Social shopping site Kaboodle, which was acquired by Hearst Interactive Group in 2007 for $30 million or so, is re-launching its site to upgrade its product-discovery engine that allows online shoppers to discover, search for, browse, and interact with the more than six million products.
Kaboodle is a free social bookmarking service and search product that allows you to discover and share e-commerce content. With the re-launch and re-design of the site, Kaboodle is becoming less content centric and more real-time and product and people centric.
The new version of the product-discovery engine allows online shoppers to search and discover products along according to normal search terms, but also according to popularity amongst other shoppers in the Kaboodle community and consumers. The platform has upgraded search to be real-time and lets users see products that are most popular right now based on specific filters, such as items from a specific store, within a specific category, related items, and more. For example, a user can see what are the most popular items being searched on Nordstrom.com.
Kaboodle’s bookmarklet functionality that allows users to add products from anywhere on the Web is staying the same, but the site has made it easier for retailers to incorporate the bookmarklet on their own sites. Manish Chandra, co-founder of Kaboodle, says that the site will continue to make real-time improvements in the coming year, hoping to the go-to destination for product discovery and sharing. Chandra says the site has over 1 million registered users and is seeing 8 million unique visitors per month, according to comScore. Launched in 2005, Kaboodle faces competition from ThisNext,Like.com and Sugar’s ShopStyle.
I apparently lost my meter. I have 5-6 of them sitting around, but there’s something wrong with all of them or I no longer have strips for them.
I would really like another One Touch UltraLink that links with my Paradigm pump. Does anyone have any insight in how to get one of these at a reduced cost? I really can’t afford the extra $89 this month.
Luckily, I work with another amazing diabetic who is lending me an extra pump tomorrow that uses my One Touch strips.
We always hear from people that certain types of digital content can’t come up with scarce “reasons to buy,” and yet we always seem to hear of new and creative ways that it’s being done anyway. Back in December we wrote about how the TV sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia had turned ridiculous on-air products into the real thing and they were selling quite well. Now, PrometheeFeu points out that the popular ABC TV show Castle has come out with a real book supposedly by the lead character in the show, who (in the TV show) is a professional writer. Not only that, but the book itself has hit the NY Times best seller list. Now, it’s not entirely clear who wrote the book (when asked, the producers of the show insist that it was the character in the program), but the book has gotten decent reviews and ABC is pitching the book on its website (including free chapter downloads). One assumes that ABC likely gets a cut of the sales as well. It’s yet another neat attempt to combine an infinite good with a scarce one to make that scarce one more valuable. I would imagine that the book wouldn’t sell nearly as well if it hadn’t been tied to such a TV program.
Mushrooms are a fact of life in my home and I try to incorporate them into as many dishes as I can. They are not ordinarily an ingredient in the Italian-American creation Chicken Francaise but I think they work quite well with it. The classic taste of mushrooms, rosemary, lemon and garlic envelop tender chicken that has been enrobed in a very flavorful almond flour and then coated with egg. You have to throw out the rule book when preparing Chicken Francaise and end with an egg dip because it is the tender beaten egg that gives it such a special flavor. I hope you enjoy.
Chicken Francaise with Rosemary and Mushrooms
Ingredients:
4 – 4 ounce boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup almond flour, fine grind
1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp. lemon zest, grated
1 tsp. parsley, minced
2 eggs, beaten well (egg substitute can be used)
2 cups cremini or white button mushrooms, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 lemon, juiced
black pepper
vegetable or olive oil spray
1 Tbsp. capers, rinses (optional)
Place chicken breasts into a zip top bag, one at a time, not sealing the bag all the way and pound with a mallet until they are about 1/4" thick. Remove from bag, trim any visible fat and discard.
Combine almond flour, Parmesan cheese, parsley, lemon zest and season with black pepper. Dredge chicken breasts in mixture to lightly coat. Place on rack.
Place a large saute pan on medium heat and coat with vegetable spray. Dip the chicken breasts into the beaten egg and saute. Saute about 4 to 5 minutes per side turning carefully with a spatula. Don’t crowd the pan and do in batches if needed. Remove to plate when done and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Lightly coat pan once again with vegetable spray and saute the mushrooms, garlic and rosemary on medium high heat. Season with black pepper if desired. Remove pan from heat and add the wine, return pan and add the chicken stock and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and reduce liquid by about one third. Add the chicken back into pan to warm through for about 2 or 3 minutes and add capers if desired.
Nutrition Facts
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 242.4
Total Fat 7.6 g
Saturated Fat 1.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.1 g
Cholesterol 172.2 mg
Sodium 386.6 mg
Potassium 268.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 6.1 g
Dietary Fiber 1.5 g
Sugars 1.2 g
Protein 29.9 g
Thanks for making an iPhone app, Alice. Now I can finally excuse my bathroom iPhone usage with “Uh, I’m just ordering toilet paper. It should ship by tomorrow.” Whether the associated service is decent or not, the app is awesome.
The Alice app is basically a repackaging of online shopping service Alice. The basic concept is that you can order the random household stuff generally not stocked by most online retailers—toothpaste, trash bags, feminine care products—and get them shipped right to your door. Sounds like most of the grocery-shipping services we’ve heard of in the past, but it was about time that someone made a decent, snappy app for it.
I haven’t tested out the service—only the app and how well it works—so your mileage may vary. That said, the Alice app and the registration required to use it are free. The excuse gained from them is freakin’ priceless though. [Itunes]
In just the first ten days, Wyoming voters used up their share in the funds from The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act designed to end dependence on dirty energy. They voted with their feet against the Senators they sent to vote for dirty energy …
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked the Security Council to send more troops and police to Haiti as forces on the ground struggle to keep order and speed delivery of food, water and medicine.“Haiti requires a massive response from the international community,” said Ban, who yesterday visited the capital, Port- au-Prince. “The people need to see that today is better than yesterday, and that the future will be better than the past.”
Ban told reporters at the UN today he will seek 2,000 more soldiers and 1,500 police from the Security Council, which met today to discuss the request. The UN, whose Haitian offices were destroyed in the 7-magnitude quake Jan. 12, has more than 9,000 troops and officers in Haiti. At least 46 UN staffers died in the disaster, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
Aid workers are dealing with scattered street violence, fueled in part by shortages of food and medical supplies in the capital, a city of about 3 million people. The quake, which may have killed more than 100,000 people, damaged roads, the port and toppled the control tower at the country’s only international airport, hampering efforts to get relief supplies moving.
The U.S. expects to have 7,000 troops in and offshore of Haiti by today, providing medical care, security and operating the airport.
‘Safe and Secure’
“We need a safe and secure environment to be successful,” U.S. Southern Command Lieutenant General Ken Keen, who is overseeing relief efforts, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday. “There is increasing incidents of security and we are going to have to deal with it as we go forward.”
There are 1,000 U.S. troops on the ground in Haiti, Keen said. Another 3,000 are working from ships docked off Haiti’s coast and two additional companies of the 82nd Airborne Division are arriving along with Marines aboard the USS Bataan and a Marine landing battalion, the American Forces Press Service said.
Brazil, which has had the biggest number of soldiers in Haiti in the UN’s peacekeeping forces, is ready to double its 1,266-strong contingent if asked, General Enza Peri, the Army’s commander, said today in a news conference in Brasilia.
Police Units
Alain LeRoy, the head of UN peacekeeping operations, told reporters today at the UN the Dominican Republic has pledged to send 800 soldiers to Haiti and that the European Union will send some police units.
The main task for the additional soldiers will be escorting relief convoys to 200 distribution points in the capital, LeRoy said. Relief corridors are being set up from the Dominican Republic and ports in northern Haiti to Port-au-Prince, he said.
LeRoy said that while there has been violence “here and there, most due to frustration,” the situation is “generally calm.”
The number of flights the airport can handle almost doubled today to 100 after the U.S. took control of the one-runway facility, the White House said in a statement. The U.S. is now giving priority to planes carrying relief supplies, said John Holmes, UN emergency relief coordinator.
Medical teams of Doctors Without Borders are stymied by bottlenecks at the airport that have stretched out by two days the expected time for delivery of supplies, said Benoit Leduc, operations manager for Haiti, in a conference call today with journalists from Port-au-Prince.
Antibiotics Needed
People are dying and infections, curable with antibiotics, are leading to amputations instead, he said. The organization has five facilities now, three of which have surgical capabilities, he said.
The organization has treated more than 3,000 patients, and performed 500 surgeries with 165 international workers and 550 locals. Another 48 doctors from abroad are on the way.
Doctors Without Borders is trying to reach areas outside the capital that have suffered destruction and often are accessible only by helicopter, Leduc said.
“We’re behind pace,” he said of the group’s overall operations. “It’s really a race.”
International search teams have managed to rescue just 71 people from the rubble, Tim Callaghan, chief of the U.S. Disaster Assistance Response team, said today. The U.S. alone has 540 people working on search and rescue.
Keen said on ABC’s “This Week” an estimate of between 150,000 and 200,000 deaths is “a starting point.” The quake affected 3 million people and left 300,000 homeless in Port-au- Prince, according to the UN.
‘Widespread Looting’
CNN reported today that there was “widespread looting” in downtown Port-au-Prince. One U.S. citizen died in an “incident,” Agence France-Presse said, citing a military spokesman.
U.S. Rear Admiral Michael Rogers, director of intelligence for the Joints Chiefs of Staff, told reporters today looting had been “isolated” and wasn’t impeding aid from getting through.
Former President Bill Clinton visited Haiti today in a bid to accelerate international relief efforts.
Haitian President Rene Preval said that international aid to his country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, has been “quick, concrete and massive.” The nation, with an economy of about $7 billion, was in a “difficult” situation before and needs institutional reforms and economic development, he said in an interview with Venezuela’s government-funded Telesur television network.
Food for Millions
The World Food Program said it is seeking $279 million to rehabilitate Haiti’s ports, repair the road infrastructure, provide security for humanitarian workers, and donate trucks. More than $60 million has been received in donations from governments, $6 million from businesses and $2.5 million has been donated on-line.
Aid pledges continued to pour in today. Avon Products Inc. said they would donate $1 million; Spirit Airlines Inc. promised as much $10 million; and the American Red Cross had raised $21 million through text-message fund-raising. The U.S., World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. have pledged more than $300 million in aid in the past week.
In Brussels, the European Union offered Haiti 422 million euros ($607 million) for emergency aid, steps to shore up the government and longer-term reconstruction.
The aid effort is being slowed by a shortage of gasoline, Louis Belanger, a spokesman for Oxfam International in Haiti, said today in a telephone interview from Port-au-Prince.
Gasoline prices have soared at stations that are operating, Belanger said. Fuel trucks are being sent from the Dominican Republic to ease the shortage, he said. Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said today that an international Haiti reconstruction conference will be held on Jan. 25 in Montreal.
So as some know from my insulin thread i was having issues in the morning.
With working things out it turned out its my Asthma meds that’s causing the increase in the mornings so i decided to change it to the evenings and see if it made a difference, Which it did.
Moving the inhaler to the evening put me going to bed with a mid 4, waking with a mid 5 and staying at 5 through out the day.
However after a couple of days i had minor issues mid afternoon and speaking with my doctor he suggested i go back to taking it in the mornings.
So he suggested that i take 5mg of my Glyburide with breakfast.. So i tried.
GOing to bed with mid 3’s woke up with mid 4 at 6am got to work and before breakfast mid 7… Took the 5mg and ate my breakfast my 2hPP was 4.8 ( Ate 2 eggs, 3 bacon and melon )
Both my sunday and monday days have been the same 🙂
I find taking the new morning pills as such i end up coming down around mid 3 by 11am which i eat a yogurt and then go into my lunch around 12:30 sitting around 4..which is nice i can eat a hardy lunch ( Salad, meat and cheese ) and have a 2hPP of 4-4.5 😛
Do ponto de vista geológico, a região em que o concelho se insere possui uma grande uniformidade, sendo constituída essencialmente por xistos. Sobre estes, jazem por vezes, possantes bancadas de quartzitos que, pela sua dureza, sobressaem na paisagem. A montante das soleiras de rocha dura que as cristas de quartzito proporcionam, desenvolvem-se meandros de dureza, dissimétricos. Ao atravessarem os afloramentos quartzíticos, os rios ou provocam imponentes vales em gargante ou, quando incapazes de talhar a rocha, despenham-se através de quedas de água. As formas salientes mais importantes que se levantam na área do concelho são as serras de Alvelos, do Muradal e da Lontreira, fazendo parte do Maciço Central.
O pinheiro é hoje a principal árvore do concelho, sendo incalculável o seu valor económico tanto no que respeita a madeiras como a resina e seus derivados, de tão grande aplicação e consumo nos nossos dias. A nível industrial verifica-se a existência de algumas unidades (indústria de madeiras, metalomecânica, mármores, agro-industrial) na maior parte das freguesias, registando-se uma maior expressão em Oleiros.
Em Oleiros existem vários edifícios que se podem englobar no património artístico; Igreja Matriz de Oleiros, Igreja da Misericórdia de Oleiros e todo um conjunto de Igrejas ou Capelas espalhadas pelas aldeias concelho.
I know this is going to sound kinda lame but my dogs have really helped me in the last week of me finding out I have Type 2. They listen and cock their heads when I talk to them about my worries and fears. I know they don’t really understand but they love me unconditionally…that or they just know I’m the food and take out side to poop guy…:)
not sure what I would do without them
Buddha, Buddha+Bella…and them running after each other
NEW DELHI: The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) on Monday notified regulation on renewable energy certificate (REC) to promote renewable sources of energy and development of market in electricity. As per the regulation, it has been …
2011 BMW 335i – Click above for high-res image gallery
Now that BMW has replaced the twin-turbo 335i with the new twin-scroll, direct injection model, the question everyone’s been asking – and by everyone, we mean Bimmer fanatics – is what will happen to the outgoing N44 engine? The new N55 produces the same power and the same torque, but with a flatter curve that makes the grunt more accessible. Yet as every BMW tuner knows, the outgoing N44 has more potential. So the answer, according to reports, is BMW’s plan to offer a new model dubbed the 335is.
Like the almost-an-M Z4 sDrive35is that debuted at the Detroit Auto Show last week, the new 335is is tipped to get a revised version of the twin-turbo inline-six, producing 340 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque (with overboost unleashing 369 lb-ft). Coupled with an M-Sport appearance package with a blacked-out grille and matching mirrors, and a choice of either six-speed manual or (for the first time outside of the M range) seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and you’re looking at the hottest dreiwagen this side of an M3. The run from 0 to 60 is expected to be dispatched in five seconds flat, with a top speed limited to 149 mph instead of 130.
The best part, however, is that – according to reports and some leaked documents – the 335is is slated to launch in the North American market before being considered for anywhere else. Finally some payback for all those hot European models we’ve been longing for from the opposite shore.
John Dillinger’s 1930 Ford Model A – Click above for high-res image gallery
If you saw Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, the car above may look familiar. It isn’t just the same model that the notorious John Dillinger used to escape The Law in one of the most daring shootouts in American history – it’s the actual car. And the same one used in the movie.
After robbing banks across the country, Dillinger and his gang took refuge in the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, on April 22, 1934. When the proprietors alerted law enforcement to their presence, the FBI – led by the legendary Melvin Purvis – arrived on the scene and shot the place up. Dillinger, along with two of his cronies, escaped out the windows into the woods nearby before stumbling upon Robert Johnson driving the Ford Model A coupe you see here. They commandeered the car and the driver along with it, and escaped to Minnesota as Dillinger smashed the rear window and opened fire with his tommy-gun at pursuing law enforcement.
The bullet-ridden car remained in the possession of the Dillinger family for decades until it was carefully and faithfully restored by the producers of Public Enenies for use in the scene depicting the historic chase. Now the coupe will be up for auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, by Barrett-Jackson. Follow the jump for the full story in the press release, and check out the images in the gallery below.
The Nissan Sentra occupies an odd space in America’s C-segment. It’s not the fastest, the prettiest or the most well-appointed compact sedan, but it’s reasonable MSRP and range of options has kept Nissan in the picture. But does the SE-R have what it takes to justify it’s higher sticker? We find out.
Pricing for the 2011 Ford Mustang has leaked out, and even with an extra 100 horsepower available from either the V6 or V8, the damage to your wallet has been kept to a minimum.
The NSX may be dead, but Honda’s ready to field its V8-powered predecessor in this year’s SuperGT GT500 class. What are the specs and what can we expect when the HSV-010 debuts in May? We take a closer look.
Olá, meu nome é Marcos, e eu sou novo aqui no SSC , esse é meu primeiro thread, e nele eu vou postar fotos que eu tirei de GYN enquanto estive por la! Eu quero q vcs comentem sobre a cidade e o que vcs acham sobre GYN.
1- Skyline perto do shopping Flamboyant
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5- Estas fotos foram tiradas da estrada q liga Gyn a Aparecida
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8- Monumento Latif Sebba, um icone de Goiania
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10- Executive tower (78m), um dos mais bonitos da cidade so faltou um poco de altura mas tah valendo
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12- Esse é um predio alto no centro da cidade, será q alguem pode me passar o nome e altura dele?
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14- Setor Marista, um dos mais caros de Gyn
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17- Predio da TCI em cnstrução, será q alguem pode me passar o nome e altura dele?
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20- Flamboyant
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24- Estacionamento do Flamboyant
25-Evidence Office maior predio de GYN, por enquanto.
Remarks by the President in Remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, Washington, DC
12:00 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Praise be to God. Let me begin by thanking the entire Vermont Avenue Baptist Church family for welcoming our family here today. It feels like a family. Thank you for making us feel that way. (Applause.) To Pastor Wheeler, first lady Wheeler, thank you so much for welcoming us here today. Congratulations on Jordan Denice — aka Cornelia. (Laughter.)
Michelle and I have been blessed with a new nephew this year as well — Austin Lucas Robinson. (Applause.) So maybe at the appropriate time we can make introductions. (Laughter.) Now, if Jordan’s father is like me, then that will be in about 30 years. (Laughter.) That is a great blessing.
Michelle and Malia and Sasha and I are thrilled to be here today. And I know that sometimes you have to go through a little fuss to have me as a guest speaker. (Laughter.) So let me apologize in advance for all the fuss.
We gather here, on a Sabbath, during a time of profound difficulty for our nation and for our world. In such a time, it soothes the soul to seek out the Divine in a spirit of prayer; to seek solace among a community of believers. But we are not here just to ask the Lord for His blessing. We aren’t here just to interpret His Scripture. We’re also here to call on the memory of one of His noble servants, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Now, it’s fitting that we do so here, within the four walls of Vermont Avenue Baptist Church — here, in a church that rose like the phoenix from the ashes of the civil war; here in a church formed by freed slaves, whose founding pastor had worn the union blue; here in a church from whose pews congregants set out for marches and from whom choir anthems of freedom were heard; from whose sanctuary King himself would sermonize from time to time.
One of those times was Thursday, December 6, 1956. Pastor, you said you were a little older than me, so were you around at that point? (Laughter.) You were three years old — okay. (Laughter.) I wasn’t born yet. (Laughter.)
On Thursday, December 6, 1956. And before Dr. King had pointed us to the mountaintop, before he told us about his dream in front of the Lincoln Memorial, King came here, as a 27-year-old preacher, to speak on what he called “The Challenge of a New Age.” “The Challenge of a New Age.” It was a period of triumph, but also uncertainty, for Dr. King and his followers — because just weeks earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered the desegregation of Montgomery’s buses, a hard-wrought, hard-fought victory that would put an end to the 381-day historic boycott down in Montgomery, Alabama.
And yet, as Dr. King rose to take that pulpit, the future still seemed daunting. It wasn’t clear what would come next for the movement that Dr. King led. It wasn’t clear how we were going to reach the Promised Land. Because segregation was still rife; lynchings still a fact. Yes, the Supreme Court had ruled not only on the Montgomery buses, but also on Brown v. Board of Education. And yet that ruling was defied throughout the South — by schools and by states; they ignored it with impunity. And here in the nation’s capital, the federal government had yet to fully align itself with the laws on its books and the ideals of its founding.
So it’s not hard for us, then, to imagine that moment. We can imagine folks coming to this church, happy about the boycott being over. We can also imagine them, though, coming here concerned about their future, sometimes second-guessing strategy, maybe fighting off some creeping doubts, perhaps despairing about whether the movement in which they had placed so many of their hopes — a movement in which they believed so deeply — could actually deliver on its promise.
So here we are, more than half a century later, once again facing the challenges of a new age. Here we are, once more marching toward an unknown future, what I call the Joshua generation to their Moses generation — the great inheritors of progress paid for with sweat and blood, and sometimes life itself.
We’ve inherited the progress of unjust laws that are now overturned. We take for granted the progress of a ballot being available to anybody who wants to take the time to actually vote. We enjoy the fruits of prejudice and bigotry being lifted — slowly, sometimes in fits and starts, but irrevocably — from human hearts. It’s that progress that made it possible for me to be here today; for the good people of this country to elect an African American the 44th President of the United States of America.
Reverend Wheeler mentioned the inauguration, last year’s election. You know, on the heels of that victory over a year ago, there were some who suggested that somehow we had entered into a post-racial America, all those problems would be solved. There were those who argued that because I had spoke of a need for unity in this country that our nation was somehow entering into a period of post-partisanship. That didn’t work out so well. There was a hope shared by many that life would be better from the moment that I swore that oath.
Of course, as we meet here today, one year later, we know the promise of that moment has not yet been fully fulfilled. Because of an era of greed and irresponsibility that sowed the seeds of its own demise, because of persistent economic troubles unaddressed through the generations, because of a banking crisis that brought the financial system to the brink of catastrophe, we are being tested — in our own lives and as a nation — as few have been tested before.
Unemployment is at its highest level in more than a quarter of a century. Nowhere is it higher than the African American community. Poverty is on the rise. Home ownership is slipping. Beyond our shores, our sons and daughters are fighting two wars. Closer to home, our Haitian brothers and sisters are in desperate need. Bruised, battered, many people are legitimately feeling doubt, even despair, about the future. Like those who came to this church on that Thursday in 1956, folks are wondering, where do we go from here?
I understand those feelings. I understand the frustration and sometimes anger that so many folks feel as they struggle to stay afloat. I get letters from folks around the country every day; I read 10 a night out of the 40,000 that we receive. And there are stories of hardship and desperation, in some cases, pleading for help: I need a job. I’m about to lose my home. I don’t have health care — it’s about to cause my family to be bankrupt. Sometimes you get letters from children: My mama or my daddy have lost their jobs, is there something you can do to help? Ten letters like that a day we read.
So, yes, we’re passing through a hard winter. It’s the hardest in some time. But let’s always remember that, as a people, the American people, we’ve weathered some hard winters before. This country was founded during some harsh winters. The fishermen, the laborers, the craftsmen who made camp at Valley Forge — they weathered a hard winter. The slaves and the freedmen who rode an underground railroad, seeking the light of justice under the cover of night — they weathered a hard winter. The seamstress whose feet were tired, the pastor whose voice echoes through the ages — they weathered some hard winters. It was for them, as it is for us, difficult, in the dead of winter, to sometimes see spring coming. They, too, sometimes felt their hopes deflate. And yet, each season, the frost melts, the cold recedes, the sun reappears. So it was for earlier generations and so it will be for us.
What we need to do is to just ask what lessons we can learn from those earlier generations about how they sustained themselves during those hard winters, how they persevered and prevailed. Let us in this Joshua generation learn how that Moses generation overcame.
Let me offer a few thoughts on this. First and foremost, they did so by remaining firm in their resolve. Despite being threatened by sniper fire or planted bombs, by shoving and punching and spitting and angry stares, they adhered to that sweet spirit of resistance, the principles of nonviolence that had accounted for their success.
Second, they understood that as much as our government and our political parties had betrayed them in the past — as much as our nation itself had betrayed its own ideals — government, if aligned with the interests of its people, can be — and must be — a force for good. So they stayed on the Justice Department. They went into the courts. They pressured Congress, they pressured their President. They didn’t give up on this country. They didn’t give up on government. They didn’t somehow say government was the problem; they said, we’re going to change government, we’re going to make it better. Imperfect as it was, they continued to believe in the promise of democracy; in America’s constant ability to remake itself, to perfect this union.
Third, our predecessors were never so consumed with theoretical debates that they couldn’t see progress when it came. Sometimes I get a little frustrated when folks just don’t want to see that even if we don’t get everything, we’re getting something. (Applause.) King understood that the desegregation of the Armed Forces didn’t end the civil rights movement, because black and white soldiers still couldn’t sit together at the same lunch counter when they came home. But he still insisted on the rightness of desegregating the Armed Forces. That was a good first step — even as he called for more. He didn’t suggest that somehow by the signing of the Civil Rights that somehow all discrimination would end. But he also didn’t think that we shouldn’t sign the Civil Rights Act because it hasn’t solved every problem. Let’s take a victory, he said, and then keep on marching. Forward steps, large and small, were recognized for what they were — which was progress.
Fourth, at the core of King’s success was an appeal to conscience that touched hearts and opened minds, a commitment to universal ideals — of freedom, of justice, of equality — that spoke to all people, not just some people. For King understood that without broad support, any movement for civil rights could not be sustained. That’s why he marched with the white auto worker in Detroit. That’s why he linked arm with the Mexican farm worker in California, and united people of all colors in the noble quest for freedom.
Of course, King overcame in other ways as well. He remained strategically focused on gaining ground — his eyes on the prize constantly — understanding that change would not be easy, understand that change wouldn’t come overnight, understanding that there would be setbacks and false starts along the way, but understanding, as he said in 1956, that “we can walk and never get weary, because we know there is a great camp meeting in the promised land of freedom and justice.”
And it’s because the Moses generation overcame that the trials we face today are very different from the ones that tested us in previous generations. Even after the worst recession in generations, life in America is not even close to being as brutal as it was back then for so many. That’s the legacy of Dr. King and his movement. That’s our inheritance. Having said that, let there be no doubt the challenges of our new age are serious in their own right, and we must face them as squarely as they faced the challenges they saw.
I know it’s been a hard road we’ve traveled this year to rescue the economy, but the economy is growing again. The job losses have finally slowed, and around the country, there’s signs that businesses and families are beginning to rebound. We are making progress.
I know it’s been a hard road that we’ve traveled to reach this point on health reform. I promise you I know. (Laughter.) But under the legislation I will sign into law, insurance companies won’t be able to drop you when you get sick, and more than 30 million people — (applause) — our fellow Americans will finally have insurance. More than 30 million men and women and children, mothers and fathers, won’t be worried about what might happen to them if they get sick. This will be a victory not for Democrats; this will be a victory for dignity and decency, for our common humanity. This will be a victory for the United States of America.
Let’s work to change the political system, as imperfect as it is. I know people can feel down about the way things are going sometimes here in Washington. I know it’s tempting to give up on the political process. But we’ve put in place tougher rules on lobbying and ethics and transparency — tougher rules than any administration in history. It’s not enough, but it’s progress. Progress is possible. Don’t give up on voting. Don’t give up on advocacy. Don’t give up on activism. There are too many needs to be met, too much work to be done. Like Dr. King said, “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.”
Let us broaden our coalition, building a confederation not of liberals or conservatives, not of red states or blue states, but of all Americans who are hurting today, and searching for a better tomorrow. The urgency of the hour demands that we make common cause with all of America’s workers — white, black, brown — all of whom are being hammered by this recession, all of whom are yearning for that spring to come. It demands that we reach out to those who’ve been left out in the cold even when the economy is good, even when we’re not in recession — the youth in the inner cities, the youth here in Washington, D.C., people in rural communities who haven’t seen prosperity reach them for a very long time. It demands that we fight discrimination, whatever form it may come. That means we fight discrimination against gays and lesbians, and we make common cause to reform our immigration system.
And finally, we have to recognize, as Dr. King did, that progress can’t just come from without — it also has to come from within. And over the past year, for example, we’ve made meaningful improvements in the field of education. I’ve got a terrific Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. He’s been working hard with states and working hard with the D.C. school district, and we’ve insisted on reform, and we’ve insisted on accountability. We we’re putting in more money and we’ve provided more Pell Grants and more tuition tax credits and simpler financial aid forms. We’ve done all that, but parents still need to parent. (Applause.) Kids still need to own up to their responsibilities. We still have to set high expectations for our young people. Folks can’t simply look to government for all the answers without also looking inside themselves, inside their own homes, for some of the answers.
Progress will only come if we’re willing to promote that ethic of hard work, a sense of responsibility, in our own lives. I’m not talking, by the way, just to the African American community. Sometimes when I say these things people assme, well, he’s just talking to black people about working hard. No, no, no, no. I’m talking to the American community. Because somewhere along the way, we, as a nation, began to lose touch with some of our core values. You know what I’m talking about. We became enraptured with the false prophets who prophesized an easy path to success, paved with credit cards and home equity loans and get-rich-quick schemes, and the most important thing was to be a celebrity; it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you get on TV. That’s everybody.
We forgot what made the bus boycott a success; what made the civil rights movement a success; what made the United States of America a success — that, in this country, there’s no substitute for hard work, no substitute for a job well done, no substitute for being responsible stewards of God’s blessings.
What we’re called to do, then, is rebuild America from its foundation on up. To reinvest in the essentials that we’ve neglected for too long — like health care, like education, like a better energy policy, like basic infrastructure, like scientific research. Our generation is called to buckle down and get back to basics.
We must do so not only for ourselves, but also for our children, and their children. For Jordan and for Austin. That’s a sacrifice that falls on us to make. It’s a much smaller sacrifice than the Moses generation had to make, but it’s still a sacrifice.
Yes, it’s hard to transition to a clean energy economy. Sometimes it may be inconvenient, but it’s a sacrifice that we have to make. It’s hard to be fiscally responsible when we have all these human needs, and we’re inheriting enormous deficits and debt, but that’s a sacrifice that we’re going to have to make. You know, it’s easy, after a hard day’s work, to just put your kid in front of the TV set — you’re tired, don’t want to fuss with them — instead of reading to them, but that’s a sacrifice we must joyfully accept.
Sometimes it’s hard to be a good father and good mother. Sometimes it’s hard to be a good neighbor, or a good citizen, to give up time in service of others, to give something of ourselves to a cause that’s greater than ourselves — as Michelle and I are urging folks to do tomorrow to honor and celebrate Dr. King. But these are sacrifices that we are called to make. These are sacrifices that our faith calls us to make. Our faith in the future. Our faith in America. Our faith in God.
And on his sermon all those years ago, Dr. King quoted a poet’s verse:
Truth forever on the scaffold
Wrong forever on the throne…
And behind the dim unknown stands God
Within the shadows keeping watch above his own.
Even as Dr. King stood in this church, a victory in the past and uncertainty in the future, he trusted God. He trusted that God would make a way. A way for prayers to be answered. A way for our union to be perfected. A way for the arc of the moral universe, no matter how long, to slowly bend towards truth and bend towards freedom, to bend towards justice. He had faith that God would make a way out of no way.
You know, folks ask me sometimes why I look so calm. (Laughter.) They say, all this stuff coming at you, how come you just seem calm? And I have a confession to make here. There are times where I’m not so calm. (Laughter.) Reggie Love knows. My wife knows. There are times when progress seems too slow. There are times when the words that are spoken about me hurt. There are times when the barbs sting. There are times when it feels like all these efforts are for naught, and change is so painfully slow in coming, and I have to confront my own doubts.
But let me tell you — during those times it’s faith that keeps me calm. (Applause.) It’s faith that gives me peace. The same faith that leads a single mother to work two jobs to put a roof over her head when she has doubts. The same faith that keeps an unemployed father to keep on submitting job applications even after he’s been rejected a hundred times. The same faith that says to a teacher even if the first nine children she’s teaching she can’t reach, that that 10th one she’s going to be able to reach. The same faith that breaks the silence of an earthquake’s wake with the sound of prayers and hymns sung by a Haitian community. A faith in things not seen, in better days ahead, in Him who holds the future in the hollow of His hand. A faith that lets us mount up on wings like eagles; lets us run and not be weary; lets us walk and not faint.
So let us hold fast to that faith, as Joshua held fast to the faith of his fathers, and together, we shall overcome the challenges of a new age. (Applause.) Together, we shall seize the promise of this moment. Together, we shall make a way through winter, and we’re going to welcome the spring. Through God all things are possible. (Applause.)
May the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King continue to inspire us and ennoble our world and all who inhabit it. And may God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. (Applause.)
There are so many cameras out there that I just don’t see the point in reporting every time someone changes their lineup by adding one “x” to the optical zoom or subtracting a millimeter from the case size. I’m opting not to write up Samsung’s latest cameras because of the simple fact that there is nothing interesting about them. Furthermore, the PR company in charge of promoting them has locked the press releases inside >100MB files containing insanely high-resolution images.
We’re actually taking a post-CES day off here at CG and I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend half an hour extracting the relevant information from a few breathless 4000-word press releases and resizing 20-megapixel images just so our poor readers can be bored to tears by the lack of compelling features. Want to know which camera to buy? Here you go.
Thanks for making an 
On Thursday, December 6, 1956. And before Dr. King had pointed us to the mountaintop, before he told us about his dream in front of the Lincoln Memorial, King came here, as a 27-year-old preacher, to speak on what he called “The Challenge of a New Age.” “The Challenge of a New Age.” It was a period of triumph, but also uncertainty, for Dr. King and his followers — because just weeks earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered the desegregation of Montgomery’s buses, a hard-wrought, hard-fought victory that would put an end to the 381-day historic boycott down in Montgomery, Alabama.
