Empire of Illusion (2009) …item 2.. Zakk Wylde – Book of Shadows [Full Album] …item 3.. Rick Snyder, Michigan Gov., Declares Detroit Financial Emergency Exists (03/02/2013 2:20 pm EST) …


Image by marsmet551
The emergency manager law itself has also caused concern. The current law, PA 72, was replaced in 2011 by PA 4 to strengthen the powers of emergency financial managers appointed to struggling municipalities and school districts. After PA 4 was repealed by state voters in November, legislators rushed PA 436 through a lame duck session in December. The new law will take effect March 28.
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……..*****All images are copyrighted by their respective authors ……..
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… message header for Empire of Illusion (2009)

In this New York Times bestseller, Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Chris Hedges has written a shattering meditation on American obsession with celebrity and the epidemic of illiteracy that threatens our cultural integrity.

Reporting on such phenomena as professional wrestling, the pornographic film industry, and unchecked casino capitalism, Hedges exposes the mechanisms used to divert us from confronting the economic, political, and moral collapse around us.

Empire of Illusion shows us how illiteracy and the embrace of fantasy have impoverished our working class, allowed for the continuance of destructive public policy, and ushered in cultural bankruptcy.
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…..item 1)…. Graduating seniors plan post-college life … FSU News … www.fsunews.com …

Students talk about what they’re doing to prepare post-college life
12:30 AM, Feb. 4, 2013 |
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img code photo … Albert and Judith Dunlap Student Success Center

cmsimg.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=CD&D…

FSU seniors graduating in the spring have a variety of post-college plans—including joining the Peace Corps, going to law school and taking a year off. / Layni Case/FSView

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Written by
Layni Case
Staff Writer

FILED UNDER
FSU News
FSU News Life

www.fsunews.com/article/20130204/FSVIEW0101/130204004/Gra…|topnews|text|frontpage

There are only a couple months left in the semester until graduation. At first glance, it may seem like more than enough time for those who are graduating in May, but don’t get too comfortable.

You’ve heard the horror stories of it taking anywhere from a month to even a year for graduates to get their feet in the door of their prospective career fields. It’s not easy to find a job, especially in today’s market, so why put yourself at risk when recent graduates seem to have the most difficult time finding employment?

Senior Caitlin Strawder is one of many students who have opted to take a year off inbetween her undergraduate career and graduate school.

“I’m preparing for as many possibilities as I can,” said Strawder. “I’m working with social development, I’m teaching English in Latin America or working with International Development with some sort of NGO as well as applying for the Peace Corps.”

Strawder has taken the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and is currently working with Florida State University’s Office of National Fellowships to find scholarships and other programs to help her finance graduate school.

Rather than going straight into grad school, senior Jessica Mieiro has a different plan. Working full time, she hasn’t had the opportunity to take on an internship. Mieiro has attended job fairs that FSU regularly puts on every semester, which she believes are great networking events for students.

“I’ve just been networking like no other,” Mieiro said. “I really feel that now, it’s all about who you know. I’ve found that I meet more people at my job, and because of it, I already have a lot of offers in Tampa and South Florida.”

Megan Waldeck, the Assistant Director Student Outreach and Recruitment Services at The Career Center, says seniors can benefit from the services the center has to offer.
“At the Career Center, we provide you with the resources you need to find jobs and internships,” said Waldeck.

The resources mentioned include Seminole Link, a platform for FSU students to connect with employers. The center also offers mock interviews, resume and cover letter help and pamphlets on tips for interviews. The Career Center releases a Career Guide every year that informs students about everything they need to know about their specific career path.

Seniors Callie Grossman and Alfred Davis are on the law school path. Both have already taken the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), though Davis is still taking his time to consider all of his options.

“I know there’s a lot of debt that comes with law school so I’m just trying to be wise, and really think about it before I make this decision with my life,” Davis said. “I’m trying to find a job right now, before I graduate, so I have something to do should I decide to take a year off.”

Graduating seniors should look at the bigger picture: have a plan for what you want to do and make sure you take the necessary steps to get there. Make sure you consider all of your options, and be open to opportunities you might not have originally planned.
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…..item 2)…. youtube video … Zakk Wylde – Book of Shadows [Full Album] … 59:03 minutes …

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t-6seugXNc

Published on Dec 8, 2012
Zakk Wylde – Book of Shadows [Full Album]

Category
Music

License
Standard YouTube License
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…..item 3)…. Rick Snyder, Michigan Gov., Declares Detroit Financial Emergency Exists …

HUFFINGTON POST … www.huffingtonpost.com …

Posted: 03/01/2013 12:04 pm EST | Updated: 03/02/2013 2:20 pm EST …

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/rick-snyder-detroit-fin…

Detroit is in a state of financial emergency, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) said Friday.

"There’s probably no city that’s more financially challenged in the entire United States," said Snyder. "We need to start moving upward with the city of Detroit."

Mayor Dave Bing has a 10-day period in which he can request a hearing, after which point, according to the Associated Press, Snyder can appoint an emergency financial manager for the city or revoke his decision.

Snyder said Friday he had several names in mind for the position. He describes his top choice as someone with a strong professional resume who is, he said, "a people person." He did not name the individual.

His statement at Friday’s forum holds up a state review team’s findings of a severe financial emergency in the city, pointing to more than billion in long-term liabilities, including underfunded pensions. The city is also poised to end the fiscal year more than 0 million in the red without an infusion of cash. Snyder received the report last week.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE UPDATES)

Bing said Thursday he was aware of Snyder’s decision and ready to work with the state.

"I think we have to learn to make the best out of a bad situation," he said. "The state and the city will have to work together to get us out of this."

"I never fought help, I never pushed back. I’m a team player,” the mayor added.

Neither Bing nor any City Council members were present at the announcement. Snyder said Friday both had made steps towards resolving Detroit’s fiscal problems, particularly in the last few months, but it wasn’t enough to fix the city’s massive debt.

"Additional action is needed to fix the financial crisis in Detroit," he said in a statement. "Chronic budget troubles have taken a significant toll on everyday life for citizens in the city. Detroiters deserve to feel safe when they walk down the street, to have their streetlights on, to have the bus show up to take them to work. Working together in partnership we can and will develop solutions to fix the city’s finances, stop the cycle of overspending and one-time fixes and collectively get Detroit on the path to being a great city once again."

However, City Council members are not so amenable to Snyder’s vision of the city. Bing indicated he was expecting Council to challenge the decision and was waiting to see what they proposed.

According to the Detroit News, Council prepared a report Friday that called the appointment of an emergency manager "premature" and called instead for a more detailed consent agreement. The city and the state entered into a consent agreement last year that gave a financial advisory board certain powers over the city. The consent agreement was meant as a reform tactic to stave off the need for an emergency manager.

Two other politicians with a stake in the future of Detroit’s leadership have taken issue with the review team’s findings of a financial emergency. Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, potential mayoral candidate and former state Rep. Lisa Howze, who has announced she will run for the position this year, disputed the inclusion of the Water and Sewerage Department’s billion long-term debt. Their debt is separate from the city’s General Fund, Napoleon said, and is secured by more than billion in assets.

The emergency manager law itself has also caused concern. The current law, PA 72, was replaced in 2011 by PA 4 to strengthen the powers of emergency financial managers appointed to struggling municipalities and school districts. After PA 4 was repealed by state voters in November, legislators rushed PA 436 through a lame duck session in December. The new law will take effect March 28.

Council has directed the City Law Department to research the possibility of suing the state over the new emergency manager law.

Many have objected to the powers vested to an emergency manager in PA 4 and PA 436 on the basis that it is "undemocratic." They include Tony Paris, lead attorney for the Sugar Law Center, which challenged an older version of the law in 2011.

"[Emergency managers] can unilaterally tear up union contracts, take over pension funds, make and repeal laws, sell public assets, the list goes on," he said in an earlier interview with The Huffington Post. "Imposition of the EM must be understood in the context of the many other methods conservatives are using today to suppress democracy –- especially among people of color and people in poverty."

Liberal site Eclectablog has pointed out that if Detroit were to come under the power of an emergency financial manager, nearly half of Michigan’s African-American population would cede local control. Five other cities have EFMs.

If Council or Bing requests a hearing to challenge Snyder’s decision, it will take place Tuesday, March 12, the governor said.
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