UK Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has described arts organisations outside London that cannot attract philanthropic funds as "pathetic".

 

The government has encouraged theatres, galleries and other cultural venues to seek private funding as government and council grants are cut.

 

Mr Vaizey said "every arts organisation in this country" should be able to attract philanthropy.

 

But his comments were criticised by figures in the arts outside London.

 

Mr Vaizey was asked at the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport select committee whether it was realistic for all arts organisations to raise private funds.

 

"I think it's very realistic," he replied. "I can see absolutely no reason why every arts organisation in this country cannot raise philanthropic funds.

 

"I think there are all sorts of cultural, institutional barriers to that. I think that too many arts organisations think, 'well, we live in an area where rich people don't live, so they're not going to back the arts'. I think that is pathetic, frankly.

 

He added: "Philanthropy doesn't mean a cheque of £5m. It could mean a cheque of £5, it could be a cheque for £500."

 

If my father knew then that he had been replaced, he never let it show. If he sensed any disappointment over valentines that didn't arrive for me, he just tried that much harder to create a positive atmosphere, giving me an extra hug and doing what he could to make my day a little brighter. My mailbox eventually had a rural address, and the job of hand delivering candy and cards was relegated to the U.S.Postal Service. Never in ten years was my father's package late-- nor was it on the Valentine's Day eight years ago when I reached into the mailbox to find a card addressed to me in my mother's handwriting. It was the kind of card that comes in an inexpensive assortment box sold by a child going door-to-door to try to earn money for a school project. It was the kind of card that you used to get from a grandmother or an aging aunt or, in this case, a dying father. It was the kind of card that put a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes because you knew the person no longer was able to go out and buy a real valentine. It was a card that signaled this would be the last you receive from him.

You know that old saying “it’s not you, it’s me”? While we usually think of it as a cop-out, a way for someone to spare our feelings, the reality is that it is actually true. People act a certain way, make certain decisions, and choose to life their life a certain way because of their own desires and needs; not because of us ipod touch cases.

 

When someone is a jerk, or says something nasty, or leaves you, it is because of something going on inside of them. Please know that I am not excluding the influence of your own behavior that may have precipitated the break-up, but it comes down to the fact that your ex left because of their reactions and feelings surrounding that event and it may have been the right choice for them modular storage.

 

Once a relationship ends, you can’t go back and change things no matter how much you want to, so it’s best to stop beating yourself up about the past. Forgive yourself for your part in the break up, learn lessons from it, and try not to take it personally. Realize that you are perfect just the way you are and there is someone out there who will agree ACUPUNCTURE.

Unmanned aircraft — or drones — are playing a large role in U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, but they're starting to show up the the skies above the U.S. as well. Drones are already used to patrol the border with Mexico and now they may soon be coming to a police department near you.

Just consider a video on drone manufacturer AeroVironment's website: Police officers chase a suspect to his home. The suspect runs behind the house, out of sight. The officers open the trunk of their patrol car and pull out what looks like a toy model aircraft with four rotors and a video camera. They launch the aircraft, which allows them to monitor their suspect's movements through a video feed on an iPad-like tablet and, ultimately, to apprehend him.

AeroVironment calls its unmanned aircraft the Qube, and while it may look like something kids would look for under the Christmas tree, it's no toy.

"The Qube is the first solution that AeroVironment has introduced specifically targeting what we identify as the public safety market, and that's really public safety professionals like law enforcement, search and rescue, and first responders, " says company vice president Steve Gitlin.

Drones — or unmanned vehicles — have been a success with the military, and companies such as AeroVironment hope to make them an increasingly common sight in this country. Gitlin says the Qube costs just a bit more than a police patrol car, making it a much less expensive alternative to a manned helicopter.

In Mesa County, Colo., the sheriff's department is testing a drone called the Dragonfly X6. Ben Miller, unmanned systems coordinator for the sheriff's office, says it's been especially useful in search operations.

"We had a lost subject in a vegetated creek bed and we were given about a mile length of that creek to search, " Miller says. "We completed that search in just a little over an hour with two staff members."

Miller says a typical search using volunteers marching shoulder-to-shoulder would have taken hours. On top of that, he says there have been no bugs with the drones and they're easy to operate.

"At about 2 pounds, the safety risks to people on the ground are rather minimal, " he says. "In fact it weighs less than your common Canadian goose."

While law enforcement is a big market for makers of unmanned aircraft systems — known as UAS's — there are many other potential civilian users 扁平疣.

Gretchen West is with the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, an industry trade group.

"Utility companies — so oil and gas — [are] using a UAS to do surveillance over a pipeline, " she says, as are electrical companies wanting to watch over their electrical wires. West says drones can be used for crop-dusting and tracking livestock. They've already been used for flood mapping in North Dakota, and they could also be used for weather research.

But all those unmanned aircraft have some people a little wary. Privacy advocate Harley Geiger of the Center for Democracy and Technology says drones are basically flying video cameras 辦公室裝修.

"Drones can easily be equipped with facial recognition cameras, infrared cameras or open Wi-Fi sniffers, " Geiger says. "So when people think about drones they shouldn't just think that a telephoto lens is the only feature that can raise a privacy issue."

Nor, says Geiger, is it only law enforcement that could be watching: "The paparazzi, your homeowners' association, your neighbor, a journalist can all sic drones on you as well."

Geiger says people should watch the Federal Aviation Administration, which is currently working on rules to establish standards such as how high drones can fly and what kind of training operators need. He hopes the agency will also address privacy concerns in the proposed regulations that could be released next month 鑲牙.