is the writer?s imagination. In practice the circles exist but are mostly in separate orbit. At best there are some committees of secretaries and the CCS who deliberate upon important issues on a need based continuum. The military may or may not be called in all deliberations. The origin lies squarely in the Nehruvian mind set at the time of Independence. The Political leadership felt uncomfortable with the British model of command and control. The Bureaucracy too perceived that its primacy was sacrosanct in a democracy. Hence in the euphoria of independence, the Commander in Chief of the military was sectioned into the three chiefs of the three services. The promise of concurrent reorganisation of the Ministry of Defence is yet to be realised. Military Obtuseness or Obedience The naivet? of the British cloned, Army dominated Indian military leadership was perhaps an unwitting factor. Ensconced in the cantonment and surrounded by the splendour of fife and drum beat, it did not understand the obvious, apparent difference between being "apolitical and politically obtuse" The senior Indian Army hierarchy understandably behaved more like proper soldiers than statesmen. They believed in their leadership to do the right thing. What the former laid down then, continues even today. It's approach to civil relations is always confined to a very narrow swathe of the defence ministry. Personnel of the armed forces are conditioned to be indifferent and sometimes with apathy towards the political class. Somehow, that they are people and citizens too, and not a class apart is overlooked in their education. In turn, the polity is comfortable with managing military affairs through the proxy of bureaucracy. Who should educate who, and on what, of the mutual, political & military education remains ignored. Leadership & Civilian Bureaucracy Sans Military Our leadership and bureaucracy adopted the whole works of the erstwhile English Raj through the aegis of the civil services without any consultation with the military. Both believed that the British model was suitable with minor modifications, excepting the military aspect. The euphoria of independence, the challenges of ruling a geo politically united India, infatuation with an English way of life, and dealing with the real politick of governance ensured that the rules of business on national management precepts were not properly thought through. Great Britain left behind a robust system that made lot of sense gave order and form with a strong legal base. Yet it was designed to take away wealth from us and hence in principle not compatible to our culture, tradition and age old valid systems. This has been adequately proved time and again in the way the land has been sub optimally governed. The system is "INDIA" dyslexic, people unfriendly and not result oriented. Government profligacy and inefficiency are in tandem in the maze of complicated red tape. Lack of political direction and a loose limbed hands off approach, queers the pitch of military readiness. Consequently civil military bureaucratic relations exist under best conditions of polite detached, " Us versus Them? and diffused accountability. The first warning that all was not well in this arrangement, was during the ill fated 1962 Sino-India conflict. Despite the lasting trauma of that battle, The Indian establishment continues in the same ilk. Despite all the conflicts with Pakistan and the imposing Chinese posture , the whole Political- Bureaucratic-Diplomatic- Military- Intelligence- Technology-Industrial community has not been able to get its act together! Working in watertight silos is both style and form today. The quality and value of our Civil- Military bureaucratic relationship reflects; our inability to internalise India in terms of national perspectives. Consequently our externalisation tends to be tentative and confusing to us and outsiders. Drifting along with events as they occur seems to be our preferred option" Paradox of The Pen & Sword Both the Civilian Decision maker and the Military executor of the Country are committed to Sovereignty, Security, of a Democratic India. Hence there is neither a threatening crisis, nor even an impasse in the Civil- Military construct. This is the good news. The bad news however is: it is muddled, disjointed, indecisive, frustrating, and cost prohibitive, by default and design. Trust deficit and misperceptions militate against working together. The absence of mandated directives from the political leadership is the root cause of this avoidable morass. The Pen and the Sword can and have to join forces to ensure that files create capable combat effectiveness. Both bureaucracies are pseudo go betweens with each other. All dialogue is on a dated filing system with a conundrum of file processing. In the Services, the file follows a hierarchical path from downwards to upwards and reaches Ministry of Defence at the level of Defence Secretary/ Additional Secretary. From that level it plunges straight down to the desk officer and is processed upwards through every layer. Unless this is changed inordinate delays in decision making would continue. In effect the silent strangler of the system is the file. Our File Process The System Strangler India, compelled to adopt the White Hall filing system as part of its legacy of freedom, continues with this archaic practice of file based decisions. The Civil and Military bureaucracy grew with this paper trail. Today despite the obvious advantages of the information highway, presence of useful decision supporting Management Information Systems; files still do the rounds at snail's pace. In practice, the whole process precludes collegiate decision making. The underlying working principle is to ensure that the file notes do not ever implicate any decision makers or subordinates on both sides. File Noting hence is defensive, tentative and tend to be open ended. It is no exaggeration to state that diffused accountability through obfuscation is the norm; fear of CVC/CAG (Central Vigilance Commission and Comptroller Auditor General) too is another catalyst for playing safe. This file process is the silent strangler, impervious to other dynamic changes brought in force through revised procurement policies. File work must be minimal and supported by IT based decision processes. Information archiving, retrieval is the need of the day. Collegiate decision making is the answer in a networked set up. Secure LAN/WAN arrangements and software processes must become policy sooner than later. Absence of Direct Communication Flow Direct, institutionalised, formalised communication between National Leadership, Parliament and the executors of the country's Defence and Security policies and processes is more in absentia. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on DefenCe is notional, ineffective and powerless by design and organisation. Even in this, the armed forces only tag along with their civilian counterparts. The time, attention and energy devoted to the whole exercise is adhoc, cursory and a mere formality. Culture of Working in Compartments It is the norm for the MEA to take foreign policy decisions without any institutionalised consultation with MOD. The Latter has no formalised relationship with MEA Similarly the MOH and MOD have no mandated Rules of Business on Internal security supervision. One important facet of bureaucratic relationships is the complete impersonal imprint and a mindset to only dialogue on file and keep records. Time delay is a given, devoid of any emotional involvement. Military Uniform to Uniform Pride of service, in uniform is a primal facet of the military. This is needed, understandable and acceptable. Modern warfare however requires a mindset acceptance that, unified operations are a mandate. A mandate that needs doctrine, policy, procedures, training, debrief, remediation, re training and operational practice. The paradoxes of the military profession need to be part of the war fighter's DNA. Senior military leadership must undergo continuing education on involuntary conundrums, intrinsic in a fighting force, those are: Preparing for an exam while hoping that it never takes place Maintaining a Combat ready entity in a 95% plus peace time continuum? This calls for an "Us with Us" approach. Dealing with Internal security Issues on the concept of an " an iron fist in a velvet glove" Managing; the promotion pyramid, the career construct, the significant superseded strata and rising expectations of a better educated, evolving military society! Handling technology obsolescence in the face of ever present imminent combat and security threats in incipient conditions of uncertainty.
Living with bereavement and dealing with rehabilitation of families and the large number of retirees.
Learning to meld and blend combat culture with corporate practices to optimally organise the entire establishment needs, through serious, deliberate planning, money, in terms of intention, effort and determination. Funding determination as part of the military budget for resettling families and transitioning veterans into civilian careers. Can India live on its ancient glory, and its recent success of sorts? Is there room for complacency in a rapidly changing and deteriorating security scenario in the neighbourhood. Radical Islam, rapidity of information spread, increasing awareness on rights, rising expectations, inequitable economic weaknesses, poverty spread, malnutrition; all cause social unrest and desperation. Who is responsible, accountable for combat and security readiness? Is the present civil -military arrangement able and workable across the span of governance, administration, nation?s management, diplomacy, defence, security and poverty alleviation? Does India have overall national capability to handle both the neighbourhood as well as internal security issues and complexities? Does defence budgeting require a different dynamism to make military management and acquisition cost effective? What are fault lines within the Military that need speedy remediation? Why has India not set up a defence Industrial base to strategically reduce Import costs? How Should India Go About This The military will always fight with what it has- (COAS, Gen VP Malik during OP Vijay in Kargill) . Lack of " Ownership of Readiness" is behind this soldierly lament. Fixing Ownership of Readiness is the first step. It should be the Defence Minister who should be made answerable for military readiness and sovereign security. Similarly the Home Minister should be responsible for Internal security. Once ownership is defined with authority, the whole chain would be galvanised into a channelised process of achieving stated objectives. Able and Workable Systems Process and authority in capability based capital acquisition is paramount. It has to rest and vest on a single point authority along with an empowered Organism. A pre audited collegiate decision matrix with autonomy and assurance that "Ghosts of Inquiry" do not unwittingly haunt the decision makers. Only then can the system become Nationally able and capable to handle Combat and Security management. Military Fault Lines Repair Concept of unified operations is an operational imperative. Training and learning to fight together should become part of our blood stream. This can and must be done with retention of individual service identity. From unified operations will stem Joint Operations and Individual service missions. This will strengthen our combat capability in synergy. Creation of a Chief of Defence Staff with attendant revision of roles in Chiefs of Staff has to be through an act of Parliament. Creation of theatre commands must be also mandated. Cost benefits and operational effectiveness study of the American example shows significant salutary effects on combined combat readiness. Integration of Military with MOD, DRDO, DPSUS and institutionalized relations with Intelligence agencies, private industry will go a long way towards self reliance Personnel management, selection of Commanders in Chief and Heads of Services must be done on an informed, participative basis that includes the politico- bureaucratic setup. Serving Military- Bureaucratic- Diplomatic, Intelligence, senior leadership from joint secretary upwards must attend regular participative workshops of short durations. It hasto be formalised, structured on the determinants of national management and consequent military matrices. The CCS Ministers and National Defence Council members must address these gatherings and gain critical inputs. It must become a regular feature that would bring synergy in civil- military participation. Appointing Joint/Additional Secretaries from MEA/MHA to all critical commands that contend with sensitive issues must become policy. Similarly having service officers and MOD representatives in MEA/MHA must be mandated. Creation of a common information highway should be taken up as the first dynamic. Informed collegiate decision processes must follow suit. This revamp is a top priority. The New management strategy introduced in the late nineties has to be further revised. Budget roll over, getting rid of the year ending frenzy of deadlines, assured funding of money and no return of unspent money have to be considered by a council of military expenditure appointed by the CCS. Only then can the acquisition become cost and operationally effective Military Industrial Complex We are no where near becoming ?Indian? in terms of becoming reasonably self reliant across the spectrum of Indian battle order needs. Civilian and military participation has to enable creation of a Military Industrial Commission. This could be set up from existing entities like CII, FICCI, DRDO, DPSUs, Armed forces, Private and Public sector companies. Oversight could be by the Defence Acquisition Council. The Military Industrial Commission charter could be created from the findings and recommendations of the various committees set up by the Government within the last two decades. The Political-Civil-Military combine also needs to institutionally focus on the critical aspect of self reliance and reduce rising import costs. Higher Defence and Security Decision Making Robustness can be achieved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). It must mandate institutionalised mechanisms between the National Security Advisor (NSA), the Ministries of Defence, Home, External affairs. Civil control of the military is a given. Integrated, inclusiveness of the armed forces through proactive participation will optimise combat and security preparedness. Creation of a Chief of Defence Staff and defining Unified Commands like SFC, ANC should be carried out immediately by legislation. Unified Areas of operations, defining, national interests, military & security threats, have to be on priority in the reporting and preparation mechanisms. The Standing Parliamentary Committee on Defence needs to be elevated to A National Defense Council (NDC). It should have leaders of the ruling and opposition. It must be empowered and organised to monitor military readiness formally, in camera. Joint review by CCS to validate this must be mandated. The CDS/the Chiefs of Services must annually report the state of military readiness to NDC regularly. Civil control over the military in a democracy is a sanctified given in India. Ownership of military, its preparedness, readiness are integral, inherent and sacrosanct to national Interests. They are intrinsic in nation?s management. Our 5000 years DNA in many ways is a genetic gift of being flexible and yet forged to withstand tsunamis, and tectonic shifts of global geo- political movement and collateral combat, and security situations. India has all organisations and systems in place. Our political leadership has to be given the comfort of the changes proposed in this paper. Their acceptance would germinate a renewed, refreshed political civil military relationship in the national interest of security in sovereignty. This would enable the political leadership to take well informed sound decisions in an inclusive manner India is poised at the tipping point on the international ledge of global geo politics- It can be a model to the world as a successful stable democracy. The centre of gravity is the silos of the political-civil and military becoming a sacred granary of security in synergy for our lasting sovereignty. Optimal civil and military participation will make India reach its ordained destiny.
Source: http://blog.vifindia.org/2012/07/political-civil-military-participation.html
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