Nurture

Census Day, 2011 – dawn of a new information-gathering era

The switch stems from the Harper government’s decision last summer to abolish the mandatory long form in favour of a voluntary survey. The move sparked anger from a range of groups who said the changes will deprive government and citizens of detailed information about the country’s social makeup and eliminate the ability to track those changes over time. That decision has prompted various responses. www.6scs.com The short form remains compulsory but the number of refuseniks now encompasses new parts of the social-economic-political spectrum – including educated professionals. Meantime, others who stand to gain from the filling out of the forms, such as the Manitoba government, are running public campaigns to try to boost response rates. The biggest question is how the latest count could possibly be as informative and accurate as those in the past. Statistics Canada says it is doing its best while critics contend the endeavour is a waste of time. François Dumaine, a program evaluator, is one of those critics. He uses detailed census data “daily” to help assess the efficiency of programs that target crime prevention, new immigrants and aboriginal communities. He said he won’t fill out the mandatory short form, www.2zxc.net nor the voluntary survey, on principle – even if it means he winds up in the courts. “I refuse to participate. … And I certainly have every intention of challenging it if I do receive the fine. I was asked to fill out the census, and this is not a census,” said the Ottawa-based partner at PRA Inc. and past president of the Canadian Evaluation Society. “Canada is a very complex society – we have very sophisticated programs and initiatives. But in order to do the job of planning, delivering, evaluating programs, you need state-of-the art policy making tools. The census is absolutely critical to that. And you don’t play around for political reasons with that – it’s the mother of all data.” Some are urging others not to participate. Hilary Campbell helps map out electoral boundaries and gives city councillors detailed portraits of various neighbourhoods as a planning technician in Halifax. She filled out the short form. e9yy.com But she’s refusing to fill out the national household survey and is publicly urging others boycott it. “The argument has been made that the household survey is an adequate replacement for the mandatory long form census – and I don’t agree with that. I don’t believe the results are going to be consistent,” said Ms. Campbell, who added she is speaking for herself rather than her employer, HRM Planning Services. “Between apathy and lack of understanding, this survey will be ignored by the very people we need to know more about– the impoverished, the illiterate, the uneducated, the immigrant population, the working poor, the mentally ill, the seniors, the homeless – the list is endless.” Manitoba’s government is taking the opposite approach, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to educate the public on why they should fill out the short form. Manitoba’s basic message appeals to a sense of civic duty: It benefits everyone. www.gugediyi.com Even the short form represents “an electronic library” of the community on age, gender and population density, said Wilf Falk, chief statistician at the Manitoba Bureau of Statistics. Filling out the census bolsters community funding and planning, he said. Not filling out the forms hurts those flows. “For every person who is ultimately missed, Manitoba loses $40,000 in federal transfers – that would be equalization and health and social transfers – over a five-year period.” Many municipalities are urging Canadians to fill in the short-form census because it gives vital insights into household density, age groups and population numbers. Statistics Canada is forging ahead. Canadians have 10 days to fill out the short-form census. If they don’t, they will receive reminders in the mail and, by early June, follow-up phone calls from enumerators explaining why it’s important.www.178qw.com People who don’t complete the short form face a fine of up to $500. The Conservative government has said it plans to eliminate the threat of jail time. The voluntary survey will reach a third of Canadian households either online or next month by mail. The rollout hasn’t been without hiccups. Completing the census in the North was delayed in several communities due to extreme winter conditions. Statscan has also had to delay distribution in parts of the Prairies that have been affected by floods, census manager Marc Hamel said in an interview Tuesday. He is anticipating a 50-per-cent response rate for the national household survey. The budget for the 2011 census is pegged at $660-million over a seven-year period starting in 2008. www.jerseys-cheap.net That is $30-million more than its original budget due to costs of extra printing, postage and other unexpected expenses relating to the new household survey. Census collection has been part of Canada’s history for the past 345 years. Statscan said it’s putting every effort into producing results as good as possible this year. That includes training enumerators to explain the census’s importance, and using information from the 2011 short form to point to where they need to drum up more responses for the household survey. “We’re giving everyone the guarantee that we’re putting all of our know-how and expertise in trying to make this a good outcome,” Mr. Hamel said. It’s too early to say what response rates are like, but Mr. Hamel said they’ll have an idea by the fall. www.8kzx.com Census data will be released next year and results from the household survey published in 2013. Many are already focused on the next census in 2016. Mr. Falk would like to see any short form and long form mailed out at the same time to avoid confusion and help boost response rates (he worries that by June, people won’t get around to sending back the longer household survey). Mr. Dumaine wants Statscan’s status as an agency free from political interference clarified,www.d2084.com and the mandatory long form revived. Ms. Campbell also wants it restored. “I hope that the 2011 national housed survey is a colossal failure. I strongly believe that the mandatory long-form census needs to be reinstated in time for 2016, and this move for 2011 has done irreparable harm to the quality of the data that Statscan will get. And frankly, I believe our international reputation has been harmed.”

Taliban siege of Kandahar claims civilians

The Taliban's ''spring offensive'' has begun with a deadly siege of Kandahar and fighting is expected to continue into a third day. So far, two police officers and two civilians have been killed, 传世私服 as well as a dozen Taliban fighters. About 50 people have been injured in the warfare in which the insurgents have launched six co-ordinated suicide bombing raids and fired rocket-propelled grenades at government buildings. The streets of the city are deserted, according to witness accounts. Taliban gunmen in a four-storey shopping centre in the city spent much of the weekend locked in a firefight with security forces in the compound of the provincial governor, Tooryalai Wesa. Mr Wesa, who has been the target of attacks before,传奇私服 recently said that Taliban fighters would be killed ''one by one''. Yesterday Taliban fighters were still occupying a traffic-police building and firing shots and rockets. ''It is a complicated building,'' said the Kandahar border police commander General Abdul Razeq. ''That is why it has taken a while to clear up but soon we will clear the building of the enemy.'' A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, Major-General James Laster, said the attack had failed and would be defeated by local security forces. ''This clearly was intended to be a spring offensive spectacular attack which was thwarted by Afghan national security forces,''诛仙私服 he said. The Taliban have not directly linked the attacks to the killing of Osama bin Laden, saying in a statement that the incursion into the city had been planned for weeks as part of ''Operation Badar''. But a separate statement, posted on a website, said the ''martyrdom of Sheikh Osama … will blow a new spirit into the jihad against the occupiers''. Kandahar is the heartland of Taliban resistance to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Afghan forces and the focus of international efforts to crush the insurgency. Last month, about 500 political prisoners, including more than 100 Taliban field commanders, 传奇世界私服 传奇私服发布网 broke out of the prison in Kandahar. There are nearly 130,000 foreign soldiers in Afghanistan, including 1550 Australians. Limited withdrawals from fairly peaceful provinces are to begin in July. Foreign combat operations are to end in 2014.

Helping Your Partner Recover From Addiction

Is your spouse entering a recovery program? Then you have some tough times ahead. While the process of addiction recovery is hard for the addict, it is equally hard for the spouse because of overwhelming responsibilities, 传世私服 and the spouse might be very demanding and sometimes it is impossible to meet these demands. So what can you do? Well, the best thing to do is give as much support as you can, to your partner, and do everything you can for him or her. But of course, it is also essential to keep a balance and be level-headed about things. End co-dependence Those who have lived with an addict know that sometimes the behavior can affect everyone else in the household. Sometimes there may be fights and bickering – and this leads to a lot of emotional turmoil. Plus, the addict continues his or her abuse. And in fact, 传奇私服 if there are two addicts living together, then they tend to give each other support and carry on the addictions – this leads to a very bad situation indeed. If you have a history of co-dependence in the relationship, then perhaps it is a good idea to seek couple’s therapy. An addiction recovery therapist who also specializes in couple’s counseling would be just the ticket. They would know the way to help you and your spouse lead a happier, more emotionally stable life, free of co-dependence. Stay calm – MLB Jerseys NFL Jerseys even if you’re the only one Recovery is difficult, therefore it’s understandable when your spouse feels emotionally unstable, depressed, anxious or even bored. He might be arguing a lot more, or eternally unpleasant. But you need to bring about a calm standpoint. Don’t be part of the unpleasant situation; instead, find a way to defuse the bomb. However, it is also important to remember that your partner’s feelings should be taken into account – don’t dismiss them completely, try to make him feel better. Bring about a better example If your partner is depressed and feeling self-pity,诛仙私服 be active and healthy, and bring him out of this phase. Have a good attitude towards everything, eat healthy and keep yourself well. Be social and enjoy life. Do fun things, and encourage your partner to join you. When your spouse sees this, he will be compelled to join you and this will make his attitude a much more positive one. Get others to help, if needed You don’t have to be the only one helping out. Get family and friends to help out, 传世私服 they can all take part and play an active role. If your partner feels supported and loved, he will be much less likely to sink into relapse.

Complete HowTo about Natural Treatment of Cancer

Natural treatment of Cancer offer many advantages-传世私服 1. it is safe as you don't have to go through any harmful radiation therapy 2. Natural treatment of Cancer does not have side effects like other general drugs and treatment methods. 3. It does not kill cells of the body as in chemotherapy 4. The cost of such treatment is low Natural treatment of Cancer is different and they have specific features – 1. Alternative therapies for treatment of Cancer come under natural treatment of Cancer. 魔域私服 Most of the natural therapies work around a certain theme. 2. Natural treatment believes that the body can fight Cancer if it is made strong. 3. The body should be supplied with support from outside to fight Cancerous cells. 4. Cancer and such other problems arise because of problem of the immune system 5. Another cause of Cancer is imbalance in the body which may be cause by factors like stress or free radicals triggered by lifestyle or food habits. 6. So, 传奇世界私服 these natural methods try to remove such imbalance in the body. 7. It tries to strengthen the body and immune system, thereby helping the body to fight back. 8. Natural treatments offer the body time to heal itself. It does not advocate the use of strong artificial foreign elements in human body. 9. Natural treatment of Cancer is a holistic method o healing. 10. Natural treatments also try to treat the whole body before treating the affected area. Some of the natural treatment methods for Cancer in broad Herbal therapies- It is one of the natural therapies or treatment for Cancer. 传奇私服 Different types of Cancers have different herbal treatments. It mainly focuses on the external and internal use of herbal products for treatment of Cancer. Herbs are used to support the body and offer it strength to fight against Cancer. Hoxey is one such popular therapy. Vitamins, supplements, diet are the main tools with which the problem is treated. Essiac is another natural herbal treatment of Cancer. Mind body treatment- These treatments focus on the mind and the body relationship in healing the problem like Cancer. It imporves th body and the immune system. Metabolic treatments –This treatment goes for detoxification, colon cleansing, 诛仙私服 use of anticancer diets preparation by mixing foods, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, damaged tissues repairing, immune system stimulating etc. Immunology Treatments – Its focus is one the immune system, as it believes that due to problem in the immune system Cancer develops.

American Finds a Home in Chinese Record Books

It’s a chant normally reserved for Chinese players, who are the only ones eligible for the Chinese Basketball Association’s most valuable player award. But as Quincy Douby stepped to the free-throw line recently with his team’s Game 3 victory in the finals guaranteed, the partisan home crowd was glad to make an exception. As Douby swished his two foul shots, the roars of “M.V.P.!” filled the arena. Playing for the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers this season, Douby, 魔域私服 as they would say back in his native Brooklyn, has been killing it. Trailing, three games to two, to the Guangdong Hongyuan Southern Tigers in their best-of-seven series, Xinjiang needs to win Games 6 and 7 this week to win its first championship in franchise history. After helping Xinjiang finish with its best regular-season record ever, Douby, 26, who was a standout at Rutgers and then spent three years in the N.B.A. as a guard with the Sacramento Kings and the Toronto Raptors, has continued to build upon his status as the best Flying Tiger of all time. He is averaging 34.6 points a game in the finals, and scored 53, a single-game record, in the Game 1 victory. “I’m not focused on that,” Douby said when asked about the accolades. “I came out here to just focus on getting better.” Xinjiang is a desolate and sparsely populated province in northwestern China with a harsh climate and vast deserts and a very restive Uighur population. It would seem an unlikely place for a championship basketball team. Yet, for the third year in a row, the Flying Tigers are in the finals. Like the province’s capital, 传世私服 Urumqi, a city which has absorbed Han Chinese over the years hoping to cash in on the region’s oil and mineral reserves, the Flying Tigers, with a wealthy and ambitious owner, have transformed a mediocre club into a perennial contender by attracting Chinese players from other teams as well as talented Americans from abroad. Until now, the same three teams have had a stranglehold on the title since the Chinese Basketball Association’s inception in 1996. Backed with money and resources, the Bayi Rockets (eight titles), Guangdong (six) and the Shanghai Sharks (one) were all able to acquire Chinese talent destined for the N.B.A. and a talented supporting cast of national team players with which to surround them. Bayi built around Wang Zhizhi, Shanghai had Yao Ming, and Guangdong’s dynasty was sparked by Yi Jianlian. In recent years Guangdong has developed into an unstoppable force, winning six of the last seven titles, including the last three. This season Guangdong has six current or former Team China players across multiple positions, all of whom play a lot of minutes. Jason Dixon, an American who works as an assistant with Guangdong and previously played for 10 seasons with the team, says the team secret is in its Chinese roster. “Our history of success comes down to our locals,” Dixon said. 传奇世界私服 “On the weaker teams the Americans dominate. But when the good teams face each other, the Americans usually cancel each other out. Then you’re left with the local players, which for us is a huge advantage.” In its relatively short history, the 17-team Chinese Basketball Association has faced numerous challenges in its aim to become consistently profitable inside a country with an estimated 300 million to 400 million basketball fans. Referee corruption, on-court violence and overall quality of play all remain problematic, but the league’s lack of competitive balance still lingers as a main reason it has not been able to take hold. “There’s nothing interesting about the C.B.A.,” said a Beijing restaurant owner and avid basketball fan named Zhai Jianming, who was echoing popular Chinese sentiment. “The same teams win every year, and the referees are terrible.” One of the leftovers of pre-reform Communist China, the cradle-to-the-grave sports system ensures that players stay on the same team for their entire playing career, and sometimes beyond. Overcoming a team like Guangdong, which has the best domestic roster signed for what essentially amount to lifetime contracts, becomes extremely difficult. Still, Xinjiang now has a shot,传奇私服 传奇私服发布网 and the competiveness of this year’s finals has increased fan interest. To get as far as it has, Xinjiang, a team without one current national player, did the only thing it could: pay top dollar for the best available American players. Under league rules, each team is limited to two imported players and cannot play them on the floor together for more than two quarters of any game. So Xinjiang’s two signings had to be good ones, and they were, with the 6-foot-3 Douby and the 6-8 James Singleton agreeing to contracts for over $1 million apiece. Xinjiang was able to spend the money it did because owners voted to lift the league’s salary cap on foreign players to attract more high-profile N.B.A. veterans to play here. But while Douby and Singleton have made the difference for Xinjiang, some other former N.B.A. players, including Ricky Davis, Mike James, Steve Francis and Rafer Alston, were all out of the league within a month. “A lot of guys aren’t built to play overseas, just like a lot of guys aren’t built to play in the N.B.A.,” said Singleton, a four-year N.B.A. player who turned down a one-year contract offer from the Washington Wizards to play in Xinjiang this season. 新开魔域私服 “Not many guys can take being away from home, the cultural differences, the language barrier, the food, even the way the game is played.” Douby and Singleton have adapted just fine, however. In conjunction with center Mengke Bateer, who hails from Mongolia and was part of the San Antonio Spurs team that won an N.B.A. championship in 2002-3, the intense and physical Singleton has helped create an overpowering front court that is tough for opponents to deal with. And with the addition of Douby, the league’s most unstoppable offensive force, Xinjiang has several clear advantages over Guangdong, whose own two imports, Lester Hudson and Marcus Haislip, also have modest N.B.A. backgrounds. Douby, who along with Singleton has been living in Urumqi for more than seven months, says there is little to do there. But instead of being resentful, Douby has embraced his surroundings. “The gym is right across the street,” Douby said of his living arrangement. 传奇世界私服 “It just keeps me in the gym. I watch a lot of film. It keeps me focused.” Despite his place in the record books, Douby is ineligible to win any other award other than the All-Star Game M.V.P., which he did in March by scoring 44 points — another single-game record for the league. Instead, Douby will have to settle for a more unofficial honor: best foreign player of all time, a title he was given by gaining 84 percent of fans’ votes in a recent online poll. “I didn’t come here with a lot of personal goals,” Douby said. 传奇私服发布网 “But for them to say that and for them to acknowledge the way I play, it means a lot to me. It makes me want to work harder.”