Happy New Year! - Rich Galen
There a many, many calendars to mark the passage of time. There are, according to Wikipedia, 48 current calendars and 22 obsolete calendars ranging from the well-known Aztec Calendar to the more obscure Xhosa calendar (unique to certain areas of Nigeria).
These 70 calendars do not include the Star Date Calendar, utilized by the United Federation of P nor the U.S. Fiscal Year Calendar, utilized by a total of 536 people: The voting members of the U.S. House and Senate and the President of the United States.
Tomorrow, October 1, 2013 is the first day of the new U.S. fiscal year, thus tonight is Fiscal New Year's Eve.
Whoo. Hoo.
Can't wait to see the "Members Gone Wild" segment on TMZ television tomorrow.
You may have read, seen, or heard that the Congress and the President have lurched to the end of the fiscal year without having passed, much less signed, a single appropriations bill.
This, in spite of the fact that, according to the Library of Congress, the House has been in session for 115 days so fa the Senate 98 days.
That is out of a possible 272 calendar days, 39 weeks - 78 weekend days.
I know that includes Saturdays, Sundays, and major holidays like Hug Day (February 13) which quite logically leads to (this is true) Children's Day nine months later (November 14 in India) but there are some people who actually work on those days. As well as Mondays and Fridays which are often travel days for Members of Congress and golf days for President Obama.
According to an article in the Washington Post this past summers, Members of Congress spend "4 - 5 hours per week raising money." Doesn't sound like a lot, but if all of your employees spend more than 10% of their 40-hour work week on self enrichment you might get a bit cranky.
Four hours per week times the aforementioned 39 weeks = 156 hours, or an entire month that they should have been doing things like passing appropriations bills - or coming up with alternatives to ObamaCare - that they weren't.
They were raising their money to stay in office so they could continue to not make decisions on how to spend our money.
Because nothing - nothing -is as important to an incumbent Member of the U.S. House or Senate (who is not planning to retire) as continuing to be an incumbent Member of the U.S. House or Senate.
So, the most important calculation to a Member of Congress (who has to run for re-election every two years) or to a Senator who is "in cycle" (up for election in 2014) is: How will these Shut-Down, ObamaCare, Syria, debt limit, Food Stamp, Student Loan, Medicare, Medicaid, and similar votes be greeted by the "Folks Back Home."
The simple answer is: How they will be greeted by the "Folks Back Home" depends upon whether they put money into, or take money out of, the pockets of the "Folks Back Home" or the parents or children of the "Folks Back Home."
Will ObamaCare let my kid, who happens to be 24 years old with a bachelor's degree in marketing and is currently living (with his/her significant other) in my basement, stay on my health insurance so I don't have to worry about having to turn my 401(k) over to the hospital if, God forbid, he or she is involved in a serious car wreck?
I'm for ObamaCare.
On the other end of the generational telescope, will senior services (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and similar) allow my mom and/or dad live somewhere other than mybasement as their needs become more insistent?
I'm for those.
Am I a student who didn't know that you couldn't discharge student loans through bankruptcy and thus have this "Scarlet SL" branded on my forehead for the whole of my working life?
Cut the interest rate on student loans. Let someone else pay for it.
We could go on and on, but remember how we used to scoff at Sweden's social program that included taking care of its people "from the cradle to the grave?"
Compared to what Americans expect of their government in 2013, Sweden looks like a Charles Dickens' novel based on England in the 1830s.
I don't have a good answer for what will happen as the invisible ball drops from the U.S. Capitol Dome marking the beginning of the New Fiscal Year.
I do know that we blame our elected officials for this but, as Cassius said to Brutus inJulius Caesar (Act I, scene 2):
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves … "
Happy New Year.
page today: The Wikipedia list of calendars and the Library of Congress' list of workdays.
Also a really nice Mullfoto from a trip to Mackinac Island, Michigan a week ago.
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Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
Published: 6 January 2014
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Categories: Public
The holiday season
I hope those of you who had a break enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing time.
Thank you to everyone who worked & providing care and support is a 365-days-of-the-year commitment and holidays for everyone else just proves it. As well as this, we should not forget the millions caring for family and friends or those for whom holidays and milestones are more difficult because of illness or the loss of loved ones.
I enjoyed some down time, trips to the cinema, catching up with friends and having fun at various parties, including one I hosted.
New Year's Honours
The New Year's Honours list was published last week. I appreciate not everyone supports this system but I feel recognising the contributions that people make are worth celebrating.
Social care was deservedly represented and I'd like to congratulate Jane Ashcroft, Chief Executive of
and Chair of the
on her CBE and everyone else from our sector who was included.
The honour I want to make a fuss about though is Sue Bott who was awarded a CBE for services to people with disabilities and their families.
Sue is Policy Director for
and has been active in the disability movement for many years. I got to know Sue when she was co-chair of &(TLAP) and the National Co-production Advisory Group and I am really pleased that she is also a member of CQC's co-production group.
Sue has been a tireless campaigner and brings good humour, common sense, constructive challenge and huge insight to every debate. She also has the most gorgeous guide dog (who even has her own !). Enjoy the visit to the Palace, Sue and Faith.
Goodbye 2013
2013 was a pretty momentous year for me & taking up post as the first Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at CQC was undoubtedly the high point together with the tremendous support I have had from people since the appointment was announced.
Other highlights included the recognition of the work of the , winning an Older People Media Award for their
and TLAP receiving a Plain English Campaign award for the .
And I had a lot of fun filming && despite the black eye caused by my cycling accident & literally the low point of my year!
Hello 2014
The New Year is an opportunity to look forward and 2014 promises lots of change as some commentators have already pointed out:
Debbie Sorkin, Chief Executive of The National Skills Academy for Social Care and Martin Green, Chief Executive of ECCA offered .
Lyn Romeo the Chief Social Worker for Adults has written a .
I&m afraid my list of what to look out for in 2014 isn&t really that original!
The Care Bill will complete its passage through Parliament and become law.
Money will continue to be tight and bring increased pressure on local authorities and providers.
The drive towards integration between health and social care will intensify.
Innovators will look to use technology more imaginatively to improve care and value for money and social media will become even more important for communication.
At CQC we will be consulting in Spring on the proposed regulatory approach for adult social care developed in co-production with people using services, carers,
piloting from April onwards and then introducing the new arrangements in October 2014.
We will also establish by April the three new directorates in CQC replacing the current generic inspection model with dedicated, specialist teams to support each of the Chief Inspectors.
There&ll also be the World Cup in B Le Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Y and I will celebrate my 50th birthday in New York! (Editor & how did that get in here?).
A lot to do for everyone in social care and in CQC, I am sure you&ll agree. Through it all, we need to make sure that we do not lose sight of the point of all this activity & to improve the lives and experience of people using the services we regulate. I will be keeping that to the forefront of my mind through the simple message of the .
&Is this service good enough for my Mum*?& If it is, great and we should celebrate it. If not, it&s not good enough for anyone&s Mum* and we should do something about it.&
*Mum, Dad, you, child, friend & whoever is most relevant!
Finally, I would just like to send my best wishes to Tony Hunter the Chief Executive of SCIE who takes on his new role this week. I couldn&t have asked for a better successor and I look forward to working with him in 2014 and beyond.
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Latest NewsHappy new year! by shilin on DeviantArt
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It's a little late post here, but here's a sketch I did for new years (: Thank you guys for your support through 2014!
I've had a rough year, especially in the first half. Life is not the same this year, and for someone who has been used to being able to dedicate 100% of her time to work and nothing else, challenging family relationship strains and adapting to life with a girlfriend was difficult--even if it was a good change and great learning experience. I'm not nearly as prolific as before, and sometimes I even find it difficult to be as creative as before, because I can no longer afford to think about my work as much. In contrast, I learned a lot more about taking care of others and myself, even if what I learned was how little I know about taking care of others and myself. Instead of contemplating my story and characters, I thought more about how hard it is to be kind and understanding. I tried really hard to make myself b my aloof nature made it so that very little affected me and made it hard for me to believe that I need to ache over things not about myself, but I feel like if ever so slightly, that has changed.
I don't have anything great planned in 2015 except to keep going, but whatever I end up creating in the future, I hope it will continue to be enjoyable and motivating for you.
Happy New Year!
I made a Patreon page at /shilin! I am offering HD process videos, layered psds, WIPs and more, things that used to be impossible to obtain from me. Help me keep doing what I love and sharing more of what you love (:Other news Carciphona rubber charms
Carciphona volume 4 !Conventions 2016 : Toronto, May 14-15 : Toronto, May 27-29 : Montreal, August 5-7CarciphonaCarciphona is my original manga series. It is available to read for free online and updates weekly on , and is published by myself in print whenever I finish a new book. Most of the artworks I do are for this series. Please check it out and if you enjoyed it, share it with your friends and those who may be interested! Thank you for all your support ^^
Skin by miontre
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Happy new year&
in this year Carciphona (counting the pre-reboot) will be TEN YEARS OLD! (WHOA!)
what blows my mind even more is that all the pie and pillow fight jokes from the early days of the fandom will be a decade old by december. it did not feel like that long! @_@
LOL HOLY SHIT
The sketch... Someday they'll all get along
Happy New Year to you loving the sketch
Personally I feel that the capability to be compassionate toward others will enrich your life
Even if it might not always seem like it &3Good luck and love to you this year &3
happy new 356 days!!!
Happy new year!!! 9 days in already!! This year so far is pretty swell!
Happy new year : )&
Happy New Year for you, too! Life doesn't sound too bad for you, but changing. Don't worry, you will get used to your new life and it will be a great one, I'm sure of that.
And a belated Happy New Year to you, too!
Happy new year too ! ^v^
Happy New Year too!!!!!!!
Thanks. Thinking about others is really tough and can take time. Please take your time and look forward to more of your work in 2015. Balance is important in life and don't take the hits too hard. Happy late new year.
little steps of change will lead us to great distances. thanks for the little bit of positivity in the new year and happy new year to you too! well wishes for the year ahead!
Happy New Year to you too!!&&I look forward to more Carciphona updates owo I love your art so much&&
Happy Year New to you as well!
Happy New Year!
I hope this year will treat you well
Happy New Year!
happy new year to you too
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