Who doesn’t wish for more time to tackle the myriad tasks vying for our attention? You don’t need more hours in the day, though, only minutes. Tuneup your workflow with these time-saving tricks and you’ll find yourself getting more done in less time.
Use voice recognition
If you input a lot of data and you’re not a particularly fast typist, use voice recognition. A fairly mature technology, voice recognition has been built into the Windows operating system since Windows Vista and can be enabled from the Ease of Access applet found in the Control Panel.
Use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to create documents and control common PC programs.
You can also use a third-party app like Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which packs additional algorithms to leverage the context of the entire sentence for greater accuracy. Advanced features like the ability to launch applications, switch between them, or even initiate an Internet search allows you to navigate the desktop without having to lift a finger.
Synchronize your life
Be sure to configure your PC and devices to sync with each other so you can switch between them without missing a beat. Cloud storage services such as Dropbox, SugarSync, and SkyDrive make files accessible from any device with an Internet connection, while Web browsers such as Chrome and Firefox can keep your bookmarks and browser settings synchronized between laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.
Use a business card app
Those business cards you amassed at your last conference aren’t going to enter themselves into your address book. Fortunately, you don’t have to manually type each one in. Instead, you can use a business card scanner to capture the data in your contact list. If you don’t network enough to justify splurging on a dedicated card scanner, check out the many smartphone and tablet apps—such as CamCard and WorldCard HD—do the same with the built-in cameras found on mobile devices.
Upgrade to a solid state drive
If you’re still using a PC powered by a traditional hard disk drive (HDD), do yourself a favor and upgrade to the speedier solid-state drive (SSD). Your productivity—and blood pressure—will thank you for that, as you launch apps and move files around without a lag. As a bonus, physical bumps and jolts that would normally damage the spinning platter in a HDD are unlikely to have an affect an SSD. Of course, the flash memory chips inside an SSD works differently than a HDD though, so be sure to take proper care of it.
Put your laptop to sleep
Rather than manually powering your laptop off and on between appointments, set it to go into “Sleep” mode instead. This keeps power flowing to the system RAM to maintain the state of the PC, allowing it to power up fully in seconds. In general, the power drain on a modern laptop in sleep mode is sufficiently low that it isn’t a consideration for regular commutes.
To set this, go to Control Panel and click on Power Options. From there, select “Change advanced power settings” to bring up the “Power Options” dialog shown below.
Put your laptop in sleep mode when you’re in transit.
Don’t ignore the fingerprint scanner
Many business-class laptops come with an integrated fingerprint reader, which unfortunately sits unused most of the time. If your laptop has one, it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to configure it to recognize your digits using its preinstalled fingerprint management software. Being able to authenticate yourself using your fingerprint saves you precious seconds from not having to type your password every time you log into your laptop.
Get a second monitor
If you’ve never used a dual-monitor rig, you don’t know what you’re missing. Having additional desktop real estate allows you to position windows so that they are readily accessible without having to hunt through your taskbar for the app that you need. An alternative would be to go for a single-display setup with an ultra large screen measuring at least 27-inches. The additional space will allow you to line up more windows without too much overlapping.
Master your shortcut keys
Getting the hang of some common shortcut keys can help you get things done much faster. The most basic shortcuts would be CTRL+C, CTRL+V and CTRL+X, which are used for copy, paste, and cut, respectively. CTRL+Z and CTRL+Y allow you to undo and redo your last action, which is particularly useful in productivity apps such as a word processor.
For window management, the Windows Key+E combo brings up the Windows File Explorer, while ALT-F4 closes the current window. Finally, if you’re using your Web browser, holding on to the CTRL key while scrolling your wheel mouse zooms in and out of your document or browser window.
In wake of Hurricane Sandy, Oklahoma tornadoes, NSF awards $32 million in hazards sustainability grants
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
21-Oct-2013
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Contact: Cheryl Dybas cdybas@nsf.gov 703-292-7734 National Science Foundation
Scientists will study ways of predicting and responding to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires
Sandy: the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season and the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Damage estimates from the storm surpass $68 billion, a total exceeded only by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
With Sandy's one-year anniversary--October 29th--on the horizon, how do scientists better predict and respond to natural hazards such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and wildfires?
To find answers, the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded 12 new grants totaling $32 million through its Interdisciplinary Research in Hazards and Disasters solicitation. The effort is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) investment.
Hazards SEES is funded by several NSF directorates: Geosciences; Engineering; Social, Economic and Behavioral Sciences; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; and Computer and Information Science and Engineering.
The awards will advance understanding of natural hazards and of technological hazards linked with natural phenomena. They will also improve capabilities for predicting these hazards, mitigating their effects and enhancing the capacity to respond to and recover from natural disasters.
Hazards SEES projects cross the boundaries of the atmospheric and geospace, earth and ocean sciences; computer and information science; cyberinfrastructure; engineering; mathematics and statistics; and social, economic and behavioral sciences.
"Through the Hazards SEES program, NSF has made investments in research that will reduce the impact of natural hazards, enhance safety, and contribute to sustainability," says Roger Wakimoto, NSF assistant director for Geosciences.
"When we face such impending disasters as Hurricane Sandy or the Oklahoma tornadoes, it's critical that we have already developed ways of responding to and recovering from such devastating events."
Hazards SEES scientists and engineers will conduct research on such topics as the integration of natural, human and infrastructure systems for hurricane evacuation and sheltering; volcanic crises in the United States: from precursors to resilience; next-generation warning systems for tornadoes and flash floods; and magnitude 9 earthquake scenarios: modeling, warnings and response and resilience in the Pacific Northwest.
Other projects include predicting landslide hazards; promoting regional resilience to repeated heat waves and hurricanes; preventing flood hazards from becoming disasters through communication of parcel-level flood risk; and developing monitoring, prediction and resilience cyberinfrastructure for wildfires.
"We hope to find new ways of 'beating the storm,'" says Wakimoto, "in whatever form it may arrive."
###
2013 Hazards SEES Awards
Hazards SEES Type 2: WIFIRE: A scalable data-driven monitoring, dynamic prediction and resilience cyberinfrastructure for wildfires: Ilkay Altintas, University of California San Diego
Additional Collaborators: Michael Gollner, University of Maryland College Park
Hazards SEES Type 1: End-to-end development of time-dependent geo-targeted alerts and warnings enabled by dense observations of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami: Jean-Paul Ampuero, California Institute of Technology
Additional Collaborators: Jeannette Sutton, U. of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Hazards SEES Type 2: From sensors to tweeters: A sustainable sociotechnical approach for detecting, mitigating, and building resilience to hazards: Louise Comfort, University of Pittsburgh
Hazards SEES Type 2: Dynamic integration of natural, human, and infrastructure systems for hurricane evacuation and sheltering: Rachel Davidson, University of Delaware
Additional Collaborators: Linda Nozick, Cornell University; Brian Colle, Stony Brook University/SUNY; Brian Blanton, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Randall Kolar, University of Oklahoma
Hazard SEES Type 1: Real-time geospatial infrastructure modeling for disaster response and rapid recovery: Craig Glennie, University of Houston
Hazards SEES Type 2: In hot water and harm's way: Modeling to promote regional resilience to repeated heat waves and hurricanes: Seth Guikema, Johns Hopkins University
Additional Collaborators: Celso Ferreira, George Mason University; Robin Dillon-Merrill, Georgetown University; Katie O'Meara, Maryland Institute College of Art; Margaret Walls, Resources for the Future Inc.
Hazards SEES Type 1: Persistent volcanic crises in the USA: From precursors to resilience: Bruce Houghton, University of Hawaii
Additional Collaborators: Robert Wolpert, Duke University; M. J. Bayarri, Marquette University; Michael Lindell, Texas A&M University; Greg Valentine, University of Buffalo; Michael Manga, University of California Berkeley
Hazards SEES Type 2: Hazard prediction and communication dynamics in the modern information environment: Rebecca Morss, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Additional Collaborators: C. Michael Barton, Arizona State University; Leysia Palen, University of Colorado Boulder
Hazard SEES Type 2: Next generation, resilient warning systems for tornadoes and flash floods: Brenda Philips, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Additional Collaborators: V. Chandrasekar, Colorado State University; Joseph Trainor, University of Delaware
Hazards SEES Type 2: Preventing flood hazards from becoming disasters through two-way communication of parcel-level flood risk: Brett Sanders, University of California Irvine
Additional Collaborators: Edmund Balsdon, San Diego State University; Kristen Goodrich, Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association
Hazards SEES Type 1: Predicting landslide runout and granular flow hazard: enhanced-g centrifuge experiments, contact dynamics model development and theoretical study: Colin Stark, Columbia University
Hazards SEES Type 2: Magnitude 9 earthquake scenarios--probabilistic modeling, warnings, response and resilience in the Pacific Northwest: John Vidale, University of Washington
-NSF-
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
In wake of Hurricane Sandy, Oklahoma tornadoes, NSF awards $32 million in hazards sustainability grants
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
21-Oct-2013
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]
Share
Contact: Cheryl Dybas cdybas@nsf.gov 703-292-7734 National Science Foundation
Scientists will study ways of predicting and responding to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires
Sandy: the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season and the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Damage estimates from the storm surpass $68 billion, a total exceeded only by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
With Sandy's one-year anniversary--October 29th--on the horizon, how do scientists better predict and respond to natural hazards such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and wildfires?
To find answers, the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded 12 new grants totaling $32 million through its Interdisciplinary Research in Hazards and Disasters solicitation. The effort is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) investment.
Hazards SEES is funded by several NSF directorates: Geosciences; Engineering; Social, Economic and Behavioral Sciences; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; and Computer and Information Science and Engineering.
The awards will advance understanding of natural hazards and of technological hazards linked with natural phenomena. They will also improve capabilities for predicting these hazards, mitigating their effects and enhancing the capacity to respond to and recover from natural disasters.
Hazards SEES projects cross the boundaries of the atmospheric and geospace, earth and ocean sciences; computer and information science; cyberinfrastructure; engineering; mathematics and statistics; and social, economic and behavioral sciences.
"Through the Hazards SEES program, NSF has made investments in research that will reduce the impact of natural hazards, enhance safety, and contribute to sustainability," says Roger Wakimoto, NSF assistant director for Geosciences.
"When we face such impending disasters as Hurricane Sandy or the Oklahoma tornadoes, it's critical that we have already developed ways of responding to and recovering from such devastating events."
Hazards SEES scientists and engineers will conduct research on such topics as the integration of natural, human and infrastructure systems for hurricane evacuation and sheltering; volcanic crises in the United States: from precursors to resilience; next-generation warning systems for tornadoes and flash floods; and magnitude 9 earthquake scenarios: modeling, warnings and response and resilience in the Pacific Northwest.
Other projects include predicting landslide hazards; promoting regional resilience to repeated heat waves and hurricanes; preventing flood hazards from becoming disasters through communication of parcel-level flood risk; and developing monitoring, prediction and resilience cyberinfrastructure for wildfires.
"We hope to find new ways of 'beating the storm,'" says Wakimoto, "in whatever form it may arrive."
###
2013 Hazards SEES Awards
Hazards SEES Type 2: WIFIRE: A scalable data-driven monitoring, dynamic prediction and resilience cyberinfrastructure for wildfires: Ilkay Altintas, University of California San Diego
Additional Collaborators: Michael Gollner, University of Maryland College Park
Hazards SEES Type 1: End-to-end development of time-dependent geo-targeted alerts and warnings enabled by dense observations of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami: Jean-Paul Ampuero, California Institute of Technology
Additional Collaborators: Jeannette Sutton, U. of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Hazards SEES Type 2: From sensors to tweeters: A sustainable sociotechnical approach for detecting, mitigating, and building resilience to hazards: Louise Comfort, University of Pittsburgh
Hazards SEES Type 2: Dynamic integration of natural, human, and infrastructure systems for hurricane evacuation and sheltering: Rachel Davidson, University of Delaware
Additional Collaborators: Linda Nozick, Cornell University; Brian Colle, Stony Brook University/SUNY; Brian Blanton, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Randall Kolar, University of Oklahoma
Hazard SEES Type 1: Real-time geospatial infrastructure modeling for disaster response and rapid recovery: Craig Glennie, University of Houston
Hazards SEES Type 2: In hot water and harm's way: Modeling to promote regional resilience to repeated heat waves and hurricanes: Seth Guikema, Johns Hopkins University
Additional Collaborators: Celso Ferreira, George Mason University; Robin Dillon-Merrill, Georgetown University; Katie O'Meara, Maryland Institute College of Art; Margaret Walls, Resources for the Future Inc.
Hazards SEES Type 1: Persistent volcanic crises in the USA: From precursors to resilience: Bruce Houghton, University of Hawaii
Additional Collaborators: Robert Wolpert, Duke University; M. J. Bayarri, Marquette University; Michael Lindell, Texas A&M University; Greg Valentine, University of Buffalo; Michael Manga, University of California Berkeley
Hazards SEES Type 2: Hazard prediction and communication dynamics in the modern information environment: Rebecca Morss, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Additional Collaborators: C. Michael Barton, Arizona State University; Leysia Palen, University of Colorado Boulder
Hazard SEES Type 2: Next generation, resilient warning systems for tornadoes and flash floods: Brenda Philips, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Additional Collaborators: V. Chandrasekar, Colorado State University; Joseph Trainor, University of Delaware
Hazards SEES Type 2: Preventing flood hazards from becoming disasters through two-way communication of parcel-level flood risk: Brett Sanders, University of California Irvine
Additional Collaborators: Edmund Balsdon, San Diego State University; Kristen Goodrich, Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association
Hazards SEES Type 1: Predicting landslide runout and granular flow hazard: enhanced-g centrifuge experiments, contact dynamics model development and theoretical study: Colin Stark, Columbia University
Hazards SEES Type 2: Magnitude 9 earthquake scenarios--probabilistic modeling, warnings, response and resilience in the Pacific Northwest: John Vidale, University of Washington
-NSF-
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Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Using 140 HTC One smartphones and a few breakdancing, fire-breathing passersby who just happened to include a perfectly trained dog and totally weren't actors, Qualcomm showed off everything its crazy fast Snapdragon processors can do with a 540-degree Ultimate Smartphone Photo Booth.
I walked into today’s Apple event positive that the iPad mini with a retina display, if unveiled, would be the one iPad to rule them all. I was sure that such a device would so thoroughly upstage the 9.7-inch iPad, that there would be no shortage of folks wondering why the larger sibling even continued to exist. And actually, that proved to be prescient. Apple no longer sells the device simply called “iPad”.
Enter iPad Air. The new heir apparent to the iPad throne.
When you hear about the upgraded dimensions of the iPad Air, you’re undoubtedly impressed. 28 percent lighter. 20 percent thinner. 1 pound. 1 freaking pound! But it’s not until you actually hold the device until what Apple has done here really registers.
I got the chance to play around with the iPad Air for roughly 20 minutes today after the event. When I first held it, it reminded me of the first time I held an iPhone 4 — or perhaps more appropriately, a MacBook Air. It’s an immediate and visceral “whoa”.
As someone who still regularly uses a larger iPad (technically, the “iPad 4″), it just doesn’t seem possible that a company could pull off such an upgrade from one generation to the next. I’m not sure it even seems possible to perform such an upgrade at all just based on the laws of science. I mean, not only is this iPad Air absurdly thinner and lighter, it actually boasts hugely upgraded internals as well. It’s just silly.
Holding the iPad Air actually feels closer to holding an iPad mini than to the regular-sized iPad. And it is closer. The iPad 4 weighed 650 grams. The (last generation) iPad mini weighed 308 grams. The iPad Air weighs 469 grams. But the other key in the device feeling more like an iPad mini is that it’s not only significantly thinner, but also smaller, thanks to Apple reducing the bezels on the side of the iPad Air.
This takes a device that was 7.31-inches down to 6.6-inches while maintaining the same screen size. That’s a huge reduction that’s actually very meaningful when you’re holding it in your hand.
And that’s another key: the biggest problem myself and many others had with the original iPad is that it was hard to hold it with one hand for any extended period of time. This issue became even more pronounced when the iPad mini came onto the scene. But thanks to the size and weight reductions found on the iPad Air, this is finally a comfortable one-handed device.
So, an iPad that’s insanely thinner and lighter while getting huge spec upgrades and maintaining the large screen size. It’s a device that’s ”meant to be taken places. Handled. And really used,” as Jony Ive described it in his video introduction of the iPad Air. This must be the new king of the iPads, right?
Not so fast.
Here’s the strangest thing to me about today’s unveilings: while the iPad Air perfected and upgraded the larger iPad in every way, the iPad mini got spec upgrades that are nearly unfathomable. How unfathomable? The iPad mini now seemingly has the exact same internals as this new iPad Air.
Think about that for a minute.
The iPad mini was previously running on an A5 chip. This new one has the just-unveiled-in-the-iPhone-5s top-of-the-line A7 chip. Yes, it skipped a generation.
Apple could have easily gave the iPad mini an A6 chip and everyone would have been happy. “Want an iPad running the A7? Try the top-of-the-line iPad Air.” That could have been a perfectly reasonable message. It would have still been a big upgrade for the iPad mini and presumably would have saved Apple quite a bit of cost. But Apple didn’t do that.
“We want everyone to have access to all our best features,” is what Tim Cook said when referring to Apple’s other massive move today: making all their software — including OS X — free. But he could have just as easily been talking about these new iPads.
Buying an iPad mini is in no way a step down from buying an iPad Air. It’s simply a smaller device with a slightly smaller price. Chips. Graphics. Screen. Battery life. Storage space. They’re all now exactly the same on both devices. It’s really just a matter of preference.
But for many of us, this is now an extremely hard choice — much harder than I thought it would be. I had thought the retina display on a slower iPad mini would trump the faster performance of the iPad with a 9.7-inch screen. Instead, we have a retina display on an iPad mini that has the same performance as a ridiculously svelte iPad with a 9.7-inch screen.
First world problem? Yes. Maybe now the quintessential first world problem. I’m torn. And I won’t be the only one.
When I briefly ran into Tim Cook after the event and brought up this issue, he laughed, noting that I had another option: I could buy both.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — With a new trial ordered for Michael Skakel, a defense lawyer for the Kennedy cousin serving time in the 1975 slaying of a neighbor said he will seek his release from prison on bond.
Skakel's conviction was set aside Wednesday by a Connecticut judge, Thomas Bishop, who ruled that Skakel's trial attorney failed to adequately represent him when he was found guilty in 2002. Bridgeport State's Attorney John Smriga said prosecutors will appeal the decision.
Skakel's current attorney, Hubert Santos, said he expects to file a motion for bail on Thursday. If a judge approves it, Skakel could then post bond and be released from prison.
"We're very, very thrilled," Santos said. "I always felt that Michael was innocent."
Skakel argued his trial attorney, Michael Sherman, was negligent in defending him when he was convicted in the golf club bludgeoning of Martha Moxley when they were 15 in wealthy Greenwich.
Prosecutors contended Sherman's efforts far exceeded standards and that the verdict was based on compelling evidence against Skakel.
John Moxley, the victim's brother, said the ruling took him and his family by surprise and they hope the state wins an appeal.
"Having been in the courtroom during the trial, there were a lot of things that Mickey Sherman did very cleverly," Moxley said about Skakel's trial lawyer. "But the evidence was against him. And when the evidence is against you, there's almost nothing you can do."
In his ruling, the judge wrote that defense in such a case requires attention to detail, an energetic investigation and a coherent plan of defense.
"Trial counsel's failures in each of these areas of representation were significant and, ultimately, fatal to a constitutionally adequate defense," Thomas wrote. "As a consequence of trial counsel's failures as stated, the state procured a judgment of conviction that lacks reliability."
Among other issues, the judge wrote that the defense could have focused more on Skakel's brother, Thomas, who was an early suspect in the case because he was the last person seen with Moxley. Had Sherman done so, "there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different," the judge wrote.
During a state trial in April on the appeal, Skakel took the stand and blasted Sherman's handling of the case, portraying him as an overly confident lawyer having fun and basking in the limelight while making fundamental mistakes from poor jury picks to failing to track down key witnesses.
Sherman has said he did all he could to prevent Skakel's conviction and denied he was distracted by media attention in the high-profile case.
Prosecutors said Sherman spent thousands of hours preparing the defense, challenged the state on large and small legal issues, consulted experts and was assisted by some of the state's top lawyers. Sherman attacked the state's evidence, presented an alibi and pointed the finger at an earlier suspect, prosecutors said.
"This strategy failed not because of any fault of Sherman's, but because of the strength of the state's case," prosecutor Susann Gill wrote in court papers.
Skakel, who maintains his innocence, was denied parole last year and was told he would not be eligible again to be considered for release for five years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — So how do U.S. eighth-graders do in math and science when compared to their peers around the globe? Turns out it matters which state they live in, according to a study being released Thursday.
Massachusetts was the top performing state, but it still lagged behind some Asian countries in terms of its students' overall score on exams and the number of high achievers.
Mississippi, Alabama and the District of Columbia students scored below the international average on both exams, meaning their scores were on par with Kazakhstan and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
West Virginia, Oklahoma and Tennessee students scored below the international average in math.
Jack Buckley, commissioner of the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics, which released the study, called the results a "good-news, bad-news scenario" that probably will bolster both those who say the U.S. is doing fine in global competitiveness as well as those on the other side.
Overall, a majority of states performed above the international average in both subjects.
"Our states really are scattered across the performance levels," Buckley said in a conference call with reporters.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement that the study provides "powerful confirmation that demography need not be destiny when it comes to school performance — state policies matter too."
The study compared every state, the District of Columbia and Defense Department schools against 38 countries and nine additional subnational education systems. Some countries, including China, India, France and Germany, did not participate.
Researchers took eighth-grade test results in math and science from the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to predict performance on the international comparative study test known as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Nine states participated directly in TIMSS.
NAEP includes the scores of students tested with accommodations; TIMSS does not. Buckley said statistical modeling was used to account for that difference.
South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan were the top scorers in math followed by Massachusetts, Vermont, Minnesota, New Jersey and New Hampshire.
In science, Massachusetts was behind the top scorer, Singapore. Taiwan was next, followed by Vermont. The top 10 also included South Korea and Japan — and New Hampshire, North Dakota, Maine and Minnesota.
Mark Schneider, vice president at the American Institutes for Research and a former commissioner for the National Center for Education Statistics, said one of the most disturbing results from the study is the low numbers of "advanced" achievers in the United States compared with other countries.
Even in high-scoring Massachusetts, where 19 percent of students reached the "advanced benchmark" in math and 24 reached it in science, there were fewer higher achievers than in some other countries. About half the students in Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore reached the high benchmark in math and 40 percent of students in Singapore did so.
On the other end, for example, Alabama had a lower percent of "advanced" achievers in math than Romania and Turkey — two countries it overall scored higher than.
"In a world in which we need the best, it's pretty clear many states are empty on the best," Schneider said.
Tom Loveless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said one thing that's hidden in the results of this study is that even in high-achieving states, there are low performers who need to be brought up from the bottom.
"If we as Americans want to get all of our kids achieving at the highest level, in terms of worldwide academic achievement, we have a lot of work and it's not just the low scoring states where it's obvious," Loveless said.
The scores were ranked on a scale of 1,000.
In math, the average state scores ranged from 561 for Massachusetts to 466 for Alabama.
In science, the average state scores ranged from 567 for Massachusetts to 453 for the District of Columbia.
NASA successfully landed six moon missions from 1969 to 1972 — and had one legendary failure. It was a monumental era for NASA, and thanks to bonkers YouTube user lunarmodule5, now you can ride along on a space video mashup of all six heart-pounding landings at once. It's breathtaking.
In June she gave us Bring The Noize, in September she gave us Come Walk With Me and today, we get another new song from M.I.A.‘s new album Matangi. Click the embed above to hear her new song Y.A.L.A. in full. The track appears to be her commentary on the YOLO mentality (you only live once) that is quite popular with the kids these days. I dig the beat but I’m not sure that there really needs to be an anti-YOLO anthem. HMMM. Take a listen, see what you think. Matangi hits stores on November 5.
LONDON (AP) — Dressed in a lace and satin gown designed in the 1840s, Britain's 3-month-old future monarch, Prince George, was christened Wednesday with water from the River Jordan at a rare gathering of four generations of the royal family.
The occasion had historic overtones: the presence of Britain's 87-year-old monarch and three future kings, Princes Charles, William and, of course, little George.
Queen Elizabeth II, usually the center of attention, quietly ceded the spotlight to her rosy-cheeked great-grandson, who seemed to wave at her when he arrived — an illusion created by his father, Prince William, playfully moving the infant's arm.
The private affair at the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace was also attended by Prince Charles, next in line to the throne, and the queen's 92-year-old husband, Prince Philip, who has shown remarkable stamina since returning to the public eye after a two-month convalescence following serious abdominal surgery.
All told, it was an exceptional day for a monarchy that seems to be basking in public affection since the 2011 wedding of William and Kate Middleton and the maturing of Prince Harry, who appears to have put his playboy days behind him.
George, who was born on July 22, wore a replica of an intricate christening gown made for Queen Victoria's eldest daughter and first used in 1841.
When William was christened in 1982, he wore the original gown — by then well over a century old — but the garment has become so fragile that a replica was made.
The infant, who will head the Church of England when he becomes king, was christened with water from the River Jordan by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
He arrived at the chapel in his father's arms with his mother by their side.
Kate, smiling broadly on her way into the chapel, wore a cream-colored Alexander McQueen dress and hat by milliner Jane Taylor, with her long hair brushed to the side. William wore his customary dark suit and tie as he proudly carried their first child.
Kate's parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, and her sister, Pippa, and brother, James, were also at the ceremony.
Pippa Middleton read from the Gospel of St. Luke and Prince Harry read from the Gospel of St. John. The two hymns were "Breathe on Me, Breath of God" and "Be Thou My Vision."
The chapel has a strong connection to William's mother, the late Princess Diana, whose coffin was laid before the chapel's altar for her family to pay their last respects in private before her 1997 funeral.
Baby George has seven godparents, among them William's cousin, Zara Phillips, daughter of Princess Anne and a close friend of the couple.
They also include Oliver Baker, a friend from William and Kate's days at St. Andrews University; Emilia Jardine-Paterson, who went to the exclusive Marlborough College high school with Kate; Hugh Grosvenor, the son of the Duke of Westminster; Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, a former private secretary to the couple; Julia Samuel, a close friend of Princess Diana, and William van Cutsem, a childhood friend of William's.
Palace officials said water from the River Jordan — where Christians believe Jesus Christ was baptized — was used for the christening.
In the West Bank, hours before the christening, busloads of Russian tourists descended on Qasr el-Yahud to immerse themselves in the river. The site, five miles (eight kilometers) east of Jericho, is considered Christianity's third-holiest site after Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
The river's waters have often been used to make the sign of the cross on the heads of royal infants.
Some royal watchers camped outside the palace for more than 24 hours to obtain a good vantage point to watch the guests arrive, but the ceremony was private.
William and Kate hired photographer Jason Bell to take official pictures, which are expected to include a historic multigenerational photograph of the queen with the three future kings.
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Dutch brewer Heineken NV issued a profit warning Wednesday, saying business was worse than expected in developing markets and the economic recovery in industrial nations was weak.
The world's third-largest brewer now expects full year "underlying earnings," which strip out the effects of acquisitions, to be lower than they were in 2012, whereas it had previous said they would be "broadly in line."
The company also reported a 15 percent fall in actual earnings for the third quarter, with net profit dropping to 483 million euros ($665 million) from 568 million in the same period a year ago, in part because of the stronger euro.
Heineken's share price fell by 5.5 percent to 49.93 euros in Amsterdam.
CEO Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said the company will respond by expanding its cost-cutting programs.
"We didn't expect such negative development in central and eastern Europe," he said on a conference call with analysts, noting that the Russian market may shrink by as much as 10 percent.
"Secondly, we were expecting better in key developing markets like Mexico and Nigeria," Van Boxmeer said. He also put Brazil in that category, saying Heineken had expected beer markets to reflect economic growth that has so far failed to materialize.
The company's third quarter trading update also showed revenues, including acquisitions, rose 4 percent to 5.18 billion euros during the period. However, they grew just 0.2 percent without the impact of acquisitions, as price hikes of 3.4 percent outweighed a 3.2 percent fall in volumes across the company.
"Volumes and sales in the third quarter were lower than expected as Heineken continues to face challenging market conditions in emerging markets," said SNS Securities analyst Richard Withagen in a note.
Withagen repeated a "Reduce" rating on the shares.
Josh Burkman is a tale of two people. He was a stud collegiate football player who became a mixed martial artist for the first half. He was a cast member of the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. The jock vibe was strong, but his use of metaphysics was always stronger. He dated ring girls.
That Josh Burkman feels like a yearbook memory.
These days, living out in undisturbed Utah, Burkman might be a little too "new age" for popular taste. He will tell you without flinching that he healed himself holistically from a multitude of career-threatening ailments, and that raw foods and scripture were the key, along with a year off from fighting in which he rediscovered the power of positive reinforcement.
He can speak on behalf of chakras. He can expound wholesomely on the virtues of water. If you mention yoga, he can attest to the magic therein. Ask him about the importance of marriage, and he’ll have you believing in a harmony that resonates through the cosmos to shut down the lonesome, selfish abyss.
In a nutshell, Burkman is that guy who brings arcana into the self-conscious, often dubious world of fighting. He wards off skepticism with crystal clear eyes and a deep-rooted belief in profound interconnected things.
And since he came into alignment with all these elements, it’s hard to argue the results in something as earthbound as the cage.
Back in 2008, Burkman was at the tail end of his UFC career, when he fought Pete Sell at UFC 90 in Chicago. This was the low point to that half of his fight game existence.
"That last fight in the UFC against Pete Sell, I was running twice a week and hitting mitts twice a week getting ready for that fight," he says. "Because every time I did something my nerves would flare up and I couldn’t do anything but be on ice. I didn’t want to drop out of the fight. I still wanted to fight."
At that time, Burkman had an assortment of physical issues. By his own count, he had a herniated disc in his neck, four bulging discs in his back, not to mention arthritis and nerve damage from compressed discs. As he says, "I had the back of an old man." He wouldn’t pull out of the bout because, as he says, "I like to fight."
Then he lost for the third time in row. With his contract up, he decided to take a year away from fighting. That year away morphed into his own personal odyssey that went into his resurrection (and mysticism) as a fighter. It gave him time to heal, as he says, "in mind, body and spirit," without the use of drugs and surgeons. Since that hiatus, he’s gone 8-1 outside of the UFC.
He has, in essence, reinvented himself as a fighter.
"The protocol was, I was doing yoga, I was on a raw food diet, I was staying very hydrated, I had a sports psychologist, and I also had a guy name Robert Donatelli, who’s a neck and back specialist from the PGA and Major League Baseball," he says. "When I went in for another MRI, and they were like, your back looks a lot better.
"We regenerated discs through a holistic process."
Now at 33 years old Burkman says he feels far better than he did at 28. He is getting set to fight Steve Carl for the inaugural welterweight title in the World Series of a Fighting, a promotion he has emerged as the unexpected face of. He got to this point by beating UFC veterans such as Gerard Harris and Aaron Simpson in his first WSOF shows.
But it was his last fight, against perennial top-three welterweight Jon Fitch, that truly spoke to Burkman’s renaissance. Fitch had gone 14-3-1 in the UFC, which made his release feel less premature than it did unwarranted. He was still a viable UFC elite. Heading into his WSOF debut, the only knock on Fitch was his style as a wrestling industrialist; he liked to grind opponents into bloody pulps for as many rounds were allotted. This wore thin on the UFC, but looked like gold to WSOF. Fitch, the name brand, had already beaten Burkman once back in 2006 in the UFC. It was thought that he would do so again in his new home.
Didn’t happen, though.
Forty one seconds into the fight, Fitch was being woken up by Steve Mazzagatti after getting choked out, and Burkman -- just as cool as you please -- came roaring into legitimacy. Shortly thereafter he began popping up in the top-ten space of welterweights.
"I had the opportunity to fight one of the top three welterweights of all time in our sport," he says. "The World Series of Fighting, they brought Fitch in thinking he was going to be the guy. There’s no doubt. There’s no way that they couldn’t have.
"And that was the biggest win of my career, hands down. I believe it was also good for our organization because it was almost like the UFC against WSOF. And I went out there and not only proved to our organization, but to everybody else, that there are great fighters outside of the UFC. That you should pay attention to them. If not, you might miss some really good fights."
Even with his career divided in "before" and "after" sectors, in his 36th professional MMA fight Burkman is fighting for his first title on Saturday night at WSOF 6 in Coral Gables, Florida.
"For me it means more because I started out in the first show with this organization," he says. "And I really feel like I’m part of this organization. The better they do, the better that I do, and obviously the better that I do, the better that the organization does. I think that goes for all the fighters. I’ve been here since day one, and I’ve fought for three of their shows. For me it’s more about I want to win this belt and I want to continue to prove that my style is one of the best styles in mixed martial arts, and I think holding the championship gives you a higher platform."
Burkman has been nothing short of impressive in his second coming as a mixed martial artist. Before he choked out Fitch, he put away Simpson with a lunging combination of punches followed by a big knee to close the deal.
Against Carl, Burkman knows he’ll be contending with a neck-hunter with a very unusual technique.
"He’s won six fights in a row, and he’s won all those six fights by submission in the first round," he says. "To do that at any level is impressive, but to do that at the professional level is even more impressive. He’s got this drunken monkey, very laid back but aggressive style of fighting. That unorthodox style is difficult, so I have a lot of respect for Steve Carl going into this fight.
"But I think there’s some things he’s not aware of, that I’m going to make him very aware of in this fight."
Burkman, who spent many years training out of state with Tito Ortiz in California, and Randy Couture in Las Vegas, now conducts all his training in Utah. He recently had a son, Legend, whom he says balances him further in the fight game. Since he’s been married he is proud to point out that he’s gone undefeated. The difference between Burkman back in the day and the Burkman now, he says, is pure, organic selflessness.
These days there are two stories that he incorporates into his life. The Book of Joshua, from the bible, which is his namesake. And the boxer James Braddock’s story in general.
"One of my favorite movies is Cinderella Man," he says. "Right now, just where everybody’s at, America just needs a good story. My goal, and my dream, is to be that story in MMA, where this is one of the best comebacks we’ve ever seen, where the kid was out of it, he was done. And he did what’s right. He was a good husband, he was a good father, and he became a world champion."
The 1975 has been on a meteoric rise in 2013. The pop-rock quartet's self-titled debut album landed at No. 1 in the U.K. Earlier this summer, the band opened for The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park, London.
While the band is rooted in the present with its current success, its throwback influence goes beyond its name. Lead singer Matthew Healy says The 1975 was inspired by the 1980s — specifically, '80s teen movies.
"Those movies, they discuss everything that I discuss: love, fear, sex and a longing for something beyond. A longing for something bigger," Healy says. "Everybody knows the feeling of a moment being particularly cinematic. I don't know what the world was like before cinema and music and art existed. All I know is that my brain is based around the things that I've seen. And I think the idea of romance, that kind of lustful desire, that's what I am obsessed with."
John Hughes, the filmmaker behind cult classics like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Sixteen Candles, put teen angst front and center in his productions; Healy says those movies have stayed with him and influenced the lyrical imagery of songs like "Heart Out."
"It's an obvious fist-in-the-air moment. You can imagine doing an amazing freeze-frame shot to this song," Healy says. "There's such a visual element to it when I'm writing. I have quite a clear-cut narrative — a tiny John Hughes movie, if you will — in my head when I'm writing."
Relatives of He Mengqing walk in front of his house, which the local government has slated for demolition. The rice farmer from Chenzhou in China's Hunan province rejected a government offer of compensation for his land; he set himself on fire when officials came for him.
Frank Langfitt/NPR
Relatives of He Mengqing walk in front of his house, which the local government has slated for demolition. The rice farmer from Chenzhou in China's Hunan province rejected a government offer of compensation for his land; he set himself on fire when officials came for him.
Frank Langfitt/NPR
In order to turn China into an urban nation, local governments have demolished tens of millions of homes over the past decade. Homeowners have often fought back, blocking heavy machinery and battling officials.
In recent years, resistance has taken a disturbing turn: Since 2009, at least 53 people across China have lit themselves on fire to protest the destruction of their homes, according to human rights and news reports.
This may conjure up images of the more than 100 Tibetans who have self-immolated over roughly the same period to oppose Chinese policies in Tibet. But this is a different problem.
And while many other countries claim land in the name of development, the extent of this policy in China and the extreme response of some of those losing their homes has been striking.
He Mengqing's family members stand in the room where he self-immolated in late September. He's brother, Waiqing (second from left), says local officials have too much power and villagers can do nothing to stop the demolition of their homes.
Frank Langfitt/NPR
He Mengqing's family members stand in the room where he self-immolated in late September. He's brother, Waiqing (second from left), says local officials have too much power and villagers can do nothing to stop the demolition of their homes.
Frank Langfitt/NPR
The most recent case of someone setting himself on fire over home demolition occurred in south-central China's Hunan province. It began late last month on a sunny Sunday morning, when dozens of officials and police arrived with a pair of excavators at the farmhouse of He Mengqing.
The local government wants to level He's village to make way for a park, part of a $1.6 billion plan to bring in factories, construct apartment buildings and develop the economy of Chenzhou, a city of about half a million people.
He, a 42-year-old rice farmer, refused to take the government's compensation offer of about $33,000. His farmland is his only source of income, and he figured he would need a lot more money to survive without it.
So, when the officials came for him, he locked himself inside his house.
As the pair of excavators ripped apart a nearby home, officials pried open He's door with a crow bar. He then poured gasoline over his head, opened a tank of cooking gas and lit himself on fire.
"There were the sounds of explosions, two of them: 'Boom! Boom!'" recalls He's brother, Waiqing, who tried to block police from entering the house. "Very thick smoke and fire were coming out of the window."
He's family watched him burn inside his home. A water truck pulled up and fired water through the window. Eventually, government workers carried He – his body badly burned – from the building.
Waiqing says he never imagined his brother would try to kill himself, but He's sister-in-law, Li, says he couldn't afford a new house and had run out of options.
One of He Mengqing's shoes sits amid the ash that carpets the room where he lit himself on fire.
Frank Langfitt/NPR
One of He Mengqing's shoes sits amid the ash that carpets the room where he lit himself on fire.
Frank Langfitt/NPR
"He is already in his 40s and has no diploma," Li says, standing in the room where her brother-in-law lit himself on fire, wearing a white hoodie that contrasts sharply with the blackened walls. One of He's charred leather shoes sits amid the ash carpeting the floor. His 2-year-old nephew collects some of the ash with a plastic toy shovel – too young to understand what had happened to his uncle.
"[He's] child and the entire family depend on him," Li continues. "He knew he couldn't find other work because he had no diploma and is growing old."
"He asked, 'How can I survive in the future?'" Li recalls. "The government said: 'That's your business.' He was helpless and was forced to self-immolate."
Waiqing, He's brother, says he warned officials that demolishing the house carried risks.
"I told a government official that forced demolition would lead to someone's death," Waiqing says. "He replied, 'If someone dies because of this, the government will provide compensation and it has the money to do so.'"
Local Officials: Self-Immolation A 'Ploy'
In self-immolation cases, governments are sometimes willing to spend large sums to compensate families for the death of their loved ones and, perhaps, shut them up in the process.
That was the case with a 47-year-old woman named Zhou Lijun, who lit herself on fire in May to protest demolition of her home for redevelopment in another section of Hunan. Government officials eventually paid the family more than $570,000 to compensate for her death, her brother, Zhou Haijun, said in a phone interview.
People gathered at the He family home react as He Mengqing lights himself on fire on the day his house was set to be demolished.
By Chinese standards, the sum is staggering. After receiving compensation, the family members of those who have self-immolated are often much more reluctant to speak to reporters.
The Chenzhou government blocked official news of He Mengqing's self-immolation. Family members say a local TV station covered the story, but it ran only once and is nowhere to be found on the station's website. They also posted videos of their scuffles with police and He's self-immolation on Chinese micro-blogs, but censors deleted them.
In a statement to NPR, Chenzhou officials said He's house was illegal, that he demanded more than $600,000 in compensation, and that his wife urged him to light himself on fire. The statement did not express any regret over He's death.
He's wife, Huang Xiaoying, denies the government's claims. Radio Free Asia, which first reported the story, interviewed an unnamed official who said the self-immolation was a really just a ploy to get more money.
"The common people want to get extremely rich through home demolition. They want generations to benefit," the official said in a phone interview. "That's impossible."
Homeowners Feel Angry, Helpless
A report last year by Amnesty International showed that at least 41 people had lit themselves on fire between January 2009 and January 2012 to protest home demolition. Corinna-Barbara Francis, Amnesty's China researcher, says they weren't driven by greed, but desperation.
"I think they've come to the end of their rope," she says. "Many of them, we know, have tried to work through the system. That has failed. They've been neglected. They've been abused."
Apartment blocks rise in Chenzhou, where the government is building a new city with an industrial park to develop the economy and urbanize the area.
Frank Langfitt/NPR
Apartment blocks rise in Chenzhou, where the government is building a new city with an industrial park to develop the economy and urbanize the area.
Frank Langfitt/NPR
Yan Shiming felt that way. He used to farm rice and mushrooms in Hunan province. In March 2011, construction workers came to knock down his home to make way for apartment buildings.
Yan had filed administrative lawsuits, which went nowhere. He doused himself with gas. He said he felt angry and helpless.
"The courts and the law are of no use to us," Yan told China's Southern Metropolis newspaper. "We went to Beijing to appeal to higher authorities for help. The police wouldn't protect us. We were taken to a local police station and beaten up by the policemen."
Yan never lit himself on fire. Officials stopped him, but the level of frustration he felt toward local government is common. Perhaps no one has illustrated that frustration more graphically in recent months than Zheng Guocun.
Zheng ran an animal feed store in Bei An, a city in northeast China's Heilongjiang province, a few hours by car from the Russian border. Local officials wanted to demolish Zheng's home and store to clear the way for apartment buildings.
After Zheng turned down a compensation package, hired thugs dragged him from his home one night in late June and beat him while construction workers knocked down his house and feed store.
About two weeks later, Zheng left his hospital bed one morning and went to Bei An's city hall, where citizens routinely gather to protest government policies. It's a hulking gray monolith that towers over a nearby shanty town.
Zheng poured gasoline over his body and lit himself on fire. Then, according to a witness, Zheng ran toward the building and banged his head against one of the pillars, before falling to the ground.
Yu Gao, Landesa's China country director, says local governments seize farmland to make money, urbanize and develop their economies. He says land sales make up more than 40 percent of local budgets. In the first nine months of this year, 300 city governments brought in more than $300 billion from land sales, according to China Index Academy, a real estate research institute.
But most farmers never receive anywhere near the market value of the land they lose. In fact, the Landesa survey found that more than one in five farmers weren't paid anything at all.
One reason, Yu says, is corruption.
"Unfortunately, compensation money out of land taking could be easily be intercepted by local officials," Yu says. "There is a level of greed and they don't have enough empathy to the plight of the rural farmers."
Government land confiscation has generated tens of thousands of protests a year in China, according to the government's own studies. Yu consults on the issue with China's ministries of land resources and agriculture in Beijing. He says central government officials are frustrated with local corruption and the lack of rule of law in the countryside; he says they know if they don't fix the problem, there will be more unrest.
"They are very concerned," Yu says.
Hopes For Reforms
China's top leaders are expected to hold a crucial meeting in November to plot the future of the nation's economy. The agenda includes an audacious plan to move 250 million farmers into cities over the next dozen years that, if poorly implemented, could wreak havoc. To avoid that, Yu thinks the government will strengthen compensation and farmers' land rights.
"I'm quite optimistic," he says. "For instance, farmers in the future could get 10 times the current compensation. It really depends on the political will and determination of the top leadership."
Even if those changes come, it may be too late for He Mengqing, who is still in a coma in a hospital in Hunan province, according to his brother.
He's family members understand why the local government wants to develop the area and improve the economy. They even support the idea.
He's brother, Waiqing, just objects to how it's done.
"They're too powerful," says Waiqing, his eyes tearing up, his voice catching in his throat. "We have no way to stop them. If they're really determined to do it, I can only watch them destroy our homes."
"This type of blind development has no consideration for ordinary people," Waiqing continues. "Our living standard will not go up. On the contrary, it will go down."
DETROIT (AP) — Thousands of Detroit streetlights are dark. Many more residents have fled. Donors are replacing ambulances that limped around for 200,000 miles. Millions in debt payments have been skipped.
Is there really any doubt the city is broke?
A judge starts exploring that question Wednesday in an unusual trial to determine whether Detroit indeed is eligible to scrub its books in the largest public bankruptcy in U.S. history. Unions and pension funds are claiming the city failed to negotiate in good faith before filing for Chapter 9 protection in July.
A city isn't eligible for a makeover unless a judge finds that key steps have been met, especially good-faith talks with creditors earlier this year. It's a critical decision: If Detroit clears the hurdle, the case would quickly turn to how to solve at least $18 billion in debt and get city government out of intensive care.
"It's a crucial point in the case," said lawyer Chuck Tatelbaum, a bankruptcy expert in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "There will be others, but this is the go or no-go. ... If there was ever a poster child for what Congress decided when they enacted Chapter 9, it's for a city like this."
Jim Spiotto, another bankruptcy expert in Chicago, said it's "virtually impossible" to argue that Detroit is solvent.
"They're not paying their debts," he said. "Look at their blighted areas. Look at their services."
Nonetheless, unions and pension funds are challenging Detroit on the eligibility question. They claim emergency manager Kevyn Orr, who acquired nearly unfettered control over city finances following his appointment by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, was not genuinely interested in negotiating when they met with his team in June and July. Orr insists pension funds are short $3.5 billion and health coverage also needs to be overhauled.
Evidence will show that Orr "planned to file bankruptcy long before the purported negotiations had run their course, confirming that the 'negotiations' were no more than a check-the-box exercise on the way to the courthouse," Babette Ceccotti, an attorney for the United Auto Workers, said in a court filing.
Earle Erman, attorney for Detroit's public safety unions, said the city has cut wages and changed health care benefits without across-the-table talks. Another lawyer, Sharon Levine, representing AFSCME, said the city spent months "mapping out its path to Chapter 9," not looking for compromises that could keep Detroit out of bankruptcy.
In response, however, attorneys for the city said a June 14 meeting and subsequent sessions with creditors were well-intended but fruitless. A bankruptcy filing was being prepared, they acknowledged, but "never set in stone."
Spiotto said Judge Steven Rhodes will have much discretion to determine whether the city has met its "good-faith" burden.
"I don't think courts require perfection," he said. "Good faith is not measured solely by, 'Did they offer what we want?' It's about providing opportunity."
The trial in front of Rhodes is expected to last several days, with testimony from Orr, Police Chief James Craig, financial consultants and, possibly, the governor. It will be an autopsy on what Snyder has called decades of ruinous financial decisions in Detroit combined with an exodus of people — the population has dropped to 700,000 from 1.8 million — and other social and economic factors.
"The city's restructuring must provide a foundation for the city to begin to provide basic, essential services to its residents in a reliable fashion," Orr said in July when he took Detroit into bankruptcy. "Without this, the city's death spiral ... will continue."
Orr's team estimates that 65 percent of Detroit's annual revenue would be eaten up in debt payments by 2017 without an overhaul in bankruptcy court. Miles away from court, countless streets are bleak: By last spring, at least 16,700 structures were inspected and classified as dangerous.
The fire department has just one mechanic for every 39 vehicles. It costs $62 to process each city worker's paycheck because of an inefficient payroll system, much higher than other local governments. The number of Detroit parks has dropped to about 60 in recent years from more than 300, due to a lack of money.
University of Michigan law professor John Pottow said unions and pensions funds are aggressively challenging the city because they lose leverage if the judge finds the Chapter 9 filing was proper. Detroit would take the lead in coming up with a plan to bring the city out of bankruptcy, putting pensions at risk along with billions owed to other creditors.
"It makes denial and rationalization harder for people who want this to go away," Pottow said.
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