Sandy's wake leaves shore birds in dire straits

When red knots descend on the beaches of Delaware Bay this spring famished from their marathon flight toward the Canadian Arctic from the tip of South America, the rosy-breasted shorebirds may find slim pickings instead of the feast of horseshoe crab eggs they count on to fuel the rest of their migration.

Superstorm Sandy scrubbed away almost all the sand the crabs need to spawn upon. Restoring it in time is a top priority of wildlife groups beginning to repair Sandy's massive damage to dunes, beaches and salt marshes along the Eastern Seaboard that support a diverse population of birds, fish, marine organisms and other wildlife.

A recent report by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation predicts that the storm ? which across the region washed away sand and vegetation that many species spawn in or call home, or polluted habitats with oil, sewage and other contaminants ? is almost certain to have lasting effects on the recovery of the red knot.

The Delaware Bay could be called the Serengeti of the mid-Atlantic for the staggering numbers of birds there, said Eric Stiles, executive director of New Jersey Audubon. In addition to providing a wintering area for waterfowl that breed in the Great Plains of the United States and Canada, the estuary also provides a winter range for large numbers of raptors, including bald eagles.

"When I visited as a kid in the 70s, the beaches were green with horseshoe crab eggs," Stiles said. "When the birds took to flight, it looked like the whole beach was rising up en masse. Just a beautiful spectacle."

But at a popular New Jersey Audubon winter workshop on raptors of the bay, a time when participants usually see dozens of eagles and other birds of prey, "this year they only saw one eagle, one northern harrier, and one red-tailed hawk in the day outing," Stiles said. "The prey base has disappeared."

The rodents the raptors feed on will rebound quickly. But eelgrass beds that provide the primary food source for Atlantic brant and other waterfowl, as well as spawning areas for fish, will need restoration work where Sandy has buried the eelgrass under a foot of sand and sediment.

Other species identified in the Manomet Center report as priority candidates for habitat restoration include the roseate tern, piping plover, tricolored heron and least bittern. It found more than 70 sites from Massachusetts to Virginia that need restoration work, including beach replenishment, rebuilding of nesting islands and water control structures in managed wetlands.

Beach replenishment involves replacing land lost to storm erosion with sand pumped from offshore.

The projects, with an estimated price tag of $48.7 million, would not only repair late October's damage from Sandy, but also help coastal areas withstand major storms in the future. Some of the funding will come from the $50.5 billion emergency relief package signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday; other money will come from state budgets or nonprofit organizations.

The report by the Manomet Center, based in Plymouth, Mass., recommends a $10 million project by the Army Corps of Engineers and other partners to repair the beaches of Delaware Bay, where the red knot's population has dropped from about 100,000 in the 1980s to about 30,000 now because of overharvesting of horseshoe crabs for fertilizer and fishing bait.

"These birds fly nonstop for thousands of miles from the tip of South America," Stiles said. "They land on Delaware Bay exhausted and emaciated, and then they double their body weight in 7 to 10 days foraging on horseshoe crab eggs before flying nonstop to the Arctic."

But the storm's sculpting work also created new habitat for species such as the threatened piping plover, a compact, pale shorebird with coloring that makes it all but vanish against the open sand flats where it nests.

The American Littoral Society's post-Sandy surveys found 67 percent of Mid-Atlantic beach areas had moderate to high damage to bird and marine life habitats, including vital marshes.

"These marshes are protein factories, providing rodents, crabs and other species in the food chain," said Tim Dillingham, the society's executive director.

The storm also washed raw sewage, oil and other pollutants into marshes, bays and estuaries, but the long-term impact isn't yet known, Dillingham said.

Scott Johnston, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's division of migratory birds, said that damage occurred from North Carolina to Cape Cod, but that the bulk of it was in New Jersey, Delaware Bay and Long Island Sound. As the rebuilding begins, he said, the focus should be to aim for the natural resiliency provided by natural dune systems and marshes.

Dillingham and other biologists said it would be more beneficial to create natural dune systems than to build bulkheads and seawalls to protect against future storm surges.

"An extensive dune system has the effect of protecting the homes and businesses while providing real and meaningful habitat," Dillingham said. "If the taxpayers are paying for this, they deserve more than a massive Berlin Wall."

___

Esch reported from Albany, N.Y.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sandys-wake-leaves-shore-birds-dire-straits-150812526.html

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Online gaming fee gambles with golden goose | The Budapest Times

Posted on 01 February 2013

The new Hungarian gambling legislation has introduced such high concession fees for online gaming that it could actually hinder the establishment of the market, the Remote Gambling Association said this week. The law ? which was recently submitted to the European Commission ? would put a 20 per cent tax on gross profit. The association noted that there is an agreement on the taxation of gaming revenues but said the proposed HUF 100 million (EUR 341,700) annual concession fee is irrationally high and will keep investors away from the industry, especially because state-owned lottery and gambling organiser Szerencsej?t?k will be exempt.

No related posts.

Source: http://www.budapesttimes.hu/2013/02/01/online-gaming-fee-gambles-with-golden-goose/

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Young Children Without Homes 2013 | Fenway News Online

The Young Children Without Homes National Conference will bring together hundreds of leaders and practitioners working in early childhood education, housing and homelessness, public schools, and health care ? to share expertise and best practices in their fields. The Conference will include sessions on: early education; family engagement and support; school readiness and transitions; housing strategies; and more.?This is the only national conference focusing exclusively on young homeless children and their families.

Registration is open!?Reserve your seat today and pick your workshops!

Featured Speakers

Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., Professor of Child Health and Development at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children?s Hospital; and Director of the university-wide Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.

Sample Workshops & Panel

Panel: Developing early education systems: A State-by-State Approach

Please join us for a panel discussion with Sherri Killins, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, Sherry Cleary, Executive Director of the New York City Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, and Ellen Wolock, Director of the New Jersey Department of Education?s Office of Preschool Education. They will examine each state?s approach to building early education systems and barriers to accessing early education. They will address their state?s unique response to the educational needs of homeless children.

Presenters:

• Sherri Killins, Commissioner, Department of Early Education and Care of Massachusetts
• Sherry M. Cleary, Executive Director of the New York City Early Childhood Professional Development Institute
• Ellen Wolock, Director of the New Jersey Department of Education?s Office of Preschool Education

Workshop: Shared Reading and School Success

The first five years of life offer the greatest potential for laying the foundation for future academic success. This workshop will explore the science behind early brain development and the connection between shared reading and school success. Participants will learn simple, interactive reading strategies that are appropriate for all families.

Presenters:

• M. Elena Lopez, Ph.D., Associate Director, Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP)
• Christine Patton, Ph.D., Senior Research Analyst, Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP)

Workshop: School Readiness: Using the Case Method to Think Systematically about Young Children?s Education

Ensuring that vulnerable young children get access to quality services and education requires a coordinated system of relationships among families, preschools, schools, and community-based agencies. In this interactive workshop, participants will use the case method to gain a deeper understanding of common problems in preparing young children for school and to identify solutions based on research and practitioner wisdom.

Presenters:

• M. Elena Lopez, Ph.D., Associate Director, Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP)
• Christine Patton, Ph.D., Senior Research Analyst, Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP)

?

Register today!

Source: http://www.fenwaynews.org/announcement/young-children-without-homes-2013/

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BLS Holiday Season Employment - Business Insider

The Bureau of Labor Statistics just tweeted a presentation incorporating the latest jobs data.

One of the slides takes a look at retail hiring buildup ahead of the holidays and the subsequent layoffs.

From the BLS: "The October-to-December holiday retail hiring buildup (a 9.1 percent employment increase, not seasonally adjusted) was the strongest since 2007. This stronger-than-average buildup, however, was followed by a below average layoff in January (70.6 percent of the seasonal buildup), which resulted in a seasonally adjusted gain in January."

It's interesting to see how much they drop off in January.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/bls-holiday-season-employment-2013-2

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Orb Audio is practically giving away Mini-T amplifiers when you purchase a it with a pair of Mod 1 speakers

We’ve reviewed Orb Audio speakers and amps a few times here at The Gadgeteer. ?If you’d like a refresher of Orb’s great designs and quality, check out Julie’s review of their speakers, and my reviews of their Booster and Mini-T amps. ?Orb Audio has just released their 2013 Mini-T amplifier, and they’re making a special [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/01/31/orb-audio-is-practically-giving-away-mini-t-amplifiers-when-you-purchase-a-it-with-a-pair-of-mod-1-speakers/

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Future Trends in Israel's Nonprofit Sector - eJewish Philanthropy

We Must Look To The Past To Know The Future (George Santayana)

by Shuey Fogel

The headlines in 2012 were all about looking to the future.

While there were some stories with immediate consequences, the effects of most of the headlines will only rear their heads in 2013 (at the earliest). Change in the wind? Yes. On the ground, not so much.

So what?s in store for Israel?s global nonprofit sector? The following are nine of the top news stories of 2012 and their significance:

9. Charities Advocate for Israel?s Nonprofit Sector in the Upcoming Elections

The end of November saw?Manhigut Ezrachit [ICLA or Israel Civil Leadership Association in English]?release a primer (Hebrew)?on the contribution to Israel by its nonprofit sector.

The goal of the one-page summary was to educate citizens in the hopes that they would support candidates that expressed an interest in supporting, developing and strengthening Israel?s voluntary sector.

While the effort didn?t seem to garner public support, it was definitely a step in the right direction and reminded me of the much more successful?efforts in the United States.

This recent effort in Israel is very much in its infancy but with the election results showing that Israel is ready for a change, I?m very to interested to see if charities decide to band together and capitalize on it for the next elections.

8. Private-Philanthropy Database to be Initiated by the Statistic Bureau and Yad Hanadiv

While a Yearbook is ?great for organizational statistics (see below number 4), it does nothing to analyze those that are actually doing the giving, the donors. Thus enters Yad Hanadiv (The Rothchild Foundation) and Israel Statistics Bureau?who announced in late October (Hebrew)?about a joint project to establish a database of giving statistics.

Currently, the numbers are gleaned from a hodgepodge of places, including: automatic reports generated from incoming money from foreign sources; data submitted by the Tax Authority on private and business donations; and various surveys done by private and government bodies.

The new initiative will gather data from three primary sources: data submitted by the Tax Authority on private and business donations (a previous contributor); information transferred from Guidestar Israel (see below number 4); and a survey to be conducted on 300 sample charities. Building the database will take a year from when the first pieces of information will be transmitted (approximately towards the end of 2013).

The new initiative database will:

• map donations from individuals and businesses, originating ?from both within and outside Israel
• and will provide information on the sources, amounts, and destinations of the philanthropy received by Israeli charities.

It could be that the goal of this project is to mimic the?Giving USA Report?published yearly, whose vast data is used to ?track reports of similar types of charity, train board members, assist in setting organizational strategy, identify funding gaps, and teach about current trends.?

With the continuous complaints about Israel?s lack of formal philanthropy, this is an important initiative indeed.

7. Acknowledgement that it?s Time to Explore New Organizational Structures for Charities?

Two announcements from the Israeli government signaled that the powers-at-be are realizing that charities come in all different shapes and sizes; something that other countries have known for quite some time. (In America, the?B Corporation?and?L3C legal?entities are great examples.)

With traditional fundraising drying up, alternative funding sources and the entities that can support them are crucial.

In late November, The Third Sector Roundtable run by the Prime Minister?s Office?expressed its support (Hebrew)?for the creation of Socially-Minded Businesses in Israel. The directive will provide the basis necessary for legislation, regulations, and a the fiscal structure necessary for the success of such an entity. (Similar strides were recently made in the States when the IRS declared that social investments or PRI?s would be considered tax-deductible.)

This headline followed an?earlier one in September?that announced that the Israeli government had created an official?Request for Information (RFI)?on the establishment of a Social Entrepreneurship Fund.

As exciting as this sounds, with the recent Israeli elections and reports of overspending, deficit explosions and subsequent looming budget cuts, all this great talk might be just that: talk.

6. Interior Ministry to Reward Local Authorities on Social Activities

Real change needs to come from within, despite the sometimes much-needed external push.

Misrad Hapnim (Israel?s Interior Ministry)?announced (Hebrew)?that they would give financial rewards to those Local Authorities that instituted social programs that meet eight predetermined criteria. Officials were quick to point out that the type of programming they are looking for is attainable even for smaller and more cash-strapped local authorities and wouldn?t require infusions of large capital.

In addition to changes how local governments approach and prioritize social programming (hopefully), this announcement will hopefully galvanize charities into researching further ways to collaborate with the municipalities in which they operate.

Could this actually usher in a new era of government and charity collaboration?? (And yes, I?m ever the optimist.)

5. Midot: Acting More Like a Regulator than a Social Cause?

The Israeli nonprofit organization Midot made headlines a few times in 2012.

None more explosive than in September after its CEO in an interview with Haaretz/TheMarker, one of Israel?s leading business dailies, called the majority of Israel?s charities ineffective. The article was subsequently used to confirm the public?s worst fears in the countries? nonprofits.

This story followed Midot?s pilot program with Israel?s?Chashav Haklali (Hebrew)?where Midot essentially served as the gatekeeper to the government?s coffers. A program that many feared would be misused by the government as an excuse to refuse allocation of grants.

Manhigut Ezrachit [ICLA or Israel Civil Leadership Association in English] and the Hitarginut Hamankalim [The Organization of Nonprofit CEOs] banded together in September to?issue a letter (Hebrew)?defending against the claims of lack-of-effectiveness. The letter was followed by a call for Midot to act more like a ?social cause and less like a regulator.?

In the past years, Midot has made inroads with big companies and Israel?s elite (in addition to the government as was demonstrated above), convincing them of the organization?s critical mission.

Recent headlines seem to suggest that the organization?s effectiveness is not universally accepted. Midot is at a fork-in-the-road and only time will tell which path they will choose and how Israel?s nonprofit sector will be affected accordingly.

4. Creation of Israel?s First Nonprofit Sector ?Yearbook?

At the June?Guidestar Israel conference, a ?yearbook? (or Shnaton as its referred to in Hebrew) of Israel?s nonprofit sector was released.

Using the 12 internationally recognized?nonprofit classifications (see pages 18-22), the report allows Israel to analyze its own sector, as well as, compare it to others around the globe. The hard numbers (many of which were unattainable until now) shed light on many important statistics and were used by one reporter to combat the myth that high salaries are prevalent among Israel?s charities.

The yearbook released in June was Israel?s first. Coming years will not only continue to deliver critical data but will provide the basis for trend-watching and true analysis.

More articles on the Yearbook can be found on NPTech?s (the organization that manages Guidestar Israel) site,?here?(Hebrew). Don?t miss this one either:?Aren?t You Tired of Suspecting Charity CEO?s??(Hebrew)

3. Supreme Court Rules that Charities Need to Pay Tax on Land Sales

The city of Ashkelon sold 53 plots of land to private individuals. The city charged the individuals VAT (Value Added Tax) but didn?t transfer the VAT to the Tax Authority because it was granted a VAT exemption by the Tax Authority ? as most Israeli charities do. Even though the exemption was granted to the municipality because of its ?social? status, the Tax Authority claimed that the transaction was a ?commercial and not social, thus not included in the exemption.

In October,?Israel?s Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Tax Authority (Hebrew), in essence ruling that all charities will need to pay VAT (currently 17%) when they sell property they own. Until then, it was a ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? policy that allowed those institutions that didn?t report tax they had collected as free from VAT payments to the Tax Authority.

In Israel, many organization received land from the government or from bequeaths ? land that is not needed by the charity. Many have already sold portions of their property, while most still maintain this ?extra? real-estate.

The multitude of charities and other exempt organizations affected will now have to take VAT into consideration and rethink their plans.

2. One Year for the Tax Authority to Rethink Tax-Deductible Eligibility

Many people, including?myself, have complained about the lack-of-clarity facing charities that are seeking tax-deductible status in Israel, known as Se?if [Paragraph] 46.

In addition to the basic requirements associated with applying to become a Mosad Tziburi [Public Institution], the Minister of Treasury prepares a recommendation to a Knesset sub-committee that must approve the organization?s request. The problem, as Prof. Nissan Limor pointed out, is that applicants do not know beforehand what is exactly required of them. Furthermore, Limor notes that the procedures are gathered as guidelines that have not been incorporated into any legislation.

In August,?Israel?s Supreme Court ruled (Hebrew)?that the Treasury has one year in which to formulate clear criteria for receiving Se?if 46.

According to Guidestar?s Yearbook released in June of this year, only 12% (4,280 out of 34,398) of charities have tax-deductible status.

It is hopeful that new, clearer guidelines will both encourage more charities to apply for tax-deductible status and give those organizations struggling to get an approval the boost they need to finally be granted their well-deserved eligibility.

1. Corporations Authority Releases for First Time Instructions for Business Activities by Nonprofits

The world of nonprofit financing has been changing for a while, especially after the global economic. However, regulations here in Israel haven?t been keeping pace. Actually, they?re trailing far behind.

But maybe not anymore?

A funding method making headlines in recent years is business related income generated by the nonprofit itself, as opposed to strict reliance on donations.

Maybe saving the best for last, Israel?s Corporations Authority (CA), which governs the Registrar of Charities,?released in November (Hebrew)?for the first time instructions for ?business? activities by charities. The guideline?s four sections cover:

1. How decisions should be reached
2. Relevant considerations concerning business activities
3. Collaboration with other nonprofit or for-profit entities
4. Restrictions of business activity

While not perfect, the guidelines are a work in progress. More importantly, they are signal that the regulators are realizing that charities are multifaceted, complex, economic organisms and not simply operational sub-contractors.

************

I?ve got high hopes for 2013. Looking forward to joining everyone for the ride.

What were your impressions? Which headline will reverberate the most for years to come? Can you suggest a headline that wasn?t included in the list?

Tizku Lemitzvot,

Shuey

Disclaimer: This blog houses my personal opinions and is for informational purposes only ? not advice. As charity laws can be quite complex and ever-changing, please refer all questions to qualified and licensed professionals. Read the?full disclaimer.

Shuey Fogel is a nonprofit professional turned banking specialist. He is currently Director of Solutions for Nonprofits for an Israeli Bank. Shuey shares relevant conversations, articles, and experiences on his blog,?nonprofitbanker.com.

Source: http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/future-trends-in-israels-nonprofit-sector-a-review-of-the-top-headlines-in-2012/

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Avis aux m?dias-RAPPEL/oTENTik : con?ue et fabriqu?e ? Saint-Nicolas, implant?e ? travers le pays par Parcs Canada

31 janv. 2013 07h00 HE

QU?BEC, QU?BEC--(Marketwire - 31 jan. 2013) - Le vendredi 1^er f?vrier, Parcs Canada pr?sentera ? Qu?bec le dernier-n? de ses produits d'h?bergement, la tente oTENTik, con?ue et fabriqu?e ? Saint-Nicolas par la compagnie Biome-Canada.

Implant?e progressivement d'un bout ? l'autre du Canada dans diff?rents parcs nationaux, la tente oTENTik vise une client?le souhaitant vivre un contact unique avec la nature sans n?cessiter un ?quipement de camping complet.

Ce vendredi, Parcs Canada offre la possibilit? aux repr?sentants des m?dias de venir visiter la tente oTENTik au c?ur de la place Parcs Canada-Forillon qui jouxtera la porte Saint-Louis et le Parc de l'esplanade du 1^er au 17 f?vrier.

Sur place, un repr?sentant de Parcs Canada sera accompagn? par Monsieur Ghislain Rousseau, de la compagnie Biome-Canada, afin de r?pondre aux questions des m?dias. De plus, les m?dias auront un acc?s privil?gi? ? ce nouveau produit qu?b?cois.

Source: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=1751636&sourceType=3

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