This is a discussion on Make your business more productive with Internet marketing within the Search Engine Optimization forums, part of the Internet Marketing category; Hi, Internet has changed the way we do our business. It has introduced a new from of marketing that is ...
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According to IDC, Apple solidified its number-four position in the worldwide mobile-phone market by shipping 20.3 million iPhones and posting the highest growth rate among the market leaders in the second quarter. The device maker's shipment numbers also edged closer to those of number-three LG Electronics, which delivered 24.8 million units in the second quarter -- down 18.9 percent from the year-earlier period.
With Apple poised to unleash a new iPhone 5 in September, it will soon have an opportunity to challenge LG Electronics for the number-three position. Apple's ability to bring its smartphone momentum to developing economies, where it's less successful, will help dictate the company's smartphone fortunes, IDC analysts said.
LG recently downgraded its mobile-phone outlook for 2011 by 24 percent due to the slow pace of its smartphone releases, competitive pressures, and soft demand for its feature phones. "The shrinking feature-phone market is having the greatest impact on some of the world's largest suppliers of mobile phones," said IDC Senior Research Analyst Kevin Restivo.
Samsung's Long-Term Prospects
According to Strategy Analytics, vendors shipped 110 million smartphones globally in the second quarter -- a robust 76 percent rise from the same period last year. Apple led the field with 20.3 million shipments, followed by Samsung (19.2 million) and Nokia (16.7 million).
"Samsung's Galaxy portfolio has proven popular, especially the high-tier S2 Android model," said Strategy Analytics Director Neil Mawston.
Although Apple posted 142 percent year-over-year growth in the second quarter, Samsung's smartphone sales are expected to surpass iPhone shipments in the long run. "Samsung's 500 percent year-over-year growth shows that, going forward, the top smartphone OEM position is Samsung's to lose," said ABI Research Senior Analyst Michael Morgan.
ABI analysts estimate that second-quarter Android shipments totaled 47 million for a 46.4 smartphone segment share. Samsung led the field with 34 percent of all Android shipments, followed by HTC (23 percent), and Sony Ericsson (11 percent).
Although robust smartphone sales in North America and Latin America helped drive growth in the mobile-phone market overall in the second quarter, mobile-phone sales in Western Europe declined from the previous quarter. "Feature phones continue to experience strong decline [and] inventory clearance from operators in advance of new product launches impacting smartphone growth," said IDC Research Manager Francisco Jeronimo on Friday.
Stalling Feature Phone Growth
Although global mobile-phone shipments rose 11.3 percent year over year to 365.4 million in the second quarter, feature-phone shipments declined four percent as more consumers in the U.S., Japan and Western Europe switched to smartphones.
"While this is not a new trend," noted IDC Senior Research Analyst Ramon Llamas, "it does mark something of a transition point, as demonstrated by the growing number and variety of smartphones featured in the vendors' portfolios."
While Nokia remained the global market leader, its second-quarter shipments fell 20.3 percent year over year to 88.5 million. Its sale of more than 2.6 million dual-SIM devices was one of the few bright spots in the quarter.
Dual-SIM phones are popular in markets like India and China as well as markets such as Italy, Portugal and elsewhere in Europe where operators apply different voice tariffs and charges for across-network calls, noted Gartner Research Vice President Carolina Milanesi. "So you keep one SIM that has your number and [have] one that you swap in and out with the carrier that gives you the best deal," Milanesi said Friday.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20110729/bs_nf/79576
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Technology is developing so rapidly that the law is oftentimes a few steps behind. This is the case in criminal law as it applies to social media sites like Facebook. Federal law enforcement agents have been asking for warrants to search defendants' private Facebook accounts and these requests?are being granted?more and more, and?some people believe this trend?will lead to legal challenges.
According to a Reuters analysis of a Westlaw database, the warrants were granted for the FBI, ICE and DEA for a variety of cases involving serious violent crimes, such as rape, terrorism and arson, and more than two dozen were granted since 2008.
Defendants may question whether these searches violated their civil rights, specifically the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of illegal search and seizure. The reason why many legal challenges have not already come up could be that most of these individuals whose accounts have been searched by law enforcement have not been notified that this happened.
According to an article on the subject in the International Business Times, one of the cases involved four Satanists accused of arson in Ohio. These individuals were sentenced to eight to ten years in prison for burning down a church. An FBI agent was granted a warrant to search the Facebook accounts of two of the people charged with arson. According to the IBT, it is not known whether what was obtained in the search was used to convict the individuals, but none of the defendants' attorneys knew that the search had occurred.
Once more people find out that their accounts were searched, legal challenges to the evidence obtained in those searches may be seen. Little has been specifically decided by the courts regarding what kind of reasonable expectation of privacy people have these days with the information stored with third parties online. It is likely that more will have to be hammered out around this issue in the months and years to come.
Source: International Business Times, "A new U.S. law-enforcement tool: Facebook searches,"?Jeff John Roberts, 12 July 2011
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If you are a seriously injured in a work accident, things can be confusing enough even if your employer has workers compensation insurance. however, when you suffer a serious work injury in California and your employer does not have workers compensation insurance, then you may be uncertain as to what you should do. in this article, we discuss your options if your employer is illegally uninsured in California.
Click link below to read full and original articleCalifornia Uninsured Employer Attorney: What If My Employer Has No Workers Compensation Insurance? ? Law Articles
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Source: http://oyble.com/home-based-internet-business-prime-internet-business-ideas/
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The former New Mexico governor and extreme presidential long-shot puts on the record?what a fair number of Republicans in Washington are saying privately:
For all the speculation about Rick Perry?s presidential potential, Gary Johnson feels certain the campaign would fall flat ? if only because America isn?t ready to put another Texas governor in the White House.
?Have you ever heard Rick Perry talk? I thought when I listened to him talk, I thought he was doing a parody of George Bush. And I was looking around to see if anyone else saw the humor in that. And it wasn?t. It was just the way that he talked,? said Johnson, the former New Mexico governor who?s running his own long shot campaign.
Continue ReadingThat?s not Perry?s only problem: he?s another in a long list of ?status quo,? politicians focused more on ?fluff? than specifics, Johnson said in a conversation with POLITICO on Thursday, explaining why he?s running his own long shot presidential campaign against them.
Johnson and Perry were governors of neighboring states for about two years, from 2000 to 2002.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/iT-miNt21nQ/
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Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher 29 July 2011
Missouri's insurance department forecasts claims will eventually add up to around $1.5-2bn for the tornado in May.
Read more: Joplin tornado Missouri
Missouri officials have forecast that the Joplin tornado on May 22 will result in the largest ever payout in the state's history.
The Missouri Department of Insurance believes the...
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OSLO (Reuters) ? Membership of Norway's political parties has surged in response to calls to counter last week's massacre with more democracy and political participation, and some warn that the debate must shed traces of xenophobia.
All of Norway's main parties say they have seen a jump in membership since Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik killed 76 people last Friday in a bombing and shooting attack he saw as a "crusade" against Islam and multiculturalism.
An emotional Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has since then urged Norwegians to respond to the violence, in which Breivik gunned down youth members of his ruling Labor Party at a summer camp and planted a bomb outside Stoltenberg's offices, with more of what he says Norway does best -- openness and democracy.
"We have seen a jump in membership of all parties ... I think it shows that people are following what the prime minister asked for," Labor Party lawmaker Svein Hansen said, adding that the exact number of new members had not yet been counted.
The opposition Progress Party, whose strength has grown in recent years partly due to its tough line on immigrants, also said it had received a boost, gaining at least 487 new members.
"Usually it's very, very quiet at this time of the year, so this is something extraordinary. Normally in July most people are on vacation," said party spokesman Mazyar Keshvare.
"We know quite a bit about their motivation as well. In the internet application page, there's a comment box, and many, many people are saying 'I'm going to be more politically active so we can stay united against terror'," Keshvare said.
The Socialist Left party, in coalition government with the Labor Party, has seen members rise by at least 290 people, a large jump for small party and a country of only 4.8 million.
Norwegians are due to vote in local polls in September.
DEBATE MUST CHANGE
For some, more democracy and debate is not enough to combat what they see as rising prejudice against Muslims and immigrants in Norway and across Europe.
Some Norwegians see immigrants as exploiting the country's generous welfare and vast oil wealth; it has a sovereign wealth fund worth 3.1 trillion Norwegian crowns ($573.6 billion).
"It's a good call, but it's not enough. I don't know how we're going to take this debate forward. If you continue debating using generalizations and negative stereotypes, I feel that Muslims will be even more victimized than they are now," said the Norwegian Center against Racism's Mari Linloekken.
The Progress Party has fairly mainstream anti-immigrant views. It proposed this year that immigrants should receive lower welfare payments than Norwegian citizens.
However, a leaflet used in the 2005 election featured a gun and the caption "...the perpetrator was of foreign origin."
"We have never expressed such a thing that Muslims are taking over the country, or anything else like that, so I don't think that we have anything to be ashamed of or change when it comes to politics," Keshvare said.
"Problems surrounding this issue haven't changed because of this tragic event," he added.
Labour's Hansen said he hoped rhetoric would be toned down.
"One of the things I hope that we will draw as a lesson from this is that we have to talk about immigration, integration, Muslims and so on in another language .... We have to change language to one more in line with reality," he said.
Norway has lower levels of immigration than most other Western countries.
For Tunisian-born Norwegian Izzeddine al-Saweih, 57, change will not come soon enough.
"There has to be a debate on the right principles, an open debate, and Muslims must take part," he shouted at an outdoor gathering of Labor Party politicians in Oslo Thursday.
"The media writes a lot negative things about us, big and small. They put us under suspicion, and now we don't know our identity, despite us belonging to this land and its laws. Why?"
(Additional reporting by Aasa Christine Stoltz)
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Click on image to buy from Amazon.Com
In time for the 50th anniversary of Catch-22, Tracy Daugherty, the critically acclaimed author of Hiding Man (a New Yorker and New York Times Notable book), illuminates his most vital subject yet in this first biography of Joseph Heller.
Joseph Heller was a Coney Island kid, the son of Russian immigrants, who went on to great fame and fortune. His most memorable novel took its inspiration from a mission he flew over France in WWII (his plane was filled with so much shrapnel it was a wonder it stayed in the air). Heller wrote seven novels, all of which remain in print.?Something Happened and?Good as Gold, to name two, are still considered the epitome of satire. His life was filled with women and romantic indiscretions, but he was perhaps more famous for his friendships?he counted Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Carl Reiner, Kurt Vonnegut, Norman Mailer, Mario Puzo, Dustin Hoffman, Woody Allen, and many others among his confidantes. In 1981 Heller was diagnosed with Guillain-Barr? Syndrome, a debilitating syndrome that could have cost him his life. Miraculously, he recovered. When he passed away in 1999 from natural causes, he left behind a body of work that continues to sell hundreds of thousands of copies a year.
Just One Catch is the first biography of Yossarian?s creator, with cooperation by the estate.
TRACY DAUGHERTY is the author of four novels, four short story collections, and a book of personal essays.? His critically acclaimed biography of Donald Barthelme,?HIDING MAN was published in 2009.?? He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and?the National Endowment for the Arts.? Currently, he is Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing at Oregon State University.
This hefty 471 page biography begins with Joseph Heller?s Coney Island childhood, the early influences of his family and friends, then takes us through his war experiences that inspired Catch 22, examines the effects on him of fame, shows his unsuccessful struggle to duplicate the popularity of Catch 22, and concludes in his later years with his second wife and ends with his death in East Hampton in 1999 at age 76.
This comprehensive, often compelling story of Joseph Heller, shows how he was influenced and how he influenced the attitudes and issues of the ever changing era in which he lived. His post war novel about WWII became the anti war novel of the 1960?s.
He grew up poor in the 1930?s in the lights and shadows of a garish amusement park, the ?Nickel Empire? of Coney Island in a neighborhood teeming with Russians, Germans, Italians and Armenians. His mother only spoke Yiddish.
Contradictions began early. He learned his brother and sister were not really his brother and sister. When he was four years old he attended a party his family held and found out it was really his father?s funeral.
He was a gunner in WWII. He held low level jobs. He worked in Ad agencies. He attended the University of Southern California, NYU and Columbia, taught college in Pennsylvania and he was restless and he agonized and he bit his nails and he wrote.
Joseph Heller bit his nails throughout his life. He worried that he was not a natural writer. His short stories were often rejected. His first story was published for $25.00. It made him happier than learning about the end of the war.
He was working at Time Magazine when he wrote Catch 22 at his kitchen table. It took him a year to draft the second chapter. The book shows us Joseph Heller?s agonized, slow writing, how he outlined each chapter, catalogued each of his war missions and had drawers full of file cards. But editors and publishers thought the first chapter of Catch 18, as it was called at the time was almost incoherent and sloppy. If it weren?t for his agent Candida Donadio?s faith in him and her promotion of the book, we probably would have never heard of Catch 22, the novel that became a classic.
Just One Catch shows the effects of Joseph Heller?s fame, the affairs, the friendships with famous people like Dustin Hoffman, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, the travels, the money, the jealousies and insecurities, the failed marriage, the failed novels, and finally the comfortable pride and satisfaction of not just attaining celebrity or renown as a famous author, but the status of a man of letters.
Joseph Heller did not always have a happy life but Joseph Heller lived a rich and wonderful life. This is a wonderful book about it. ? Lita Perna, Amazon.Com Customer Review
The New York Times Book Review ? July 27, 2011 (Excerpt)
?Just One Catch? is a soup-to-nuts chronicle of the life of?Joseph Heller. It is by Tracy Daugherty, who should not be confused with Mr. Heller?s daughter. Erica Heller?s own book about her father is ?Yossarian Slept Here,? and there are many places where Heller?s daughter and Mr. Daugherty overlap. This situation is so jarring that it has driven Christopher Buckley, not ordinarily known for cornball silliness, to two giddy attacks of wordplay. About the biography he blurbs, ?A major achievement, or should I say major major major?? in honor of Major Major, a major character in Heller?s ?Catch-22.? His blurb for Ms. Heller: ?I think this is going to be one hell(er) of a memoir.?
So the combined effects of these two books can be dizzying, even though the authors? vantage points and attitudes are very different. Mr. Daugherty writes in a thoroughgoing academic style, cherry-picks an unconscionable amount of material from Heller?s own memoirs, paraphrases dreadfully (with ? shock[ingly] heavy use of ? b[rackets] and ellipses ? and parentheses) and does not show signs of assurance until he has occasion to analyze Heller?s writing career ? at which point ?Just One Catch? gets a lot better. And it is the first important biography to arrive about Heller, who died in 1999.
Ms. Heller?s book, which will be published on Aug. 23, gives a narrower but livelier sense of her father?s caustic, self-centered nature. She is both charming and combative. When Heller wrote witheringly about a man?s disappointing marriage and children in ?Something Happened,? Ms. Heller struck back with a 1975 piece in Harper?s called ?It Sure Did.? He was, after all, a father who once told an interviewer, ?I don?t do children.?
Here?s how the head-spinning interplay between these books works: Mr. Daugherty used Ms. Heller?s e-mails, other comments and unpublished manuscript as source material, with her cooperation. But the same thoughts are tonally different in the authors? different versions.
Each book is revealing in its choice of starting point. Mr. Daugherty?s chronicle begins very strangely. In a prologue he makes a point that may surprise readers who know little about Heller?s World War II experiences: that Heller flew as a bombardier, just as his ?Catch-22 protagonist, Yossarian, did, and that he, like Yossarian, witnessed the gruesome death of a comrade who eerily spoke two words that became unforgettable: ?I?m cold.? [Read the full article...]
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Paul Kirk is a librarian and one of his town?s quirkier residents. ?In a childhood home lacking parents (his mother dying of MS and his father an alcoholic) Paul had imagined himself a member of the neighboring family. Now in his late twenties, Paul vicariously participates in the households of his community. His peeping-Tom proclivities express his awkward need for social bonding.
Then Paul meets Bronwyn, a counselor who is lovely, independent and blind. She has inherited her Aunt Phyllis? house and is newly arrived in town. When Paul first sees Bronwyn at church, he knows he wants to be part of her life.?As the mystery of Aunt Phyllis unfolds, Bronwyn and Paul become more deeply involved as they learn about Phyllis? secrets and how they relate to Bronwyn and her past, but Paul?s peeping ways may ruin it all. [Read more...]
Boiled Peanuts is available through Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.
Source: http://frogenyozurt.com/2011/07/just-one-catch-a-biography-of-joseph-heller-by-tracy-daugherty/
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If you should have the talent for careers in the field of arts, then it would be a sensible and perfect option to start considering various performing arts schools at this moment. This might be your first little step in realizing those dreams.
It is considered that jobs in the field of entertainment and arts are some of the most challenging to get started with. Yet, as per United states Labor department, there will be 25 percent demand by 2014 in that occupation.
University performing art schools are often helpful of finding your ideal career opportunities in the field of arts and entertainment. If you arm yourself with a degree of arts, it can be a guaranteed way to land you in a promising career in entertainment. Indeed, through the years there is a tremendous market for art schools nationwide.
It is advisable that you specialize on your preferred field to get the best out of it and excel thereafter. There are various courses offered in performing arts school since it varies from dance, promotion, entertainment publicity, stage management, artist services, arts administration, music and theater.
You may experience at the outset that entertainment career is not just working live or behind cameras. Which means you must select the best performing arts school that meets your skills. Try to ponder on the following guidelines in choosing an art school best for you.
A number of well-known colleges such as American University and Adelphi College are also providing good curriculum.
Julliard School of New York as well as North Carolina School for the Arts are performing arts schools concentrating on entertainment majors. Both are strict when it comes to entrance and signing up for such a elite roster of students is really tough.
Online degrees are also being given in other performing arts schools. It focuses on theoretical instruction which can help you secure a job through local internship. Academy of Arts University is one good example.
Be mindful of the tuition fees of the school, school location, duration of the program to be studied as well as the percentage of individuals who have a successful job in such field.
In conclusion, you must take your time evaluating the options in deciding which school gives you the optimum reward for your expenses and can land you in a career that you are dreaming.
The author is a multifaceted writer. She writes articles for a variety of topics like marriage and relationship advices, health related concerns like CPAP supplies (Mirage FX mask and Swift FX cpap mask), family and parenting concerns, fashion and beauty tips and a lot more.
Tags: arts, education, performing arts, school
Source: http://thebestwaytopromotemyband.com/2011/07/26/performing-arts-schools-find-out-the-correct-one/
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There is no surprise that there are a lot of different internet marketing strategies being offered for a worldwide audience from the new internet marketer to the expert one. Internet marketing strategies are a universe as a topic and strategic online marketing, even if quite young is vast.
In fact, it gets quite expensive to sample all the marketing strategies and test whether they fit into your business plan, of course if you have one in place. Here we will focus on taking the first step well so that to stay on budget. For that you have to do some assessments.
Probably the very first assessment that is recommended is deciding what your targets are. To achieve this you have to take this step because it offers you the great picture before you go down to the building your successful business or adding to an already established one. This design keeps you from getting lost and ending up in the other job that you probably do not like, running your own business or a quite expensive product launch.
When you made your targets, you must have your mission statement. You have to determine why you are here and what you are doing here. It is necessary to do since it defines your business as well as gives you your target niche and your marketing direction.
Here you have to note that the product is not important in your marketing. But, customers are what really important for your business. You are concerned with marketing something that moves customers to purchasing and this is feelings. In fact, we never purchasing things that make people feel horrible regardless how great product is for us.
It is necessary to keep your accomplishments, ago and yourself out of your internet marketing. This is quite important to do since it could hurt your feelings. If you want to be successful, you have to explain your customers why they have to choose you among all the other vendors.
In fact, marketing is a tool set. In could be easily used in order to gain any target. If you manage to understand your target, then you manage to understand what to search for in the market of choice. Today there are a lot of different internet marketing strategies, however few internet marketing training programs which take you through the whole process of choosing the right tool set to use in order to reach your marketing target.
As well, you have to define your niche and asses how it is better to reach them. While presenting your product using mission statement and consistent image, customers will watch, read and listed to your message diligently.
It is necessary for you to retain consistency of your internet marketing, and this is a reason why you have to tie in with your mission statement.
Any online business has the right to get internet marketing. Find out how many people are building targeted visitors today ? this is part of IM strategy for successful site owners shown on this www.freetrafficsystem.com site.
P.S. And once you have nice traffic ? then ?website traffic? questions become very easy.
P.P.S. Today we live in the world where knowledge quickly enhances the quality of our life. That is why if you are properly armed with the info in your sphere of interest you can rest assured that you will in any case find the solution to any bad situation. So, please make sure to track this site on a regular basis or ? the least time consuming way of doing it ? sign up to its RSS feed. In such an easy way you will have your hand on the pulse of the latest informational updates here. Blogging can be helpful, you just need to know how to use them.
Source: http://www.hispeedbiz.biz/how-to-boost-your-internet-marketing-strategies/
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First on the list are cue racks and cue cases. Cue racks are necessary for proper storage of your cue sticks, bridges, triangles and so on. They are needed for easy grabbing of items for use and putting them back after the game inside the billiard hall. Cue cases, on the other hand, are necessary when you're out travelling and have to carry your personal cue sticks. A cue case can also be used at home to keep your more expensive and high valued sticks.
Pool chalks are one of the most common billiard accessories. They are applied to the tip of the cue stick so that the tip gives a firm contact with the ball upon hitting. This simple chalk application can render a good control of the ball's direction and speed.
Bridge sticks and heads allow you to be able to take difficult long shots. They effectively give you an extended reach. Bridge heads can be made from different materials such as brass and plastic.
Pool table covers are also considered necessary billiard supplies. They give protection to your pricey and valuable investment. They protect your table from dust and exposure to unwanted elements.
Source: http://www.artipot.com/articles/890094/billiard-supplies-and-accessories.htm
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Getting older should be an exciting part of life, but sometimes it comes with some physical impediments. In this case, it might be a good idea to think about checking into adult communities to get top-quality elder care. Such elder care services allow family members to go to work and enjoy their personal lives without having to worry that the senior citizen is safe and being cared for. One of the main purposes of these services is to delay or prevent the need to move into a nursing home by offering alternative care opportunities to stay social. Caring for an aging parent can be a real challenge for family members, but with senior retirement options, senior citizens can get the right kind of care and attention that they need.
When a senior member of the family is left at home for the whole day, it can be a burden for the children who are at work.
It?s important to be with the senior member at all times, and elder care services can guarantee this. From cooking and cleaning to ensuring that medications are taken at the right time, adult communities give peace of mind to families that are unable to take care of a loved one throughout the whole day. To make sure that seniors are living a safe and happy life even after retirement, it is advisable to look out for a senior retirement facility that offers recreational activities along with the right elder care. Elders sometimes need a lot of help with daily tasks, be it bathing, walking, eating, cooking, washing, or personal care. For family members it might not be possible to take care of all of these things, but the elder care services provided in adult communities should be taken note of.
Before deciding on an elder care service, some questions need to be taken into consideration, like whether the aging person prefers a male or female to help and things that might make the person uncomfortable.
With a large number of adult communities, a variety of services are being offered and can be chosen accordingly. The best elder care can also be experienced at senior retirement communities where special staff is assigned to each individual so that their needs and requirements are properly addressed. The staff at these facilities listens to the elderly people to help them with their personal care, meals, and other basic requirements.
For seniors, whether or not they require assistance to live a happy life can be determined by their physical abilities. The senior retirement lifestyle is an option that children can select to offer some of the best elder care services to their aging parents. Elderly people might need help with cooking, bathing, and washing, among other things, and if they move into adult communities, they can rest assured that they will receive the best services.
More Elder Law Articles
Source: http://legalfirms.info/adult-communities-for-the-best-elder-care/
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TRIPOLI (Reuters) ? Explosions rocked central Tripoli for the second night in a row and Britain said weeks of NATO bombardment had inflicted extensive damage on Muammar Gaddafi's heavily-fortified compound.
Libya's leader is clinging to power despite a four-month-old NATO air campaign and a lengthening conflict with rebels seeking an end to his 41-year rule and who have seized large swathes of the North African country.
The explosions hit Tripoli at about 1 a.m. Sunday, a day after NATO launched strikes on what it said was a military command site in Tripoli.
Major General Nick Pope, chief of the defense staff's communications officer, said Royal Air Force aircraft struck the high perimeter walls of Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah complex.
"Gaddafi has for decades hidden from the Libyan people behind these walls. The vast Bab al-Aziziyah compound is not just his personal residence, but more importantly is also the main headquarters for his regime, with command and control facilities and an army barracks," Pope said Sunday.
"Successive NATO strikes in past weeks have inflicted extensive damage on the military facilities within."
As the war drags on longer than many had initially envisaged, the West is increasingly hoping for a negotiated end.
Gaddafi's foreign minister, Abdelati Obeidi, left Cairo on Sunday after a three-day visit without making any comments.
"Obeidi met with a number of Egyptian officials and personalities to discuss the latest developments in Libya and ways to resolve the crisis in peaceful ways," a Libyan embassy official said without giving details. He was headed for Tunis.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said Friday Libyan representatives were ready to hold more talks with the United States and the rebels, but Gaddafi would not quit.
Ibrahim said senior Libyan officials had a "productive dialogue" with U.S. counterparts last week in a rare meeting that followed U.S. recognition of the rebel government.
"We believe other meetings in the future ... will help solve Libyan problems," Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli. "We are willing to talk to the Americans more."
TOUGH FIGHT
On the cusp of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, poorly armed rebels seem unlikely to quickly unseat Gaddafi.
The rebels declared advances this week but they also suffered losses near Misrata and in fighting for Brega.
Thursday rebels said minefields slowed their advance on Brega -- which they had earlier claimed to have all but captured -- but they had pushed closer to Zlitan, on the Mediterranean coast 160 km (100 miles) east of Tripoli.
It was relatively quiet on the western front near Zlitan on Sunday, with some sporadic fire from Gaddafi's forces. Most rebels were taking shelter from the sun. The main hospital in Misrata said one man had been killed and five wounded.
"We are holding this position and waiting to move forward. God willing, it will be soon," said Salim, a 21-year-old student and rebel volunteer.
Britain's Pope said RAF jets on patrol near Zlitan successfully struck four buildings Saturday, which NATO surveillance had identified as command and control centres and staging posts, as well as hitting an ammunition stockpile.
Apache helicopters also struck a number of military positions between Zlitan and Khums, he said.
Zlitan is the largest city between rebel-held Misrata and the capital Tripoli and remains in Gaddafi's control. Were the rebels to take Zlitan, attention would turn to Khums, the next large town on the coastal road to the capital.
Fighting also briefly broke out in the western mountains, where rebels have captured large swathes of territory.
Witnesses said Gaddafi's forces shelled rebels in Qawalish. They said a group of civilian cars left the pro-Gaddafi town of Asaba, followed by Gaddafi's troops, and stormed toward Qawalish before pulling back and shelling from a distance.
Gaddafi's government has urged ordinary Libyans to join his fight against the rebels, but few have so far heeded the call.
As Western nations intensify diplomatic efforts to foster an exit from the conflict, a European diplomat said a U.N. envoy would seek to persuade warring parties in Libya to accept a plan that envisages a ceasefire and a power-sharing government, but with no role for Gaddafi.
The diplomat said the informal proposals would be canvassed by the special U.N. envoy to Libya, Abdul Elah al-Khatib, who has met both government and rebels several times.
Khatib, a Jordanian senator, told Reuters in Amman he hoped both sides would accept his ideas.
"The U.N. is exerting very serious efforts to create a political process that has two pillars; one is an agreement on a ceasefire and simultaneously an agreement on setting up a mechanism to manage the transitional period," he said. He did not go into the details of that mechanism.
Hopes for a negotiated settlement are growing as Europe and the United States grapple with fiscal crises at home. This week, France said for the first time Gaddafi could stay in Libya as long as he gives up power.
Complicating Gaddafi's situation is the fact the world court in The Hague seeks his arrest over crimes against humanity allegedly committed by his forces. This makes it difficult for him to find refuge outside the country.
(Additional reporting by Tim Castle in London, Nick Carey in Misrata, Rania El Gamal in Benghazi, Jospeh Nasr in Berlin, Souhail Karam in Rabat and Lutfi Abu Aun in Tripoli; Writing by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Sophie Hares)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110724/wl_nm/us_libya
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Question by Hui Jacks: How can I read textbooks online?
I have a assignment due tomorrow. I haven?t gotten my textbook yet nonetheless I really need to read these pages in that I?m having a in class discussion tomorrow. PLEASE HELP!!! It doesn?t have to be the complete page nonetheless like samples or consequentlymething whats a good website that can help me? Thank You
Best answer:
Answer by Deborah
Go to the website of your textbook publisher and see if you can access it. Generally you need a login and password created by your teacher however. Check it out in that you may get lucky.
What do you contemplate? Answer below!
Source: http://www.qiyic.com/archives/1371
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WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama met for less than an hour Saturday with congressional leaders in debt crisis talks, and a leading Republican said afterward that top lawmakers were "committed to working on new legislation" to cut federal spending and avert an unprecedented U.S. default.
There were no immediate signs of a breakthrough, however. The lawmakers and Obama were unsmiling as the meeting began, and most of them avoided reporters when they left the White House.
In a statement released afterward, the White House said, "Congress should refrain from playing reckless political games with our economy. Instead, it should be responsible and do its job, avoiding default and cutting the deficit." The statement renewed Obama's insistence that any agreement tide the government over until after the 2012 elections, to avoid a rerun of the debt dispute in the heat of the campaign.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell issued a somewhat more upbeat statement of his own.
"The president wanted to know that there was a plan for preventing national default," he said. "The bipartisan leadership in Congress is committed to working on new legislation that will prevent default while substantially reducing Washington spending."
The meeting followed a collapse in negotiations late Friday, when House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio announced he was breaking off talks with the president. A visibly irritated Obama summoned Boehner and three other top congressional leaders from both parties to convene Saturday and try again to find a way to raise the debt limit before an Aug. 2 deadline cuts off the government's borrowing authority.
The president was flanked at the bargaining table by Boehner and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. Also at the table were Vice President Joe Biden, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and McConnell, R-Ky.
The president devoted his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to the impasse and urged Republicans to make a deal.
"We can come together for the good of the country and reach a compromise. We can strengthen our economy and leave for our children a more secure future," the president said. "Or we can issue insults and demands and ultimatums at each another, withdraw to our partisan corners and achieve nothing."
Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas said in his party's weekly address that the Democrats were to blame.
"If we're going to avoid any type of default and downgrade ? if we're going to resume job creation in America ? the president and his allies need to listen to the people and work with Republicans to cut up the credit cards once and for all," he said.
Boehner and McConnell also criticized Obama and the Democrats before the Saturday meeting began.
"If the White House won't get serious, we will," Boehner's office said. A statement from the office noted that Obama has said he wants an agreement that will take care of the problem through the November 2012 elections.
"It would be terribly unfortunate if the president was willing to veto a debt limit increase simply because its timing would not be ideal for his re-election campaign," according to Boehner's office.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee used the troubled talks to raise money with online appeals. An email from the group said that "after hard negotiating for two weeks" Boehner and other top GOP officials "irresponsibly just walked out of the room and quit talks with the White House."
The group said it was "launching a hard-hitting advertising campaign starting this weekend and continuing through August to hold Republicans accountable," but it gave no details.
At a news conference Friday after Boehner said he was withdrawing, Obama told reporters, "We have run out of time and they are going to have to explain to me how it is that we are going to avoid default.
Boehner accepted the invitation for Saturday's meeting even while arguing that Obama bore the blame for the collapse.
The political theater played out even as the deadline neared. Barring action by then, the Treasury will be unable to pay its bills. That could cause interest rates to rise, threaten the U.S. economic recovery and send shock waves around the globe.
The deadline pressure hasn't seemed to bring the parties closer, even though they all insist they do not want a default.
For the first time since talks began, Obama declined to offer assurances that a default would be avoided, although moments later he said he was confident of that outcome.
Obama said Boehner left a deal on the table that was better for Republicans than for Democrats, with $2.6 trillion in cuts outweighing new tax revenue of $1.2 trillion. The president said he was losing confidence that the underlying deficit problems would be dealt with even if the borrowing limit rose.
"I've been left at the altar now a couple of times," Obama said.
Still, aides on both sides said there was agreement on gradually raising the age of eligibility of Medicare from 65 to 67 for future beneficiaries, and slowing the increase in cost-of-living raises in Social Security checks.
Even by the recent standards of divided government, Boehner's decision triggered an extraordinary evening Friday as the Democratic president and then the Republican speaker maneuvered for political position on this vital issue.
Unspoken, yet unmistakable in all the brinkmanship was the 2012 election campaign, still 18 months away, with the White House and both houses of Congress at stake.
Private, sometimes-secret negotiations had veered uncertainly for weeks, generating reports as late as Thursday that the two sides were possibly closing in on an agreement to slash spending. That triggered a revolt among Democrats who expressed fears the president was giving away too much in terms of cuts to Medicare and Social Security while getting too little by way of additional revenues.
Obama said his only requirement for an agreement was legislation that provides the Treasury enough borrowing authority to tide the government over through the 2012 election. Boehner said he had little interest in a short-term extension either.
Republican aides said Obama had upped his demand for higher taxes during the week. The aides said administration officials had tacitly agreed to $800 billion in new revenue over 10 years but that the White House backed away and wanted $400 billion more.
Aides said the two sides were not able to bridge their differences over the triggers designed to force Congress to enact both tax changes and cuts to Medicare and other benefit programs by early next year. Both sides also were apart on the size of cuts for Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled.
Yet aides on both sides said the negotiations had yielded agreement for cuts of $250 billion from Medicare.
___
Associated Press writers Erica Werner, David Espo, Ben Feller and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) ? US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday kicks off two days of talks with her Asian counterparts focusing on security issues, amid rising tension in the South China Sea.
Clinton arrived on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Thursday after a trip to India where she urged New Delhi to be more assertive in Asia, a message likely to be read with deep suspicion by the government in Beijing.
She will meet her counterparts from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the wider East Asia Summit on Friday, followed a day later by the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
The forum is Asia's premier security dialogue and includes senior ministers and officials from across Southeast Asia as well as China, Japan, the Koreas, Russia and Australia.
Issues such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea, North Korea's nuclear programme, the Thai-Cambodia border dispute and human rights in Myanmar are expected to be discussed in the course of the meetings.
Clinton will also be laying the groundwork for President Barack Obama's visit to Indonesia in November for the East Asia Summit leadership meeting, which will be the first time a US president has attended the forum.
"Clinton has decided that Southeast Asia, specifically ASEAN, will serve as the fulcrum for a long-term Asia strategy," Centre for Strategic and International Studies analyst Ernest Bower wrote in a briefing paper.
He said ASEAN was not more strategically important than India, China, or Japan, but "it is the focal point where the most important geostrategic chess games of the 21st century will be played".
"At times like this, it appears that the secretary of state is the only US cabinet member, except perhaps Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who understands this fact," Bower added.
Clinton's visit comes after China and Southeast Asian nations announced a "breakthrough" in drawn-out talks on their overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The countries endorsed a set of guidelines designed to reduce tensions in the strategic waterway and create an atmosphere conducive to the eventual adoption of a binding code of conduct.
China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan all have overlapping claims to parts of the South China Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits and home to shipping lanes vital to global trade.
US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters in Bali on Thursday that tensions in the South China Sea were "nothing new".
"Everyone realises the complexity of the issues we are dealing with and the important thing is to develop a degree of communication and goodwill among all the players going forward," he said.
Clinton riled the Chinese delegation at the last ARF in Hanoi a year ago when she stated that it was in the United States' "national interest" to keep those shipping routes open for business.
Tensions have escalated in recent months, with the Philippines and Vietnam expressing alarm at what they say are increasingly aggressive Chinese actions.
These include accusations of Chinese forces opening fire on Filipino fishermen, shadowing an oil exploration vessel employed by a Philippine firm, and putting up structures in areas claimed by the Philippines.
Vietnam voiced anger after a Chinese vessel cut the exploration cables of a Vietnamese survey ship in May, and Beijing condemned US-Vietnam naval exercises that began last week off Vietnam's coast.
Source: http://verbium.net/sports-recreation-relieve-stress-and-have-fun/
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Video Caption:
Girl: This is my first birthday. That?s
my Grandma. My cousin Tanya, and boyfriend Kevin. We all live together. It?s cold and
crowded. I hope we move soon. I don?t like Kevin. He?s always yelling.
Boy: This is my second birthday. We?re all in daycare. Strapped in watching TV again.
I wish I could just run around. Girl: This is my third birthday. My brother
William?s taking care of me while my Mom sleeps. She works the night shift. So we can?t
turn up the TV. But we get to go to bed whenever we want.
Girl: This is my fourth birthday. We?re sleeping at my aunt?s this month. I don?t
know when my Dad?s coming home. But I?m hungry, And I miss him.
Boy: This is my fifth birthday. This is my first year of kindergarten. I?m tired. I?m
hungry. I?m unprepared. Because I didn?t get the right start.
A different child says each line: I?m twice as likely to be in special education. Thirty
percent more likely to never go to college. Seventy percent more likely to be arrested
for a violent crime. Become a teen parent. Drop out of school. Never hold a job. Spend
the rest of my life in poverty. Or?if we invest in programs that promote
learning beginning at birth?the statistics will change?our stories will change?our
future will change. Girl: My mom plays with me all the time. She
smiles a lot now. And she knows she?s not alone anymore.
Girl: Grandma, Tanya and Kevin read me a story every night before I go to bed.
Boy: I go to my school every day. Or I get to run and play. And see all my new friends.
Girl: Will and I go to preschool together. Today we learned about dinosaurs. And played
a counting game! Girl: Every morning, my Dad and I brush our
teeth and eat breakfast together. We have our own place now. And I know we?ll always
be together. Boy: This is my first day of kindergarten.
I?m rested, I?m eager, I?m confident, I?m curious, I?m prepared. I?m ready.
I am your future. Change the first five years and you change everything. Anyone interested
in investing? Good evening. I?m Professor Andy Overman
from Macalester College and I?m also fortunate enough to serve on the Ready 4 K Board. I
want to welcome you to our campus, and welcome you to what is a very special, I think, and
important evening. Because in this election season I don?t think there?s any more
crucial issue for us and for our vote and there?s no more future issue for the future
of our state than early education. So before us tonight is a weighty matter. I?m so glad
that you came to join us, and you?re able to join in as the evening progresses and questions
and give and take. Thank you to the candidates for coming, and I look forward to the dialogue
and discussion that ensues. Let me introduce and invite to come forward now the President
of Ready 4 K, and a leader and champion of the early education issue in our state, Todd
Otis. Todd. (applause) Todd Otis: Thank you Andy, and thank you Macalester,
for letting us have this wonderful space. We really appreciate it and it is a momentous
event. This is a really important election year. And as you all feel, I?m sure, this
is a really important issue. I think the video reminds us why we?re all here. The two paths
that kids can take, one way or the other. Many of you are involved in helping
the kids get on the right path. But we still have a long way to go. So. I so appreciate
the fact that we have two of the major candidates here today to talk about this issue. They
go through so much as candidates and as you know this has been an extremely tough campaign.
But they have been speaking out in ways that are new to campaigns for governor in the state.
And it?s highly significant. And highly hopeful. As you know, the format tonight?s
going to be a little different from how the candidates have been during the course of
the election. There?s never been this many debates in, I don?t think, Minnesota history.
And we?ve formatted the evening tonight more like a conversation, more like let?s
hear what you have to say and how you believe in what you think about this issue, and then
let?s have some questions for you and the audience about it. So we?re not here to
make anybody look bad or confront. We?re here to try to understand and reason together.
And we have a wonderful, I think, couple of candidates to do that with. I?d like to just make a couple of comments
about public policy because the governor, our next governor will be the leader in our
state for determining public policy that?s going to have an impact on these little kids.
And so it is important, but it?s not the only thing. And there?s nothing more important
than the parents. But public policy can help give kids what they need. In ways that many
of you are already living in your work lives. So what we?ve done in the last year and
a half is try to put together a common policy agenda with eight organizations to lobby at
the legislature. And so what we have called this agenda is Minnesota?s Future. And i?d
just like to read to you the groups that have been involved in formulating these ideas.
Because it?s significant and important that for the first time, everybody has come together
to identify the common ground that we share on policy. Here are the groups that participated:
Childcare Works, The Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children, Minnesota
School-Age Care Alliance, Minnesota Association for Family and Early Education, Minnesota
Child Care Association, Minnesota Child Care Resources and Referral Network, Minnesota
Coalition for Targeted Home Visiting, Minnesota Community Education Association, Minnesota
Head Start Association, and Ready 4 K. This group has met and worked together to forge
a common policy agenda that?s made up of five parts. I?m just going to tell you very
briefly what they are. The first deals with parent empowerment. Parent education and home
visiting for parents that are in need of that kind of support in their home. Parents are
central to all of this and they need the support we need to give them. We also want to double
the access to quality early learning for low-income kids in our state, so that more and more kids
have access to the kind of quality that happens in high-quality child care or Head Start or
preschool programs. We need to double how many kids have that kind of exposure. We need
a quality rating system, and this is being worked on by a number of people. But right
now The Minnesota Early Learning Foundation, The Department of Human Services, and other
groups are formulating the core idea for that. We need community partnerships as we?ve seen
in northern Minnesota and all over the state. So much energy can happen when people work
together. The program up in Grand Rapids, Invest Early, is a classic example of that.
And then finally the Minnesota?s Future alliance is recommending the creation of a
Cabinet-level position reporting directly to the Governor, so that there is that strict
and strong line of accountability. And it?s elevated as a really important public issue. The issue is growing in momentum. And it?s
so important who we elect. The foundations in this state have been working on this for,
in some cases, decades. But now we have multiple foundations: the Initiative Foundations, the
Early Learning Foundation, the traditional foundations that have created the early childhood,
early childhood partnership as well as the school readiness group of foundations. The
business community is getting more involved. The Early Learning Foundation, Minnesota Business
for Learning, individual Chambers of Commerce, have gotten more and more involved, like TwinWest
in the western suburbs. And the Legislature?s created an Early Childhood Caucus, which is
now numbering over 140 people. There?s momentum for this issue, and so many pieces are falling
together. And what is needed now is a Governor. There?s no state in which this motion, this
issue hasn?t moved without the leadership of a Governor. So who our Governor is, and
how that person really feels about the issue, is critically important. So tonight we?re lucky to have Denise Johnson
moderating our conversations with Tom Horner and Mark Dayton. Denise has been a reporter
with the Miami Herald and the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and is now a very well-respected editorial
writer for the Star Tribune. And so our format will be to have Denise and Tom come up, and
talk about early childhood. Thank you so much, Tom, for coming, and Denise for moderating
this. (applause) Denise Johnson: Thank you Todd. What I?d
like to do is, first of all thank you for inviting me to to address this very important
issue. I?ve been writing and reporting about early childhood education for a number of
years, including back when Minneapolis was one of the early, the first schools to do
preschool screening, and now of course the state is doing that and we know a whole lot
more about where our kids really are before they show up for kindergarten. I?d like
to go over sort of, give you an overview of the ground rules, how we?re going to proceed
this evening. We have given all the questions in advance to the candidates so they know,
they?ve had a chance to think about them, and have kind of prepared remarks. We?ll,
we?ll devote about 10 minutes to asking 3 questions, which means you?ll have about
3 minutes per question. Tom Horner: Right. Denise Johnson: And then the last 10 minutes
with each candidate, we?d like to open it up for questions. So as they are talking,
if you haven?t already, written questions on the cards that are provided, please do
so as the candidates are are responding to these questions and we?ll get some of them
in at the end of their remarks. All right. Let me introduce the candidate,
our first candidate. Tom Horner. Was born and raised in Minneapolis, he?s a graduate
of the University of St. Thomas, worked as a reporter and editor for the Suburban Sun
Newspapers following some time spent in New York. In 1978 Tom joined Dave Durenberger?s
staff as Press Secretary, during the Senator?s first campaign for the U.S. Senate. Then joined
the newly elected Senator in Washington. Tom served as Press Secretary and Chief of Staff
to Durenberger until 1985. After returning to Minnesota, Tom and former
state Legislator John Himle launched the public affairs firm of Himle and Horner Inc. In 1980,
in 1989, where he?s worked until recently. So thank you for being here and welcome. Tom Horner: Thank you. Denise Johnson: And I will start by asking
the first question, and that is children learn and grow most effectively in the context of
strong families. As Governor, how will you support parents to be their children?s first
and best teachers? Tom Horner: Well, thank you for that, and
first of all, thank you for the opportunity to to talk about these important issues. I
also need to comment and make sure everybody understands that when Todd talked about the
number of debates that we?ve had this year, being the highest number ever, you understand
he was talking cumulatively in Minnesota?s 152-year history, that we?ve topped that.
(audience laughs) And we still have another 15 to go. Denise Johnson. Oh. Tom Horner: Although, it seems as if the crowds
on the dais are getting smaller with each debate. Denise Johnson: Laughs Tom Horner: So, to strong families. I think
there are a number of things we can do. And one of the things that I think we need to
be particularly mindful of is that when we?re in a crisis, the priorities that are most
important to us are the ones that do surface. The ones that do elevate. And so I think it
really is important to look at the budget proposals of each of the candidates, to see
where each of us has allocated new money, where we have set priorities. And in my budget,
a couple of things that I think are very important to Minnesota?s future, to our growth, to
our health as a state, and specifically to this issue. Are that strong families start
with healthy families. And so we do need to make sure that families have access to health
care. I?ve set aside money to do the early opt-in to Medicaid. I think that?s important,
that we expand access to health care, that we make sure that families to have the opportunity
to to stay healthy. I think we also need to make sure that families have the opportunity
to have a good economic livelihood. And it?s not enough simply to say that we?re going
to cut taxes and and everything will be wonderful and will grow. We understand, in this kind
of an economy, in this kind of an environment, that we do have to invest in skill development
and training, in job skill enhancement, and those are the kinds of programs that I think
that are very very important. We need to make a commitment to lifelong learning, and so
programs are our two year schools in particular, I think become very very important to make
sure that that we have healthy families. We also need to acknowledge that we are in economic
upheaval. And I think we?re going to see more and more families in crisis before we hit
the bottom and and turn around. And so I do have again new money in in my program for
families in crisis, families in transition, particularly families that might be spiraling
into homelessness. Where we do have to put an investment in in supportive services. The
shelters certainly are important, but we also need to make sure that we have money for supportive
services to help those families. And then on some of the programs specifically for families
with children, I think that ECFE, ECFE is an incredibly important program. My wife,
who is ? there?s Libby, back there ? I have to tell you that, as you mentioned,
I started my political career with Dave Durenberger. Went out to Washington, Dave was elected in
the special election. Two days after the election, he and I flew out to Washington. The very
first person I met in Washington was Libby, who had been a staff person for Senator Muriel
Humphrey, and before that for Senator Hubert Humphrey. So as we tell people we were bipartisan
way before bipartisan was cool. (audience laughs) Denise Johnson: A long time ago. Well let
me move on for a second ? Tom Horner: ? but that was an important, just
quickly, that was an important program for us and even more important for others who
maybe don?t have the resources we did. And then lastly, I do think the home visits program
starting in in pre-natal are very very important to strong families. Tom Horner: Sorry, I got all my stories out
of the way. Denise Johnson. That?s all right. Second
question. Second question. Research shows that children from at -risk families benefit
most from high-quality early childhood programs. They include well-trained teachers, evidence-based
curriculum, low ratios, and parental involvement. As Governor, how would you increase the quality
of early care and educational programs? Tom Horner: Well, and I think that starts
first and foremost with the governor himself to hold the administration, the programs accountable
for quality, to make them transparent, to have very clear measurements, very clear outcomes
that we want to achieve, and then it?s up to the Governor to hold those programs accountable.
But I think we also are blessed in the state to have organizations like the Minnesota Early
Learning Foundation and the organizations it?s working with to really do a rigorous
study of what it takes to have a quality program. What are the elements of a quality program.
As Governor, it is my commitment not only to follow the recommendations of what comes
out of that effort and other efforts that are evaluating equality, but also to put some
teeth into to those standards, into upholding those standards. I think it is important that
we start with programs to incent the use of of high quality providers, but I think then
we have to transition to having some restrictions, particularly in public funds, so that we we
don?t put money into programs that aren?t showing value. So it?s got to be both the
carrot and the stick. Denise Johnson: And question number three.
The high cost of early childhood education makes it difficult for many families, especially
those with low incomes, to afford quality care that can help children get ready for
school. As Governor, what will you do to make high-quality learning experiences more affordable
for families? Tom Horner: Well, so let me cite three areas.
And y?know, first and foremost and I think everybody in this audience certainly would
acknowledge it, we need to put more money into the programs. And so I do, even in a
six billion dollar shortfall budget, I do have new money that I?m proposing for early
childhood learning, for these kinds of programs that do pay such high dividends. So that?s
the first step. The second step, though, is that we do have to be innovators. We have
to look at the kinds of programs that are leveraging dollars, that are taking advantage
of dollars. Todd mentioned what?s going on in Itasca. Everything from the coordination,
the one-application process, that simplifies things. I was talking to some folks who are
in the back row there, from the Osseo district. A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to
visit Fair Oaks Elementary School, age three to grade three school, I think that?s the
kind of innovation that we need, to engage kids early, make them part of the school curriculum
early on. I know there are similar programs like that in St. Paul and elsewhere around
the state. I think those are important programs. I?m proud of the role I played on my service
with Serve Minnesota, the AmeriCorps Board in Minnesota, to help create Minnesota
Reading Corps. A public-private partnership that is engaging mentors to help students,
reach grade level in reading by third grade. I think that?s an important kind of program.
And there are a number of others. So it?s innovation. And then thirdly, we need a Governor
who?s going to be an advocate, to better integrate all of these programs and particularly
to make sure that we can integrate state funding with federal funding, we can break down some
of the programs ? some of the barriers that don?t allow us to easily leverage dollars
in one program. To help fund similar achievement, similar outcomes in other programs. So I think
it?s really those three areas that are most important going forward. Denise Johnson: All right. Well, with that
we?ll entertain some questions from the audience. Let?s look through here. Here?s
one. ?Given the state?s challenges to funding K-twelve and MnSCU and the U of M,
where specifically are you going to find the essential funding we need to invest in our
youngest learners? Tom Horner: Well I think that?s the the critical
question. And so where I?ve found the funding,because I think part of the answer to that is it?s
not just finding the funding, it is making sure that we have a budget stability. One
of the areas where I do disagree with Senator Dayton is his reliance on the income tax.
Because I think that what we?ve seen in Minnesota is that the income tax is a highly volatile
source of revenue. It does contribute to the high peaks and valleys that we?ve had in Minnesota,
and does cause us to go through these wild swings: we can fund this year and we can?t
fund it next year. And so I?m pleased that somebody, some of you may have heard of, Art
Rolnick has looked at the three budget plans from the candidates and has said that mine?s
the best, in part because it does bring stability to to our ability to fund. And so where I
find the money, we are going to have to drive new revenue, new tax revenue. I think though
that it has to be in the form of tax reform, and that?s why I think we need to go to more
of a consumption-based tax, lower the rate on the sales tax so that people buying big
ticket items will pay less, and then expand it to include clothing and some personal services.
I?d still exempt groceries, medical services, prescription drugs, those kinds of essential
services. We can do some protection for low-income on clothing, maybe it?s exempting children?s
clothing or items a hundred dollars and less, but it?s a stable
source of revenue. It is a source of revenue that is going to allow us to make long-term
commitments to these kinds of important programs: early childhood education all the way through,
including post-secondary opportunities. Denise Johnson: I think you said about 360
million you want to put into a combination of those things: early childhood, Tom Horner: Yes. Denise Johnson: education, how much of that
360 million specifically would go to early ed and where would that come from? That would
come from that same pool? Tom Horner: Right. Denise Johnson: Funds? Tom Horner: Right. And, and, you know, we
are going to have to do some spending cuts and I?ve been very up front on that. I think
that we need to cut some of those programs that aren?t providing value. Some of the subsidy
programs like ethanol and JOBZ. I think there are better ways to create jobs, to spur economic
development in Minnesota, than those subsidies. So some of the money is going to come from
new tax revenue. Some of the money is going to come from spending cuts. Some of the money
is going to come from doing things better. Denise Johnson: Next question. Minnesota?s
rural communities have unique challenges delivering early learning services. How will you insure
rural communities? needs are addressed? Tom Horner: Well again, I think we do that
in part by making sure as it has been suggested and I certainly endorse, going to a Cabinet
level council on children. That we make sure that that it has the Governor?s ear, that
the Governor becomes the leading advocate for statewide delivery of these services.
We can?t have a strong state without strong, healthy rural communities. And so we do need
to make sure that these services are available throughout Minnesota. That means that we are
going to have to address the pay issue, so that providers are able to operate in ruralMinnesota,
they?re attracted to rural Minnesota. It means we?re going to have to make sure that we have
strong education programs, a strong ECFE- and other delivery programs throughout Minnesota.
I think it?s an area where programs like I?ve been involved in, Minnesota Reading Corp,
have particular application to rural Minnesota. So it?s all of these things. But I?ll
also say that to make sure that we have strong programs and early childhood learning in child
care, in all of these areas, we do need a rural Minnesota that has a strong, healthy
economy. And so part of that is going to come in investments that we make in the infrastructure
for rural Minnesota, in making sure that we?re not abandoning our rural health care providers
that ? look what?s happening right now. With General Assistance Medical Care, the
disastrous decisions that were made there by Democrats and Republicans, then the fallout
that that?s going to have on the the vitality of rural Minnesota communities. These are
all pieces of the whole. And if we allow one piece to collapse, then we?re going to see
the whole collapse. And so we do need a strong economy, a strong health infrastructure, a
strong physical infrastructure, a strong education system in rural Minnesota. All of
these things are part of it. Denise Johnson: Studies show that return on
investment is higher with early childhood than all-day kindergarten. Where will you
put your investment with limited resources between the two of those. Tom Horner: Well and I?ve been very clear.
I think the first dollar has to go into early learning and that?s where I put my money,
that?s where I put the priorities. I think that is where we?re going to get the best
return. And again, part of it is, and for political purposes, I bless Art Rolnick for
coming up with a formula. I mean, it is very very important, but we also need to look at
it in terms of where are we going to help the citizens of our state, the residents of
our state, to be the most successful. And I think it is, in in early learning, particularly
with some of the creative programs that are coming on line now. Denise Johnson: All right. Attention to early
childhood issues is often focused on ages three to five. Yet the science indicates that
a quarter ? a quarter? a GREATER return on investments targeted to prenatal to three.
How would you work to ensure a more equitable distribution of resources toward very early
development? Tom Horner; Yeah, and I?ll be honest with
you, well, I think the prenatal to three is a high priority, it ought to be funded, I
think the home visits are incredibly important. When you talk about a more equitable distribution
of resources, that?s where I?m going to need the expertise of of people like those
in the room and others. That?s where we have the value of a Governor?s-level Children?s
Cabinet position to help guide me, to help make sure that as I take advantage of the
bully pulpit, as I use the resources of the governor?s office, to be an advocate for all
of these programs. I also want to be a smart advocate. So I need people who are smarter
than I am on some of these specific issues. Denise Johnson: Okay. Would you support a
loan forgiveness program for degreed early childhood teachers? Tom Horner: Um, maybe. I mean I think it?s
certainly worthwhile looking at. We have to see what the cost is, we have to see how it
fits into the other priorities, we have to see where it fits into a six billion dollar
shortfall. I think those are exactly the kinds of innovative programs though that we need
to look at to make sure that we are getting the highest quality people into the service.
I think when you look at what we?ve been able to do, for example, in health care with some
of the loan forgiveness programs, particularly to get health care providers into rural Minnesota.
Y?know the University of Minnesota-Duluth Medical School is, I believe, the nation?s
leader in providing physicians into rural Minnesota. Because of some of these creative
programs. Is it important at the same level that we
have not only healthy bodies but healthy minds? Minds that are able to get a good start in
life through these kinds of programs? Absolutely. So we ought to look at it. We ought to be
creative. We ought to look at the long term. You know one of the things that I keep raising
to every group is that we need to more and more, to ask the question of ?What for??
not just ?How much?? What are the outcomes that we need to achieve? What is it that?s
going to make Minnesota a successful state? An economically prosperous state for all Minnesotans?
That?s not, that?s not a question that gets answered if all we?re asking is ?How
much are we going to spend?? We need to ask ?What for?? and then how do we use
our dollars most efficiently against very clear outcomes? Denise Johnson: Does early childhood education
have a claim to funding that is equal to the K-12 claims? Tom Horner: Oh, equal to, sure. I mean, I
think that, and I?ve said this to all groups. I think we need to more and more look at education
as a seamless lifetime process. I think that we can?t any longer sort out and say ?This
piece of education is more important than that piece.? When we see that the data are
compelling. That if we don?t have healthy children by age three, if we don?t have
children prepared for success by the time they come into kindergarten, if we don?t have
kids reading at age level by grade three, you just move right up the ladder. And so
to pull out any one piece of it and say ?This is more important than that? or ?This
is less important? destroys the whole. We can?t afford to do that anymore. So we do
have to look at it as a seamless process. And again, I think that?s what you get to
get to when you start setting outcomes. What is it that we need to have an economically
prosperous state? And I think in Dane Smith, in his op-ed this morning, addressed one of
those outcomes. We need more Minnesotans who have some post-secondary certification: degrees,
training, some kind of connection to post-secondary education. I think that?s one very important
outcome. But I think a second important outcome that we need as a state is that we ought to
make available, affordable, accessible, to all Minnesotans, lifelong learning. Skills
development, job training. We?re in an economy, in an age, where we can never stop thinking
about education. And if you start with those two outcomes, lifelong access, and more degreed
Minnesotans, more certified Minnesotans, then you just back up and follow the process. And
each piece is important because you don?t accomplish the next step if you haven?t
done the preceding step. Denise Johnson: Too often, early childhood
issues have fallen to the bottom of the list in previous Legislatures and I?m wondering
how you?ll change that. Tom Horner: By being a different kind of Governor
than what we?ve had. (Denise Johnson, audience laugh) Tom Horner: I mean, again, budgets are strategic
blueprints. And one of the things that I believe all three of the candidates for governor this
year have done well for the voters of Minnesota is that not only the 12,000 debates that we?ve
done or whatever number we?re up to (moderator and audience laugh), but that we?ve also put
out very specific proposals. Y?know, do some of them have some gaps here, some gaps
there? Absolutely. But are they pretty clear strategic blueprints of the principles, priorities
of each of the gubernatorial candidates? I think so. And so you can look at mine, at
Horner2010.com, and what you?ll see is new funding for exactly the kinds of the programs
that we are talking about. There are other programs that I think also are important that
I don?t have new funding for. I?d love to be able to say that we?re going to go through
and we?re going to rebuild every road and we?re going to do a billion-dollar bonding
bill. I don?t think we can afford a billion-dollar bonding bill and still do this. I don?t think
that we can say, as some have said ?What a tragedy,? and I think it is, that that
per pupil funding has been effectively reduced by some 1300 dollars per student over the
last couple of years. It is. I agree with it. Can we afford to do that? Not in a six
billion dollar shortfall. Not with these other priorities. And so you can?t promise everything
to everybody. And you can?t promise to do nothing for anybody. You have to take a budget
and say ?Here are my priorities.? And I think people will look at my budget, and
what you?ll see is exactly what I?ve talked about: new money for the early opt-in to Medicaid,
new money for early childhood education, new money for families in crisis. All of the things
that I?ve discussed here, I have in my budget proposal very specifically, and with those
priorities, I?m also very clear in telling other constituencies, as much as I love them,
that there?s not money for their priorities right now. Doesn?t mean we can?t get to
it until ? at some point in the future, but right now we do have to set priorities.
And when everything?s a priority, nothing?s a priority. And I think what?s going to
be most important is a Governor who understands that Republicans, Democrats, Independence
Party, if that next Governor doesn?t have the ability, the commitment to engage the
60, 70% of Minnesotans who have been pushed to the sidelines exactly on issues like this,
we?re never going to accomplish anything in the next four years. If we wait for the legislature
to forge consensus of these difficult issues with a six billion dollar shortfall, we?re
going to be waiting a long time. It is going to take a Governor who has the ability, the
commitment, the passion, to reach out, forge consensus in the public?s mind on these
critical issues, and then bring that consensus that legislature. That?s what I?ve done in
my 40 years of community service, of public service, of professional service That?s
what I offer as the next Governor of Minnesota. Denise Johnson: How would you help poor, I?m
sorry the working poor people, making $20,000 to $40,000 a year afford quality early care
and education? Tom Horner: Well again, I mean I think one
of the things that we have to do is look at it holistically. And so we do have to make
sure that the working poor, for example, have access to health care. We can?t, they can?t
afford to spiral down even further. So health care becomes a an important component of it.
I think secondly we do need to make sure that they have the opportunity for training, to
get the skills to get into good jobs. You look at our great two-year schools around
the state, and there are terrific programs that are providing skills for jobs that exist,
jobs that are good, well-paying jobs in Minnesota. So we need to make sure they have access to
those kinds of programs. But then thirdly as I said, you know the bottom line is affordability
for many Minnesotans on some of these quality programs comes down to our ability, our willingness,
our commitment to fund the program. That?s why I have new money in there. Now I also
have new money, and one of the things I?m most proud of in the budget, a budget that
does balance by the way, is I have money in my budget for what I?m calling innovation
funds. Three funds in academic success, health care, and community vitality. In which we
can fund innovation. We can take great ideas, and we can say ?Here are the resources to
pay for it.? Because we can?t be a state that?s always looking in the rear-view mirror,
figuring out what worked ten years ago, and let?s just replicate that. It?s a different
economy, it?s a different population, it?s a different everything. We need to be looking
ten years to the future, and I think one of the things that that these innovation funds
do is really spur boldness among Minnesotans. Because we?re not a state that suffers from
a lack of creativity, a lack of great ideas. We?re a state that right now suffers from
a lack of leadership, and a lack of political will. And so as we move more and more to what
I think are important priorities in how we budget, in how we govern, to start to manage
our priorities around very specific outcomes, I think these innovation funds give us the
opportunity to really be creative and take on some of these issues an entirely new ways. Denise Johnson: How will you support the development
of children?s creativity, given that lifetime accomplishment is correlated with creativity
when people are young? Tom Horner: Yeah, well let me just give you
one example, and I?m sure there are many others. I think we as a state are going to
have to have a very very honest conversation about No Child Left Behind. I think one of
the things NCLB has done that we wouldn?t have today is that it has highlighted the
disparities in education. It has highlighted the achievement gap. But look. We have schools
right now that that don?t suffer from a lack of creative teachers, don?t suffer from a
lack of expert teachers, great principals, engaged parents. We have schools that suffer
from the rigidity that has been imposed upon them by things like No Child Left Behind.
And as a consequence, we have thousands of Minnesota kids that aren?t even showing
up at school! I mean, it?s not a matter of ?How would we make them more creative??,
it?s a matter of ?How do you get their butts in the seats?? (audience laughs) And you
know, and and that?s the reality of It. We have thousands more kids who are completely
unmotivated, who have just tuned out. And again, that?s not the fault of teachers.
We have great teachers! But when teachers are said, ?Here is a very rigid procedure
that you have to follow, a very rigid curriculum,? their hands are tied. And so, one answer,
I believe, is we?ve got to have an honest conversation about whether or not No Child
Left Behind is working for us, whether or not the teaching to the test is the right
answer, and I think we?re losing a lot of opportunity to engage kids creatively, to
engage them in project learning. And in doing so, to motivate the students. I mean, we keep
thinking about education productivity, the issues by only looking at one half of the
labor equation: the teacher. The other half of the labor equation are the workers, the
students. And we?d better engage them. Physically by getting them back into schools, emotionally
and mentally by making schools engaging, motivating, creative. We have the teachers who can do
that. Now we need to give them the authority, the economy, to let teachers teach. Denise Johnson: Here?s a question for you.
As a third-party candidate, how will you bring all the established players to the table?
To pass early childhood initiatives, when without the same kind of party base that other
Governors have had in the past? Tom Horner: Well, I suppose the obvious question
back to the audience would be, ?How well has it been working the last several years??
(moderator, audience laugh) The more thoughtful answer would be, I think it?s only an Independent
who can do that. Because again I think on these kinds of issues, in this kind of an
environment, with a six billion dollar shortfall, with a lot of competition for very few resources,
it is not going to be the legislature. It is not going to be the interest groups,as
talented as committed as passionate as you are. It?s going to be engaging parents,
engaging businesses, engaging the other stakeholders in figuring out what?s best for our state.
And when we take an honest look, a scientifically rigorous look at what?s best for the state,
these issues pop up right to the top. That?s what a Governor can do. That?s particularly
what an Independent Governor can do. We?ve got to engage the 60 to 70 percent of Minnesotans
who have been pushed to the sidelines. Gridlock, y?know is not just Tom Emmer and Mark Dayton,
the Democratic caucus, the Republican caucus. It is everything behind them. And the only
way that we?re going to break through that is if we have a Governor to engage you, and
to engage the five million people of Minnesota behind you, make them part of the solution,
engage them. And then secondly, a Governor who says ?Now I have a consensus in the
public, I have the public support.? Now that we need is a Governor who says, ?Look,
I would never go into this office promising to be a one-tern Governor. You can?t be
a lame duck from day one. But I?ve always said this. I will go in with the commitment
that I?ll be the political lightning rod. I?ll bring, with the support of the public,
Democrats, Republicans, Independents, to the table, and if they?re willing to take the
tough votes, if they?re willing to do the right thing, I?ll give them the political
cover. And we?ll get minnesota moving in the right direction. And if the consequences of
that are that I?m not re-elected for a second term, Libby?s really good with that. (audience
laughs) Denise Johnson: So be it. Well, thank you? Tom Horner: Thank you! Denise Johnson: ? for being here. We appreciate
it so much. Tom Horner: I?ve enjoyed the conversation
very much. And thank you all. Denise Johnson: And thank you for your questions! (Begin Mark Dayton segment) Denise Johnson: You know something about the
ground rules here. You?ve been given the questions in advance. I?ll ask each of them,
each of those three questions to you. And try to keep your responses to maybe about
three minutes for each question. And then we have questions from the audience. All right? Mark Dayton: Okay. Denise Johnson: Just by way of introduction,
Mark Dayton was born in Minneapolis and raised in Long Lake. He attended Long Lake Elementary
School and Blake School in Hopkins. He graduated cum laude from Yale University, where he notes
he also played Division One hockey. After college, Senator Dayton taught ninth grade
science for two years in a New York City public school. He served as Commissioner of the Minnesota
Department of Economic Development, and of Energy and Economic Development in the Perpich
administration, as State auditor from 1991 to 95. And as the United States Senator from
2000 to 2006. Welcome. Denise Johnson: So why don?t we, why don?t
we plunge right in with the questions. The first one Mark Dayton: Well, let me just say, since
you brought up hockey, Denise, that I played high school against Todd Otis. (audience laughs) Denise Johnson: Who won? Mark Dayton: I won?t tell you what happened,
(moderator laughs) but I haven?t, I haven?t forgiven him yet for that. Denise Johnson: Ahhh?. (laughs) Okay. Well,
the first question. Children learn and grow most effectively in the context of strong
families. As Governor, how will you support parents to be their children?s first and
best teachers? Mark Dayton: Well, my two sons are 30 and
almost 27. But I can still remember when they were first born, and how overwhelming those
new responsibilities seemed to be. So I sympathize with the inherent nature of that, and I?m
looking to see a rival right over there, that?s really appropriate for this. And y?know,
for parents whose lives are even more overwhelming than mine, the experience can be more thus,
overwhelming for them. So y?know, the kind of programs that are already underway, where
we support parents, whether it be through early parenting programs or whether it?s
through the nurse partnerships in 17 counties, it may be a different approach in different
family situations, but certainly the goal ought to be that every parent would have everywhere
in Minnesota would have the support that they need to be the kind of parent that they want
to be. Perhaps the kind of parent that they never had themselves. And so that every child
can have the quality parents that he or she deserves, and needs. Denise Johnson: All right. Research is the
second question. Research shows that children from at -risk families benefit most from high-quality
early childhood programs that include well-trained teachers, evidence-based curriculum, low ratios,
and parental involvement. As Governor, how will you increase the quality of early care
and education programs? Mark Dayton: Well, quality is essential, because
again from my own experience, you can?t ask a one-year-old or eight-year ? an eighteen
month old, well, y?know, ?How was your day at daycare?? And my wife Alida and I
had the horror when my older son Eric was about four, taking him to a summer program,
and he almost drowned the first day because of the inattention of a couple of young and
inexperienced staff. And of course we took them immediately out of that program, but
it was almost too late. And I don?t want any parent to ever have to experience the
horror that we narrowly avoided that day. So, quality, and particularly if we?re going
to make additional investments in expanding these opportunities as we will if I?m Governor,
assuring quality is absolutely essential. And how that?s best achieved, whether it?s
through the pilot program that?s now being undertaken in terms of quality assessment,
whether how it, who best performs it; I don?t want it to become overly bureaucratic as some
of these quality assessment devices do, they just sort of overload that process. But we
do need quality assurance, and especially as I say if we?re going to increase and
expand the opportunities that we need to be able to ensure that we?re providing parents
and children with quality, and I would deter to the experts in the field. Whether it?s
through this, the early family council that?s now Early Childhood Council that the Governor
established, Governor Pawlenty, or whether it?s through some other group, or whether
it?s the creation of a new entity to help guide us through this expansion. Denise Johnson. Okay. And the third question.
The high cost of early childhood education makes it difficult for many families, especially
those with low incomes, to afford quality care that can help children get ready for
school. As Governor, what will you do to make high-quality learning experiences more affordable
for families? Mark Dayton: Well, we?re going to need to
increase the public investment. And we will if I?m Governor. We (unclear) to partnering
with, with businesses, with non-profits, with the foundations, and create public/private
partnerships that will help expand access and the affordability of quality early childhood
care. Some people would say we can?t afford it, I would say we can?t afford not to do
it. Because the stakes are so high in terms of the kind of adults that these children,
eventually young people, will become. So, so whether it?s the 180 million that has
been estimated to double the number of at-risk children by the year 2015, and I would hope
that goal could ? at times it?s a worthy goal, and I would hope if anything that timetable
could be accelerated. Because there are so many children whose lives are literally at
stake in this undertaking. And where those resources would come from, again with the
budget situation we face in the state, I mean obviously everybody knows that the general
fund is going to be hard-pressed, but hopefully, as the economy improves, as more people are
going to work, as the Vice-President assured us today, they will be, with their efforts,
that we?ll have more resources, and this certainly early childhood on with, I?ve
also proposed state funding for optional all-day kindergarten, along with funding for K-12
education, education starting at birth. And the support of families in providing those
educational experiences certainly ought to be our top priority. And y?know, the people
of Minnesota have shown with the Legacy Amendment, they?ve shown with their support of various
school referenda that they?re willing to even vote to increase their own taxes selectively
for causes they believe in. And I believe if it?s necessary to be creative, it?s
certainly possible. I would certainly be willing to look with those involved to make the case
to Minnesotans that early childhood education and this goal of doubling the access in Minnesota
is a worthy one, and one that?s worthy of their support. And I believe that Minnesotans
would support this. If they knew that this is where the resources were going, that the
quality had been assured, and that the result was going to be that we could double that
opportunity. Denise Johnson: Senator, you?ve said that
you would not, or you would support the two million dollars into early childhood education
that the Governor, the current Governor, vetoed. Where would that two million dollars come
from and what specifically would you use it for? Mark Dayton: Well, I believe you?re referring
to the bonding bill he, that Pawlenty vetoed for 19 different facilities, early childhood
facilities, and for the life of me I can?t imagine why he did that. Y?know, these were,
what I?m told, projects ready to go, so-called shovel-ready projects, the ideal ones in terms
of putting people back to work in the building trades. My commitment, if I?m Governor,
is to move the bonding bill traditionally from the even year to the odd-numbered year,
to next year. I?d like to ask the Legislature to take it up in January and pass it in early
February so that all those projects could be ready to go by the beginning of the next
construction season. And I?ve said that the projects that were vetoed by Governor
Pawlenty would be the first in line in my provision for it. And obviously the Legislature
would have to concur, but they did last time, so I have every reason to believe they would
again this time. Denise Johnson. Okay. And we?ll go to some
of the questions from the audience that were collected. ?Given the state?s challenges
to funding K-12 and MnSCU and the U of M, where specifically are you going to find the
essential funding we need to invest in our youngest learners? Mark Dayton: Well, I?m going to raise revenues
by making the income tax even more progressive, and indicated that I would raise revenues
by asking the highest income people in Minnesota, the top four percent according to the Minnesota
Department of Revenue, to contribute more to our state. And I would go to those successful
individuals with just this request: that the y?know increase the taxes that they pay
for a very important reason, which is the education of our children. And given that
the forty percent of the state budget now goes to K-12 education, 8% to higher education,
but y?know less than 1%, I think it?s three-fourths of 1% to early childhood education.
I mean even doubling that to 1 ? or 2% would actually then bring the state, and I think
appropriately so, the state budget up to about 50%, where half, you say half of the money
that you?re contributing with your taxes to the state of Minnesota is going to the
education of our children. And to our young adults. And I would say that, along with public
safety, are the two most important responsibilities of our state government. And I think education
in the past has shown to be an area where Minnesotans have been willing to make an extra
commitment and I think Minnesotans would be appalled if they knew
the cuts in state funding for education, where we?ve fallen in ranking relative to other
states, because I know Minnesotans? values are education. And I know, and I would point
out again that our budget is as much about our values and our priorities as it is about
dollars and cents. And I think Minnesotans share that value and are willing to make that
a priority. Denise Johnson: What tools of the governor?s
office will you use to raise resources and the profile of early education in areas that
traditionally don?t support it? Mark Dayton: Well, I guess I would defer to
the expert. I mean, who doesn?t support it? I would like to believe that there?s
broad support. I just may not be broad public recognition. The importance of it. Y?know
I mean I give credit to all of you, I think this is recognition of the importance of early
childhood education, which Don Fraser and others have championed in years before. I
mean when I was in college a long time ago, over 40 years ago, my senior year I volunteered
at a Head Start program in New Haven. And it was known back then that children in Head
Start got a tremendous assist in their readiness for whatever was next: preschool, kindergarten.
And yet even today you know there?s only enough federal funding for less than half the children
in this country who are eligible for Head Start. So we?ve known some of these, and
Don and others have reminded us, to their enormous credit, of the need for this, and
true visionaries, it?s an overused word, but I would ascribe that to Mayor Fraser and
others. And I think now people recognize! Certainly the experts recognize. I think the
business community is increasingly recognizing. So hopefully this is, as I said, is an idea
whose time has come. To borrow from someone else?s phrase, and to really you know not
even convince people, that just make people aware of how we?re under supporting what?s
necessary to be done. And suggesting to people that here?s an opportunity. To put the heart
and soul of Minnesota with those who are most in need, who are the most vulnerable, but
who stand ready, if we give them the opportunity by realizing their own potential to be all
of our salvation. Because we need everybody to be successful in this society. In order
for all of us, especially in my generation, who?s gonna depend on them, to be able to
carry us forward. 54:18 Denise Johnson: How would you distribute resources
for early childhood among these programs, and why? And the programs that the questioner
has listed are ECFE, Head Start, School Readiness, and Child Care. 54:35 Mark Dayton: Well, I would defer to the experts
on it. Y?know, I don?t pretend to have that expertise, but there are a lot of people
who do, and whether again it?s the early childhood advisory council that Governor Pawlenty
set up or whether it?s some other entity, and obviously the Legislature would be involved,
and that council has members of the Legislature as well as people appointed by the leadership
of the Legislature. So some way we can, you know, that?s what the process is, by which
we allocate resources. And I would defer to those of you. But rather than, y?know, trying
to distribute, if you?re trying to distribute an insufficient amount of money, y?know
that you inevitably get people placed in competition who really are allies in this endeavor, and
so hopefully in this case if we?re looking at, and sometimes if you?re expanding resources
you get some competition too. But y?know, that would be the goal I think, if we?re
gonna be expanding the commitment as we should, that we can ask people, y?know in good faith
to be supportive of one another and then again look at the measures of effectiveness and
see what?s most cost effective. Denise Johnson: The compensation for early
childhood educators, particularly child care, is quite low. What strategies will you use
to ensure that providers are paid well enough, incent them to participate in professional
development opportunities to improve quality and stabilize the workforce? Mark Dayton: Well, I remember we sent our
boys to this wonderful couple that ran a family day care in southeast Minneapolis, and they
computed if they put in all the hours what they were paid it was about half, half the
minimum wage. So you?re right, y?know, the underfunding again where some of the affordability
issues for lower-income families but also for middle-income families. Because as they
pointed out if they were to raise their rates, give them the pay they really were earning,
then they would y?know be less affordable for working families in terms of sending especially
you know if they have a couple of children in daycare at the same time. So so whether
it?s again until the public investment or the public-private partnership or federal
child care credits or whether it?s some state version of that, whatever, if the budget
were to permit, but we need to keep looking for ways where we can make it more affordable
and therefore allow those who are getting paid for doing tremendously important work
to earn a fair living by doing so. Denise Johnson: Minnesota?s rural communities
have unique challenges delivering early learning services. How will you insure rural community
needs are addressed? Mark Dayton: Well, it?s where again I think
it?s promising there are 17 counties involved in the nurse partnership. Because that evidence
says to me that there?s a, without knowing exactly which counties they are, but there
is a geographical diversity there, which is really crucial. So you know that?s where
you get to more rural areas where the population is more dispersed, more of an outreach service
well may be necessary. So it?s not one size fits all, and y?know we?re going to have
to provide resources and we?re gonna have to have guidance from people from all over
the state of Minnesota, and legislators who represent the different parts to make sure
that these services are appropriate to the different areas of the state. 57:49 Denise Johnson: All right. Studies show that
return on investment is higher with early childhood than all-day kindergarten. Where
will you put your investment and limited resources if you have to choose between these two? What
will you do? Mark Dayton: Both. Denise Johnson: Both? (audience laughs) Mark Dayton: I mean, y?know I just, no.
I don?t accept the premise of either/or. I?d say both. Denise Johnson: You think both of them are
important, but there are limited resources! I mean, you feel you?ll be able to raise
the amount that?s necessary in order to do both of those things? Mark Dayton: Y?know, Tom Harkin said that
for every complex issue there?s always a simple answer. And it?s almost always wrong.
(audience laughs) Again, I don?t think it?s either/or. Denise Johnson: All right. Mark Dayton: The kids that were doing better
in Head Start, coming out of Head Start, y?know if they didn?t have a continuation, have
lost some of those gains. So I mean, as I say, to me it really needs to be both. We
have less than half of the national average of children in all-day kindergarten today.
In Minnesota. Y?know. A state again, where we value this. I mean if we see education
as a continuum, is it is starting with early childhood and starting with very early childhood
for children who need that, and for parents who need that help as well, that it seems
to me you want it to be continuous. You don?t want to see it y?know drop the balls after
getting some gains. Denise Johnson: All right. Mark Dayton: Diversely, as you know, having
children ready for kindergarten. Which is the name of this supporting organization,
has set its own priorities as well. So, I mean I guess I just don?t accept that it?s
either/or. Denise Johnson: All right. Mark Dayton: Or shouldn?t be. Denise Johnson: Attention to early childhood
issues is often focused on ages three to five. Yet the science indicates a greater return
on investment targeted to prenatal to age three. How would you work to ensure a more
equitable distribution of resources toward very early learners? Very early childhood
development? The prenatal to the three-year-olds? Mark Dayton: Now we?ve got pre-natal to
three against three to five against all-day kindergarten? (audience laughs) I mean, again
I say it?s a continuum. And y?know there?s validity in all of these areas, and importance
in all of these areas, so that there needs to be a continuum in all these areas where
you start with very early and then continue through. And again I?ll defer to those,
you have greater expertise than I do, in terms of y?know allocation, but y?know it?s
one I think again that should recognize the importance of that continuum. Denise Johnson: What kind of support do you
think the state should give to very early learning groups? Mark Dayton: Well again I think it?s Denise Johnson: Do you have specifics in terms
of the kinds of things you think the state should fund? Perhaps that it doesn?t fund
now? Mark Dayton: Again, earlier, we talked about
the parenting. That?s important. About the at-home and the nurse partnerships. So I would
say y?know again, it?s a variety of services reflecting the different needs of the parents
and the very young children and the different geographical environments, whether it?s
y?know urban or more rural, I mean again that?s where the expertise ? Rudy Perpich
had a sign in his office wall that I?ll put back up if I?m Governor. It says ?None
of us are as smart as all of us.? So I believe that we need to enlist those of you who have
this expertise and enlist your involvement and input. And if I?m Governor I?ll gladly
do so. Denise Johnson: Would you support a loan forgiveness
program for degreed early childhood teachers? Mark Dayton: I?d certainly consider it.
I mean I?d have to look and see what it ? you mean forgiveness of student loans?
Is that what you?re asking? Mark Dayton: Well, most student loans are
federal, but y?know, and there?s also important areas like nursing and especially
in areas of the state that need that and others. So, but, y?know if we?re gonna look at
a constellation of occupations where loan forgiveness would be appropriate, this would
certainly be one of them. But I?d have to look at the financial implications of that. Denise Johnson: All right. Does early childhood
education have a claim to funding that is equal to the K-12 claim? Mark Dayton: Well, they?re equal in a sense
that yes, they?re both, they?re all important. Yes. Denise Johnson: Well, is, as you know, early
childhood education issues have sort of fallen to the bottom of the list in many Legislative
sessions Mark Dayton: Well, that?s why I say ? Denise Johnson: What would you do to change
that? Mark Dayton: ? I think it?s an idea whose
time has come. Y?know, obviously we have a commitment already established for K-12,
K-12 education, and it?s really first through 12 since as I say the kindergarten commitment,
Minnesota is one of the relatively few states that doesn?t? provide state funding for
optional all-day kindergarten. So, y?know y?know, not to, and I?m committed to increase
state funding for public K-12 education every year I?m Governor. So I?m not gonna take
away from that. And, I?d like, and, so I?d like to increase the funding for very early
childhood until beginning of kindergarten. As I say, make state funding for optional
all-day kindergarten another initiative, so again it?s again all of it, and all of a
continuum? y?know I just think it would be unfortunate if y?know people who share
a common concern for the well being of our children, which everyone who is involved with
this does, I mean gets into y?know this one versus that one. Because I think it?s
all. Denise Johnson: Okay. How will you support
the development of children?s creativity, given that lifetime accomplishment is correlated
with childhood creativity? Mark Dayton: Say again? Denise Johnson: How would you support the
development of children?s creativity? Mark Dayton: Creativity! Well, as someone
who almost failed fourth-grade art, (moderator, audience laugh) ?cause I couldn?t make
a soap boat, (moderator laughs) that?s a way to stifle creativity. (audience laughs)
But I mean y?know that?s one of the areas in which again you can talk about the opportunities
in early childhood. I remember seeing my children?s art and thinking my goodness, there?s a
free flow quality to their imaginations at the very early ages that really just needs
to be nurtured and allowed, or given the opportunity for manifestation, and then as they start
to get a little older, y?know, I would, some of that was lost. So it really does becom
Source: http://windymate.com/innovation/childrens-forum-debate/
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