Allergic to anything?

I am allergic to flowers. How terrible could it get! Every spring, it gets difficult at times.

Are you allergic to any food stuff or pollens, drugs or dust?

Executive Director

The Executive Director accomplishes the mission of People 4 Earth within North, Central and South American territories, including Canada. Together with the CEO of Global Services and the other foundation Executive Directors they are responsible for the development of a global and innovative community and the building of global sustainability standards, which ultimately improve the overall level of the industry standards. Our community includes: consumers, companies, NGO’s and governments. The Executive Director plans and directs all aspects of the People 4 Earth Foundation US including policies, objectives, and initiatives. The Executive Director is responsible for the short and long-term profitability, growth of the global company and for the financial results of People 4Earth Foundation US. The Executive Director develops Marketing, Sales and Communications programs within the framework developed by Global Services. The Executive Director, jointly, with the CEO of Global Services and the Executive Directors of the other Foundations, are responsible for the development of a worldwide known brand. The Executive Director is a member of the international management team under the leadership of the CEO of Global Services. The Executive Director reports to the CEO of Global Services, who reports to the Board of Directors. Job Functions • Directs and manages the Financial, Sales, Marketing, Communications, and Human Resources, processes / operations and the financial result of the US Foundation. • Advocates / promotes the People 4 Earth mission to its stakeholders Assures the organization and its mission, programs, and services are consistently presented in strong, positive image to our stakeholders. •Strategizes, develops and implements our People 4 Earth community. •Responsible, in conjunction with the CEO of Global Services and the Executive Directors of the other foundations for the development and execution of strategy to accomplish business goals. •Formulates US Foundation policies and planning recommendations to the CEO of Global Services. Decides, guides and executes courses of action in conjunction with team. •Oversees fundraising planning and implementation, including identifying resource requirements, researching funding sources, establishing strategies to approach funders, submitting proposals and administrating fundraising records and documentation. •Effectively manages the human resources of the organization according to authorized personnel policies and procedures that fully conform to current federal and state laws and regulations. •Follows the US market and governmental developments regarding seal legislation, sustainability, innovative communication tools, etc. •Develops and directs the Marketing, Sales, Brand (seal) and Communications strategy for the Foundation Europe, focused on One tone of voice in conjunction with the Global Services Director of Marketing and Communications. •Oversees design, marketing, promotion, delivery and quality of programs, and services based on the guidelines provided by Global Services. •Strategizes, directs and executes on contracts with the industry. •Recommends US Foundation yearly budget for approval and prudently manages organization's resources within those budget guidelines according to current laws and regulations. •Supports, motivates and inspires employees in People 4 Earth to accomplish our mission, programs and operating goals. Coaches, directs and guides the staff members of the US Foundation. •Ensures team and international colleagues have sufficient and up-to-date information with an eye towards the future; growing the business and; identifying and innovating change. Fosters and instigates transparent communication with and between the team members of the US Foundation •Oversees US Foundation operations; defines and implements plans based on guidance from Global Services. Manages human resources; financial, physical resources and facilities of the US Foundation. •Collaborates, cooperates, interacts and informs in an open and continuous way with the Global Services CEO. •Assists in selection and evaluation of board members (Board of Directors and Inspiration). Makes recommendations, supports Board during orientation and self-evaluation. • Actively maintains a network with the US industry, governments (local, regional and national), NGO’s etc. Required Skills: •Strong entrepreneurial skills. •Demonstrated ability to inspire and to manage people effectively with excellent management skills. •Expertise in a variety of business concepts, innovation, creative problem solving, sustainability practices, and operational procedures. •Extensive experience and judgment to plan and accomplish business and financial goals. •Demonstrated ability to perform a variety of business functions effectively and efficiently. •Prior experience raising capital funds for a business (e.g. fund raising, grants, etc.) •Positive track record of leading, directing and managing people effectively with excellent management skills. •Large degree of creativity, innovation and ability to think out of the box. •Strategic Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. •Proven track record of achieving Sales goals. •Strong Communication skills including effectively writing and speaking as appropriate for the target audience. •Excellent Problem solving skills. The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions. •Service Orientation - Actively looks for ways to bring out the best in people. •Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others. •Hands on manager with experience in startup of new businesses. •International orientation and very adaptable •Ability to travel frequently and internationally Experience And Education: •Master's degree in area of Marketing, Business) Economics or Sales or corresponding experience •2 or more years of experience as a senior member of a company management team Industry knowledge of new blue and green a “plus” •Familiar with a variety of industry concepts, practices, and procedures. •Excellent in writing and speaking the English language •Warm contacts within the industry and “A“ brands a definite plus. •Speaking of other languages is a plus.

SyncMate

It lets you synchronize Favorites, Contacts, Calendar, Notes in mobile device with their analogues Bookmarks, Address Book, iCal, Stickies on Mac OS. Share Internet, manage text messages and install applications to your device - all of that and much more can be done with SyncMate!Want to sync folders, bookmarks, iTunes, and iPhoto pics from your Mac to your smartphone or pocket pc? Then today could be your lucky day. The fine folks over at Eltima Software are ready to give away SyncMate Expert licenses to two lucky Thoughts readers. How can you win you ask? Just let us know three features that Syncmate Expert has that are most important to you. You can link to their homepage here and a comparison page here. Then come back and post your three favorite features. The contest will end this Friday, April 17th at midnight PST. We will randomly pick two lucky winners Saturday, April 18th and notify them the same day. Good luck!

blue

I think the toll of eating too much this weekend has taken a toll on me. I had to get up early, but not too early. At school the breakfast club was making something special for everyone to eat at 9am, so I managed to get to school early (an hour early to be exact)so that I could take the Easter decorations down. After eating breakfast all the teachers and office staff headed over to our "new" campus to take another look at our offices and classrooms to determine what we need to order. The office I currently reside in is pretty small, no windows, and is in the corner. Kind of a lonely room. At the new campus I was supposed to move in a nice spacious office right at the front office. Unfortunately/fortunately Instead I got moved to an even bigger office with a window that is just a hop, skip and jump away from the main offices. Want to hear something crazy...I have my very own bathroom :) Man, I was not expecting that. Currently the principal of that school stays in that office, but he very much feels out of the loop and suggested that our principal, my boss, move into the off which I was supposed to have in order to stay connected. Training has been put into a slight damper as I have small injury on my elbow. It looks super tiny and I probably look like a sissy to Trevor. It looks like I have a zit on the tip of my elbow, which I noticed last Thursday. Since then it has gotten really red and it looks like there may be water under it and may possibly be infected. I did go to the doctor's after work today, but after being told that it was a four hour wait I left. Tomorrow I have a bike (one hour and 15 mins - moderate intensity). This week I will have good training week despite my teeny weeny injury.

advent

Last night was a good night. It was such a pleasure to gather with friends and play some of our advent songs at workplay. Thanks to everyone who made it out. Thanks especially to my sister katie, who drove in from atlanta (and back afterwards) to be there, which was pretty much awesome. the room last night was warm and was filled with good people and it was good to share some of the songs we’ve worked hardest on this year.And as I said last night, I’ve been thinking a lot this year about advent, about Christmas. Its been good to spend time remembering these great mysteries that surround our faith. It is so easy to talk about baby jesus. It is easy to sort of forget how massive an idea baby jesus is. Maybe that’s why I prefer to sing about it.I love the ideas of silence, of waiting, and that the climax of advent is this message "I am with you". for so much of the bible, god is silent. for so much of my story, god seems incredibly silent. A friend says to me that is all we really need to hear. “I am with you.” she says that is all we’ve ever hoped to hear.Clint and I have talked a lot about advent this year, and clint likes to remind me that the promise of advent is also the promise: “and I am coming again.”And I love the ideas of jesus being disguised among us. He was born into poverty and humility, and to this day, that is where he remains. Jesus is among the poor, the sad, the hurting, the widows, the orphans. this idea haunts me.A friend told me recently that jesus comes either as the fulfillment of our desire or a rival to our self love. I have so much tension with that.And for me, it always kind of comes back to the music. The music seems to carry us and sing our faith for us. At least it does for me. It as if, mysteriously, through songs, my doubt is moved toward belief.Another friend told me this just yesterday morning:"I have read that the christian life is not moving from ignorance to knowledge but from doubt to faith, over and over and over and over again. we are made for it to be so. as soon as we find any sense of certainty or belief or rest a new doubt creeps in, a new angst, a new question, a contradiction and we go through the cycle all over again.for me, the music is the balm in the doubt. it holds the note while the doubt is being changed to faith. earth and heaven cannot hold or sustain him. but music does."So...to all of us who feel alone, who are weary of the silence, who are hopeful for grace and for mercy, and for doubts to be carried into faith: merry christmas.cheers to a hopeful advent, and the silence we all know so well.

would you still choose to be born in this world again?

my answer is definitely no. if i can choose, i would never choose to be born in this world. my parents got divorced when i was very young, and i don't ever have a happy life. death is so much easier than life. instead of choosing the easier way, i have to experience the tough life. because my grandma raised me up in such hard way, i don't want her hard effort gone down the drain. and my grandma, the one loves me the most in this world, have Alzheimers now, she can't recognise me any more. how i wish i could be her side to take care of her, but i have to finish my university. She've suffered so much in the life before, it's so unfair she got this disease in her old age. she's always kind-hearted, she doesn't deserve this. i'm getting to believe fate. maybe it's just her fate. anyway, i don't wanna be a human being next life. just nothing, so i can feel nothing, no pain no sorrow. if there'a s heaven, i hope that's where my grandma will belong.

NYC cabbies could have cellphone use blocked while driving...

The Taxi and Limousine Commission of New York City (also known as the TLC) is considering some changes to the way that taxis and their drivers will operate in the future as part of its "Taxicab Passenger Enhancement Program." Among the wild ideas being floated is one that would "block" anyone in the front seat from using a cellphone -- most notably, of course -- the driver. Driving while using a handset is already illegal in New York, but this measure would apparently kill the ability to use a hands-free device as well. The TLC is trying to have an open discussion with New Yorkers on its website about other possible ways to make taxi rides more... enjoyable "in the future." We're betting this one will never happen but hey -- you never know. Our suggestion? Stop acting like we asked you to cart us to the gates of hell when we tell you we need to go to Brooklyn. [Via WCBS] Filed under: Cellphones, TransportationNYC cabbies could have cellphone use blocked while driving... but probably not

Spot On

Do you have a pet that has saved your life or just looks cool in a superhero costume? Play your cards right, and your furry friend might end up fighting alongside Marvel Comics' latest supergroup, The Pet Avengers. Featuring alien bulldog Lockjaw and his compatriots Lockheed, Hairball, Redwing and Frog Thor, The Pet Avengers are searching for a few good critters to help save Earth. The unconventional superheroes appear in the debut of Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers, which hits stands May 13. Interested readers and pet owners can upload shots of their furry, scaly or other-skinned animal pals to the Pet Avengers Assemble Flickr pool for a chance to join Lockjaw and crew in a future issue. Marvel suggests that you dress your pet as a villain, and the mind reels at the possibilities. Dr. Doom the Devilish Doberman? Galactus the Greedy Gecko? Magneto the Mad Myna? You get the idea. Got any cool suggestions? Let us know in the comments section below. Image courtesy Marvel Comics See also: Marvel Spoofs Its Superheroes With What the--?! Marvel Lampoons Bale's Meltdown for New Web Series Marvel Fetes Wolverine's 35th Anniversary With Art, Animation New Wolverine Clip Traces Origin of Angry X-Man Comic Freak MODOK Spawns Multiple Variations

NEW RULES

Well, well, well, here is our brilliant president taking the floor guiding this country through the perils of our economy. How unbelievably clear and precise is this president? How can someone who is out of work and sitting at home not feel the urge to get up and change his/her course, his direction, lift his/her spirits to find solutions in a battered economy and improve their personal circumstances after listening to our President? How proud I am of this man! His calm, precise, determination to make things happen, his thorough and complete understanding of how we got into this mess and how we are going to slowly creep out. He clarifies complaints by many that the money is not trickling down to the common folks. He said that $1 of bank capital can be $10 of loans to family and businesses which would enable a “faster pace of economic growth.” He explained why AIG had to be rescued and that we had to “provide support for AIG because the entire system as fragile as it is” would go down if AIG would go bankrupt. He said that we are starting to see some move in the right direction… small businesses jump in loan activity... encouraging but hard times are not over. 2009 will be difficult for the economy... they will be more foreclosures and loss of jobs and credit will not be flowing, and market will fluctuate. “You can continue to expect unrelenting effort from administration to fight on all fronts.” He continued to say that he is of the “firm believe that the next task beginning now is to make sure such a crisis never happens again.” The state of affairs of this country tis of thee has been carefully clarified. The solutions to the current conditions enumerated and explained and why this administration is taking such actions to effect change. “After we get the credit flowing, we cannot go back to a bubble and bust economy” that led us to this point with all the rules and regulations out the window. Having this said, our President and his administration propose the following set of NEW RULES: 1. NEW RULES FOR WALL STREET;2. NEW INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION MAKE WORK FORCE MORE SKILLED AND COMPETITIVE;3. NEW INVESTMENTS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY AND NEW JOBS AND NEW INDUSTRY;4. NEW HEALTH CARE; and5. NEW SAVING IN FEDERAL BUDGET THAT WILL BRING DOWN DEBT.YEAH! You go Barack! Your steadfast determination is admirable.

We Are Part of the Internet Generation

Family Junction is a band comprised of five childhood friends who decided that after college we were going to take on the American entrepreneurial spirit, work together and create music as a living, a job that is rewarding, but by no means is easy.The decision by the Copyright Royalty Board to increase royalty rates would drastically restrict the outlets of expression for musiccreators and the outlets of diversity for music listeners. Artists, like us, should be compensated for their creative works - as it is extremely important to the way independent artists make a living - but not so much as to cause the death of internet radio. If the balance is disturbed, and the current status quo drastically changes, the diverse internet radio services will be forced to pay increased royalty rates that are so high (in many estimates, more than what some of these stations will generate in revenue), they will simply shut down. The internet radio stations Family Junction depend on for our businessmodel will not be able to afford to pay these extremely high royalties. Instead of artists worrying about generating income from royalty rates, they can forget about royalties altogether because there will be very few stations left who will play their songs.As listeners of internet radio, we were able to find new and incredible influences from around the globe, and once we recorded our first Family Junction songs, we were able to have our music played to thousands of people across the United States; people who were eager to hear our music. By finding a niche crowd across the United States we were given the encouragement to continue following our dreams of writing and recording music.Currently we have songs playing on college radio stations (many of which are web-only), and niche genre stations throughout the United States. As more and more people are able to record and distribute their own creative works, the outlets for promoting it are decreasing. The Family Junction sound may not ever make it onto mainstream terrestrial radio, however, we should not be restricted from the markets that will embrace and appreciate our creative works. We aim to create music for a specific crowd,,and these people listen to internet radio for the diversity of content they will find on it.As musicians and music lovers, we want to keep the channels that connect our music to others. We are part of the internet generation. This is where we seek out and find new ideas for entertainment. We want to see artists live and thrive, and we want to support them through all their releases. Without internet radio, where do we, and other artists, connect with those we are seeking?Love,The Family

The Great Man by Kate Christensen

The novel begins with the newspaper obit of Oscar Feldman, an influential painter whose work consisted entirely of female nudes, and it ends with a newspaper review of two just-published biographies of Feldman. Most of the action in the novel takes place five years after Feldman’s death, with detours into the past and the future. Feldman had a wife, Abigail, and a retarded son to whom she was devoted and whom Oscar pretty much ignored. They lived in an apartment on Riverside Drive purchased by her wealthy parents when they married. He also had a long-term mistress, Claire (Teddy) St. Cloud, who lived in Brooklyn and with whom he had twin daughters, Ruby and Samantha. The other major player in the novel is his elder sister, Maxine, an abstract painter who’s got far less attention from the art world than Oscar. Abigail and Teddy have never met, though both know a great deal about the other. Maxine—a formidable elderly lesbian in her 80ies—supports Abigail but doesn’t like her and thoroughly disapproves of Teddy. Enter the two biographers to interview all these women: Henry, a college professor with a busy wife and infant son, who’s obviously not getting enough attention from his wife. Ralph is black and gay, but not “out”. There’s also a long-kept secret, known to the women, that will come out and make a splash in the art world. The biographers’ questions and the secret they don’t really care to keep bring the women together and move them to deal finally with Oscar’s death. Teddy and her best friend Lila, both in their seventies, start affairs, Ruby has an affair with one of the biographers, and Abigail develops a different relationship with the other. Maxine’s career gets a boost when the secret comes out and she reconnects with a lover she let pass her by. One of the author’s stated aims for the book was to write about love and relationships among older women, one of those subjects novelists usually ignore—sex over seventy. Christensen writes well and I laughed in a number of places, especially as Maxine characterizes (satirizes) a young woman who explains her work in contemporary art world terms. I liked it too that Maxine comes later to like and admire that same young woman. I laughed "review" of the two biographies at the end, but won't tell you why.